Quote:
Originally Posted by bonzoe
Does that mean that you will not be voting?
Don't all politicians say what they believe people want to hear in order to get their votes.
And don't forget, a lot of pensioners pay tax, so the bribe is not at everyone else's expense as you try to claim.
But, beware, you may get what you wish for, so start saving!!  |
I must be missing the bribes I've received over this Parliament, but I've have a look back through. From what I can see my income tax bill has barely budged, my tax bill as a whole has gone up due to indirect taxation. I receive no payments from the state, receive no subsidies for anything I do.
Regrettably I'm a very boring chap who is paying at least £30k a year, net of all services received both by myself and my daughter, to the government.
The idea that because a lot of pensioners pay tax they aren't getting bribed with other people's money as a cohort is ridiculous.
Everyone right down to kids when they purchase some snacks pay indirect taxes. As would be expected the pensioner cohort as a whole are big net recipients of funds. The patterns of receipt from state funds across ages are pretty well established.
I do see your point though - the thread title should've been 'Yet another bribe for OAPs, almost entirely with other people's money'.
I am quite sure I'll get exactly that - by the time I retire the population will be too old, and there won't be enough money to cover the kind of welfare and pensions, public and private, that would be taken for granted now.
The flat rate pension recently introduced ensures that one less thing that would've compensated me for net contributions to the tax man's coffers won't happen. That added to the almost entirely non-contributory nature of the UK's benefit system and the various methods in which the tax and welfare systems punish success make it unsurprising that so much of the UK's population are net recipients.
So if you could point out these bribes I'm apparently getting that'd be appreciated. The past 5 years for me appear to have been 'Take, take, take' and there's nothing that's been announced that indicates the next 5 will be any different.
---------- Post added at 09:57 ---------- Previous post was at 09:56 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by techguyone
They should do a 'none of the above' box, so politicians know that people are voting - just not for them, rather than simply not turning up, so its not recorded and assumed to be a 'can't be bothered' voter.
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They do - spoiled ballots.
I would be very happy with compulsory voting so long as the ability to spoil the ballot were made clear.