Reply to: Gordon's 10 worst financial gaffes

[norrahe]

Spare money left over? Only a marxist would make a comment like that.

Same tax rates for all of us. There can be no quibbling then, unless we get into the politics of envy.

10% flat rate all round then, that should keep everyone happy!

[Doggy Styles]

40,000 is needed to live fairly comfortably outside London, the other 210,000 is spare extra money over and above what's needed for a comfortable lifestyle so should be taxed differently.

Spare money left over? Only a marxist would make a comment like that.

Same tax rates for all of us. There can be no quibbling then, unless we get into the politics of envy.

[Scary]

That's a common socialist mistake. They already do pay more. 40% of 250,000 is a much larger contribution to public funding than 40% of 40,000.

40,000 is needed to live fairly comfortably outside London, the other 210,000 is spare extra money over and above what's needed for a comfortable lifestyle so should be taxed differently.

[hyperD]

They should all be sterilised too - most of em are do not have the brains to be in charge of their ovaries/sperm.

Simply pay a fixed amount of benefits as vouchers. Want 10 spawns from 10 different baby fathas? Fine. Your choice. Just don't expect extra cash for opening your legs wide to the world without taking responsibility for your own actions.

[Pondlife]

Its completely fooked to be honest.

Give those without jobs food stamps and clothing vouchers so they can stay fed and warm - we need to stop giving the money as all they do is buy booze n drugs.

They should all be sterilised too - most of em are do not have the brains to be in charge of their ovaries/sperm.

I'd love to know the cut off point here.

[original PM]

I have to ask why are governments so ready to hand out money to those who cannot be bothered to find work (not matter what) for themselves and why do we as taxpayers have to fund the beer swilling masses who are nothing but a leech on society.

It seems if you pay taxes for 20 years and then have the mishap to have been made redundant, you sign on and are entitled to sweet FA, but if you can't be bothered to get a job, it's a case of "here, how much do you want?"

It's a tad skewed, if you ask me!!!!!

Its completely fooked to be honest.

Give those without jobs food stamps and clothing vouchers so they can stay fed and warm - we need to stop giving the money as all they do is buy booze n drugs.

They should all be sterilised too - most of em are do not have the brains to be in charge of their ovaries/sperm.

[Doggy Styles]

It's called progressive taxation, you'd expect higher earners to pay more, and the extreme high end to pay a lot more.

That's a common socialist mistake. They already do pay more. 40% of 250,000 is a much larger contribution to public funding than 40% of 40,000.

And 40% of 2.5 million is a hell of a lot more that that. If just one of those leaves the country, the taxes of more than 200 people on average wage are needed to make up the slack.

In the USA the top 1% of earners pay 39.4% of federal income taxes; so the top 1% in the UK are probably not going to escape to the US to save taxes!

It seems that the UK is a lot more unequal that the USA. You want to be even more unequal that that?

The USA has a comparitively richer top 1% than us, and a lot more very low earners, hence the difference.

[Platypus]

I'm not sure about that

JP Morgan and HSBC may be the first of a few.

I doubt it - just the usual scare tactics.

[Doggy Styles]

8. 50 per cent tax rate

We might not like it but I doubt that this will end up counting as a "gaffe".

I'm not sure about that

JP Morgan and HSBC may be the first of a few.

[Tarquin Farquhar]

If JP MOrgan decides to relocate its new London offices somewhere else then the 50% might be seen as the worst gaff of all.

The 50% tax will be on people who could be located anywhere. They are the sort of people who need to be encouraged to come here.

Did you know the top 1% of earners contribute 24% of the tax income?

It's called progressive taxation, you'd expect higher earners to pay more, and the extreme high end to pay a lot more. In the USA the top 1% of earners pay 39.4% of federal income taxes; so the top 1% in the UK are probably not going to escape to the US to save taxes! It seems that the UK is a lot more unequal that the USA. You want to be even more unequal that that?

[norrahe]

Although I agree Western governments are too indulgent with handouts and useless make-work employment and so on, [/SIZE]

I have to ask why are governments so ready to hand out money to those who cannot be bothered to find work (not matter what) for themselves and why do we as taxpayers have to fund the beer swilling masses who are nothing but a leech on society.

It seems if you pay taxes for 20 years and then have the mishap to have been made redundant, you sign on and are entitled to sweet FA, but if you can't be bothered to get a job, it's a case of "here, how much do you want?"

It's a tad skewed, if you ask me!!!!!

[d000hg]

Time to stop thinking in terms of rich and poor and start differentiating between the deserving and undeserving. Why are Western socialists so lax in requiring everyone to make an effort commensurate with their ability as Marx required?

Because we're not Marxists?

[OwlHoot]

.. Why are Western socialists so lax in requiring everyone to make an effort commensurate with their ability as Marx required? ...

Although I agree Western governments are too indulgent with handouts and useless make-work employment and so on, there isn't nearly enough worthwhile work to go round any more, and in years to come it'll get much much worse as far more tasks are automated.

In a way western societies are already venturing into a post-employment age, and it's countries like China who are still in Industrial Revolution mode.

Today a large poor population is a boon for cheap labour and military might; but in forty years or sooner the boot will be on the other foot ...

(We just have to ensure the Chinks don't leapfrog us and become the first to develop practical robots)

[norrahe]

Ah, so the Murdoch press are still anti-Labour then? The fact that, less than six months ago, the same journalist would have been writing an article praising Brown's policies makes me wonder how much faith to place in this

(Only kidding - I've known all my life not to place any faith in anything printed in a Murdoch rag, whether I want to believe it or not.)

They're currently fence sitting, hard on labour but not exactly praiseworthy of the tories

[norrahe]

It doesn't matter who gets in, in the next election, for all the promises Cameron has been making, he might as well forget them as the country is fiscally hamstrung for the next 20 years.