Tax. The dirtiest three letter word in the world. We all hate tax. State sanctioned theft. Our hard earned money taken by governments because they believe they know better how to spend it than we do.
And the worst thing about tax is that they take it from us working folk and then give it to lazy, dumb, selfish people who are too lazy to work. Dole bludgers, slackers and solo mothers.
Well that's the line many spin and they spin it on talkback and in opinion pieces and on the political hustings.
And then there's reality.
According to just released information compiled from the Household Economic Survey 29 per cent of households receive Government benefits and transfers, excluding superannuation. Nearly a third of the nation are beneficiaries.
More than 42 per cent of those earning less than $20,000 a year receive Government money. Well I guess that makes sense because try and survive on $20,000 a year even if you are single.
But then we get these factoids.
Nearly 20 per cent of households earning more than $150,991 get benefits. 24 per cent of those earning between $100,001 and $150,000 get benefits.
The Tax Working Group found the same thing. The top three household income bands had 11 per cent of the Government benefits. The very wealthiest income band had 3 per cent.
It looks like we're a nation where dole bludging and being a beneficiary is a national sport. You could argue that the complaints from the well paid about our benefit addiction is a bit of double standards when you see how many well paid households are more than happy to pocket government handouts.
Some will argue that if government money is available then it's our responsibility to claw it back. The moral high ground unofficial tax rebate. But you could also argue that if you didn't claim the benefit then we wouldn't need to be taxed so much in the first place.
All this is a very simplified take on a complex issue. We have created a monster, particularly with Working For Families, that has enslaved us to governmental rebates. To unwind it all could be ruinous to our economy. And it's all funded through tax.
And there's that word again. Tax. We just have to say it and we all get angry. But tax is how we fund stuff like roads and health and cops and all government.
I had to laugh when I heard Simon Bridges calling Jacinda Ardern the fleecer in chief when it comes to petrol taxes because of course as Minister of Transport in the last government he was also a fleecer in chief. This government has introduced an Auckland petrol tax, sure, but the nationwide 3.5 cent increase was a scheduled increase to account for inflation.
If Mr Bridges was PM that would have happened too. Fleecer. His party also took half the money we pay for petrol. Fleecers. If they didn't they'd have to introduce road user charges or tolls because who do you think pays for the roads you drive your cars on?
It's great dog whistle politics because we hate tax. But it's double standards. Simon Bridges is just the same as Jacinda Ardern when it comes to fleecing us. And an awful lot us are just they same as any other beneficiary we sneer at.
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