I am unaware of the exact amount of charitable support provided by the U.S to anyone else (does this charity include pumping money into the mess they created in Iraq?). Having spent a little time in the U.S however, I can assure you that charity is rather short on the home front. Or if it is not, it has little positive effect on the appalling situation created by a system of governance that probably leans toward your ideal. The social safety net for the most vulnerable (or is the exact same thing to be called a tax break if the more well off are recieving it?) has been pared back to bare bones and in some states is just about non-existent. The net result is that many a large city is made up of little islands of wealth dotted throughout a sea of crap. I didn't expect the Hollywood walk of fame to be swarming with beggars. With a minimum wage of less than half of ours and no real social welfare to fall back on, you witness what amounts to a second-world country at best inside a very rich country. It is quite simply NOT the place you see on t.v.

It is crystal clear that charity does not work nearly as well as justice.

Having seen what could have been here in Oz, I thank God Howard got the boot.

Hmm. It appears that the righties have either accepted that the well off are recieving an obscene amount of subsistence that can not be honestly called anything other than welfare or they lack the testicular fortitude to argue the point further or they are all dead.

Any one of those options is ok by me.

Does 50\50 come to mind! I guess i can judge from the rich and poor.
The division between the rich and poor is, and has become a national crisis, but lets not forget, that GREED IS IN ORDER! People! Our system is fighting against ourselves, and their will be loser's.( anyone want a home lone?)
So what is the answer? !Can I make one suggestion? Think out side the box! Isn't the meaning of life, is too live?! Why do you need so much money. LOOK! The headlines are. Put your heads in, or you are all going too die! hahaha. Just joking! The system is not quite right yet! but give it time.

OR, Should I have said pull your heads in! You make the choice. the clock is ticking.

Fozz” the mob that you voted for got the boot so whether you want to pay tax or not is irrelivent.”

I would not be surprised if Krudd & Co became a one term parliament.

Whether I pay tax comes down to how I arrange my circumstances, what “tax losses” I choose to write off and since the ATO require my annual returns, I figure it is far less “irrelevant “ than whatever you pay.

“the wealthy are living off welfare, plain and simple.”

The rattle of the envious small mind are it bangs from side to side, against the cranium.

Despsis “Yes. In some cases consumer choice is more effective. In other cases a democratic government is more effective.”

Democratic government relies on the feedback of consumers and attempts to reflect it. It is the socialist rabble government which thinks it knows best for everyone and raises taxes to control how we spend. The problem is it starts as socialism and ends up as despotic communism.

“Making people responsible for things without giving them the skills or resources to do them... that'll work well.”

“Skills acquisition” has never been a problem for the competent, only the incompetent and one of the skills is how to source the resources.

Pelican “Middle class and higher income earners are spending more money”

Like I said before, “It is the socialist rabble government which thinks it knows best for everyone and raises taxes to control how we spend.”

Whereas, democratic government leaves the decision and choice with the electorate.

Fozz” It is crystal clear that charity does not work nearly as well as justice.”

They are incompatible measures or facets of humanity.

“Justice” is by definition “blind” and “Charity” is significantly influenced by the visible circumstances of the recipient.

Fozz “obscene amount of subsistence” only those who receive more from government than they pay in taxes are the recipients of subsistence. If someone’s net tax paid exceeds the value of benefits received by one dollar, they are net contributors, not recipients of subsistence.

Please prove how and who receive “obscene amount of subsistence”