Wealth and the rest of us

[rogespeed]

I noticed 2 things recently - the Government reduced struggle class funding by about 25% - and some of the billionaires have realised a corona bonus of 100% increase in gross wealth

I suppose both have no nett personal income tax but one seems a little unfair ....

Might be time look at creating a supplimentary income tax by taxing business owners and shareholders based upon gross operating revenue of their business holdings , say at a flat rate of 0.1%

[4channel]

* Was John Howard a man of truth or was he a man who resorted to dishonesty when the need arose?

* Was he more of a champion for the rich or was he more of a champion for the middle and working class? 

* people who had great wealth thankful for his time in office and why?

These are questions that relate to this thread and are usually not asked in the main stream media the way they should be!

[rogespeed]

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@4channel wrote:

Australia is like America but a few steps behind. John Howard IMO was one of the greatest supporters of the class system. Yes, there are people who believe strongly that one class should rule over another. To them that's the way it has always been and that's the way it should always be.

Two good films to watch are below

Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore 

America: From Freedom to Fascism  by Aaron Russo 

Certain companies are going to do very well out of the crisis the world is in today. To them, what is taking place is a blessing. To the common people it's obviously a curse.

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This particular post was not about the Australian class/ culture value system , although a subject that I have an ongoing fascination about ,  but rather about the paying of appropriate taxes and/or being seen to via a very low rate additional stream of taxation based upon gross company revenue ( no deductions ) -  in effect to compensate for regulatory efficiencies and other legitimate anomolies

[rogespeed]

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@4channel wrote:

Medicare still  exists in Australia but for how much longer? If another Howard-like PM got in or is in, then Medicare will eventually go away. IMO, Howard had a strong desire to bring Australia closer to the US in more ways than one. He wanted to see the destruction of medicare, the middle class.  He wanted to be a an iconic figure  in the history of the rise of the Neo-Con Empire. He wanted to give powers to law enforcement that would eventually see Australia be similar to a police state. IMO also, he favoured people of one colour, his own!

And did he tell lies?

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I seem to recall that he introduced the wildly successful GST - making retailers more accountable ( pun intended )

A little more post subject relevant than the successful Australian medicare system - a post subject in itself , particularly level of medical treatment vs public image , regarding medicare basic

[rogespeed]

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@not_for_sale2025 wrote:

I saw an interview yesterday with an American economist (I think). He said the middle class has almost disappeared over there. He said the country is now largely divided into the working and upper classes and the gap between the two is quite broad. And then there are the poor and super rich.

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So how are the 2%ers taxed over there ?

[myoclon1cjerk]

In a way that makes them pay very little or nothing. Ask the Don.

[rogespeed]

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@myoclon1cjerk wrote:
In a way that makes them pay very little or nothing. Ask the Don.

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he says his deductions put him in the black

[rogespeed]

Another problem for the people is that to many businesses spend earned revenue recklessly , like over the top exec bonuses for doing their job, knowing they can write off such expenses against taxable income - so hence the Govt is short on normally expected taxation monies as the taxable income has been reduced due to gratuitous spending 

A somewhat suspect aspect to the big business environment

An almost token % gross revenue tax would go some way the addressing this issue as such could not be minimised - so some amount is seen to be paid regardless of legal minimalisation accounting

[davewil1964]

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@rogespeed wrote:

Another problem for the people is that to many businesses spend earned revenue recklessly , like over the top exec bonuses for doing their job, knowing they can write off such expenses against taxable income - so hence the Govt is short on normally expected taxation monies as the taxable income has been reduced due to gratuitous spending 

A somewhat suspect aspect to the big business environment

An almost token % gross revenue tax would go some way the addressing this issue as such could not be minimised - so some amount is seen to be paid regardless of legal minimalisation accounting

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Except that over the top exec bonuses impact on the dividends shareholders get. They are in a far better position to rein in those bonuses than a government.

A company pays tax on their nett profits. If they weren't being spent on bonuses, they would be spent on dividends to the shareholders, which also doesn't garner the Government any additional tax income, given franking credits.