Tony Abbott Quotes
There will be no overall increase in the tax burden whatsoever.
Abbott, Tony. Leaders' Debate. National Press Club, Canberra, 11 Aug. 2013.
There are two reasons that government cannot depend on the rich for tax yield. First, there are very few rich compared to middle class workers. Although the rich person may pay more on the average in taxes, than others, there are not enough to cover all the expenses of a modern government. Second, because the rich make larger policitcal contributions and have lobbyists, they get legislation that exempts them from many taxes or provides loopholes. So even though the wealthy are theoretically supposed to pay a higher rate of taxes, as a practical matter, most wealthy people pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries or the waiter who will serve them lunch—the Buffet Principle.
This was a typical argument in the 2012 battle between President Obama and the Republican conservatives. However, this was written 35 years earlier, when the exact same issue was polarizing politicians. The idea for taxing the rich more to reduce the deficit has been around since there was a Federal deficit. On most occasions the rich had enough political clout to avoid additional taxes for them and get the general public to pay instead of them. However, there have been times where they have not been able to avoid increased taxes. The New Deal lead by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Obama administration in 2013 were two such exceptions.
Leonhardt was pointing to the thousands of logical inconsistencies in the tax code while urging reform. However, the answer to his question has nothing to do with logic. Soda manufacturers are larger and wealthier than the retailers, have more lobbyists, and donate more money to Congressional and Presidential campaigns.
whether or not to buy luxuries This quotation and {639885} together illustrate why it is so difficult to classify historical politicians in the left-right categories of a future time. Here Gogel seems a strong liberal arguing for progressive taxation and luxury taxes, and tax relief for the poop, while in {639885} he sounds like a 21st century extreme conservative.
Anthony John Abbott AC is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015 and leader of the Liberal Party from 2009 to 2015. He served as Leader of the Opposition from 2009 to 2013, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Warringah from 1994 to 2019. He is currently an adviser to the British government's Board of Trade.
