Rehctub, Your first comment revolved upon the "point" that "only about 20% of all income earners actually pay more in taxes than they draw in welfare".

Unless your precious transaction tax makes the 80% pay more than currently, it serves no purpose. If it means the 80% pay more tax, then imagining that they will have more money to spend is not as obvious as you think. Nor is reducing the tax burden on your 20% going to make them buy more of your product. They are already eating well and probably unwilling to slide into gluttony just to humour your economic imagination. They might buy more holidays, but that won't help you.

Perhaps you should direct your ire on the 1% who dodge taxes at every turn, spend the vast majority of it overseas and whose interests are further from yours than any hippie in Nimbin.

Rusty.

Dear Paul1405,

I've been sent an email to advise that Niall Ferguson is giving a presentation at the Sydney Opera House at 7:30pm on Sunday 22 May.

I'm sure he will have lots of alarming things to say about the upcoming South China Sea War and the ramifications for Australia wrt the ChAFTA, the unprecedented Chinese immigration to Australia, and the future of ANZUS.

I hope all of my fellow Sinophobes can make it along.

Mr Opinion, If we don't laugh we cry, so forgive my flippant humor on what is in the words of a former leading Oz poly Andrew Peacock;

"A---VERY----serious---matter!" as he often said.

Once more please forgive me;

As a fellow "Chinaphobe", no road would be too long, no mountain too high, no river too deep, to keep me from attending Mr Ferguson's oratory at the opera house. Unfortunately that night, I have a pre booking for one at the 'Golden Dragon', where they serve the best 'chop suey' this side of Shanghai, naturally you understand that I would not like to miss out on world class chop suey with a side order of 'dim sim'. Any chance Fergo could reschedule for the following evening, I have nothing much on except attending my only daughters wedding on that night, its not that important, uncle Bob could give her away, I could give it a miss, and pop on down to Fergo's talk, and probably be back in time for the speeches. What do you think? Its all win win with me.

Montgomery's rules
we must first be clear about certain rules of war.
Rule 1, on page I of the book of war, is: "Do not march on Moscow". Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler, and it is no good. That is the first rule.

I do not know whether your Lordships will know Rule 2 of war. It is: "Do not go fighting with your land armies in China". It is a vast country, with no clearly defined objectives, and an army fighting there would be engulfed by what is known as the Ming Bing, the people's insurgents.

Hi Robert,

Very cunning - raise your own question, 'What about invading China ?' and then answer it with a carefully considered "No'.

As would the rest of the world, if they were asked.

So who else, on OLO or indeed in the world, has suggested landing armies in China ? Although, of course, the more we talk about something like this, the more the Chinese can use it as a pretext for 'anticipatory retaliation' against 'foreign aggressors' like the Philippines or Vietnam.

Is that what you have been told to do, Robert ? You need to be a bit more subtle :)

Cheers,

Joe

Just imagine how big the debt will become if Australia has to commit to war over the South China Sea fiasco. Only question really is which side will Australia decide to join, China or the US.

Will Australia go with the money it's got tied up in the ChAFTA and join China or will it continue to support the US? And remember Australia has a very large Chinese minority who will want the government to side with their ancestral homeland. This could be an election loser for a government which decides to support the US against China.

Amazing stuff. This is the sort of stuff that makes history interesting.