Monday 16 December 2019

If I Had a Little Money...

...with apologies to ABBA.

We work.  Sometimes very hard.  Many of us go to University or some other school of higher learning just so we can do better for ourselves and our families.

And then we find a job, or if so inclined, so go into business for ourselves, which often is a far more riskier venture.

But the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel arrives when we get our paycheque.  And then the non-fun begins when we notice all the deductions, especially income tax.  The amount on our paycheque goes down, sometimes way down.

But we worked, we payed our taxes (and then some), and finally we get our net pay.  Great!  Money free and clear!

But hold on there...this is Canada.  Income taxes are only Part A.  There's Parts B, C, D where government insists it's not done with our pocketbooks yet.

You want a new car using your net income?  Fine, but now you get to pay the government again in the form of a consumer tax, the mighty GST!  Is that fair?  You already paid taxes on your income?

Oh, you want gas for your car?  Hoo boy! There's excise, provincial, carbon tax PLUS you pay GST ON THOSE taxes as well as on your actual purchase.  All with the net income you received AFTER you already paid the government its mandated share.

Enough said.  You get my drift.

"But the government needs all that extra tax revenue to run programs!" someone bleats.

Assuming for now that that is true, the government does us, the taxpayer, yet another disservice.  Rather than just using what it takes in from all revenue sources, the government du jour goes above and beyond that amount and "borrows" money, creating a deficit in the budget.  Yep.  Taxes aside, the "smartest guys in the room" go even further and pin further financial burden on us lowly folk often leaving it to accumulate to the point where TPers pay more of their income on taxes than they do on food, clothing, and shelter combined.

And they leave the debt to grow and grow.

To their credit, our new UCP provincial government is trying to hack away at their debt, created by our previous socialist administration.  A 2.8% reduction. That's it.  2.8% with a decimal point after the two.  And...their popularity has dropped.  The knives are out.

Should we keep spending so the Left will put those knives away?  I think not.

But that's where we're at now.  Think about it.