Die Linke doesn't get it re. income taxation

[Die Neue Zeit]

http://www.thelocal.de/money/20130201-47703.html#.URMn9duF9PE


“Explosive inequality is threatening democracy,” said co-leader Bernd Riexinger. “I call capping income at half a million euros a democracy tax.”

This knee-jerk move by Die Linke, possibly an acknowledgement that federal coalitionist overtures haven't worked, doesn't take into consideration that there are so many types of income taxed under income tax laws and there's no room for regular popular change of upper tax rates.

[blake 3:17]

@DNZ -- please explain. A strategic or tactical error in politics? Risk of capital flight?

[Die Neue Zeit]

Comrade, recall my blogs on "Socio-Income Democracy":

http://www.revleft.com/vb/socio-income-democracy-t92929/index.html
http://www.revleft.com/vb/socio-income-democracy-t132907/index.html

Simply put, there's not enough popular empowerment for something called a "democracy tax."

[blake 3:17]

OK -- makes sense, but...

I see a few levels to this.

One is presenting an ideological challenge to gross economic inequality. From what I can gather that seems to be what Die Linke is doing. Maybe I'm wrong. The rottenness of people being given that kind of money, while others struggle to subsist is pretty plain.

The second point I'd want to make is that the Revolutionary We need to embrace both the enforcement of taxes and push for substantive reforms in taxation. It's a huge blindness on our part.

And third, we need to negotiate what changes taxes are pushed for and with what qualifications. A very serious error of Jack Layton's was to make a push on inheritance taxes for inheritances at a million dollars or more. While in principle I supported it, on tactical and strategic lines I thought it was a dumb ass move. Particularly in urban centres, working people work their whole lives for a home and property that they'd hope would be worth a million dollars for their children, grandchildren and other dependents.

Anyways, enough ranting for the night...

[Die Neue Zeit]

Ready for when you rant next time, but that fits in with my criticism above. It's how one presents the "ideological challenge" how one "embraces the enforcement of taxes," and how one "negotiates what changes taxes are pushed for and with what qualifications."