Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14
Well, Alberta's primary problem is more likely wasteful spending rather than lack of revenue, but the question of whether the province utilizes appropriate taxation levels is valid. However, you completely ignored my objection to your ludicrous tax scheme. What on earth would lend anyone to support the idea that they should give up such a ludicrous percentage of their income, on top of what they already give up, because the government says that it is better able to spend that money on other people? Any government that suggested something so stupid would lose every seat it held in the following election, and rightly so.
A tax that high isn't simply funding a social safety net. It's funding outright socialism. It is also rather ironic given you want jack the hell out of a consumption tax to relieve pet favourite groups of the need to pay for services they consume.
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My apologies, wasn't my intention to ignore anything at all, I just took on a lot to respond to at that moment
Obviously it's a fairly substantial and likely indigestible increase for most people, and I didn't mean for it to come across as "Hey what if a government did that tomorrow?" but rather, "What if Canada slowly built itself toward that?"
I'm not at all denying it would fund a more socialist state, but to me that isn't a bad word. While the idea of daycare or children attending school for free obviously doesn't appeal to you, what about a free, expansive health care? What if you didn't have to worry about what job you had because healthcare was already covered? What about higher pensions and an earlier retirement age? I'd like to retire before 67, personally. Early retirement creates more opportunities for a young, educated workforce to find employment, so it does have a greater benefit than just supporting those of retirement age.
Consumption taxes are a very small drop in the pond compared to income tax (which should also be raised). I understand that it may be of no direct benefit to yourself right now, but high taxes do inevitably benefit everyone. Granted, I'm bias, but it is partially because of that bias that perhaps I don't see the problem you're getting at fully. In scenarios common to this, as tax goes up on items, so too does minimum wage. As I said, it's not as though this is an immediate, feasible solution, but one that Canada could be benefitted by building towards.