Quote:
Originally Posted by Chill Cosby
Depending, of course, on the tangibility of the benefits (more expansive health care, free day care or perhaps free university and the like) how would people honestly feel about every province having an HST of around 20-25%?
Would you be for something like that? Or against it? Considering the financial situation in Alberta, I feel as though we'd see incredible benefit with more taxation.
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I have a few problems with free daycare and free university.
If you assume that everyone pays into a pot (taxes) then single income families who chose to have one parent stay home are now paying higher taxes so that another family can put their kid in daycare and have both parents work. I did not consider single parents because I think there are better ways to help them out than to provide everyone with free daycare.
Following the same assumption, a lot of jobs do not require a university education. If you raise taxes to provide free education then you are raising taxes on those without university education, who typically make less money, to provide a benefit to those who will receive a university education and typically make more money.
In both cases, you have a system that benefits those with more money at the expense of those with less money.
For tuition costs, I would much rather see increased financial aid in the form of loans. Possibly linked to your tax rate. Maybe tuition is free, but you have to pay a higher tax rate for ten years.
As for free daycare, I would much rather see an increase in baby bonuses or some other payment that the parents can spend as they see fit.
On the tax front, I am not against higher taxes outright, but I think I would rather see the money go to the lower levels of government. I like the idea of a hike to the HST to provide money for municipalities.