Citizenship test

[DanaC]

Merc, you'd hate it man. Taxed to fuck, and no guns!

[Aliantha]

Yeah, we have tax, and IMO, we pay an awful lot. Also, we have guns. It's just that you can't carry a hand gun around.

Just as a side note, it's amazing how much my attitude to taxation has changed as my financial circumstances have changed.

[DanaC]

I have been poorly paid and reasonably well paid and I have never resented income tax and national insurance.

[ZenGum]

Yeah, but you're a commie.

All them darkies and furriners, right, they should, like, ....
a. Sod off back where they came from
b. get jobs and stop bludging off welfare
c. stop taking all our jobs
d. open a corner store.

Well?

[DanaC]

lol. I love b and c.

[ZenGum]

Yeah, you'll sometimes hear those two things out of one (usually loud) mouth within a few moments of each other.

[Aliantha]

I keep telling all my kiwi friends to go home so there's more jobs here. Then I realise what a dumb thing I'm saying.

[ZenGum]

Yeah, as if a Kiwi in Oz would have a job ...

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I have been poorly paid and reasonably well paid and I have never resented income tax and national insurance.

Yeah me too, but these days I see how hard Dazza works and I think it's not fair.

Last week he had his usual fortnightly pay which is about $5k gross, and also a project which was worth about $5k gross, but he only got to bring home about half of that. Less than actually.

I'm talking about a man who works about 80 hours a week in a job that he loves in general, so he's lucky that way, but still, we're still only considered upper middle income earners here, yet we get not a cent in aid from the government at all. We get no medical assistance at all. We pay full price for everything. Dazza supports two kids who aren't his biologically because their father firstly wont pay and secondly lives in another country now, so there's no recourse. I do what I can with bits of odd jobs here and there and some part time work, but it doesn't make much difference.

Then there are people (many) who complain because they have been cut off from unemployment benefits or been ASKED by centrelink to get a job even, and they bitch about it. Meanwhile, we work our arses off to pay the bills so that we can give our kids the same things the multiple child single parent families living off welfare get!

It sux.

[ZenGum]

We get no medical assistance at all.

Eh?

You're all entitled to medicare, and if you have private insurance, that is tax deductible.

[Aliantha]

Yeah, but we don't qualify for bulk billing, and we pay full price for prescriptions etc. Also, I understand that if we have emergency surgery, we're expected to pay more than an unemployed person (although I'm not certain of that last bit).

[Aliantha]

I don't have private health insurance because when I was in my mid to late 20's when the new legislations came in, I was a single parent working part time and going to uni full time. I couldn't afford private health insurance. By the time I could, I was over 30 so there was no point.

I believe the legislation has changed again now, so next year might be different as a family group, but right now, nope. No private health insurance.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

it's amazing how much my attitude to taxation has changed as my financial circumstances have changed.

Just as a side note?

[Aliantha]

oh well I didn't mean to make a big thing of it. lol

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Merc, you'd hate it man. Taxed to fuck, and no guns!

Screw that then, I ain't going if I can't take my armory.....