Sin taxes - Good or bad?

[buttershug]

Shouldn't the real question be why should ambulance drivers get a tax exemption no-one else gets?



???

You need to focus more.

No the real question is why should anyone pay for productivity?

You need to expand your focus. And learn from other examples. Practicality cannont be ignored.

I've clued in, you are saying targeting is the bad thing, being hit is inconsequencial.
Basically you want the government to target indiscriminately. You don't want them to purposely select what they tax.

 

[Quietus]

You know, Saro put it in such a way that it really makes sense to me.. and he seems to be on Donrei's side, though if memory serves, Dondrei wanted to drop sin taxes but keep free healthcare?

It's... strange. For the first time in my life, I'm looking at what I have (free health care), and looking at how often it's abused.. I saw a little girl on the bus a couple weeks ago who got a tiny cut on her hand, and her mother freaked out and took her to the hospital. For heaven's sake woman, clean it, put a bandage on it, and kiss that cut better! Don't waste health care money on something that trivial! As if the waiting times aren't long enough...

I don't see a doctor more than once, twice a year. And yet I pay just as much as the people who run to the hospital for a cold, or allergies. That's actually starting to annoy me... the amount of taxes I pay that theoretically goes into health care, if I take that and start setting it aside, then I could, in theory, save a lot of cash, if I use it only for health care. Of course, this is wonderful in theory.

My only issue is, if the government were to take away the healthcare we have, then they wouldn't give us anything back... or if they did, it would be so meager as to hardly be noticeable. On the other hand, it would mean that I'd have *something* in my pocket, while being safe in the knowledge that I'm not paying to have smokers deal with the problems associated with their habits, and that I'm not supporting people who run to the hospital for the slightest thing. However, technically I'm also the type of person that would get hit the hardest by that sort of thing - I believe the poverty line in Canada for a single person household is $16,000 and change, I make quite a bit less than that.

 

[Dondrei]

Smokers cost the government less than non-smokers. because they tend to die earlier.

That's a good point, although 95% (I think, I forget the actual number) of the cost to the health care system of supporting an individual is incurred in your last three years of their life so the real question should be how long do smokers tend to stay on their deathbeds compared everyone else?

No the real question is why should anyone pay for productivity?

Stop repeating mantras, it tends to press my DO NOT BELIEVE button.

You need to expand your focus. And learn from other examples. Practicality cannont be ignored.

I don't think you understood the context of that statement.

I've clued in, you are saying targeting is the bad thing, being hit is inconsequencial.
Basically you want the government to target indiscriminately. You don't want them to purposely select what they tax.

Well, it's more the motivation for the discriminatory taxation that bothers me.

 

[Dondrei]

You know, Saro put it in such a way that it really makes sense to me.. and he seems to be on Donrei's side, though if memory serves, Dondrei wanted to drop sin taxes but keep free healthcare?

Pretty much. We agree on this particular issue but personally I think that if we did away with free healthcare it would simply mean the rich would have more money in their back pocket while the poor would be staggering through the street with bleeding lesions and gangrene like the Dark Ages.

 

[Quietus]

Pretty much. We agree on this particular issue but personally I think that if we did away with free healthcare it would simply mean the rich would have more money in their back pocket while the poor would be staggering through the street with bleeding lesions and gangrene like the Dark Ages.

Aye, that's kinda what I was referring to - like I mentioned, I'm less than well off (though I manage to scrape by a living, and don't have a whole lot to complain about), and removal of free health care would affect those like me the hardest. I don't get sick very often, and when I do I just sweat it out, but one broken arm would be the death of me financially.

The fact of the matter is, the rich are always going to have more money. That's why they're rich. They'll end up paying more in a paid healthcare model though, because in general (I know this doesn't always apply), rich people are used to a more comfortable lifestyle, and will pay to see that comfort extend even to hospital stays.

 

[SaroDarksbane]

In a related story, this is another instance of government involvement in health issues.

"People are fat. What should we do?"
"Ban foods that are bad for them!"
"Hurray, gubamint!"

 

[Dondrei]

In a related story, this is another instance of government involvement in health issues.

"People are fat. What should we do?"
"Ban foods that are bad for them!"
"Hurray, gubamint!"

God I hate this stupid fat hysteria. There's a show on TV right now called Honey We're Killing the Kids (alright, annoy me as it may at least the title makes me laugh every time). Today as part of their shock tactics (and admittedly the families in question do have the most disgusting diets and habits) they said that the kids were watching... wait for it... 35 hours of TV a week. THE HORROR! That's a full-time job, they said.

That's like 5 hours a day, if you add together my computer and TV time I spend WAAAAY more time than that...

 

[Talga Vasternich]

God I hate this stupid fat hysteria. There's a show on TV right now called Honey We're Killing the Kids (alright, annoy me as it may at least the title makes me laugh every time). Today as part of their shock tactics (and admittedly the families in question do have the most disgusting diets and habits) they said that the kids were watching... wait for it... 35 hours of TV a week. THE HORROR! That's a full-time job, they said.

That's like 5 hours a day, if you add together my computer and TV time I spend WAAAAY more time than that...

So we should tax TV and internet use :tongue:

 

[Dondrei]

So we should tax TV and internet use :tongue:

There are too many taxes. I know, I'll pass a Tax Tax. That ought to discourage the government's bad habit of making new ones.

 

[Quietus]

There are too many taxes. I know, I'll pass a Tax Tax. That ought to discourage the government's bad habit of making new ones.

Yeah, as if that'd pass - where would the government get their fat wallets from, to go to their $100+/plate dinners when they're "On Business"? Not that I'm against the idea... but it's kind of like passing a stupid tax. It'd affect the government's employees adversely, so it'll never happen.

 

[Cormac McArt]

Re: Sin taxes - Good or bad?

Bill The Butcher!
Tough from the options - Oppose !

 

[krischan]

Re: Sin taxes - Good or bad?

It seems we currently have a thread resurrection spree in here.

Taxes on taxes ? We already have that. AFAIK you have to pay sales taxes for the tax part of gas prices in Germany.

 

[lAmebAdger]

Re: Sin taxes - Good or bad?

eh? that's kinda stupid, or it sounds so at least... i still can't believe how german tax rule books are the thickest ever... (i haven't seen another country with that much!)

 

[Johnny]

Re: Sin taxes - Good or bad?

There's an energy tax on gas that makes the price what it is and then there's a sales tax on the total which means in a lot of countries you pay tax on tax.

 

[Cormac McArt]

Re: Sin taxes - Good or bad?

Oh - and by the way - the Name alone wont make a good Killer from you and your character!
It takes a storm ...

 

[Dondrei]

Re: Sin taxes - Good or bad?

I miss that butthole Talga.