The Issue Of Paying Taxes

Had one local preacher man point out that he wishes he could pay more taxes. His reason being that by paying more taxes we would all benefit from better government services such as schools, hospitals and roads. He acknowledged that he was in the minority by taking this view. After some discussion with Dr H I can see why he would be in the minority.

Basically more taxes would result in bigger bureaucracies, not better services. There won’t be any money left after bureaucrats have sunk their teeth. There is no incentive to produce a high quality of product as the money is not their own.

Also, if one wants to pay more tax then there is nothing stopping you. Simply open up the chequebook and make it out to ‘Deputy Commissioner of Taxation.’ All donations will probably be received with shock.

Probably a better idea would be to donate to your local school or hospital, at least your money would be better spent there. There’s even the option of falsifying your tax return to make out that you earn more. That way you will be taxed more. Or if you are lucky enough to receive a tax return, hand it back with a smile. I’m sure the ATO won’t mind.

Taxation on my income is stealing. I didn’t give them permission to take my hard earned. If I didn’t have to pay income tax I could more easily pay for private health insurance, mortgage repayments and car maintenance.

If the government was serious about easing the burden on working families they would spend less and steal less.

Smoke & Mirrors

This is the term that comes to mind when describing most of the Rudd government’s achievements thus far.

According to Wikipedia:

Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name is based on magicians' illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a confusing burst of smoke.

In other words, Rudd is pretending to do something when really he is doing nothing. Take a gander at his latest policy initiatives.

Fuel Watch – He has had to retreat after the revelation that several government agencies oppose the idea and believe it will actually raise the price of fuel. This will not be good for the working families he claims to be assisting. He even tried to make out that the idea came from the opposition when they were in government. I don’t know whether that is true or not, but it’s not a good idea to be stealing ideas from the previous government, unpopular ones at that.

Binge Drinking – Originally I was a fan of the move to tax ‘alcopops’ because I assumed further action would come from it. But it seems now that that was his big move to tackle binge drinking. Apparently evidence has found a decrease in the sale of ‘alcopops’ and a relative increase in other forms of alcohol. So the effect of the tax is negligible when surely a change to trading hours would have a greater affect.

Inflation – Their inaugural budget was supposed to tackle this. Catchphrases like “tough but fair” and “responsible” were spat out ad nausiem by Rudd and treasurer Wayne Swan. Instead their budget still included a heck of a lot of spending. The means testing was also ‘smoke and mirrors’ when some of these welfare programs could have been turfed completely. Now that would have been tough but fair.

20/20 Summit – Purely a ‘gabfest’ resulting in not much other than Mr Rudd gaining a new friend in Cate Blanchett. The costs to the taxpayers that were announced this week were a bit off putting also.

Kevin Rudd was elected on the premise of new leadership and change. But instead we have the same old Labor government and no real change, and it seems the public service who are meant to be working for him are growing tired of him.

World Views – Book Review

A Spectator’s Guide To World Views
– Edited by Simon Smart

There are so many world views, some ridiculous, others not so much. Some intersect with Christianity while others are way out of sync. This book examines 10 of the so-called “isms” and gives the reader an understanding of what they are and how it is that they gained such a prominence in western society. Various authors have come together to put this book together, each looking at the separate world view. Outlined is its history, impact, contact & departure from Christianity as well as questions to think about and discuss as a group.

The respective authors have done the hard work so that you don’t have to while reading. For a thorough understanding of each world view there would no doubt be volumes available, but each chapter is enough for a general understanding.

Making The Switch

As their slogan goes, “Make the Switch To Vega.” Well I have answered the call of the highway billboards pleading with me to reconsider my choice of frequency.


Why? Well initially it was just for a change. I tend to go in cycles between AM and FM stations anyway. My main choices being 2GB and a mixture of MMM, 2WS, 2CBA and Mix, not so much Mix though as they tend to play too much Delta for my liking.

So this new player comes into the game and I want to hear what it has to offer. I had recently turned off from talkback, as it became a huge whinge fest with no relief in sight. Not a fan of Mikey Robbins in the mornings but for the rest of the day it is very pleasant and satisfies my need to sing loudly in the car. They might need to work on differentiating themselves further from WSFM because at the moment it is easy to interchange between both without really knowing the difference. Day after day of listening will find repetition in the play list but it’s the same at every other FM station as well.

Combating Inflation

All the talk these days is about inflation. After all, it is inflation that is causing interest rates to be increased. But is raising interest rates the only way to lower inflationary pressures? Haven’t heard much spoken about that. It’s as if the govt is very content to use the RBA as a scapegoat. They are independent from the govt, it beats being critical of something you are yourself doing.

So what else can the govt be doing? I’ve heard of a few suggestions, but somehow I don’t think either of them will see the light of day

• Increase GST to 12.5% - this would be effective as people start to tighten their budgets and spend a lot less. However a govt that does this will be committing political suicide and will probably be voted out in the following election, no matter how much they they try and convince the public that the increase is necessary for the long-term stability of the nation
• Restrict Trading – this is mainly a mode of bringing back some good old family values. With restricted trading such as no Sundays people have to spend time with their families. In effect this means that people aren’t shopping and spending money because they aren’t open. Most big retailers I’m sure wouldn’t like this though. Would also affect those people who rely on a Sunday job for a bit of extra income.