HST is not a progressive tax

Introduction

                The HST tax is a tax that before even being implemented, faced  82% of all British Columbians opposing it.  In this article, it states that although the HST is hated for the way it was brought in after it was promised not to be and also for being what it is - a tax, that is not the main reason for the levels of opposition that it faces.  The main reason why the HST is so strongly disliked by many is because it does not carry the characteristics of a progressive tax - but rather a regressive tax.  The article states that they believe the HST to be a regressive tax because the money collected from everyday average citizens ( who do not make nearly as much as the big corporations) does not return to them in the form of improved public education, healthcare, and social services - but rather goes straight to the rich corporations and businesses.  

Connection

                In chapter 4, one of the various topics that are discussed are progressive taxes and its opposite, regressive taxes.  In many countries today, the progressive tax system is used as it aids those who earn less income to make ends meet.  What a progressive tax is is a rate of taxation based upon one's spending amount and/or income/profit amount.  For example, if a low income citizen makes $20, 000 a year, he or she would only have to face a taxation rate of 15%, while a high income citizen who makes $200, 000 a year would have to pay a rate of tax of 30%.  On the opposite spectrum of progressive tax, there is the tax that the article accuses of being; a regressive tax.  Simply put, a regressive tax is a tax that makes the average/poorer citizens pay a higher tax rate proportionate to their income or makes many more items that the lower income citizens usually purchase taxable. 

Reflection

                In my opinion, I believe that the time right now is highly inappropriate for the introduction and implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax.  At a time when economic stability is quite uncertain and thousands are in desperate need of full time jobs, I believe that it is wrong to shift the heavy burden of taxation from huge business corporation onto the everyday average Canadian struggling to make ends meet.  It is immensely incorrect to force more and more pressure against the lower income families in Canada in the form of a regressive tax - after all, how is it fair that at the end of day a multimillion dollar corporation pays less tax than a low income or average income family?

link: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/progressive/3834122/story.html

RIM hit as corporate clients flee

Summary

Just recently on Friday, the stocks belonging to the company have hit another hard fall in prices and dropped 3% (a full four percentage points of a year earlier) due to a variety of reasons.  The first reason being that, according to surveys, 83% of U.S businesses now allow their employees and CIOs to use other smart phones besides BlackBerrys for work – something that was at one point believed to be too inferior in regards to security compared to a RIM Blackberry.  The second reason responsible for the decline in Rim’s stock as of late is the fact that many banks including, Bank of America and Citigroup are now looking for alternatives to secure smart phones for work.    

Connection

 

The topic in this article can easily be related to the problems of demand.  It is evident throughout the article that the reason for RIM's gradual decline as of late is due to the market for alternative smart phones broadening.  Because a major bulk of companies and businesses switching their employees to other cheaper lines of safe and secure smart phones (such as Dell switching at least 25,000 of its own employees to its own line of smart phones) and because companies now give their employees an option unlike before as to whether they would have to use a BlackBerry or not, the demand for RIM's device have dropped due to the many substitutes available on the market.  

Reflection

In my opinion, the stronghold that RIM currently holds on the business phones of all CIOS is sooner or later going to perish.  As phones such as the iPhone and Android are now beginning to gain a much greater demand ( for reasons such as multimedia and apps ), I believe that it is only time before the increasingly popular systems acquire a much safer and secure operating system than that of the declining BlackBerry. I also strongly believe that although RIM may be trying to recapture its lost customers from Apple through such means as the Blackberry App World, it will never be quite enough since Apple is now the leading company when it comes to phone apps.

Link
http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=3784703&sponsor=

New Measures to Strengthen Economy?

 Summary

This upcoming Monday as Parliament resumes, Ottawa is planning on three new measures to help further stimulate and bolster our economy.  This plan of action is on the contrary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's ideas on our recovering economy.  According to Stephen Harper's ideology on our present day economy, our economic stimulates are to end in March of the upcoming year - but according to Canadians, our economy is still in further need of work if full recovery is to be achieved.  Another issue that comes along with our Prime Minister's cut off of the stimulus plans is that municipalities could be stuck with paying millions in debt as incomplete infrastructure projects are not complete by the federal government's deadline of March 31, 2011.  In times such as these, it is better to assume the worst of the situation and try to fix it rather than assume it's at its best and declare a false recovery - while hurting families nation-wide.

Connections

The topic in which this article can be related to is scarcity in money.  Because of our economy's current state, the stimulus plans that are in action right now are a necessity - one that should not yet be cut off so soon.  By cutting off these stimulus plans, it makes it harder for the people affected to earn sufficient amounts of money for their everyday costs and needs.  Also due to Canada's money scarcity at the moment, if the federal government were to be strict on their deadlines of completing the infrastructure projects, many municipalities would be in disastrous debt due to an insufficient amount of resources ( in this case money).  If Stephen Harper were to extend these stimulus plans until the time that the people of Canada themselves feel that money is no longer scarce and hard to obtain, I believe that would be the best action plan that helps people acquire sufficient amounts of money.

Reflection

 In my opinion, Stephen Harper and his government are not protecting the interests of Canada's people.  Although they may believe that our economy has made a recovery and things should now go back to normal, it is clear for thousands of people nation wide who are still struggling with earning a dollar and/or finding jobs that it is not.  It is not just myself who believe that money is no longer a want, but a need.  This is why ending these stimulus plans - making it hard for us all to earn that dollar and even costing us millions in incomplete projects (which are due to weather and other factors that are beyond our municipality's control) is, at least in my opinion, going to deal a severe blow to our rate of up rise from our economic downfall of the prior years.

Link: http://www.theprovince.com/business/fp/Ottawa+plans+three+measures+bolster+economy/3533560/story.html

Sup Albert

Follow me....