While the poor get new portable DVD players. Why taxes on consumption may be more fair to the poor than income tax, after all – but not for the reasons you think.
While the poor get new portable DVD players. Why taxes on consumption may be more fair to the poor than income tax, after all – but not for the reasons you think.
what was that report about “non-profits” accounting for 25% of the GDP, surpassing the auto industry and others?
can some econo-braniac ‘splain that?
So some people take advantage of the system. Are you implying that all poor and disadvantaged are scum?
I was just thinking about that other disadvantaged person, by the name of Ken Lay. Poor guy. He was so hard up he had to defraud millions from his company and its shareholders. Must be the epitome of Socialism to bravely hose your shareholders and leave them with squat.
Lucky for them he died, so now they apparently can never get their money back from his family.
Ooooh Socialism, you bad bad boy.
Murray, If you read the blog then you would know that he wasn’t implying anything except that the US of A is slowly slipping into a sounth-of-the-border version of “entitlementland”.
There is a difference between helping our your neighbour in time of need and government (as in taxpayers)charity. Take Unemployment Insurance for example. Idea was simple enough, like an insurance policy you pay premiums so that in case you are unemployed you can still have an income. Good idea except that the government(s) then decided that this could be a second income for seasonal workers. So now you have new generations of workers learning that you only need a job to last xx weeks then you can collect pogey. These “unemployed” have the system down pat. Even the government helps by changing fishing seasons so everyone can collect or even lowering the qualification period. And lets not even start on paying mothers to stay at home to wean their childern for up to a year.
Thats becuase taxes are forced on us all foer everything we eat,drink or own by wealthy demacrats like TED KENNEDY and AL GORE
58 million Americans don’t pay any income taxes, and the numbers are growing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_duckies
I think a federal consumption tax replacing income tax is a great idea. It’s more democratic. Anyway you slice and dice it, the rich will continue to shoulder the lion’s share of taxes.
murray – Ken Lay was a crook, which hardly excuses the many that scam the system. What gets scamed the most are the “socialist” programs, besides taxes, in the system. Nor is it a victimless crime, anymore than Lay’s, because they are essentially defrauding me, a taxpayer.
What do you think the GST or PST are? They are a consumption tax.
ok4ua – on top of income tax. Duh. Try getting your reading comprehension up to speed.
“58 million Americans don’t pay any income taxes, and the numbers are growing.”
Might be time to change the constitution, and take away the vote of anyone who doesn’t pay any taxes. If you don’t fund the government, why should you get a say in how it’s run? The whole idea behind US democracy was “no taxation without representation”‘ if you’re not getting taxed, you don’t deserve representation.
Let everyone have their one vote as they do now. Let us give out extra votes for the more income tax you pay, say 1 vote for every $50,000 paid.
Read Nevil Shute’s book “No Highway” where he posits a multi-vote system, the most votes anyone could get is 6, plus one more could be awarded by the Queen for special service to the country.
How about just not letting prisoners vote. Let’s try small steps in the right direction.
The GST is a consumption tax that the rich don’t like. The more it costs the more GST you pay. How would you have a consumtion tax on wages? What do you do just talk to hear yourselves??
Texas Canuck
I did read the blog. And was vastly underwhelmed by it.
People can and do take advantage when and where they do. Some are more prone to do it, and others less prone. To claim, as Kate and the blog say, its a “Socialist” thing is disengenous. I simply pointed out another example of someone who felt “entitled” to more than his “fair share”. How much of our taxes head to “Capitalist” companies who proceed to hose the government?
It’s easy to pick on the poor and others on the receiving end of “Socialist” programs. Especially when one finds a way to take advantage of it. Suddenly, the system is evil.
Ken lay does something akin to this and…well…the hue and cry about the system being evil is not so loud or as sustained, especially from the Right.
Mulroneys gov’t gave prisoners and mentally challenged people the vote.