Abuse of taxpayers goes far beyond HST

[johny]

Originally Posted by taylor192

We need to encourage small business, and the best way to do that is ease their tax burden. I support this more than the government subsidies other provinces have tried in the past,

my understanding is the company I work for buys most of it's products from wholesalers and we have acounts with PST / GST numbers so we never paid tax on anything in the first place. only when we bought the odd parts from reg stores would he eat the PST (but still get back the GST at year end). so he'll save a few bucks on tax when he buys the odd thing. (maybe a few hundred a year) but now we have to charge everyone 7% more on our bills. (as it's mainly labour)

this small business will be harmed, not helped by HST.

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by johny

my understanding is the company I work for buys most of it's products from wholesalers and we have acounts with PST / GST numbers so we never paid tax on anything in the first place. only when we bought the odd parts from reg stores would he eat the PST (but still get back the GST at year end). so he'll save a few bucks on tax when he buys the odd thing. (maybe a few hundred a year) but now we have to charge everyone 7% more on our bills. (as it's mainly labour)

this small business will be harmed, not helped by HST.

It depends on what the business is buying.

Items bought to resell to customers qualified for the PST/GST remittance, since the consumer will ultimately pay the tax. Yet the same is not true for equipment the business uses - like tools, vehicles, machinery, computers, ... This is where the HST is supposed to help. Picture a small business having to pay 12% on everything they need to open the doors.

[q0192837465]

But going back to how they vote for their own wages increase, is there really anything anyone can do? There's some serious conflict on interest there. They always justify the increase by showing some "studies" that say they'r underpaid for their work. Is there a way to say no to these guys? It really doesnt matter which party you vote for cuz in the end they'll do thet same shit.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by hung_low

it's not just the employees in the civic sector, unions are the main cause reason for driving prices up. ie bus drivers, we all bitch about how expensive transit fees are, but the bus drivers get pay increases every year for doing the same shit, that $$ has to come from somehwere.

i thought the average bus driver makes 60k..which sounds about right for the work they do

[darkfroggy]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

i thought the average bus driver makes 60k..which sounds about right for the work they do

Sometimes it amazes me with the amount of shit they have to put up with.

[BaoTurbo]

Basically, its what people benefit greatly from other people's loss that pisses everyone on the loss side off.

[City-bear]

Originally Posted by freakshow

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Yes, some of them DO work, and they work hard. However, I'll venture to say that MOST of them do NOT work hard.
Everyone I know that works for the government (RCMP or CBSA) says themselves that it's easy, with great pay, and have no problem telling me about all the different ways that they (and most of their coworkers) slack off.
Then there are my friends who work for pseudo-crown corps, like Worksafe BC. They tell me how much they make with the experience they have, and it is truly sickening. More than that, most of their work stories involve how they love to email each other and watch youtube videos. They only take a break from youtube when their manager comes around -- to show them his newest iphone app..

I think it has more to do with unions than working for the government. The higher up you get, the more you get paid, the harder it is to fire you. Unions reward loyalty and not hard work, and sadly, that is what I see at my workplace. So many people doing the bare minimum just so they can claim their government pension.

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by City-bear

I think it has more to do with unions than working for the government. The higher up you get, the more you get paid, the harder it is to fire you. Unions reward loyalty and not hard work, and sadly, that is what I see at my workplace. So many people doing the bare minimum just so they can claim their government pension.

Actually, you'll find that most public servants who make 80K+/year are actually non-unionized.

My take is that the grass is always greener on the other side. If you're simply a clerk or an administrative person, life in the public service is a pretty sweet deal. However, if you're a professional of some sort (engineer, lawyer, etc.), you might actually take a pay cut. Check out job postings on the BC Public Service website (https://search.employment.gov.bc.ca/...jobs_quick.cgi) or the federal government's website (www.jobs.gc.ca) to see what public servants are actually getting paid.

[MelonBoy]

ehh.. a small raise compared to transits bull shit.. >.>

Major piss off points because they keep asking for more money and say they need funding to build more shit ..

When
1) There to retarded to add in the turn-stalls faster (aka increasing revenue because of the HUGE amounts lost from people who just jump) Hell even when I buy a bus pass I rarely ever get checked.. maybe once every 1-2months.. hmm no wonder people just hop on hop off.
2) The transit employees keep getting annual raises! Really?? I thought you were short on funding to build shit you greedy fucks. Hmmmm maybe your upper management like lets see your PR Manager should take a pay cut?? Last i heard she was making 200+k ???

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

My take is that the grass is always greener on the other side. If you're simply a clerk or an administrative person, life in the public service is a pretty sweet deal. However, if you're a professional of some sort (engineer, lawyer, etc.), you might actually take a pay cut. Check out job postings on the BC Public Service website (https://search.employment.gov.bc.ca/...jobs_quick.cgi) or the federal government's website (www.jobs.gc.ca) to see what public servants are actually getting paid.

Remember to add 12-20% to those public salaries to account for the pension contributions. So those clerks become very overpaid, and the engineers salary is within reason.

[gdoh]

do we really do anything about this tho?? we just complain for a bit then forget about it until it happens again, and the MLA's, MP's and what not are supposed to be a voice for us but this is not true they are only a voice for themselves and the big wigs that run everything

[nns]

^I find for situations like this, it's not so much about caring then forgetting about it like it's the bandwagon-of-the-day sort of thing. It's more like just being aware of your city, how it runs, and how/where money flows.

This way, you won't be so ignorant to so many things, and hopefully, won't sound so foolish when you have the opportunity to voice your thoughts.

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by taylor192

Remember to add 12-20% to those public salaries to account for the pension contributions. So those clerks become very overpaid, and the engineers salary is within reason.

I didn't deny that being a clerk is a good deal (and probably for some, a great deal) if that's all you wanted to be. We all know people whose ambition only reaches as far as their next Louis Vuitton purse or lens on their SLR camera.

^I find for situations like this, it's not so much about caring then forgetting about it like it's the bandwagon-of-the-day sort of thing. It's more like just being aware of your city, how it runs, and how/where money flows.

This way, you won't be so ignorant to so many things, and hopefully, won't sound so foolish when you have the opportunity to voice your thoughts.

This. We would all be better off if people actually cared about things outside of the next Steve Jobs press conference.