Flap,
I don't know where you live, but from what I've read this morning you'd make a super supporter of the Canadian government. You want to talk about wealth redistribution, Canada has made it a fine art.
An example. An acquaintance of mine prepares cross-border tax returns. They recently had a U.S. citizen with four children, who was a homeowner, with an income of US$65,000. His federal income tax payable was about $2,500.
Now I'm a Canadian, and that's about what I make (in Canadian dollars, which are about 0.65 of a US$). Homeowner, three kids. Last year I paid about $15,000 in federal income tax. You see in Canada, I'm considered a high-income earner, until recently subject to high income surtaxes. Oh, and I live in the province with the lowest income taxes, so only paid about another $4,000 in provincial income tax.
The icon single mother probably gets better services here than in the U.S. Certainly the poor are the focus of public discussion, and most of our media bleed about them on a daily basis. But they've leveled the playing field so much that they're jeopardizing their revenue sources. A lot of our best educated (usually at considerable public expense) are leaving for a more sane system where they actually get to keep enough of their earnings to pursue a dream of self-sufficiency. There has to be a happy medium, and the Canadian system is NOT it.
Bottom line - be careful what you wish for. I'd rather we got a few more earners like Dick Cheney up here, and fewer people living off the "safety net". I think you'll find that the safety net can turn into a hammock pretty easily. |
