I'm in the UK at the moment, so coming at this in the morning. And while listening to the news about anger that the Tories are raising taxes in order to run the National Health Service. They are raising taxes on the working poor as well as on the rich--at an equal rate of about 1.4%--which is why the anger is pretty extreme. Some of the …
I'm in the UK at the moment, so coming at this in the morning. And while listening to the news about anger that the Tories are raising taxes in order to run the National Health Service. They are raising taxes on the working poor as well as on the rich--at an equal rate of about 1.4%--which is why the anger is pretty extreme. Some of the changes won't take place for 6 months for people making less than £35,000 a year, but I can tell you that this limit is pretty risible: the cost of living, especially for housing, in the UK is far more consistently high than in the USA. And the population density also far higher. The Tories are masters at regressive taxation--VAT, "across the board" tax hikes, and so on. The Ghastly Oligarch-loving Party in the USA is simply taking a page from Boris's playbook. VAT is indeed one of the issues, because when you demand that a person making £12,000 a year pay 21% in sales tax, it is a huge chunk of their income; when a person making £200,000 a year pays it there is not much pain. This system is what is being proposed in Republican-led states, where the demand is to raise sales taxes, especially on food, in order to pay for essential services. This is a very common practice because it is a hidden tax that has an outsized negative impact on poor people and rich people don't blink. and yet, the same administrations want to cut property taxes and income taxes. Because that will make the rich richer, of course.
Thank you Linda, per David Baty in The Guardian's UK Edition today, "12% of residents in London's richest parts [ Kensington, Westminster ] claimed "Non-Dom" tax status in 2018 meaning they paid NO taxes from off-shore income including "top bankers" & presumably, the PM from Eton as well. Got to "sort this out" ... I think that's what our British friends say.
I don't like VAT except at least the wealthy pay something. We have way too many at the top who basically take a free ride and still bitch about paying social security and Medicare.
Thanks, Linda. You hit it right on the head of the nail. Boris Johnson and his Torie buddies are equivalent to the Republican party here in the U.S. Linda, I recommend that you check out THE CANARY, which is a people's email news publication based in the U.K. I subscribe to it here in the U.S. and find it extremely helpful to find out what is going on in the U.K., especially since it covers what the people really think.
Per a separate article in the The Guardian UK, it was not "big bucks" in one (1) case, it was fat pounds, 11.5 million British pounds to be exact; sheltered by "dual citizenship" & apparently doubly sheltered in the Cayman Islands. Corporate shells can be complicated but, not that difficult to crack open.
...and here in the U.S. there are states writing laws that allow the money to be sheltered in the form of trusts here in the U.S. This level of secrecy regarding money is what the Pandora Papers is all about. As far as I know,there's been little if any action about this. Not surprising, since many in the Congress are wealthy and get to write the laws for the country. These states include "South Dakota, Delaware, Nevada and New Hampshire have become popular places for the wealthy to park billions of dollars in secrecy." Quote from this article: https://www.marketplace.org/2021/10/08/how-did-the-u-s-become-a-tax-haven/
Thinking and caring people have a responsibility to turn down the rhetoric promoting violence when all hell has been let loose on the land. So I agree. Especially an attempt at humor, to treat such violence so lightly, when all around us are committing such egregious acts. Words matter. Let’s encourage each other to promote peace and love over vengeance and violence.
I'm in the UK at the moment, so coming at this in the morning. And while listening to the news about anger that the Tories are raising taxes in order to run the National Health Service. They are raising taxes on the working poor as well as on the rich--at an equal rate of about 1.4%--which is why the anger is pretty extreme. Some of the changes won't take place for 6 months for people making less than £35,000 a year, but I can tell you that this limit is pretty risible: the cost of living, especially for housing, in the UK is far more consistently high than in the USA. And the population density also far higher. The Tories are masters at regressive taxation--VAT, "across the board" tax hikes, and so on. The Ghastly Oligarch-loving Party in the USA is simply taking a page from Boris's playbook. VAT is indeed one of the issues, because when you demand that a person making £12,000 a year pay 21% in sales tax, it is a huge chunk of their income; when a person making £200,000 a year pays it there is not much pain. This system is what is being proposed in Republican-led states, where the demand is to raise sales taxes, especially on food, in order to pay for essential services. This is a very common practice because it is a hidden tax that has an outsized negative impact on poor people and rich people don't blink. and yet, the same administrations want to cut property taxes and income taxes. Because that will make the rich richer, of course.
And the sheep baa as they are being squeezed to death
Thank you Linda, per David Baty in The Guardian's UK Edition today, "12% of residents in London's richest parts [ Kensington, Westminster ] claimed "Non-Dom" tax status in 2018 meaning they paid NO taxes from off-shore income including "top bankers" & presumably, the PM from Eton as well. Got to "sort this out" ... I think that's what our British friends say.
I don't like VAT except at least the wealthy pay something. We have way too many at the top who basically take a free ride and still bitch about paying social security and Medicare.
(and I expect that those @ the very top still take Medicare and Social Security...)
Thanks, Linda. You hit it right on the head of the nail. Boris Johnson and his Torie buddies are equivalent to the Republican party here in the U.S. Linda, I recommend that you check out THE CANARY, which is a people's email news publication based in the U.K. I subscribe to it here in the U.S. and find it extremely helpful to find out what is going on in the U.K., especially since it covers what the people really think.
Per a separate article in the The Guardian UK, it was not "big bucks" in one (1) case, it was fat pounds, 11.5 million British pounds to be exact; sheltered by "dual citizenship" & apparently doubly sheltered in the Cayman Islands. Corporate shells can be complicated but, not that difficult to crack open.
...and here in the U.S. there are states writing laws that allow the money to be sheltered in the form of trusts here in the U.S. This level of secrecy regarding money is what the Pandora Papers is all about. As far as I know,there's been little if any action about this. Not surprising, since many in the Congress are wealthy and get to write the laws for the country. These states include "South Dakota, Delaware, Nevada and New Hampshire have become popular places for the wealthy to park billions of dollars in secrecy." Quote from this article: https://www.marketplace.org/2021/10/08/how-did-the-u-s-become-a-tax-haven/
This is an astonishingly inappropriate and ignorant comment. I am very unhappy to see it being accepted for publication here!
Apparently, you missed the /S at the end. Time honored representation of sarcasm, since there is no sarcasm font on the keyboard.
Thx for the explanation of the "/S"; I didn't know that.
I learned the hard way myself... Personally, I use "<sarcasm font> to avoid the sarchasm."
Thinking and caring people have a responsibility to turn down the rhetoric promoting violence when all hell has been let loose on the land. So I agree. Especially an attempt at humor, to treat such violence so lightly, when all around us are committing such egregious acts. Words matter. Let’s encourage each other to promote peace and love over vengeance and violence.
True, RJV, about Lisa's comment. Didn't know about "/S" either; thx Ally for the explanation.
What is?