My thankfulness was aroused a few days before the Turkey and Pumpkin Pie long weekend arrived when I saw the somewhat bizarre Tweet, above, from one of the self-annointed 'protectors' of Canadian taxpayers in Lotusland.
Why bizarre?
Well, clearly, the Tweet was supposed to invoke some sort of outrage amongst a certain segment of our population.
But all I could think was...
'Good on Canucks' goalie Ryan Miller!'
Because folks who are doing really well helping our least privileged citizens is the way things are supposed to work around here, right?
Not according to the good Mr. Bateman and friends, apparently:
VANCOUVER, BC: As the puck drops on another Vancouver Canucks season, so does another year of collecting income tax from the players. A new joint Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) and Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) study, Major Penalty for High Taxes, shows last year’s Canuck players paid $39.7 million in income taxes to the federal and BC governments...
{snip}
...The 25 players on last year’s Canuck roster earned a combined $88 million CDN, meaning more than 45 per cent of their salaries would have gone to income taxes...
So...
Good on the Canucks for helping out, eh!
Put another way, you fill find absolutely no outrage regarding that 45 per cent in this quarter.
Except, perhaps, to question why the marginal tax rate on our biggest earners isn't still at the level it was when the Neander (en)Thralls figure we were at our mighiest.
OK?
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5 comments:
I'm embarrassed to have the same surname.
In high school, they called me Batman :-)
We know the "Canadian Taxpayers Federation" is too ashamed of their donors to name them.
Is there a way to look into US sources to find out where "Americans for Tax Reform" gets their funding from?
No mention of the massive multi million dollar tax subsidies that billionaire NHL team owners get?
I'm shocked !
I cannot stand Jordan Bateman. He's always whining about something but he never does anything about it, never offers feasible solutions. He has an easy job...complaining about taxes. I'd like to see him try to cut taxes while maintaining (or improving) government services like health, education, environment, etc.
markerbuoy--
Ha!
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Excellent question Anon-Three-Above--
I think NVG may have a thought or three about that
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Anon-Two-Above--
And/or massively subsidized, socialized-profiteering bridge makers
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Anon-Above--
Mr. Bateman was an excellent councillor in Langley and he is very effective at what he does, which is to hook the media mavens into moving the goalposts rightward...Nowadays he's deep within their phones and in their rolodexes (for those who still have them)...And, to give him his due, these days he's very upfront about what he's up to...However... Back in the old days he wasn't above synthesizing a little astroturf when required.
So.
Given Mr. Bateman's effectiveness at pushing populist buttons, often in an effort to get folks to make choices that are not in their own best interests (see Translink vote, for example), what struck me as odd about this campaign was how (I think) off-message it was in that respect...
But, then again, what the heckfire do I know.
After all, I've never run a focus group in my life.
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