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[h=2]I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I hear him speak[/h]
September 26th, 2012 |
Author: Contributions
Here is the hidden video of Mitt Romney speaking to a group of rich donors to his campaign. This video has damaged his campaign because he said his job, if he is elected president, is not to take care of the 47% who will vote for Obama “no matter what”. He sees these people as leeches dependent on the govt and don’t pay taxes. He then goes on to talk about how he succeeded on his own ability “not being born with a silver spoon” because his dad donated all his wealth away when he died.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=slFZ8K2aBoY
It is very strange how Romney cannot see what is so painfully obvious to everyone else and how his view about the world turn out to be so distorted . He is going to pay dearly for this startling disconnect with reality and the ground.
I want to show you another video of a Singaporean leader speaking on the topic of taxes and inequality in response to a certain Mr. Soh who asked if capital gains tax for the rich should be raised in order to close the income gap. I have written earlier that there are 2 viable options here to address the inequality in our society… wage restructuring or tax reform with transfers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVI7O5R63Oo&feature=player_embedded
The minister in answering the question stuck to the PAP stand that good education together with social mobility is the solution. He started off by saying other developed economies (“matured societies”) have “ossification” of the society where “the rich marry the rich” to provide good education for their children and opportunities. Does this minister even know what he is talking about? What he said is so detached from reality. I wonder where he is coming from.
Singapore has the largest income gap among all developed nations. Our education system is highly elitist in nature compared with egalitarian system they have in places like Finland, Sweden, Australia and Canada. In all other developed countries power is shared more equally among the people and free press scrutinizes the actions of those in power and the rich. The rich people elsewhere are subjected to high progressive taxes and inheritance taxes so that wealth is transferred back to society. Most developed countries, educate more people to university level than Singapore (Singapore is well below the OECD average). I can’t believe how a this minister who is in charge of the MCYS can have such a distorted view of reality.
He was one of 4 or 5 people to receive a president scholarship in his cohort of 30-40K and was given the best education and lavished with job opportunities after that in our elitist system – many others with more or equal talents do not get the same opportunities. He forgets that the other 99.98% of the people do not have the same opportunities as him. Today, only 27% of each batch make it to university and others join the workforce without a degree and many of these people struggle to compete for jobs and income with foreigners coming here with better qualifications – no thanks to the policy formulated by this minister’s party. These people are struggling not because they refuse to work hard but because of the system put in place that resulted in the 3rd world wage structure we see in our economy.
As the cost of healthcare rises, we still do not have in place a universal healthcare system that will shift the burden away from the sick and their families. We have a system in which prosperity is not shared in the current generation and unless major changes take place, it will not be shared in future generations. The minister distorted view of reality tells us that we cannot secure our future and that of our children under a leadership determined to travel along the same erroneous path. Just 2 days ago, the PM spoke about having a population of 6 million people – when the people still haven’t even accepted and adjusted to the 5 million population that we already have now.
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Lucky Tan
Lucky Tan is an avid online blogger since 2005. He likes to study the thoughts of Singapore leaders and the laws of Singapore. He blogs at http://singaporemind.blogspot.com.
.
Here is the hidden video of Mitt Romney speaking to a group of rich donors to his campaign. This video has damaged his campaign because he said his job, if he is elected president, is not to take care of the 47% who will vote for Obama “no matter what”. He sees these people as leeches dependent on the govt and don’t pay taxes. He then goes on to talk about how he succeeded on his own ability “not being born with a silver spoon” because his dad donated all his wealth away when he died.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=slFZ8K2aBoY
It is very strange how Romney cannot see what is so painfully obvious to everyone else and how his view about the world turn out to be so distorted . He is going to pay dearly for this startling disconnect with reality and the ground.
I want to show you another video of a Singaporean leader speaking on the topic of taxes and inequality in response to a certain Mr. Soh who asked if capital gains tax for the rich should be raised in order to close the income gap. I have written earlier that there are 2 viable options here to address the inequality in our society… wage restructuring or tax reform with transfers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVI7O5R63Oo&feature=player_embedded
The minister in answering the question stuck to the PAP stand that good education together with social mobility is the solution. He started off by saying other developed economies (“matured societies”) have “ossification” of the society where “the rich marry the rich” to provide good education for their children and opportunities. Does this minister even know what he is talking about? What he said is so detached from reality. I wonder where he is coming from.
Singapore has the largest income gap among all developed nations. Our education system is highly elitist in nature compared with egalitarian system they have in places like Finland, Sweden, Australia and Canada. In all other developed countries power is shared more equally among the people and free press scrutinizes the actions of those in power and the rich. The rich people elsewhere are subjected to high progressive taxes and inheritance taxes so that wealth is transferred back to society. Most developed countries, educate more people to university level than Singapore (Singapore is well below the OECD average). I can’t believe how a this minister who is in charge of the MCYS can have such a distorted view of reality.
He was one of 4 or 5 people to receive a president scholarship in his cohort of 30-40K and was given the best education and lavished with job opportunities after that in our elitist system – many others with more or equal talents do not get the same opportunities. He forgets that the other 99.98% of the people do not have the same opportunities as him. Today, only 27% of each batch make it to university and others join the workforce without a degree and many of these people struggle to compete for jobs and income with foreigners coming here with better qualifications – no thanks to the policy formulated by this minister’s party. These people are struggling not because they refuse to work hard but because of the system put in place that resulted in the 3rd world wage structure we see in our economy.
“Even if this generation, I can’t get you out of the poverty cycle, …the problems that you face. Even if I can’t do anything in this generation. We must make sure, we do our very best for the next generation… so that the next generation is not disadvantaged… and when we say helping the next generation to the same opportunities is not just about social transfer of ‘I tax you and I give you’. That one is a short term solution and probably the easiest to do… the next generation have equal opportunities to shine come from education, housing, healthcare and so forth” – The Minister.
He is so clueless. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I hear him speak. Saying that taxing the rich to transfer to the poor is the “easiest” thing for the PAP govt to do is just absurdity. This is ideologically the hardest thing for the PAP govt to do. Under the PAP govt, taxes for the rich has monotonically decreased and they fund this in recent times by raising GST – a regressive tax on the poor who now pay more taxes. As for ensuring the next generation have “equal opportunities” through housing and healthcare schemes is really a disconnect from reality – the costs of these 2 items have risen rapidly compared with median income and is a great de-equaliser for our society as it burdens the struggling middle class and sinks the lower classes into poverty.
As the cost of healthcare rises, we still do not have in place a universal healthcare system that will shift the burden away from the sick and their families. We have a system in which prosperity is not shared in the current generation and unless major changes take place, it will not be shared in future generations. The minister distorted view of reality tells us that we cannot secure our future and that of our children under a leadership determined to travel along the same erroneous path. Just 2 days ago, the PM spoke about having a population of 6 million people – when the people still haven’t even accepted and adjusted to the 5 million population that we already have now.
.
Lucky Tan
Lucky Tan is an avid online blogger since 2005. He likes to study the thoughts of Singapore leaders and the laws of Singapore. He blogs at http://singaporemind.blogspot.com.
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