Plan B Forum

That's a pretty interesting break down. Does that include just your national level income taxes, or all taxes, including property tax (assume that is for local government) and sales tax?

That's income tax and national insurance contributions combined, I think.

Our priorities are a bit different here in the U.S. -

Over here all our tax money goes to the "Gubbermint" who gives it to Welfare Queens in Cadillacs and Wetbacks.

And then the rest goes to being offensive.

As sportsmen we know that the best defense is a good offense and we're determined to be the most offensive motherfuckers on the planet!


yrs,
rubato

I would be interested to know what they include in "welfare", because I find it almost impossible to believe that what is commonly understood by term to comprise such a large percentage of total expenditures.

Interesting that for all the complaints about its supposedly bloated bureaucracy, that support for the EU is less than 1% of the UK budget.

Scooter wrote:I would be interested to know what they include in "welfare", because I find it almost impossible to believe that what is commonly understood by term to comprise such a large percentage of total expenditures.

Interesting that for all the complaints about its supposedly bloated bureaucracy, that support for the EU is less than 1% of the UK budget.

Less than 1/2 of 1%. Nothing.

yrs,
rubato

Uhh, maybe I'm mistaken, but I have gotten the impression that the primary issue that Brits have with the EU isn't the dollar amount contributed to it...

But rather the vast powers it has been granted to supersede British law...

And in addition to that loss of legal sovereignty, one can't calculate the dollar amount the EU costs the British taxpayers merely by considering how much they pay for office space, salaries and expense accounts for The Swells in Brussels...

No, to do that fairly, one would also need to figure in the cost of the health, welfare, housing and utilities, etc., the UK spends to provide benefits to people from other EU countries who decide to immigrate to Britain because the benefits are more generous than those available in their home countries...

Were Britain not a part of the EU, they would not have to bear those costs.

ETA:

Of course in order to be completely fair, one would also have to offset those costs against the savings achieved from not having to pay out benefits to all the many UK citizens who have chosen to re-locate to Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia....

Lord Jim wrote: Of course in order to be completely fair, one would also have to offset those costs against the savings achieved from not having to pay out benefits to all the many UK citizens who have chosen to re-locate to Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia....

Gold!!

Lord Jim wrote:one can't calculate the dollar amount the EU costs the British taxpayers merely by considering how much they pay for office space, salaries and expense accounts for The Swells in Brussels...

No, to do that fairly, one would also need to figure in the cost of the health, welfare, housing and utilities, etc., the UK spends to provide benefits to people from other EU countries who decide to immigrate to Britain because the benefits are more generous than those available in their home countries...

Except that no EU member state is required to provide any such assistance to citizens of other EU members:

The EU Directive on Freedom of Movement contains several provisions to ensure the right of EU citizens to move freely within the European Union.

According to the directive, EU citizens with a valid identification card or passport can enter any other EU country and may remain for up to three months. People who stay longer than three months must demonstrate that they are employed or that they have sufficient means of support and health insurance to avoid becoming a burden on the host country.

EU citizens can be expelled for reasons of public health, public security, or public policy; however, the expulsion can only be based on the personal conduct of the individual in question.

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Opposition to EU membership is hardly surprising if such fundamental ignorance of what it means is widespread.