KenC

@wez569 @GadSaad You can in no way lead me or anyone to think that the average non-rich American has anything like good health care. US life expectancy is at least 5 years less than in Canada.

@kencu_web @GadSaad My health care Premium is $90 a month. I have a $500 deductible. Max out of pocket in a year is $2250 and I can go to the worlds best doctors. There's a reason rich Canadians, the rest of the worlds richest people come to the USA for treatment.

One more thought about parasitic taxation and I'll head off for some exercising. What should be the maximal ceiling of your yearly income that the governments should be able to take? Is it 50%? 60%? 70%? 80%? 95%? What is the philosophical, moral, and ethical precept that guides your response? For example, if you were to say that a government must create equal wealth distribution across all citizens then the government could conceivably take 99.99% of a a very wealthy person's income to achieve that objective. So in your view, how much of your earnings does a government have a right to in a free society? I'm being genuine here. You don't need to insult me, attack me, etc. I'm interested in your responses.

@wez569 @GadSaad Average: If self-employed or retired before Medicare age: expect around US$6,000–9,000 per year in premiums for an individual ACA policy before subsidies. The world's best doctors are in Canada. People only go to the US for your overcapacity / availability of for-profit imaging.

@wez569 @GadSaad but @wez569 -- once you add in your -- what, $1500 monthly health care premium, and many other benefits that are included in Canadian taxes, you may feel it's not such a bad deal...

@kencu_web @GadSaad I like the USA's 15% max for any held over a year better...

@chowfun03 @Habs_1 @GadSaad I never indicated I was for it, and stop your childish insults. That's not how you discuss things. I'm indicating Canada is far from the worst for taxes. And there are many who would like to increase them. So vote wisely!

@kencu_web @Habs_1 @GadSaad The fact that you think that’s going to happen and are for it shows how dumb you really are. I know they’re trying but it won’t happen. Capital will flee and tax receipts will drop dramatically. Stop thinking the people work for the government. It’s the other way around

I’m unable to deal with the theft of much of my accrued book royalties and other creative endeavours. I’ve worked night and day for decades; nearly all of my money was generated outside of Canada, yet the provincial and federal governments felt that they are owed more than 55% of my earnings even though my taxes on my professorial salary is already more than what most Canadians pay in taxes. It is a criminal exercise bereft of fairness or morality. I hold out hope that I will somehow be granted financial cosmic justice.

@GadSaad About half of the US population supports increasing the tax rate to a higher level it appears.

@GadSaad The combined marginal tax rate in Quebec for earnings is 53.31% for income exceeding $258,482. The maximum total marginal tax rate for an individual earning W-2 wages in New York State is 54.126% if they live in New York City, or 50.25% if they live elsewhere.

@Maurozky1 @StealYourDeacon @GadSaad I don't think you've given this even 10 seconds worth of actual thought.

@StealYourDeacon @kencu_web @GadSaad BS. Selling is a realization event. This is just a money-grab event.

@Maurozky1 @StealYourDeacon @GadSaad It appears you think people who leave the country should not have to pay taxes on the capital gains earned while in Canada. What would you suggest is fair? Just let them dine-and-dash?

@mzb65544 @DempsterRita @GadSaad @mzb65544 Sadly, could be so. I see it on the news every night. Hope that is not true. America and Canada come from essentially the exact same stock of people. I can hardly tell the difference between them in person. But the news is shockingly different.

