(originally written Apr 19, 2012. Part of my Great Upload of 2013.) The American “millionaire tax” plan At the moment, Obama is facing stiff resistance from his proposal to tax all income above $1,000,000 per year at a rate of 30%. This, despite the support of one-time world’s-richest-man Warren Buffett,
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Alberta Diary: In 2011, Fraser Institute continued to take Koch Brothers donations and file tax returns claiming no political activity
Michael Walker, right, President of the Fraser Institute Foundation and former director of the Fraser Institute, looks at a copy of the Edmonton Sun with a well-known columnist from that newspaper. The great public intellectuals of the Canadian right may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Consistent Fraser Institute donors
Continue readingImpolitical: Mankiw on raising taxes
This is a notable development in the U.S. conservative spectrum, an op-ed from Gregory Mankiw in the New York Times today dares to talk about raising taxes and on the middle class, at that: “Too Much Wishful Thinking on Middle-Class Tax Rates.” Which brings us back to the middle class.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Alberta Apocalypto: The world as you know it is about to end! Again…
Alberta Finance Minister Doug Horner gets ready to make a sacrifice to placate the mighty and angry Deficit God. Alberta politicians, not to mention the Legislative complex, may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Horner. Oh my God! The world is coming to an end! I’m not
Continue readingStarbucks sticks it to the Brits
I always look forward to reading yet another story about how multinational corporations slither out of their tax responsibilities and was, therefore, duly amused by a piece I encountered in Al Jazeera about the world’s favourite coffee shop. It appears Starbucks, while selling £643-million worth of goods in the U.K.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Duncan Cameron highlights the choice between austerity and prosperity facing the governments of both Canada and the U.S.:The economic realities faced by working people in both Canada and the United St…
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Montrealers Getting Screwed By Tremblay
C’mon, tell us how you voted for Tremblay again and again and how much you thought he was a good mayor. Tell us you had no idea that there was corruption at City Hall. And tell us us how you figured out that voting for a guy who was “not
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: The Conservative Economic Record
Sept 2012: Unemployment is up at 7.4%; it has been increasing since June while American unemployment has only gone down. July 2012: Worst trade deficit ever in Canadian history at $2.3 billion. 2012: GDP growth rate is declining (PDF pg 22). Canada is no longer the fastest growing economy in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On fairer shares
I’d take some time to rebut the Leader-Post editorial board’s odd claim that the only way to share the proceeds of Saskatchewan’s economy is by slashing public revenue through another set of tax giveaways. But instead, I’ll simply point to what I wrote not long ago about “off the tax
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Conservatives Can’t Avoid Social Responsibility
There is no stronger conservative principle than personal responsibility, however this Conservative government has shown that when people are only responsible to themselves, social well-being suffers, eventually including the well-being of Conservatives. This apparent contradiction is obvious in that though Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, they also claim the largest
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: The Point of Taxes
What follows is my submission to BC’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. Any other British Columbians interested in influencing next year’s budget have until October 18 to do so by clicking here. Taxation has three major purposes: raising government revenue, redistributing wealth, and discouraging “bads.” The first
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Liberals, No One Forgets The Common Refrain
You don’t spread a message by only saying it once. This Conservative government has created Canada’s largest deficits, the largest government and has spent more money than any other Canadian government before it. On the most important things people don’t just speak up and than sit back down smug that
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Canada Already Has A 1¢ Carbon Tax
Last year this Conservative government collected $424,418,000 in taxes to pay for carbon emissions. That same year Canadians used 38,208,346,000 litres of gasoline. Doing the quick math, Canadians paid 1.1¢ or $0.011 for every litre of gas they consumed in 2011. Now Canadians weren’t taxed at the pump, though it
Continue readingCorporate surplus, human debt; Conservatives mismanage the economy.
Source and excellent post here.Our government is lowering corporate taxes, despite the expected, and ever-rising, corporate surplus. Our government is also raising payroll taxes, which is EI and CPP premiums (which every worker pays), as well as user-f…
Continue readingCorporate surplus, human debt; Conservatives mismanage the economy.
Source and excellent post here. Our government is lowering corporate taxes, despite the expected, and ever-rising, corporate surplus. Our government is also raising payroll taxes, which is EI and CPP premiums (which every worker pays), as well as user-fees – which citizens have to pay when they use certain government
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Bloomberg Stunner: How Chesapeake Energy Paid Less Than a 1% Tax Rate On $5.5 Billion in Profits
chesapeake-energy.jpg Chesapeake Energy, a company that is no stranger to financial scandals, has found itself on the front page of the financial papers again. This time, the subject is taxes. Or how Chesapeake barely pays them. Over its 23-year history, Chesapeake Energy, the second largest producer of natural gas
Continue readingLeft Over: Clown Circus Strikes Again!
Cross-border shopping rules hit Canadian stores Although I empathize with some small independent retailers, victims of their inability to achieve the vast purchase power of the big multi-national chains, in fact it is well past time to blame gas taxes, etc, for your retail woes.. When companies charge (often
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: A Healthy Society – Chapter 3 Discussion
Chapter 3 of Ryan Meili’s A Healthy Society focuses on the effect of income – both in total and in distribution – as a determinant of health. But while there’s plenty of material deserving of further discussion, I’ll point to his comments on the place of taxation and government spending
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Michael Harris sums up the first year of a Harper majority by pointing out the overwhelming need for change from the government we’re stuck with now: The curtain has been well and truly whipped away from the PM’s self-promoting deceptions and he is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Yesterday’s Alberta election certainly proved somewhat of a shocker – producing about the best possible result short of a minority scenario that would have allowed the NDP to exercise the balance of power, as the slightly-less-right party won even as its most
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