censorship Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Anyone wanting to challenge one of the government lapdogs in the next election will have an easy time writing their manifesto..."I wouldn't have voted for charging you £50 for taking a shit - Vote Me" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisenchuk Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 If they could practically show how they would use their position to overturn this charge then they probably deserve a vote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
censorship Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I'm not certain the charge should be overturned, just applied more fairly, with recognition that some people live alone, putting little pressure on the sewerage system, while others have large families, and some recognition that many people live on modest, fixed incomes while others have money to flsuh down the toilet, so to speak. We have to pay for services, and government is trying to avoid putting up direct taxes because of the 'bad for business' message that will send out, so indirect taxes like this are inevitable, to an extent. I completely understand the argument that we wouldn't need this if we cut the civil service and stopped throwing money at film studios, but I'm not entirely opposed to an additional charge for the maintenance of sewerage services, just utterly against the way it has been applied. If someone comes along with a workable formula to introduce a sliding scale of charging based on number of people in house and ability to pay - and it is important that both elements are considered, because a single millionaire is much better able to pay then a very low income family of five - they'd deserve a vote just for not being the twat who went along with what government told them to do. Government is very good at setting means testing when it comes to stopping money being given to people - such as child benefit - but apparently less capable when it comes to billing people. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoMan Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I think MOST people are prepared to pay for things, especially in these troubled times, but what upsets people is that the public are being treated with such utter contempt!!! The Government will just keep on passing these unfair charges on to the public rather than address the real problems of bloat, £320 Million wage bill, bonuses etc etc within their own organisation. If they realistically tried to get their own house in order BEFORE hitting the taxpayer then the public would have a lot more sympathy with them!!! It will happen for as long as we LET it happen!!! If anyone has any ideas/plans of Positive Action against these fuckers then Sign Me Up!!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lxxx Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 What are the Positive Action Group doing about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 So they still haven't tackled - the unfair rating system- local government reform- LEGCO being un-elected- government doing things that should be done by private sector. And already they've got their eyes on the next election. Why should we put them back in if they haven't achieved these things? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoMan Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I don't want to knock the Positive Action Group as I am not 100% sure what they do, or are trying to do. All I know is that it's time for a group of people to get together and take some Positive Action. Like I said....Sign Me Up!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I don't want to knock the Positive Action Group as I am not 100% sure what they do, or are trying to do. All I know is that it's time for a group of people to get together and take some Positive Action. Like I said....Sign Me Up!!! http://positiveactiongroup.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=390&Itemid=55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoMan Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Thanks Moghrey Mie If their Charter is anything to go by then I would imagine they should be quite busy!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisenchuk Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I'm not certain the charge should be overturned, just applied more fairly, with recognition that some people live alone, putting little pressure on the sewerage system, while others have large families, and some recognition that many people live on modest, fixed incomes while others have money to flsuh down the toilet, so to speak. We have to pay for services, and government is trying to avoid putting up direct taxes because of the 'bad for business' message that will send out, so indirect taxes like this are inevitable, to an extent. I completely understand the argument that we wouldn't need this if we cut the civil service and stopped throwing money at film studios, but I'm not entirely opposed to an additional charge for the maintenance of sewerage services, just utterly against the way it has been applied. If someone comes along with a workable formula to introduce a sliding scale of charging based on number of people in house and ability to pay - and it is important that both elements are considered, because a single millionaire is much better able to pay then a very low income family of five - they'd deserve a vote just for not being the twat who went along with what government told them to do. Government is very good at setting means testing when it comes to stopping money being given to people - such as child benefit - but apparently less capable when it comes to billing people. Cens,whilst I agree with much of what you say here,I still believe the legislation as it stands should be overturned/scrapped purely on the basis that it has set a very dangerous precedent by authorising Govt Depts to act autonomously and set charges and taxes without any further requirement for scrutiny or revision by the representative capacity of Tynwald. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Thanks Moghrey Mie If their Charter is anything to go by then I would imagine they should be quite busy!!! I think they have helped encourage people to take an interest in what is going on politically on the island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatbadger Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 1,100 surveys completed regarding Health services on the island.Government embraces findings, that all is well (Which it isn't for more serious cases, its a mess)6,300 signatures in a petition to the government regarding sewerage charge.Government completely ignores the public.Go figure. Nice way to work a democracy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatbadger Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) I think MOST people are prepared to pay for things, especially in these troubled times, but what upsets people is that the public are being treated with such utter contempt!!! The Government will just keep on passing these unfair charges on to the public rather than address the real problems of bloat, £320 Million wage bill, bonuses etc etc within their own organisation. If they realistically tried to get their own house in order BEFORE hitting the taxpayer then the public would have a lot more sympathy with them!!! It will happen for as long as we LET it happen!!! If anyone has any ideas/plans of Positive Action against these fuckers then Sign Me Up!!! Have you not noticed that they keep dropping in the line of government job cuts, even though they continue to pay the Legco a handsome £50k per year for the sake of tradition. The spin is, they say they're getting their house in order. We know its only trimming the edges and not root and branch. Turkeys don't vote for Christmas. They vote themselves pay rises while cutting benefits (again) for the disabled and genuinely ill. Whacking on some more taxes, unfairly. While dishing money out to themselves and their pals with no transparency or accountability. Yes, it will happen as long as its left to happen. Edited February 20, 2014 by thefatbadger 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisenchuk Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Houghton reinforcing the fact that he's a blithering idiot. (When in a hole,stop digging!) From MR News: WASA chairman claims 'toilet tax' was not poorly handled Published online at 21/02/2014 07:35:29 The chairman of the Water and Sewerage Authority claims the introduction of the sewerage charge - the so-called toilet tax - has not been handled badly. News of the charge, set at £50 this year and rising year-on-year thereafter, was met with dismay and anger by many. A petition against it collected more than 6,300 signatures. It was presented to Tynwald this week, but members still voted in favour of its introduction. WASA Chairman John Houghton: Listen To Related Audio Clip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I'd like to know how many of the job cuts we hear about are genuinely people going out the door never to return or be replaced. I know that there have been a good number because I know quite a lot of them personally. However, I also know that when the exercise started, a lot of the "job losses", were just positions that were aspired to by the Departments and never filled or hadn't been filled in many years. That was the first lot of "job losses" that really didn't affect the headcount at all. Then there have been the redeployments, drafting in of temps so as not to increase the number of employees and other clever statistical tricks. So actually how many have gone? The stonking deals of lump sums and pensions they are walking away with are another issue entirely but one that restricts the savings we are making. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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