Dear vertigo, Your post is typical of those who shoot from the hip without thinking the the system through; abit like the Indian fable that says the world rests on the back of an elephant and the elephant is supported by 4 tortoises, one under each foot. But nobody asks what supports the tortoises!
Negative gearing on residential properties was introduced to compensate for the Governments' (State & Federal) withdrawal of funds for public housing to encourage taxpayers to invest in rental houses. If the tax concession is withdrawn then there will be likely a shortage of rental housing and rents will likely go up.
The Government will then have 2 options: (a) put more taxpayers money into housing or (b) Put more taxpayers funds into rental assistance.
The side effect would be a likely be a temporary slowing down in residential building and that would have a seperate economic impact.
If we forgo the RSPT, then the miners will be more profitable and attract housing funds into the stock market and so on the cycle goes.
The fundamental questions are who should pay more tax, when and how much.Everyone seems to have their own selfish agenda and few put the good of society first. if we believe that fairness and equity is the cornerstones of our society, then we ought to be circumspect about our taxation system and the re-distribution of wealth.
The current hole in the budget has two major causes: (a)Lower Government reciepts due to the GFC and (b) Stimulus spending also due to the GFC.
The western world has been hit by these two problems and Australia has not differed greatly in principle with GFC solutions implemented by others. The government offered support at the taxpayers expense to shore-up bank deposits and I'm sure, it would have supported miners had it been neccessary. The taxpayer also supported the motor industry by support to auto purchase lending. This corporate welfare is readily forgotten when it comes to payback!
If you are honest about the mix of these issues then you should be willing to debate them based on your basic beliefs and/or political bias; not giving someone or something a qick political kick in the crotch!
We need brains and not ego to solve our financial woes no matter who is in Government.And that is true in all countries.
Norman Mailer said once: First you have a fiction Then it is written down and it morphs into a "factoid" and then, hey presto, it evolves into fact. And that seems to be intellectual malady besetting this blogging site.
But,who knows, maybe that's what the site is for ; a kind of an intellectual garbage bin.
