Intimate Portraits Of People In Debt Shed Light On A Hidden American Crisis {IMAGES}
http://www.businessinsider.com/brittany-powell-debt-portraits-2014-11?op=1
Jeremy E. Mills, pictured, is about $30,000 in debt.
Brittany Powell knows what it's like to be in debt.
After losing work during the 2008 financial crisis, the San-Francisco based photographer owed about $30,000 to the credit card companies she had used to keep her afloat.
"I had to put groceries on my credit card so I could pay my rent," she remembers. "All of my cash flow going to debt became this really stressful kind of juggling situation. It was definitely a really awful time in my life."
Powell filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
James M. Thomas, Graduate Student, Writer: $24,500 in debt
"I've been in and out of graduate school since 2003, with brief stints of full-time work in between degrees. Although I have (had!) a small amount of savings, it was never commensurate with my decisions to attend an expensive school, cover the difference between income (fellowships, etc.) and monthly expenses, or support my desires to live in expensive cities (New York, San Francisco)."
Shareen Jallad, Massage Therapist: $10,000 in debt
"I was given a high credit line after receiving life insurance money. While grieving and not working I accumulated $20K in debt on frivolous spending."
Mike, Architectural Designer: $160,000 in debt
"Master's degree (4) years. Real estate deal. Unemployment."
Martin Olive, Executive Director, Vapor Room Cooperative: $930,500 in debt
"I was audited by the IRS for opening a medical cannabis dispensary in 2004 and 2005. The IRS applied an obscure IRS provision — 280E, which disallowed me from deducting cannabis 'cost of goods' as a standard business deduction.
"Subsequently, I am forced to pay the full income tax plus interest and penalties. Added to that huge tax burden, I suffered a brain aneurysm and had surgery plus 10 days in ICU without health coverage!"
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/brittany-powell-debt-portraits-2014-11?op=1#ixzz3JtT9554X
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- If they had borrowed that money as corporations, they wouldn't personally owe anything. That's what it means to be a corporate-person.
K&R
I had a dream.......
Back in the early sixties through the eighties, you were are one time, allowed to take your interest off your credit card payment, car payment, basically anything that had a interest payment, you did not have to qualify your health care costs now based on what you spend in health care , ie... if you make, let's say $10,000 and you have $500 in hospital bills in the present moment you do not qualify, you have to spend 7.2% of your salary on health care costs before you are eligible for the tax right off.
This is why if you look at the economic concept being presented today you don't have the write offs and then you don't have the extra cash in your pocket and then you are supporting those organizations that are not paying there fair share and they have the loopholes and are getting more powerful with the greed.
The above tax interest breaks were eliminated because of what Reagan did to pay off his 3 trillion boondoggle short falls which were implemented , when he drove that economy into the ground based on his buddy the economist in his administration Ruther and the now Justice Kennedy on the U.S Supreme Court, with his tax cuts and spending cuts like he did in California based on lies and his Proposition 13 and other acts, and then turning around and raising of the national debt, today these tax loop holes that are still enjoyed by the oligarchy toady corporations and we the citizens are treated like we don't exist except to support the Wall Street firm and corporations in there zest of greed and there lack of paying taxes and off shoring there profits and we are not allowed in having the same structure placed upon us, something is wrong.
by getting rid of the consumer interest deduction. i believe he also axed the non-itemized charitable contribution deduction. really fucked non-itemizers with that + the interest deduction which allowed a lot more people to itemize. another reason to detest him
