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Re: Canada's Middle Class Richest In Study of Big Nations
The section in bold is so very true despite the argument many on the Right have concerning taxes. Yes, it's true that those at the bottom of the income scale pay little to nothing in federal income taxes, but that argument that many of us "in the middle" have put forward for quite some time now is that WE'RE THE ONES BEING SQUEEZED!
It's our labor that continues to get punished and our earning power that continues to get marginalized. Look at it this way:
When a multi-billion dollar company can pay $0.00 in federal income taxes because they've able to use the tax code to their advantage (bought and paid for through their corporate lobbyist) and hedge fund managers can get away with paying a mere 16% in capital gains taxes while much of the working class pays up to 25% of their earnings in federal income taxes (on top of state taxes in come cases), then it is WE who's only contribution to America's prosperity is our labor who is getting the crap end of the stick. It's a shame that so many people on the Right downplay this issue.
If you think government spending cuts would alone save the US then you are insane. As I said there are many more factors that are holding the US back, and that Canada does not have or has to a less degree.
Take political deadlock. The US has had it for a decade... Canada, while their politics can be fun to watch, it does have the ability to get things done when needed, something the US political establishment sorely lacks.
Or take healthcare. Yes Canada pays higher taxes (not by much on paper), but it also gets a system where the threat of economic doom is all but gone. Not so in the US for large parts of the middle class. Get sick, have the wrong insurance policy and you are screwed. And then there is the overall cost of healthcare... much higher in the US vs Canada, because in the US it is the healthcare industry that sets the prices due to lax regulation, which means the US healthcare provider can run amok price wise.
Fact is Canada has higher taxes, more regulation and so on than the US, but preforms on average better when looking at the middle class. Why is that? Look at the income inequality numbers... that might explain some of it and then look at the lopsided tax system the US has, where the rich have a smaller burden than the middle class.
And then of course there is the whole spending far more than you earn for decades and starting wars that are unfunded.
The section in bold is so very true despite the argument many on the Right have concerning taxes. Yes, it's true that those at the bottom of the income scale pay little to nothing in federal income taxes, but that argument that many of us "in the middle" have put forward for quite some time now is that WE'RE THE ONES BEING SQUEEZED!
It's our labor that continues to get punished and our earning power that continues to get marginalized. Look at it this way:
When a multi-billion dollar company can pay $0.00 in federal income taxes because they've able to use the tax code to their advantage (bought and paid for through their corporate lobbyist) and hedge fund managers can get away with paying a mere 16% in capital gains taxes while much of the working class pays up to 25% of their earnings in federal income taxes (on top of state taxes in come cases), then it is WE who's only contribution to America's prosperity is our labor who is getting the crap end of the stick. It's a shame that so many people on the Right downplay this issue.