From: Paul Bullock (paulbullock@EBMS-LTD.CO.UK)
Date: Mon May 24 2004 - 18:00:00 EDT
Juttiaan, what are the references to Marx's objectsions etc as you suggested below? thanks paul Bl. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gerald A. Levy" <Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM> To: <OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU> Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 12:37 PM Subject: [OPE-L] (OPE-L) Re: taxation and public finance > Hi Jurriaan. > > > Marx's objection to a a VAT-type tax was that > > (1) it glossed over differences in social class position and (2) separated > > tax collection from the control over the spending of tax funds, i.e. taxes > > would be no longer earmarked for a specific purpose, administered by a > > specific authority and under control of taxpayers who give a specific > > mandate for expenditure of specific tax funds. The second point is > > probably more politically significant these days than the first, namely > > money gets spent for things that taxpayers gave no mandate for, and > > have no control over. > > A couple of international and historical point of information questions: > > In what capitalist social formations have citizens had the right to > directly vote on proposed government expenditures on a line-by-line > or category-by-category basis? And, in what capitalist nations > were taxes only applied for specific purposes that the taxpayers knew > about and mandated in advance of tax payment? (Note that I'm not > asking about government bonds or, on the spending side, categorical > grants). > > In solidarity, Jerry >
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