And....Here we go!
Posted By: TechSupport on 2009-05-30
In Reply to: VAT Tax - anyone for it? - Backwards typist
We'll have the double-whammy of inflation (perhaps hyperinflation) plus the VAT. It's a double-whammy, of course, because there will be two powerful forces driving prices through the roof.
Governments like the VAT because it's a "hidden" tax that people "get used to", and because they can creep it up incrementally (everyone kindly note what's happened to local sales taxes) without getting too much shove-back from voters.
Since it's so hard for me to believe that Obama won't suffer the same fate as Bush Sr. when he raised taxes after saying "read my lips" (Obama said the equivalent), and because the VAT is so regressive (they'll try to jigger it so they can tell you it's progressive, but it never will be or can be), I have trouble believing that anyone in the White House thinks there's a chance of passing a VAT.
So...what might they be doing? You have to remember that the people like the Emanuel brothers who are behind this are political deviates who believe that manipulating the American people is not only their right, but their obligation.
Well...could they be trying to manipulate people into spending money now - in anticipation of the threat that the washing machine or the car will be 25% higher if the VAT passes?
Notice that people WILL buy things today if they think they'll cost more tomorrow - heck, retailers use this trick all the time. "Limited-time sale!1" "Prices will be going up soon!" "Act now before we have to raise our prices!"...and it works.
Obama doesn't like it that you and I haven't gone back to spending like he is - i.e., a drunken sailor on shore leave who finds himself in possession of dad's credit card. Nossir, he doesn't like it one bit. He doesn't understand that smart people are hunkering down and trimming their budgets - something he's never heard of.
So I would certainly NOT put it past this government to be floating this idea with two ideas in mind -
1. Hey - maybe people will go for it if we sell it right and don't tell them, well...EVERYTHING about it.
2. And hey - even if they don't go for it, maybe it will get them to break open their piggy banks by threatening them with the prospect of the VAT and future higher prices.
Heads they win, tails you lose.
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