In November, the TTC board decided to raise fares for 2014 by approximately $60/year for people who buy metropasses every month. Many have already noted that this amount is the same as the $60 VRT that Mayor Ford and Council repealed early in thi…
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Autonomy For All: Toronto Needs Progressive Property Taxation
In November, the TTC board decided to raise fares for 2014 by approximately $60/year for people who buy metropasses every month. Many have already noted that this amount is the same as the $60 VRT that Mayor Ford and Council repealed early in this term. Quite plausibly, this is a
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: What Happened To Progressive Taxation?
In the last thirty years, the idea that taxes should be progressive has disappeared from public discourse. Robert Reich writes that the father of free market capitalism believed that nations should institute progressive taxation: Even Adam Smith, the 18th century guru of free-market conservatives, saw the wisdom of a graduated
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine Gears Up
Deeply affronted, perhaps even frightened by the recent change to the Ontario budget that will impose an increase of 2% on the income of those making over $500,000 per year, the right-wing has been busy cranking out its anti-tax propaganda. Lest anyone think that a return to some form of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thomas Walkom on Fair Taxation
Long a taboo subject, increasing tax rates for the wealthy is back on the agenda, in no small part due to the Occupy Movement and, more recently, Andrea Horwath. In today’s Star, Thomas Walkom presents an interesting perspective on the issue. You can click here to read it. Recommend this
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Inconvenient Truth For The Right Wing To Digest
Over the past several years, most notably since the ascension to power of the Harper regime, taxation, especially the concept of progressive taxation, has fallen into bad odour, Thanks to the ethos espoused by the right, we have been consistently bombarded with messages that we are unfairly burdened with oppressive
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Where Do Justice and Morality Reside?
On this Easter Sunday, when many turn their thoughts from the secular to the sacred, it is perhaps a propitious time to remember that the elusive goals of justice and morality, so often seemingly absent from the world, can and must be pursued, however imperfectly, only by those living in
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Andrea Horwath’s Dance With Dalton
While I continue to remain dubious of what will happen when the Ontario Legislature votes on Dalton McGuinty’s budget, I give the leader of the Ontario NDP, Andrea Horwath, top marks for what she says are her demands for NDP support. It is, however, interesting to note how her plan,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A New Call For a Return to Progressive Taxation
I suppose one has to be of a certain age to remember that progressive taxation has been a mainstay, until fairly recently, of our taxation system. Little by little over the past two decades, probably starting with the introduction of the GST, that principle has been on the wane, to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Why the Occupy Movement Has Relevance in Canada
Thee are many who assert that the Occupy Movement has no relevance in Canada because we have a social safety net and other measures that provide a modicum of protection to the most vulnerable. They also argue for the superiority of our banking system, …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: TruthDig For A Different Kind Of Truth
I recently wrote a couple of blog posts on Warren Buffett and the need for higher taxation of the very wealthy, an idea that is gaining currency in a number of countries, including France and Spain, the latter actually recently imposing a new tax on th…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Fair Taxation
Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren speaks on the topic of fair taxation:Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Increased Taxation Of The Rich In Spain
Having written previously on the logic and desirability of increasing taxation on the wealthy, I was heartened to learn that Spain recently increased its rate for those with real estate assets (excluding their principal residences), stocks and bank hol…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Taxpayers Versus Citizens
It probably doesn’t take a genius to understand the basic philosophical and fiscal difference between the moderate and the right-wing is that the moderate recognizes the needs of the collective, i.e., the entire society, while the right-wing gives prec…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Timidity Of The Ontario NDP
I wrote earlier this month about the growing call from certain monied sectors for an increase in their personal taxation rates, arguing that they are not paying their fair share to support the country in which they grew and prospered. That plea, as no…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Why Higher Taxes For The Ultra-Wealthy Is Truly Progressive Taxation
Back from my annual retreat from technology, I’ve had the opportunity to do a bit of thinking within a relaxing environment. The following is one of the things I’ve been thinking about:Current political orthodoxy suggests that income tax increases are…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Corporate Personhood Alert!
We have to spend some time this week carefully watching BC business playing good cop and bad cop. The good cop is opposing the idea of a corporate tax rate of zero, while the bad cop says that corporations should be able to vote, like real human beings. British Columbia Chamber of Commerce president John […]
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