Socialists countries worldwide scrapping confiscatory taxation

March 30, 2007
Swedes finally scrap wealth tax
By AP

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Maybe the next Bjorn Borg won't feel compelled to
move to Monaco now that Sweden plans to scrap a decades-old "wealth"
tax that imposes levies on assets -- not just on income.

The tax, which a handful of developed countries retain, was *designed
to keep the rich from getting richer* -- but is increasingly seen as
harming primarily the *not-quite-rich upper-middle classes*. The move,
expected to be approved by parliament later this year, underscores the
country's efforts to keep successful Swedes and their capital at home
by changing its fabled but costly welfare state.

"It's not sustainable to keep taxes that radically diverge from other
countries," Finance Minister Anders Borg, who is not related to the
tennis great, told The Associated Press yesterday. "Not if you want
the money to stay in the country." Several European countries have
dropped taxes on wealth in the last decade, including Denmark, the
Netherlands and Finland. In France, taxes on the rich have become a
top campaign issue before the presidential elections in April and May.
Luxembourg and Spain are the only other EU countries that impose
wealth taxes, according to the Swedish government.

Not surprisingly, the wealthiest Swedes have fled the country,
including IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, No. 4 on Forbes magazine's list
of the world's richest people. He lives in Switzerland. Five-time
Wimbledon winner Bjorn Borg moved to tax-haven Monaco in the late
1970s. The principality is also home to many Swedish sports stars such
as Alpine skier Anja Paerson, high-jumper Kajsa Bergqvist and triple
jumper Christian Olsson.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Worl...70247-sun.html

"Pajamas O'Donovan" wrote in message news:
...
snip
Back to Story - Help
Outcry cancels

By MONICA RHOR, Associated Press Writer
March 27, 2007

Webster, Texas: A woman with a history of drug abuse says she woke up
from a nap to find her miniature dachshund had torn off her baby boy's
genitals. Authorities have doubts about her story, but exactly how the
newborn was maimed is still a mystery.

Holden Gothia, now 7 weeks old, was found on a bed in his mother's
suburban Houston apartment March 13, covered in blood. His genitals
were severed and there was a deep cut in his upper leg.

He has been in critical condition ever since. He may never regain the
use of his leg and faces years of operations, according to the boy's
father, Camden Gothia.

Police, doctors and Child Protective Service officials told the baby's
father that the injuries were not consistent with dog bites - the
lacerations were too neat.

But Holden's mother, the only person who might have the answers, has
checked into a treatment program and refuses to cooperate with police.
No charges have been filed.

"In this case, all the investigators can do is go over photographs,
trying to make determination based on what experts are telling us,"
said Houston police spokesman John Cannon.

Child-protection authorities said the 25-year-old woman had a history
of prescription drug abuse and tested positive for cocaine and
methadone the day after Holden was mutilated.

The mother's name has not been released, and the boy's father would
not disclose it. The couple were living together but were not married.

Camden Gothia, a 36-year-old assistant supervisor at a chemical plant,
said Holden was born healthy and drug-free, and for the first month of
his life, the mother "was just glowing. She was head-over-heels in
love with Holden."

But Gothia said he soon saw signs that his girlfriend was using drugs
again, and the day before the maiming, he threatened to take the boy
away from her.

"I called her mother and said she either gets help or I will remove
Holden permanently. I was not going to take a risk with Holden," he
said.

Instead, he said, he got a call from Holden's mother the next
afternoon telling him to rush home.

He said he arrived at the couple's apartment to find an animal control
van outside, Holden's mother in an apparent drug-induced stupor and
blood covering the bed where the baby had been sleeping.

"Every emotion starts shooting through you - guilt that I wasn't
there, thinking what I could have done differently every day prior to
that," he said.

Gothia said the 8-pound dachshund, which he bought as a gift for
Holden's mother, had never shown any aggressiveness and often slept
nestled to the newborn.

He said he has been given permission by animal control authorities to
take the dog home.

"PJ O'Donovan" wrote in message
oups.com...
March 30, 2007
Swedes finally scrap wealth tax
By AP

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Maybe the next Bjorn Borg won't feel compelled to
move to Monaco now that Sweden plans to scrap a decades-old "wealth"
tax that imposes levies on assets -- not just on income.

The tax, which a handful of developed countries retain, was *designed
to keep the rich from getting richer* -- but is increasingly seen as
harming primarily the *not-quite-rich upper-middle classes*. The move,
expected to be approved by parliament later this year, underscores the
country's efforts to keep successful Swedes and their capital at home
by changing its fabled but costly welfare state.

"It's not sustainable to keep taxes that radically diverge from other
countries," Finance Minister Anders Borg, who is not related to the
tennis great, told The Associated Press yesterday. "Not if you want
the money to stay in the country." Several European countries have
dropped taxes on wealth in the last decade, including Denmark, the
Netherlands and Finland. In France, taxes on the rich have become a
top campaign issue before the presidential elections in April and May.
Luxembourg and Spain are the only other EU countries that impose
wealth taxes, according to the Swedish government.

