THE UNDERTAXED ANGLOSPHERE:

Taxation take is helping Howard battlers: NEW figures have shaken the widely held contention that the Howard Government is lavishing middle Australia with welfare while the genuinely needy go without. (David Uren, June 14, 2007, The Australian)

The tax and welfare systems are redistributing income from high- to low-income earners, who receive the lion's share of government assistance, new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.

The average household receives more in government services than it pays in tax, with corporate taxes redistributed across the community.

According to the figures, only 40 per cent of households actually pay any net tax, after the value of all government benefits is counted. [...]

The ABS figures will make it harder for John Howard's opponents to criticise his administration of tax and welfare in the lead-up to the federal election, due to be held within months.

The only reasonable solution to thius problem is to deny the franchise to those who receive more from government coffers than they pay in. If you choose to be a dependent you should not be treated as independent.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 14, 2007 8:01 AM