'Emergency' Tax on the Rich Roils Britain

cnbc ^

[chuckee]

As part of the global push to tax the rich, Britain is now debating an “emergency” wealth tax. But the idea has hit fierce opposition from conservatives, who say the “politics of envy” hasn’t made the country rich.

Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal-Democrat Party, has proposed a one-time tax on the wealth (rather than the incomes) of high-net-worth Britons. The details aren’t clear, but Clegg says the country is facing an economic war caused by a prolonged recession, and needs to tax the rich in order to avoid social unrest.

He told the Guardian that unless the country “hardwired fairness” into the budget, “I don't think the process will be either socially or politically sustainable or acceptable."

Chancellor George Osborne shot back, saying the plan would chase out the rich and make the odds of full recovery even worse. Bernard Jenkin, the chair of the House of Commons' public administration committee, told the BBC that the tax could strangle the golden geese of Britain. “If the politics of envy made a country rich, we'd be very rich … Most rich people are contributing far more in tax than other people." ...

[kingu]

I’ll respect Congress when they live under the same Social Security and healthcare as the rest of us.

They earn $175,000 a year. There is no reason for the public to pay them one more thin dime. Nor is there any reason to continue paying for benefits for any previous member of congress, nor any appointed officials. These are not terms of employment - they were either elected or select to their positions. They can pay their own way.

Oh, and I'm all for an immediate refund of any contributions they've made to any retirement or benefits program. A pittance compared to their yearly embezzlement of public funds.

[MasterGunner01]

Here you go Labour and Liberal-Democrat Party: a one-time confiscation of all properties, bank accounts, and anything of value from “The Rich”. That also applies to the House of Commons, House of Lords, and Royal Family — everyone not living on the dole [that is, welfare]. Then the UK can go down the crapper and everyone can live in a failed, Third World hole like Zimbabwe. Hmmmm, I wonder what the Muslims will do? Go back home? How will they afford the airfare?

[MissNomer]

How do they think this would even work? “The rich” don’t have mattresses stuffed with cash. Most of their holdings are assets, which would need to be liquidated (ie, sold). Who is going to buy these assets, other rich people? And what would the selling price be, if masses of assets were suddenly dumped onto the market around tax time?

[techcor]

a one-time tax on the wealth

Anyone seriously stupid enough to believe the phrase "one-time"?

[thackney]

People are saying that they really think too much is being taken out of the pay packet for someone to spend on their behalf, and they’d rather be left with more, and it’s now well-known that Socialist Governments put up taxes and Conservative Governments take them down. It’s part of our fundamental belief giving the people more choice to spend their own money in their own way.

...Now if you run up the public sector, you can only do it by draining money out of industry and commerce. But that’s where the jobs are. And one of the reasons why you have to cut public expenditure is to get the money back—one of the reasons why you have to cut public expenditure is to get money back out of the public sector, into industry and commerce, so that they, in fact, can invest, and improve, and expand; because that’s where the secure jobs are. It’s very complicated.

...and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”

Feb 5, 1976
Margaret Thatcher

http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=102953