Tax...

[Prophet Tenebrae]

Who else hates tax? I know I do.

[jenniferloveschewits]

Yep. When yer walking round the house barefoot, and there's one lying on the floor, point sticking up...

Oh.

Anyway, I hate that tax as well. What's the point of working if the Government take a chunk of it?

[Prophet Tenebrae]

I only mention it because 1. I'm massively evil 2. It seems like a lot of flights from Edinburgh to Heathrow are about 60% tax.

[AD]

Broadly speaking I agree with the Prophet on this one. I hate tax, but it does go hand in hand with civilisation and every government has been doing it since the Mesopotamian priest-kings of x thousand years BC. We need it to pay for roads, police, hospitals etc. etc.

What really pisses me off is inefficient and unjust taxation. Under the present government the tax burden has spiralled upwards, but without the reform of public services, the money cannot be spent efficiently.

We are now have a state economy-within an-economy in which billions of tax £ are churned around internally within ths state sector. The government pays nurses, teachers, civil servants, and then taxes them and then reycyles the money in some monstrous fiscal circle. Also the current system of tax credits is ridiculous, in which people are taxed and then have to claim it back - if they are able to... Why not just cut the poorest out of the tax system entirely rather then taxing them and paying it back to them?

I'm not advocating a US style low-tax polity but I do think taxation in this country has become too complicated and the high levels are not justified by visible improvements in state services.

I blame the brooding sociopath in Number 11 Downing Street while applauding the political skill of his next-door neighbour who understands the importance of surrounding yourself witn unpopular deputies to make yourself look better.

[Pilmour Boy]

[s]Unregisted User AD wrote on 12:17, 5th Jun 2003:
Broadly speaking I agree with the Prophet on this one. I hate tax, but it does go hand in hand with civilisation and every government has been doing it since the Mesopotamian priest-kings of x thousand years BC. We need it to pay for roads, police, hospitals etc. etc.

What really pisses me off is inefficient and unjust taxation. Under the present government the tax burden has spiralled upwards, but without the reform of public services, the money cannot be spent efficiently.

Reform? Are we really living in the same country?
There is reform going on, the only thing is that we don't see the effects of it immediately- the Tories had 18 years to mess up the country, so far we've only given Labour a third of that.
I would argue that the problem is that too much emphasis was being put on changes with short term effectiveness, and not enough long term effort. This now appears to have abated somewhat, but not without costing, both politically and structurally.

We are now have a state economy-within an-economy in which billions of tax £ are churned around internally within ths state sector. The government pays nurses, teachers, civil servants, and then taxes them and then reycyles the money in some monstrous fiscal circle. Also the current system of tax credits is ridiculous, in which people are taxed and then have to claim it back - if they are able to... Why not just cut the poorest out of the tax system entirely rather then taxing them and paying it back to them?

Because tax credits are the most effective and efficient way of getting people out of poverty. While tax credits are not without their problems, they do work because they act to eliminate the old benefits trap- it used to be that getting a job could cost £200 per week in lost benefits.

I'm not advocating a US style low-tax polity but I do think taxation in this country has become too complicated and the high levels are not justified by visible improvements in state services.

I blame the brooding sociopath in Number 11 Downing Street while applauding the political skill of his next-door neighbour who understands the importance of surrounding yourself witn unpopular deputies to make yourself look better.


The US is not actually low tax compared to some countries, and the fact that so much of one's so called "disposable" income must go on "optional" extras such as health insurance (Oh, did I mention that the NHS is still by far the world's most efficient health care service?).
While I don't think that Brown would make a good PM, I do think that he's been a great chancellor, cannily working around the limitations of public knowledge- while I'm not a fan of PPPs, it has to be said that the way in which so much borrowing has been sent off balance sheet is a trick worthy of a member of the magic circle.

[hr]
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. - Plato

[Prophet Tenebrae]

The NHS is the world's most efficient health care system? There's an erroneous statement if ever there was one... how does it rank in terms of best health care system?

[Magus]

[s]Pilmour Boy wrote on 15:51, 5th Jun 2003:
cut Ben's ramble

Of course, we'd never guess your politics and degree from this, would we? Although I have to agree - a rarity on the Sinner, I believe

[hr]
dum vita est spes est - or so he said...

[Al]

His politics are obviously "New Labour", but I never knew the university offered degrees in self-delusion with a side programme in trying to delude others.

[hr]Rompiendo la monotonia del tiempo

[Prophet Tenebrae]

Just don't get him started on marriage.