Quote:
Originally Posted by ford man xf
Aren't these rich people the same ones that employ most of us?
Isn't income taxed on a progressive percentage basis?
Don't low income earners have a tax offset which means they pay less tax?
What is with Australians and complaining, how good do we have it in this country, the amazing lifestyle we have has to be paid for, people were more than happy to take the government handout Mr Rudd gave out, some even praised him as the greatest Prime Minister we've ever had, did you not think that one day this would have to be paid back? No such thing as a free lunch I'm afraid.
I do believe if your successful in a capitalist society like Australia you do have to do your bit to contribute, which rich people do, the more successful your company is then the more you contribute and this happens, yes there are loopholes, Kerry Packer had a good quote once on this.
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The problem has never been about most people paying their fair share. The problem always has been that those at the top of the food chain have always managed to pay less. The Kerry Packers of the world can bleat and carry on all they want, they pay far less tax as a percentage of the total income they would "earn" in a year than most of the country.
And someone on $80-100k is nowhere near the top of the food chain. Someone whose income is measured with at least seven digits, they are getting close. The ATO and govco in its current guise will never go after these people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2011G6E
There are two big lies about the economy that the government is telling us all the time.
The first lie we are being told is that debt is bad.
The next big lie is that we should compare a country or state debt to your household budget.
Nope...when it comes to a country or a state, DEBT IS GOOD...you NEED to occasionally go into debt to build big projects or do things for your country. A country isn't a household...a household with a primary breadwinner or two has a finite working life before they retire so it's vitally important not to go into too much debt as you only have so much time of a decent income coming in to service that debt.
However, a nation or a state can access finance at low rates, paid off over several decades. Australia in fact still has a AAA credit rating because we are such a good risk for debt.
If you MUST compare a country or state to your household budget, then think of it this way: it's no use getting yourself to a point where you are "debt free" (maybe by cutting back on eating food or not paying your electricity bill so you sit in the dark and selling everything that isn't nailed down) when the house is falling down around you because you refuse to spend on repairs, and your kids are starving. Hey, you'll be "in surplus", but would you really want to live there...?
Getting and keeping a strong surplus means only one thing: either you're not spending enough on the country or state, or you're collecting TOO MUCH TAX.
Economists have also said that taxation returns to the government are increasing at 7% a year, but costs to the government are only increasing at 3% a year. If we cut back on the big promised funding (like the paid maternity leave and national disability scheme and other stuff) and did nothing, the debt would take care of itself in only a couple of years. That's if the government maintains what it's spending now, and just stops increases in spending on promised big funding projects for a couple of years.
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When govco says debt is bad, they aren't lying. But... what they are omitting to mention is something of much greater import. If the government was responsible for the issuance of the monetary unit of the nation (and not a so-called independant entity whose ownership and allegiances are mired in a cloud of out and out bullshittery) with 100% reserve requirements for banks, it wouldn't need to ever go into debt to anyone.
Tie the monetary unit to the economic output of the nation, have government be sufficiently big enough to provide for the essentials, but small enough for minimal taxation to be levied (I am speaking about import tariffs and tobacco, alcohol and drug excises) on the nation and budget crises become a thing of the past, infrastructure can be paid for without borrowing and the nation is incentivised as a whole to be productive and make full use of the brain power we are blessed with.