they're not just like taxes on booze and fags. booze and fags are life choices for the individual.
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except as pointed out before they hurt the poor far more than the rich unless they are part of something like the Green New Deal
the riots are proof that the policy is not working as it should. Driving the just about managing or the poor into penury is not "entirely sensible".
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Increasingly i am finding myself feeling totally torn by this whole thing. I think leaving the EU is a fucking disaster for Britain. But i think letting the UK back in is likely to be really fucking problematic for the EU. Having this bunch of snippy fucked-up annoying cunts* constantly yapping at everyone is such a pain in the arse and in so many ways getting shot of them once and for all is likely to be a genuine benefit for the EU
(*Not meaning all of people of the UK here bu the loud vocal twats who seem to be its representatives. Your Farages and your Johnsons. Your Daily Mails and your Tory parties)
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People who criticize a carbon tax because of its distributional impact need to be very careful that they're simply not falling into the Tea-party/ Irish water charges trap, of ostensibly being concerned with the impact on the poor, but ultimately are part of an anti-tax small govt narrative, that shits on everyone. Anyone who is more focused on the immediate impact of the tax, rather than saying that this is an important and good idea, but we need to talk about it as part of the ultimate distribution of income, should be viewed with extreme suspicion. Criticizing a fundamental re-pricing of carbon to include the cost of pollution, for its distributional impact is a bit like criticizing Chemotherapy for being sexist.
(And when I talk about a discussion of the distribution of income and wealth, I mean a serious and meaningful discussion, not the sort of nonsense espoused in the 42 demands, which is essentially a Cake fucking a unicorn, while Boris Johnson looks on enviously at the scope of the nonsense contained within.) But this simply can't take place on a national basis. Everyone needs to do this, or the french economy will die because it tried to do the right thing.
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- Jan 2012
- 3296
- Worthing
- The Hammers, until Mark Noble goes.(he's still there, sort of)
- Garibaldi, dipped in tea.
Originally posted by ad hoc View PostIncreasingly i am finding myself feeling totally torn by this whole thing. I think leaving the EU is a fucking disaster for Britain. But i think letting the UK back in is likely to be really fucking problematic for the EU. Having this bunch of snippy fucked-up annoying cunts* constantly yapping at everyone is such a pain in the arse and in so many ways getting shot of them once and for all is likely to be a genuine benefit for the EU
(*Not meaning all of people of the UK here bu the loud vocal twats who seem to be its representatives. Your Farages and your Johnsons. Your Daily Mails and your Tory parties)
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Just because some people are concern trolling doesn't mean the argument is fraudulent; it means policy makers need to come up with better ways to ensure that the necessary repricing of carbon doesn't become another regressive taxation so as to leave the poujadists and anti-taxers pissing in the wind without rhetorical cover.
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Originally posted by johnr View PostMany pages ago, I mentioned that I hosted an EU discussion in our Labour ward, and that the best argument we had from a left Leaver was exactly that. He spends most of his time in France/Germany, and feels that the EU project was too important to have the UK constantly arguing and sniping from the periphery. I found it hard to argue with him.
Sir Humphrey: Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now, when it's worked so well?
Hacker: That's all ancient history, surely?
Sir Humphrey: Yes, and current policy. We had to break the whole thing [the EEC] up, so we had to get inside. We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn't work. Now that we're inside we can make a complete pig's breakfast of the whole thing: set the Germans against the French, the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch... The Foreign Office is terribly pleased; it's just like old times.
Hacker: But surely we're all committed to the European ideal?
Sir Humphrey: [chuckles] Really, minister.
Hacker: If not, why are we pushing for an increase in the membership?
Sir Humphrey: Well, for the same reason. It's just like the United Nations, in fact; the more members it has, the more arguments it can stir up, the more futile and impotent it becomes.
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Originally posted by Tubby Isaacs View PostLiving in Wales has actually confirmed my thinking. I can see for myself that poorer people have smaller cars, take buses etc. The Welsh Government deserve credit for maintaining a decent level of bus service, even with cuts to their grant, and there's no reason why France (which taxes about 12p in every pound more than the UK) can't afford to fund that.
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Yes, but not often. I can read timetables though, and there are a reasonable number of buses towards the bigger towns till about 6.
Maintaining buses even at this level was a brave political choice. See the "Offa's Dyke is the line between life and death" bollocks they put up with.
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Originally posted by Tubby Isaacs View PostYes, but not often. I can read timetables though, and there are a reasonable number of buses towards the bigger towns till about 6.
Maintaining buses even at this level was a brave political choice. See the "Offa's Dyke is the line between life and death" bollocks they put up with.
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I have regularly used buses in Snowdonia, Snowdon Sherpa and the likes. The timetable is well planned, synchronised with train service from Llandunno Junction, the pricing is excellent and the service is good, even when you consider the area potential weather problems. It is far better than the service in a similar area like the Lakes District in fact.
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Originally posted by Moonlight shadow View PostI have regularly used buses in Snowdonia, Snowdon Sherpa and the likes. The timetable is well planned, synchronised with train service from Llandunno Junction, the pricing is excellent and the service is good, even when you consider the area potential weather problems. It is far better than the service in a similar area like the Lakes District in fact.
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Originally posted by Logan Mountstuart View PostWhat a snake May is. What a joke of a government and country.
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I don't see how this is going to work. There might have been some negotiating after a no vote, but why would the EU negotiate now, especially when there's no guarantee she can get anything through. If she postpones and the EU continue saying no renegotiation she'll just look idiotic.
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