Child care loopholes lead to easy money

[exboyfil]

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/38309864.html

Sisters get $540,000 from state mostly for watching each other's kids, and it's perfectly legal
By Raquel Rutledge of the Journal Sentinel

The two-story house on 17th St. looks typical of the working-class homes on Racine's west side. Three bedrooms, one bath. Assessed by the city at $122,000.

Yet inside, a young woman has tapped into a home-based money-making operation that netted her and her three sisters more than half a million in taxpayer dollars since 2006.

And they did it with the blessing of the state.

All four had been in-home child-care providers. Collectively they have 17 children. For years, the government has paid them to stay home and care for each other's children.

Nothing illegal about it under the rules of Wisconsin Shares, the decade-old child-care assistance program designed alongside Wisconsin's welfare-to-work program.

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The government spends $66,716 a year on child care for Simmons' kids. That's 75% more than the average Wisconsin worker earned in 2007.

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Something to think about as you go to work and pay your taxes.

[vorlund]

1. What's your point?

People abuse loopholes. Remember Enron? How much did they bilk out of the system before people caught on?

Here's a thought for you: $540,000 over three years to four sisters to take care of 17 children vs. $1,000,000 to fire a SINGLE Patriot missile.

Think about THAT when you go to work and pay your taxes.