Not surprisingly, the wealthiest Swedes have fled the country,
including IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, No. 4 on Forbes magazine's list
of the world's richest people. He lives in Switzerland. Five-time
Wimbledon winner Bjorn Borg moved to tax-haven Monaco in the late
1970s. The principality is also home to many Swedish sports stars such
as Alpine skier Anja Paerson, high-jumper Kajsa Bergqvist and triple
jumper Christian Olsson.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Worl...70247-sun.html


# What is, or is not, a "socialist" country depends on your definition. If
socialism is "the public ownership of the means of production, distribution,
and exchange" then none (?) would qualify. State control is not necessarily
socialism, if it is really ownership by an oligarchy. Nor do Scandinavian
nations meet the criteria, if they merely tax the rich to help the poor,
commendable as this may seem = the Welfare State.
Capitalism has its merits, but is essentially an elitist system, which is
why prolongation of a Coalition government in Australia will only widen the
gap between rich and poor.
The Class War, and malaise of capitalism, will only be resolved when there
is Industrial Democracy - democracy in the workplace. Trade Unions act as a
bulwark against the worst excesses of capitalism, but their ambitions are
limited to job security, better pay and conditions. If they aspire to no
more than that, then they have no real future.
The Blair govt in Britain, and its Third Way? No, merely more icing on
the stale cake of capitalism. After Labour, what?

"Don H" wrote in message
news (snipped)
The Blair govt in Britain, and its Third Way? No, merely more icing on
the stale cake of capitalism. After Labour, what?



Russian-like collapse...just as the Attlee government believed it was the
'superior' way and copied the theory.

Keep your socialistic blinkered eyes on Britain because its socialism is a
painful lesson in how to destroy a once civilised people and is in deep
trouble.

A country doesn't get destroyed, but the people do. I know what happened
from experience...not theory in books.

"Don H" wrote in message
news (snipped)
The Blair govt in Britain, and its Third Way? No, merely more icing on
the stale cake of capitalism. After Labour, what?



Russian-like collapse...just as the Attlee government believed it was the
'superior' way and copied the theory.

Keep your socialistic blinkered eyes on Britain because its socialism is a
painful lesson in how to destroy a once civilised people, and is in deep
trouble.

A country doesn't get destroyed, but the people do. I know what happened
from experience...not theory in books.

"Stan" wrote in message
...
"Don H" wrote in message
news (snipped)
The Blair govt in Britain, and its Third Way? No, merely more icing on
the stale cake of capitalism. After Labour, what?



Russian-like collapse...just as the Attlee government believed it was the
'superior' way and copied the theory.

Keep your socialistic blinkered eyes on Britain because its socialism is
a
painful lesson in how to destroy a once civilised people, and is in deep
trouble.

A country doesn't get destroyed, but the people do. I know what
happened
from experience...not theory in books.

In what way exactly is Britain being destroyed?

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

William Black:

In what way exactly is Britain being destroyed?

It's an ongoing process.

First, they separated it from the mainland. As a result, it's more
expensive to get into and move out of Britain, isolating the population.

Then, they made their drivers move along on the wrong way of the roads,
which confuses everybody, of course. This was an important move, because
now everyone is so concerned with traffic, that their minds is off the
rest of the destruction process. Obviously, Britains don't even see what
else is happening and due to formentioned separation, they don't get
informed by foreigners anymore, either.

--
Erick

"Hire a teenager while they still know it all."

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 10:22:14 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
-o-m wrote:

William Black:

In what way exactly is Britain being destroyed?

It's an ongoing process.

First, they separated it from the mainland. As a result, it's more
expensive to get into and move out of Britain, isolating the population.

It's also more expensive to move around IN....that is, when the
privatised bus actually turns up.

Then, they made their drivers move along on the wrong way of the roads,
which confuses everybody, of course. This was an important move, because
now everyone is so concerned with traffic, that their minds is off the
rest of the destruction process. Obviously, Britains don't even see what
else is happening and due to formentioned separation, they don't get
informed by foreigners anymore, either.

That is why some of us join RTE, so that good people (and yes, there
are good people on the other side of the North Sea) like Erik can let
us know what's happening in the world.

There, I've said it now. (Waits anxiously for the mailed fist banging
on the door demanding to be let in to search my home and take a
shedload of biometric details).

By the way, Erik, you missed the kroketten out of the last Red Cross
parcel.




Keith, Bristol, UK

Keith Anderson:

By the way, Erick, you missed the kroketten out of the last Red Cross
parcel.

Due to Holland's all new government's left wing, the poor get steaks
instead. Kroketten aren't popular anymore.
So, you survived them? Are you ready for a dozen frikandellen?

--
Erick

"Every man who is high up likes to think he has done it all himself, and
the wife smiles and lets it go at that." - J.M. Barrie

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 12:52:28 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
-o-m wrote:

Keith Anderson:

By the way, Erick, you missed the kroketten out of the last Red Cross
parcel.

Due to Holland's all new government's left wing, the poor get steaks
instead. Kroketten aren't popular anymore.
So, you survived them? Are you ready for a dozen frikandellen?

Errrrr.....think you can slip in a bottle of oud jenever instead?



Keith, Bristol, UK