Well, I Can't Afford a Nanny, Even At Rock Bottom Below-Minimum Wages
As expected, John and Ken are ripping the ad posted by "the Entertainment Community" - or at least a couple of dozen members. They say the following:
On the eve of this year's Oscar nominations, one group of celebrities has come up with a new category - "Best Nanny in a Supporting Role."
The mock award was featured Monday in an ad signed by more than 30 actors, writers and musicians in a Hollywood trade paper, urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to approve a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses.
Celebrities such as Diane Keaton, Carlos Santana and "Million Dollar Baby" writer Paul Haggis took out the ad in Variety. They argue it will make roads safer and that the ability to drive is a civil right.
The ad features a picture of a Hispanic woman and two young children with the caption, "Nominated: Best Nanny in a Supporting Role."
It reads: "I am trusted everyday to use my hands and my heart to nurture and care for children who are not my own ... I am welcomed into the most personal parts of people's lives, but I'm not trusted with a license to drive a car."
The ad was orchestrated in part by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, who has led the licensing effort and is hoping a little Hollywood influence will give the campaign a boost. Earlier this month he held a screening in Sacramento of the film "Spanglish," about a Hispanic maid who takes a bus to the Beverly Hills home where she works.
Among the ad's other signatories are Martin Sheen and his son Emilio Estevez, Alfre Woodward, Danny Glover and musician Jackson Browne.
"A lot of us in the entertainment business are terribly spoiled, and we live in a world where we are overprotected and overpaid," Haggis said. "At the same time, I think we have a duty to give voice to those who perhaps haven't the same access. It's about basic fairness."
Mike Spence, who is leading a campaign to permanently prohibit undocumented immigrants in California from obtaining drivers licenses and other social services, disagreed.
"I think it's another example of how rich Hollywood elites are out of touch with what's going on in California," Spence said. "They don't see the impact of immigration unless it's hiring someone to help out with chores around their mansions ... and they're not in competition with illegal immigrants for jobs."...
About one-quarter of the roughly 26 million drivers on state roadways each day lack insurance, according to the Personal Insurance Federation of California. An estimated 2.4 million people living in California are illegal immigrants.
California began demanding proof of legal residency for drivers licenses in 1994, placing itself among 40 states and the District of Columbia with similar policies. California's neighbors, including Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and Utah, don't have the requirement.
Speaking of nannies, the following was written by Rich Lowry after Bernard Kerik withdrew from consideration for Homeland Security Secretary after it was revealed that he had hired an illegal alien nanny:
The political elite, which otherwise maintains an unshakable insouciance about the widespread disregard for the country's immigration laws, seems to think these laws should only be vigorously enforced when it comes to people nominated for Cabinet posts....This double standard is, of course, absurd. We would never insist that only Cabinet nominees pay income taxes or abide by drug or labor laws.
But politicos seem to realize that the largely upper-middle-class indulgence of hiring illegal household help, when engaged in by people nominated to enforce our laws, risks igniting a populist revolt best avoided. Thus Kerik — nominated to head a department with responsibility for immigration enforcement, for goodness' sake! — had to go....
[I]t is a sign of the schizophrenia inherent in our system that the 1986 immigration reform actually made it illegal to ask a prospective employee about his legal status prior to hiring. That is considered discriminatory. The Office of Special Council for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices in the Department of Justice is responsible for cracking down on employers too vigilant — or vigilant in the wrong ways — about not hiring illegal workers. Given that in 2002 only 13 employers were sanctioned for hiring illegals, the federal government's priorities here are obviously badly skewed....
Open-borders advocates make it sound as though there were never any housekeepers or nannies prior to the age of mass illegal immigration. There were. And somehow today, in those large swaths of the country without any illegal immigrants to speak of, people still manage to get their houses cleaned and their children cared for.
The reliance on illegal labor on the coasts and in major urban areas is deeply corrupting. It fosters a casual contempt for the law among those who do the hiring, and it hurts the country's most economically vulnerable citizens. Poorly educated workers who might compete for the kind of jobs taken by illegals are either shoved out of the way entirely or see their wages cut by the unfair competition. Democrats and Republicans both tend to buck popular sentiment to defend this status quo for their own reasons — Democrats to pander to ethnic lobbies; Republicans to pander to businesses that like cheap labor with no rights....
According to the International Nanny Association's most recent salary survey, the respondents stated that nannies in Los Angeles average 45 hours a week and make between $450 and $1100 a week. In other words, the surveyed nannies were making at least $10 an hour, which is above California's current minimum wage (for those who don't know, California has set a higher minimum wage than the rest of the country). No word on whether these nannies are legal, or how much the illegal alien nannies in Hollywood make.
The International Nanny Association did NOT host the following exchange:
Posted by Visitor
My friend's nanny is undocumented but has a tax identification number and wants to file taxes to claim her child as a dependent.
1) Does the tax identification number allow the nanny to legally file taxes for an expected refund?
2) Is my friend obligated to file taxes for her undocumented nanny?
3) Moreover, isn't it illegal to hire an undocumented worker?
Posted by HETO
In Reply to: undocumented nanny with tax identification number posted by Visitor:
An employer is required to verify the employee's eligibility to work in the U.S. This is done using the form I-9 which specifies exactly what documents are required to prove that the worker may legally work in the U.S. If not, then the employer may not legally hire and pay that worker.
But the last word on the subject belongs to Deanna Swift. I encourage all of my ultra-wealthy readers to follow the link to the PDF.
WASHINGTON, DC—Just days after the Bush administration's nominee for Homeland Security secretary withdrew his name after recalling that he'd hired an illegal alien as a nanny, the IRS has introduced a new form to prevent such complications in the future. The new tax document, Form 1040 HA (click to download PDF), will make it easier for the wealthy to pay employment taxes on behalf of the legions of undocumented workers who tend their lawns, take their of children, and keep their pools free of leaves and other material.
At an unveiling ceremony this morning, IRS spokesperson Donald Cheezum said that the new form simply reflects a fact of life for millions of wealthy Americans. "Let's face it, most of the rich and powerful have a 'nanny problem' or a 'lawn boy problem.'" By making it easier for them to pay taxes on illegal workers, said Cheezum, the Bernard Keriks of the world "are much less likely to run into trouble the next time they get nominated for a cabinet post."
In recent years, "nanny problems" have ended the cabinet dreams of several nominees including Linda Chavez, nominated by President Bush to run the Department of Labor, the government office in charge of enforcing labor standards. Chavez was forced to withdraw her name from the running after she revealed that an undocumented worker had been living in her home and doing household chores including vacuuming, dusting, and caring for Chavez' two Pomeranians. Bill Clinton's first pick for attorney general, Zoe Baird, was also forced to withdraw after admitting she employed two undocumented workers and did not pay employee taxes for them as the law required.
Bernard Kerik, who withdrew his name on Saturday, still hasn't said where his nanny was from, or how long she was in his employ. The nanny reportedly left the country two weeks ago.
Form 1040HA will be available to taxpayers for the 2004 tax year. The IRS is sending extra copies of the form to wealthy suburbs including Bloomfield Hills, MI, and Chevy Chase, MD.
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