Republican proposes tax deduction for pets.

[srellim234]

This has actually been proposed by a Republican.

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.....aspx

"...Kathy at Blogging For Michigan also notes that people can deduct expenses for their own medical care only if those costs exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income, so the bill would give your pet's medical bills better tax treatment than your own... "

This is the kind of idiot that the Democrats are trying to appease? Maybe we can get health care reform if we tell the Republicans that our kids and spouses are actually our pets!

[szh]

This has actually been proposed by a Republican.

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.....aspx

"...Kathy at Blogging For Michigan also notes that people can deduct expenses for their own medical care only if those costs exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income, so the bill would give your pet's medical bills better tax treatment than your own... "

This is the kind of idiot that the Democrats are trying to appease? Maybe we can get health care reform if we tell the Republicans that our kids and spouses are actually our pets!

Clearly, there are the occasional idiots in the Senate and Congress ... at all levels (State and Federal and local). Maybe more to politics and idiocy mixing than I would have thought possible:

http://www.modbee.com/opinion/....html (a bi-partisan proposal, by the way)http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...P.DTLh ... /1....html (protesting the deletion of Pluto as a planet!)http://slog.thestranger.com/20...e_day

Z

[Urabus GodofTraction]

s***, I'm all for any sort of tax deduction!

[AZhitman]

Throw the bum out!

However, lemme put on my Devil's Advocate hat.

A quote from the article: "How about this idea? If you can't afford the real cost of pet ownership, don't get one."

If we said, "If you can't afford to raise a child, don't have sex", we'd be pummeled by screeching hordes.

Studies show that pet ownership can reduce blood pressure, promote healing, and improves the quality of life for many Americans, especially shut-ins, the disabled, the chronically ill and the elderly.

Yet medicinal marijuana got the support IT needed... Hmmm...

Just some thoughts.

(I still think it's silly...)

[BusyBadger]

If we said, "If you can't afford to raise a child, don't have sex", we'd be pummeled by screeching hordes.

But it should still be said, and often.

One of my major problems with the Republican party is their concern for the fetus but lack of care for the children that the fetus develops into. We need a co-signer agreement for couples that want to have children but may not be financially able to support it. No cosigner, no baby.

Studies show that pet ownership can reduce blood pressure, promote healing, and improves the quality of life for many Americans, especially shut-ins, the disabled, the chronically ill and the elderly. (I still think it's silly...)

Maybe its the new government health plan! I'm all for it, we've got 8 cats. And I also think its silly too, but I certainly wouldn't oppose it!

I might even get some more.

[HashiriyaS14]

If we said, "If you can't afford to raise a child, don't have sex", we'd be pummeled by screeching hordes.

I constantly battle with my general distaste for additional limitations on personal freedoms and my desire to get people to stop breeding willy-nilly.

There *should* be some sort of audit process, although then people would just start having them "accidentally", and what would the government do, abort them?

Unsolvable problem, unfortunately, unless we just start sterilizing people with IQ's below a certain level, which I'm certainly open to.

[audtatious]

Simple, limit welfare to have a "child maximum". Hell, limit welfare completely to have a time clause. You'd be surprised how much work a hungry person will do when they want to eat.

Yeah, not very Christian of me....

[EvillE423]

Simple, limit welfare to have a "child maximum". Hell, limit welfare completely to have a time clause. You'd be surprised how much work a hungry person will do when they want to eat.

Yeah, not very Christian of me....

Except for maybe the elderly that can't work or people on disability that have no other means of income.

[themadscientist]

You need a license to drive a car, or own a gun, and I would suggest a badly raised child can do far more damage than either. When I watched the movie idiocracy, at the beginning where they were contrasting the irresponsible people reproducing like rabbits and the educated responsible people winking out of existence I didn't laugh; it's happening.

[Bubba1]

Unsolvable problem, unfortunately, unless we just start sterilizing people with IQ's below a certain level, which I'm certainly open to.

But wouldn't that eliminate a lot of Honda owners...? j/k

[smockers83]

If we said, "If you can't afford to raise a child, don't have sex", we'd be pummeled by screeching hordes.

I constantly battle with my general distaste for additional limitations on personal freedoms and my desire to get people to stop breeding willy-nilly.

There *should* be some sort of audit process, although then people would just start having them "accidentally", and what would the government do, abort them?

Unsolvable problem, unfortunately, unless we just start sterilizing people with IQ's below a certain level, which I'm certainly open to.

I watched the movie idiocracy, at the beginning where they were contrasting the irresponsible people reproducing like rabbits and the educated responsible people winking out of existence I didn't laugh; it's happening.

There's actually a reason, well correlation would be a better word, for all of this. Those that are educated and make more money care more not about the quantity of children they have, but the quality of their children, so they have less. This allows them to give them a better quality of life. The other reason is that these people also focus more on their careers as well, so less children allows them to focus more. On the flip side, the ones who are poorer with fewer opportunities (the irresponsible ones) will have more children because they not only don't care more about quality, but it increases the chances of having a successful child and when you get into third world countries, it increases the chance of one of the children surviving.

[themadscientist]

This post has electrolytes.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...latedh ... u6p5NLXxvY