What cuts are you prepared to personally suffer to repay the deficit?

mark5

Stop all child benefit,
Stop all tax credits,
Stop winter fuel payments,
Reduce council tax benefit.

carolt

Alan_Cross wrote: »

Yes, there are quite a few of these stemming from the Murdoch-poisoned brains of the greedy tendency on MSE.

To redress the balance of this, if only fractionally, I'll answer the OP by saying that I personally will be very happy to accept the 'cut' of outlawing the City bonus culture...

... and, oh yes, I'll even pay my share of whatever extra funding is necessary to beef up the tax evasion inspectorate - providing first they start examining the tax records of all those who deliberately opt out of state provision in health and education.

That should throw up more than a few interesting situations.

This post was brought to you by the Anti Selfishness League...

Do you receive a city bonus?

If so, well done, for your commitment.

If not - try again, focusing on your sacrifices this time.

ERICS_MUM

carolt wrote: »

Seems little point earning more, as with a marginal tax rate that high, it is barely worth it.

You're right though, if I spent less time on here, I wouldn't need to read moronic drivel like the stuff you just wrote.

Basically, you are a hypocrite - you use public services all the time and could easily afford to contribute more in tax, given you have no dependents to support.

But you won't, because you're fundamentally selfish and want others to suffer on your behalf. And even more attractively, you want the people who are going to suffer on your behalf to be small children. Lovely character.

Do you know the person you are replying to, and are in cahoots with him/her just to make this thread more controversial ? OR are you just mentally ill and expect that to excuse the vitriolic crap you are spouting ?

carolt

mark5 wrote: »

Stop all child benefit,
Stop all tax credits,
Stop winter fuel payments,
Reduce council tax benefit.

Which of those do you personaly currently receive?

FTBFun

As VAT going up and NI going up in April will definitely affect me, I'm not happy about these of course (who is?), but accept them as a necessary measure.

I don't claim any benefits as I earn too much (and wouldn't anyway), and the only public service I really use is the NHS, and not that often. Raising interest rates won't make any difference as I'm on a fixed rate mortgage deal so all it will do is raise my savings interest, hardly a setback!

Maybe more tax on port?

bendix

What cuts am I personally prepared to 'suffer' to help deficit reduction? Interesting question. I haven't directly received anything resembling benefits from the state since I gratefully benefited from a student grant in the early 1980s. I'm forever thankful for that.

Since then I haven't had a penny of unemployment benefit, housing benefit and all of the innumerable hundreds of other benefits that have appeared over the last 25 years. I have private medical insurance and have never used the NHS in any capacity since being asked to drop my trousers and cough as a 12 year old boy at school. I am married but have no kids. I currently pay around £55,000 a year income tax and NI, and have suffered recently from both the removal of personal allowances for those earning over £100k a year and also I've just slipped into the 50% tax bracket marginally.

Do I resent the latter two? Not really. Would I have a problem if tax rates increased or the bands were expanded? I wouldn't love it, but I'd put up with it.

What more can I contribute? Higher VAT? Not a problem. I can't decrease what I suck out of the state's coffers because I receive nothing. I can only increase what I contribute.

I have a moral objection to accepting any benefits at all from the state if I can avoid it (obviously things like Police and Defence I can't control). If I was laid off tomorrow, I would not sign on as a matter of principle. If I was sick, I wouldn't use NHS resources. And I have already decided that I will not claim any state pension when that is due - I don't need it, so why take it? The fact that I have paid for it is irrelevant; it is called National Insurance for a reason. You only draw down on an insurance policy when you need to.

carolt

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Talking of "utterly hypocritical", remind me again who was very loudly celebrating the cuts to housing benefits for those on genuinely low income just last month.

But is now up in arms at the thought of high earners losing child benefits.

So carol is all in favour of benefits cuts..... but only when she might stand to benefit from them.

Exactly my point Hamish - gosh you are slow tody.

I have been accused of hypocrisy for not wanting to shoulder the sacrifices myself.

So I wanted to show that all those who accused me of this were of course not guilty of ANY of the hypocrisy which they labelled me with.

So HAMISH, what sacrifices are YOU PERSONALLY prepared to make? Not me, not other people - YOU.

Or will you just come clean and admit that you are every bit as much a hypocrite as you claim I am?

You told me yesterdy to 'suck it up'.

We're all still waiting to find out exactly what you woud like to 'suck up'. Needless sexual innuendo exactly as you wrote it to me, BTW.

Alan_Cross

carolt wrote: »

Do you receive a city bonus?

If so, well done, for your commitment.

If not - try again, focusing on your sacrifices this time.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

I would not lower myself to consider joining the ranks of the moronic crowd in the square mile who think that City trading actually requires any talent or intellect.

Their antics are well documented and it remains to be seen whether their chummies in the Tory government will actually do anything about them.

Personally, I won't be holding my breath, Cable or no Cable...

My point was and still is, even though the sarcasm appears to have been lost on you, that I shall be prepared to make 'sacrifices' as and when I see the City has done it first...

bendix

Carolt is getting a lot of stick here - much of it justified - but those who attack her are not helping themselves by refusing to directly answer her very specific question at the start of this thread.

By naming general ideas to cut the reduction rather than saying what YOU ARE PERSONALLY prepared to suffer from, people are diminishing rather than enhancing their sense of moral outrage.

ERICS_MUM

carolt wrote: »

So in other words, it's always other people's fault.

We're not 'all in this together'.

It's a case of 'I'm alright, Jack'.

Just so as we know. Do as I say, not as I do.

Thanks, I'm so glad you agree with me.


Incidentally, I agree with every one of your points - but you're on the wrong thread for those - this was the thread for people to say what THEY were prepared to sacrifice.

I am prepared to sacrifice the amount I pay in tax to deal with the above-mentioned scum, and for the money save to be reinvested elsewhere rather than have my contribution reduced, so therefore I am prepared to sacrifice.

I was going to say that we should balance sacrifice and contribution., for example as a medic in the nhs i contribute every day to helping people live their lives and end their days as painfree as poss. If I moved to private medicine I would certainly pay more in tax/NI but would not make such a contribution to the man in the street. But in view of your attitude I wont say it.


I do believe your question is too narrow - rather like your mind.