Good News, Bad News
Bad news first:
I got a call yesterday from the Massachusetts Dept. of Revenue and they told me my appeal to get back the $753 the DOR stole from my bank account last month had been turned down. According to state law or DOR policy, "hardship" only applies when you can furnish a court-ordered eviction notice. Bottom line, the only way I'd be able to get back that money (my rent money for June) is only after Mrs. JP and I are out on the street. Try getting a new place with just $753 in your pocket. And try getting a job after putting "'98 Ford Taurus" for an address on a job application.
Even though she was only a case worker, I nonetheless excoriated the DOR and their scorched earth policies that seem bound and determined to completely obliterate a parent's ability to earn money and pay their child support. Not only that, they honestly don't seem to give a shit that they're threatening to take down everyone around me. Because if I fail to pay my rent, my unemployed landlord won't be able to pay his mortgage.
If that happens, well, you know what happens next. The bank forecloses and everyone, meaning five households, lose their housing. Then when they put up foreclosure notices on the door and plywood sheeting over the windows, that's just going to crater the property values of every homeowner up and down my street.
All so they could go after one person for a few hundred dollars.
I told the DOR caseworker all this and more. I figured if I'm not going to get my money back, I might as well get my money's worth and let them have it with both barrels. These lawless, rapacious asswipes stole about $20,000 from me over an eight and a half year period of time after the mother of my sons died of cancer in 1995 yet never bothered to enter a new court order so legal garnishments could continue. That didn't happen until 2004.
I've filed a criminal complaint against the DOR through AG Martha Coakley's office. I am not letting this go and I will keep hounding these out of control cocksuckers to investigate why they systematically stole $20,000 from me for nearly nine years under a null and void court order.
Having said that, here's the good news:
Right before the DOR called me late yesterday morning, I went back to my old job and spoke to the guy running the place.
Just the day before, I'd run into a guy who works for himself in the building and he'd informed me of a major change in management several months ago. Without getting into specifics, the place is now under new, more efficient management and bills are getting paid and things are running as smoothly as the local economy will allow. Once I told the new manager who I was, he seemed to be very receptive to hire me. It's just about the only plant in the Bay State that doesn't go through Goddamned temp agencies.
Bottom line, it looks as if I'll be getting my old job back and the only question is when I'll start. It may be this Monday, it may not be until August 1st. Either way, we'll need help one more time making the rent since the DOR won't give me back the $753 they rifled from my checking account last June. Even if I start on Monday the 25th, I won't even get my first check until long after rent day, let alone have time to earn what I need to cover the rent. And I'd need at least 48 hours lead time to make a Paypal transfer to my bank account.
We also got hit with a $520 car repair bill last month (muffler & fuel pump) so that put us behind a giant 8 ball. Anything you can do in the way of helping us would be so appreciated. The new manager wouldn't hire me back with the intention of laying me off so this should be a permanent, fulltime gig and I shouldn't need to ask for help ever again.
Update: I just called my old job and the manager told me his bosses can't think about taking on anyone until after Labor Day, meaning we'll need a lot more help than I thought we would. I also had to just take Mrs. JP off my auto insurance when they tried to gouge me to the tune of $215 more a year for a compulsory policy on account of a "major accident" she had two and a half years ago.
posted by jurassicpork @ Monday, July 25, 2011
7 comments
7 Comments:
JP.
I put what I could into the kitty. Best of luck getting back to work.
I found your blog about a year ago from one of the posts on Evergreen Solar.
Since then I realize that my leanings are far more liberal than I wanted to admit and have come to accept that I am a left leaning libertarian centrist and not nearly as conservative as I once believed. I have your writings to credit for part of that discovery and continue to enjoy them regularly.
While it may go against the grain I firmly believe that every US citizen that is legally allowed to should arm themselves. The second amendment has not been repealed yet but repeal is high on the hidden agenda as an unarmed populous is far easier to control when they can’t fight back.
Reading about your dealings with this pathetic excuse for a state we live in, how long do you figure it will be before we are all forced into a lifetime of indentured servitude to the all mighty government? If they can go in and empty your bank account and you can do nothing, what’s next?
We are on the verge of no less than the end of America as a global superpower. George Bush and the Republican Party, and their spineless apologists and enablers in the current White House, have worked to ensure that Osama Bin Laden's 9/11 attack was the most effective terrorist action in world history. We massively overreacted, we thought we could attack on credit, and we failed to keep our house in order while doing it. Al Qaeda operatives in the U.S. must be laughing their asses off watching us continue to elect more clueless, self serving politicians to finish the job.
The American system (and society) is now dangerously close to self implosion with the former middle class bearing the brunt of the blast.
Anonymous, as a product of the public school system I have obviously been brainwashed, so I'm not quote understanding you. Could you please explain to me how someone in JP's position would be helped by arming himself? Assuming, of course, he could scrape together enough cash to buy a gun. BTW, at what age do you think children should be involved in the defense of their rights? My 12 year old can carry and fire a smaller rifle quite effectively. Should I put him on the front lines, or save him for a surprise?
I dunno how arming myself would change anything in a macroeconomic way. It's my firm belief, as a former Navy SEAL, that the more guns you introduce into the matrix, the more supreme Chaos reigns. Look at all war theaters, where you have the highest saturation of firearms.
When you say "Former Navy Seal" you must mean that you were accepted into the program, successfully completed the training, and served as a Seal until your commitment was completed?
As far as I know, under no other conditions can a person call themselves a "former Navy Seal"
I commend you for your patriotism and dedication and successful completion of a very tough job!
No, I am former in every sense of the word. I'm ashamed I ever wore that patch and there're many reasons why I kept that part of my life under wraps for close to 30 years.
We are fat, lazy and conditioned to passivity and will comply with whatever law is passed.
We are spied upon and we don’t protest.
We may be detained and tortured without charge and we don’t protest.
We are sheep without the will to resist and they know it and will use it against us.
The net tightens and we hesitate.
We shall richly deserve our fate.
Anonymous #1, congratulations on becoming more aware of your deeper political leanings. It's never too late to learn. I quibble with your take on weapons, though. My question to anyone who thinks that way is always "Who do you plan to shoot?"
The government is not scared of a disorganized population of people armed with handguns, shotguns and hunting rifles. A trained squad of soldiers, using automatic weapons and deploying with combat support techniques, will obliterate an uncoordinated mob. Look what's happening in Libya, for example. Even with NATO air power on their side, the anti-Khadaffi forces can't dislodge a loopy dictator, because he has trained mercenaries. And when TSHTF, it's not likely there will be armies of starving city people coming to raid your refrigerator. YOU might have to be among the hungry scavengers if you haven't prepared correctly.
If you want to get through the coming collapse, Anon #1, I'd advise surrounding yourself with friends instead of guns. Know your neighbors. You might be good at carpentry or some similar hands-on skill, other people might know how to grow food, somebody else might have a bit of precious metal but not many real-world skills. When America's inevitable downfall does come, it's people who "have your back" that will get you through, not being able to shoot back.
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