Greece, the gloves are off

[RandBlade]

No he lives in a fantasy world where Greeks pay taxes and Cameron is going to save the world (again).

Your reading comprehension in shit again. I just said specifically that it would be better if all Greeks paid taxes, rather than just some. Do you believe that NO Greeks pay taxes? None whatsoever?

Every person here who thinks taxes are too high.

Why can both not be true?

What?

Those that are evading taxes need to pay them, but those who are not evading them may be paying too much. Simples.

So now you're a socialist?

quite the opposite. It's a socialist view that only some, the rich, should pay. It is more capitalist to treat everyone the same.

You're gonna need to remind me what you deem as honest.

In this case, those not evading taxes.

[GGT]

That's why Greek public workers were protesting in the streets---their income is easier to track (and tax) than the wealthy who fudge on stated income tax forms. Some of their anger is aimed at the government for not starting out of the gate with tax collection reform, to get at legitimate revenue. Instead they slashed wages from those who already pay taxes.

Pretty much anyone in a service industry (including physicians as well as food vendors) under-reports income and profits from that shadow system of "tips". I've yet to read any news reporting how Greece is going to crack down on that. So the wealthy Greeks will continue to live in a high-rent apartment, have a couple of luxury cars and a yacht, but their stated income will be LESS than their rent. Yet no official questions it or enforces rules, they just push the paper around.

(I've tried to get my Greek side of the family to explain how this can be happening, that people just state income and make up figures, but there's no real answer. Just "that's the way it's always been done, going back decades. No one trusts the government.")

[Khendraja'aro]

Name a single person here who claims that tax evasion is not a problem?

Cutting taxes is not a laughable concept if taxes are applied inconsistently and aggressively against those whom it is applied against. It is possible to have lower tax rates, but more evenly spread out so that everyone pays. Rather than potentially punitative rates against the honest and nothing against everyone else.

Please. You're going at it backwards. First you have to apply the existing laws consistently - THEN you can think about changing the laws.

You're just trying to slap bandaids on a gangrene wound.

[LittleFuzzy]

Please. You're going at it backwards. First you have to apply the existing laws consistently - THEN you can think about changing the laws.

You're just trying to slap bandaids on a gangrene wound.

Funny how different that it from your commentary *and that of a bunch of others* when things go wrong on this side of the Atlantic. Then it is people like Loki or Dread calling for consistent and effective enforcement of present law before going and making new ones, while you all howl at the need for more.

[Khendraja'aro]

Funny how different that it from your commentary *and that of a bunch of others* when things go wrong on this side of the Atlantic. Then it is people like Loki or Dread calling for consistent and effective enforcement of present law before going and making new ones, while you all howl at the need for more.

Actually, if you had read my posts back then, I even posted a pretty big translation of an interview with an economist asking for just that. I also stated repeatedly that I'm not for more legislation, but the right amount of and consistent legislation. I just don't like this almost pathologic reflex of "Something went wrong, quick, abolish some laws" those two sometimes show.

So take your accusal of hipocrisy somewhere else, will ya? Lest you look like a fool or something.

[Hazir]

Funny how different that it from your commentary *and that of a bunch of others* when things go wrong on this side of the Atlantic. Then it is people like Loki or Dread calling for consistent and effective enforcement of present law before going and making new ones, while you all howl at the need for more.

What's even funnier is that you posted this useless non-reaction.

[RandBlade]

Please. You're going at it backwards. First you have to apply the existing laws consistently - THEN you can think about changing the laws.

You're just trying to slap bandaids on a gangrene wound.

That only works if you're of the belief that the current legal situation has no effect on the current legal outcomes.

[Khendraja'aro]

That only works if you're of the belief that the current legal situation has no effect on the current legal outcomes.

The point is that cutting taxes because some people evade them anyway, does not solve anything.

The whole problem exists because the Greek state has no money. So, explain to me how cutting taxes solves the money problem if you're getting even less money?

[Being]

The point is that cutting taxes because some people evade them anyway, does not solve anything.

The whole problem exists because the Greek state has no money. So, explain to me how cutting taxes solves the money problem if you're getting even less money?

This approach has been used in the U.S. since 1980 and the result has been a decrease in revenue growth rate for the nation.

[RandBlade]

Australian satirists explain the €urocrisis:

[GGT]

That was good. Speaking of UK---

Cameron Warns Britons of ‘Decades’ of Austerity

Mr. Cameron tried to soften the blow by saying that the cuts would not disproportionately affect the vulnerable. Mr. Clegg told The Observer newspaper over the weekend that Britain would not face “a repeat of the 1980s” and the budget cuts of the Margaret Thatcher years.

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, a union that represents many public service workers, nonetheless told the Press Association news agency that Mr. Cameron’s speech was “a chilling attack on the public sector, public sector workers, the poor, the sick and the vulnerable, and a warning that their way of life will change.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/wo...ritain.html?hp


How ironic, he was speaking in Milton Keynes. Get it?

[Hazir]

Funny how all this talk made us overlook that Estonia will become a full EMU member at the end of this year. That brings the count to 17 of 27. The funny thing about Estonia is that it fullfills the criteria for the euro better than any present member.

[Hazir]

And Estonia is the 17th EU member introducing the Euro as of today. Their old local currency will be phased out over the next two weeks.