It has been stated that we have 125 taxes in total & 5 of these collect 90% of the revenue. Yet i have heard nobody other than myself ask the question why dont we reduce spending by 10% & abolish 120 taxes at a stroke, just repeal them?

A good suggestion by the first contributor . However , some of the taxes mentioned will be Commonwealth and some State / local government . Deciding which taxes to abolish and which items of expenditure to cut will be the problem . Almost everybody has a tax which they say must be abolished or reduced and an item of current or potential expenditure which they consider must be retained or increased .

Whenever there is a calamity , or some perceived lack of provision of government service , the media and pressure groups scream for additional government expenditure to solve the problem . There is rarely an acknowledgement in those circumstances , that while it would be good to spend the money , government simply cannot afford to spend because there are higher priorities .

It depends where you stand,

It is either the fear of incompetence, or the joy of riding in the Labor gravy train.

Andrew Lee

“In his book The Political Brain, psychologist Drew Westen argues that the marketplace that matters most in politics isn't the marketplace of ideas, it's the marketplace of emotions”.

Three days ago, somebody on radio (ABC), asked you for your opinion about an imminent increase of parliamentarians salaries and you drew on a plethora of quotes to weasel out of a direct answer.

Who listened to that transmission still does not know which marketplace matters most to you.

I can tell you what I used to feel when, young, entered the ballot box to give my vote to a stranger.

I felt confident that my candidate would use my power to improve justice within my community.

But, as years passed, injustice increased.

Now, in the secrecy of the ballot box I drop my vote, informal.

BTW, have we all noticed how bolshie the unions have been lately?

No doubt many LNP types are frothing about the "Fair
Work" act & muttering darkly about "1970's union thugs".

Methinks it has more to do with those union leaders knowing full well how much the carbon tax will "really" cost us ALL.

I dare say most fair minded Australians don't fear being taxed. What they hate is being lied to and that tax being misused. Labour has given every Australian good reason to fear with their misuse and incompetence with taxpayers money. Why is not the Government letting people how much of the carbon tax is being sent overseas in order to suck up to the UN? With PM Brown at the helm it is no wonder that many loathe socialism by stealth. Personally I would rather lite a match to my money than to have it taken by deceit to be misused. I would have no objection to paying more tax if it was put to good use like clean up the environment. Little chance of that with Greens/Labour in power.