Disgusting Budget

[Griffin NoName]

Take from the poor (pensioners*) to give to the rich (tax rate cut), the Tories romp home with an own goal.

Along with the helth and social care bill, the poor will get poorer in money and facilities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17449501



*actually it's not quite that simple but to explain it is beyond my typing skills - suffice it so say, I will lose money and I am already scratching the mud at the bottom of the hole. If you want the details http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/22/budget-2012-osborne-pensioners-granny-tax?newsfeed=true

There is already a rise in welfare claimants being refused benefits commiting suicide. And now this.

I'm all for austerity if it means the country doesn't go bankrupt but I simply do not understand why the poorest people are the ones to pay up when wealthy people can easily afford to but don't.

I understand the arguements for these policies, but disagree and think it should not be beyond the skills of the fixers to come up with ways of making fairer policies.

I've been screaming at the TV again  

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

The poor don't have lobbies (nor can afford them), nor can invite MPs to trips in they yachts, private planes, mansions... you get the picture.

[Aggie]

These days, the wealthy have the money and freedom to live and set up business wherever they like, and the determining factor on where to 'officially' reside is largely taxation (if you own property all over the world, this is a matter for your tax accountant).  The poor, OTOH, are not likely to pack up and go to another tax regime. London wants to keep full of rich folks, and keep the spin-off benefits.  So does the US, and quite a few other tax regimes, so in the end you get a tax war forcing countries to drop their tax rates for high interest individuals to unsustainable levels. A century ago, before globalization, global communication and easy private air travel, rich folks were much more bound by custom and practicality to one place.

Interesting fact:  Who is allowed to immigrate to Canada with very few questions asked? Anyone who calls themself a business person, who has a net worth of $1.6 million or more, and who is willing to make a interest-free loan of $800,000 to the Canadian government for about 5 years.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/investors/index.asp

We let 700 people in per year under this set of qualifications, apparently. It used to be unrestricted, but the numbers were getting to be too high.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Mainland Chinese I suppose? They were trying to pass a law here to attract wealthy people too, for them to buy houses and stuff, but it isn't a new strategy at all. Welcome to the global plutocracy.

[Aggie]

Yes, quite a few, especially to Vancouver:

Investors come from all over the world. Currently, the majority of investors are from China, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong, but there are also substantial numbers of investors applying from the Middle East and elsewhere. You can find more information on where business immigrants come from in Citizenship and Immigration Canada's annual report, Facts and Figures.

[Griffin NoName]

Laterz.

And so it continues............

Latest reports are truly shocking............. people found fit for work are dying.............

Article here.

[Roland Deschain]

^ Those numbers are pretty shocking, and surprise surprise, it's a private company profiting from all of this. The whole thing smacks of knee-jerk reactionism, and a slow creep towards the US style of welfare. I proudly pay my National Insurance, and gladly give it to those less fortunate (through the gub'mint). Who are private companies to make these terrible decisions, and profit greatly from them? Surely that's up to the doctors?

[Griffin NoName]

The routine medicals for benefits are now done by nurses, or not even nurses, not doctors. It's ridiculous as only doctors can understand complex health needs. ie. the people carrying out the tests have been deliberately replaced with people with no relevant training, and are failing to find seriously ill people to be ill. Yes, it is shocking this is done by private companies for profit. It's corrupt. National Insurance used to guarantee benefits when ill. Now we still have to pay but don't get the benefits. For serious illness and chronic illness a year is not enough and no one can pretend it is. The reality is, seriously ill people will have no income. Wait til we have cancer patients on the streets. Unfortunately it will have to come to that before the govt. can have their noses rubbed in it. If they haven't responded to people dying while being found fit for work, what will bring home to them what they have done?

I am so cross and disgusted by all this I can't really find words to express it.