@kencu_web @DempsterRita @GadSaad Maybe America has more hate than Canada

@GadSaad 1. get people to stop asking for more free shit 2. elect people who support that point of view Most of the Scandinavian countries that everyone holds up as the epitome of great government, and a number of European countries, are much worse than Canada. fraserinstitute.org/commentary/can…

People are astoundingly stupid. My comments about the departure tax is not that I should be treated differently from anyone else. I am making a point about the extent to which taxes are confiscatory. As I have previously explained, there was a time when ZERO cents of income tax were levied in Canada and the US. Then bit by bit, that "temporary" measure, to be applied to only a few, and at a very low percentage rate of your income, becomes a mammoth monster that takes more than 50% of your earnings. It can occur because there are no repercussions if governments do not balance their budgets (other than voting them out). Hence, what starts off as a small temporary tax on a few becomes an existential theft that is orders of magnitude larger than the so-called illegal extortion tax of the Mafia. It can exist only because the great majority of people BENEFIT from this form of parasitic taxation. But someone has to pay for everyone else, and when you are that someone, you are not necessarily pleased to be funding the ultimate Ponzi scheme. I'm making a moral, philosophical, and ethical argument. It's not just about me.

@MelanieEresman Most places in Canada offer a private MRI option for folks who don't feel they can or should wait in the public queue. It's usually about twice the public cost, to allow for private company profits and such.

@MelanieEresman MRI head is a popular test. About 200,000 Canadians are waiting for a head MRI on any given day. A head MRI scan in real terms costs about $350, plus stealing MRI time away from other scans. Your doctor can prioritize your MRI if there are reasons to do so. It's math. More taxes?

My husband just got his MRI letter which is scheduled for December 2028.

@chowfun03 @Habs_1 @GadSaad You think that is bad? Some countries are moving to make you realize your capital gains yearly, and pay taxes on them every year. Bet you're going to really love that! Elect wisely! fraserinstitute.org/commentary/can…

@Habs_1 @kencu_web @GadSaad But gains haven’t been realized. How can you tax something that hasn’t been sold? The difference between capital gains and wages/interest is that the latter has been realized

@Sofakingnxtlevl @GadSaad The threshold for tax relief is something that should be, and is, constantly addressed by government. The size of the government should be as small as can do the required work -- and they pay taxes on their income too.

@kencu_web @GadSaad Most Canadians don’t pay taxes, actually. And nearly 40% are “employed” by the government one way or another

@GadSaad @AlbertaMatt Yes, that is frustrating. Democracy is hard, for sure. The alternative is worse, though. Canada has heard Alberta, and government policies have shifted from environmentalism to economic realities supporting oil and gas. Many are unhappy about that. Democracy works.

@GadSaad WTF is wrong with all you assholes who somehow feel everyone else but you should pay the taxes that make our country work but you? You want to change the tax base? Stop asking for free shit all the time, and elect people who support that point of view.

@SammyBarrow32 @mario4thenorth They don't have a right to your investments. They have a legal requirement to tax the increase in value of those investments. This is how society functions. There is nothing inherently socialist about it, and life would be a disaster is we didn't have this.

@kencu_web @mario4thenorth Why would a country have a right to your investments just because you leave???

Gad just learned about the Canadian “exit tax.” It’s very real. It’s one of the reasons our brain drain isn’t bigger than what it already is. It’s a form of entrapment. There are successful entrepreneurs who have highly profitable businesses, that do not leave because their business would be taxed as though it was sold, a deemed disposition, at fair market value, but they don’t have the money to pay the tax on it. Think of it as an acquisition happening, but with you getting no money, and instead a tax bill as though you made a captain gain (profit) on selling your business. It’s like the mafia. You can’t leave without paying a price.

@mzb65544 @DempsterRita @GadSaad I certainly didn't miss the point. "The homicide rate in the United States is historically three times higher than the rate in Canada. The primary driver of this discrepancy is gun violence. " Direct quotes.

@kencu_web @DempsterRita @GadSaad You missed the point. Hate murders someone

@FrankZYerbouti @GadSaad but… breaking or ignoring the existing tax laws because you don’t happen to like them is just a quick road to a lot of pain and suffering.

@kencu_web @GadSaad No, it's dumb to accept that whatever amount of tax is "lawfully required" is in fact one's "fair share" because one's govt declares it to be so.

@FrankZYerbouti @GadSaad There I completely agree with you. Like everything in govt, the services provided and taxes that support those services need to negotiated and agreed upon. Get people to stop asking for more free shit, and elect people who support that point of view.