Iraq isn't Bush's only mess

Discussion in 'Politics' started by BloodTrader, Feb 22, 2007.

  1. .

    February 23, 2007

    To Tradernik

    where are you located in the United States?

    I did try to send you a personal email but you did opt out of that private system.

    .
     
    #21     Feb 23, 2007
  2. I know the law well. A weekly maid is an independant "contracter". A live in au-pair is an employee.

    I consider 52k a year for 180 days work to be a very good wage.

    Chicago teachers RETIRE on 75% of their last paycheck.
     
    #22     Feb 23, 2007
  3. What $54,000 really means for a teacher

    By Bill Zettler

    Is $54,000 per year too much or too little for a grade-school teacher in Grayslake? In a recent letter a husband said his wife's $54,000 salary with two degrees and 10 years' experience was "far below private industry salaries." I disagree.

    First of all, let's not confuse a master's degree in education with a master's degree in nuclear physics. As everyone knows, advanced degrees in education are designed of, by and for the teachers for only one purpose - higher salaries.

    In the parallel universe that is our public school system, salaries are based on pseudo education credits, not on performance. Three recent examples include visiting a feed grain dealer, visiting a dairy farm and, my own personal favorite, going to Arlington Park racetrack to study probability theory. Each of these two-day so-called courses was worth two credits and result in pay increases for the teachers. Imagine putting "visited dairy farm" on your resume and expecting a higher salary because of it.

    Let's assume that Mr. Husband would agree that a 40 percent increase, to $75,000 a year, would put his wife at or near "private industry salaries." That would put her $300-a-day teacher salary just slightly lower than her $312-a-day private industry salary because in the real world people work 12 months or 240 days a year not nine months or 180 days a year.

    So what would she give up for $12 a day? Well, her current 10-minute round-trip commute easily could turn into three hours a day if her new $75,000 job took her out of Lake County. That means she would be gone at least 11 hours a day as opposed to the six hours a day called for in her current teachers contract. That's three bucks an hour. And what about the summers off and the two weeks at Christmas - is that worth $12 a day?

    Of course, in the private sector, Mrs. Teacher could be fired at any time - no tenure in the real world we non-teachers work in. What is a lifetime guaranteed job worth? Maybe 30,000 degreed former Motorola employees could answer that question.

    And while Mrs. Teacher has been averaging more than 6 percent annual increases recently, the rest of us have been averaging less than 3 percent. Mrs. Teacher should plan on fewer and smaller increases.

    Finally, the $4 billion taxpayers contributed to the Teachers Retirement System last year equals $21,000 per teacher, about four times what the average private-sector company contributes for that same $54,000 salary. That means taxpayers are paying Mrs. Teachers' $54,000 salary and $21,000 pension contribution at the rate of $416 a day vs. $341 a day for the $75,000 salary and $8,000 pension contribution in the private sector. Making $75,000 in the private sector would mean a cut in pay for Mrs. Teacher.

    So if Mr. Husbands' wife is willing to sit in rush-hour traffic, give up her summers with the family, take a cut in daily compensation, allow her employer to fire her at will and accept Social Security as her main source of retirement funds, then I suggest she take the first $75,000 job she can find.
     
    #23     Feb 23, 2007
  4. The state and the IRS determines who is an independent contractor, not you.

    http://taxpros-plus.com/IndependentContractororEmployee.html

    If the person is an independent contractor, you will be giving them a 1099 with a full report of all income, including tips (and probably blow jobs too...).

    My guess is you are cheating...

    Just a guess.

     
    #24     Feb 23, 2007
  5. Compelling retort.

    But i`ll stick by my opinion that estate tax is a small business killer. Why you may ask? Because when my loving Mother passes(hopefully not for many years) who has owned a successful small business for 30+ years I will owe the gubment about a cool 500k or so in estate taxes. It will not pay for me to keep the biz alive at that point. It would take me 5 years of full time work to make that money back in the shop...and it aint my profession

    At that point the business of 30+ years will close and all those loyal employees go bye bye.

    The estate/death tax affects alot more people than the "rich".
     
    #25     Feb 23, 2007
  6. I've already asked the IRS. I'm very cognizant of compliance.

    The guy who cuts your lawn (and 500 others) is no more an "employee" of yours than the guy who cuts your hair.


     
    #26     Feb 23, 2007
  7. So the maid comes in whenever she wants, does whatever she wants, has no agreed upon schedule, works only according to a contractual arrangement for the job, brings all her own cleaning supplies, could subcontract another maid to perform the work, works fully unsupervised, can come and go when she pleases, etc.

    I doubt it...

    ...and you are giving her a 1099, right...

     
    #27     Feb 23, 2007
  8. You link to Salary Survey Report for All K-12 Teachers.

    We're talking about unionized PUBLIC teachers and administrators not the 22k a year teacher in a religious school.
     
    #28     Feb 23, 2007
  9. Yep. Like I say, I know the law.

    South Florida maids are in such demand that my maid may be one of two or someone different each week. Or a no show. Your picturing Hazel, lol.

    The person who contracts the maids is their "employer". Not me.
     
    #29     Feb 23, 2007
  10. So you pay a service?

    You do not pay the maid directly?

     
    #30     Feb 23, 2007