Below
is an article from Jan Gindrup. This is
must read article because of the richness of the details and the depth of Jan’s
experience working for the Danish government.
Mr. Gindrup received
his bachelor's degree and served his country well spending the next 21 years as
a police officer in Denmark. After retiring from the police force, Jan served
as a security consultant to a large Danish energy company…
It’s a long article full of things we
need to know about socialist democracies. Jan is reporting on Denmark but could be
reporting the same on all of the countries in the European Union. (In some ways he is reporting about us.)
The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side
By Jan Gindrup
Have you ever thought of life being better
somewhere else?
It is often said that the grass is greener on
the other side. Could it be that sometimes one's own grass just has grown so
high that one can't judge the conditions over there?
On the other hand, most people, especially Americans,
know that Denmark is home to the happiest people in the world and that it is a
wonderful fairytale country with peace and the best social welfare system ever.
The movie Hans Christian Andersen with Danny Kaye probably
reinforced that impression. Never mind that no one knows where Denmark is.
Well, here's a chance to hear from the
happiest people on earth and their wonderful little country.
How Do You Keep People Happy?
How do you keep a population happy? You do it
the same way that you keep a dog happy. You provide basic necessities,
education, a justice system and entertainment to keep people from spending too
much time thinking, in order to keep them from looking outside the fence for
new masters. In time, people will start telling each other that they are happy.
What we can readily do without shame is
happily brag about being the most taxed and perhaps also most regulated country
in the world.
It has jokingly been said that North Korea and
Cuba envy Denmark for being the only place where socialism has been
successfully implanted without anybody noticing.
We became accustomed to a plethora of state
benefits ranging from Medicare to art. Social welfare has been a boon for a
large segment of the population. In fact, a few years ago it was normal that
after ten years on welfare, people were automatically transferred to a
permanent disabled pension at a young age. We have experienced massive
immigration by people from the Middle East during the last thirty years,
something that has dramatically changed the fabric of our society.
There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
Yes, it true: all Danes enjoy six weeks of
paid vacation and, for the time being, paid retirement pension. But these
benefits are slowly vanishing.
To finance this overwhelming and still growing
public sector, the Danish government keeps inventing new taxes with more and
more creative names, like "amenity value tax." The creative Danish
tax system - or "how to tax the same service more than once without people
noticing" - is big business. It all started with
Medicare.
We have roughly 5.5 million inhabitants,
including citizens and noncitizen residents. The Danish workforce consists of 3
million people, of which 1 million are public employees. That means that 2
million people in the private sector support 3.5 million other people with
their taxes, plus their own use of the public sector.
One example of how the state gets money is by
raising taxes on real estate lots. I own an empty half-acre lot in the middle
of nowhere, for which I used to pay $180 a year in "dirt tax" (tax
for owning the land). I then had the lot subdivided into three lots, each about
one-sixth of an acre - still empty land, no rights, utilities nor other
improvements. For this, I am now paying $1,250 per lot, or $3,750 per year.
This amounts to a tax hike of approximately 2,100 %! When I complained, I
received a letter informing me that I could expect an answer in eighteen
months. I am still waiting.
The state decides every year what your house
and lot is worth. It's usually not far from the market value. First we pay
"lot-due tax." In our case, it runs around $7,000 a year. On top of
that, we pay something called "rental-value tax of your own
property." The state thinks that as a homeowner, you are better off than a
person who rents his home. Therefore, it decided that homeowners should pay
rent to the state for living in their own home. This also goes if you own a
home outside of Denmark.
Contrary to common belief worldwide, our
hospitals are not impressive. A few years ago, I cut an artery in one arm and,
knowing that the ambulance doesn't always come when called, I rushed in myself.
It's not unusual to get an answering machine, to be asked to call another
number or to wait for a very long time for the ambulance.
At the hospital, I was met by Dr. Muhammad,
the doctor in charge of the emergency room. His Danish was so bad that no one
understood him, nor did he understand us. After pulling my artery for 20
minutes with forceps (yes, it hurts, in case you are wondering) and not
listening to me or the nurses' requests for anesthesia, he decided to call a
Danish doctor. The Danish doctor's first question upon arrival was why I wasn't
sedated. He was also curious as why Dr. Muhammad hadn't seen fit to wear
gloves. After "treating" me, Dr. Muhammad spent 20 minutes trying to
reset a young carpenter's dislocated shoulder. While he was unable to reset the
shoulder, he was successful in getting the poor man to cry like a baby. After
that fiasco, he left the room burping loudly.
As we left, an old, senile man was walking
around confused in the hallway, wearing nothing more than underwear and wetting
himself. My wife told this to seven nurses in the intake office, only to be
asked if she couldn't take care of the old man!
Next day, I called the hospital to report my
experience with its emergency room. I was informed the hospital had already
placed Dr. Muhammad on probation. Nevertheless, he was left in charge of a
large emergency room.
(Well, we have all been wondering where our
new health care system will find all the new doctors it will need…. We will get
them from the same places Denmark got theirs –India – Mideast -------?)
Couples in old-age homes risk separation to
different retirement homes after 50 years of marriage. It is considered normal
to offer old people a bath every seven to ten days, and it is right now being
discussed to take away their daily lemonade from them.
We never see our paycheck, as it goes through
a public account called "Easy-ID." This means that anything you owe
the public is automatically withheld from your account before you get it.
If you pull out more than $1,780 from your own
bank account, the teller may ask you why, and if not satisfied, the bank clerk
will report you to the Danish IRS; the same goes for any "suspicious"
activities in your account. Should you get the stupid notion of opening a bank
account outside Denmark, don't use a credit card. If a person residing in
Denmark takes out money from a foreign account, it is reported to the IRS.
So while we may not have obvious corruption in
the traditional sense in Denmark, job perks and benefits from "good old
boy" network access are the standard.
Steaks cost up to US$70 per kilo, a bottle of
liquor runs over $26, plus there's a 25% VAT on everything. There is a 180% tax
on cars, which of course also is reflected in equally expensive insurance
rates. We have a graduated registration tax scheme on cars. Normal vehicles
have white plates and are subject to a 180% sales tax; yellow plates are
two-seated, company-cargo cars, where the backseats are permanently removed and
which are in turn subject to less tax; and yellow/white for cargo cars with VAT
paid and thus allowed to be used privately. If you drive a white-plated company
car, you are heavily taxed if using it privately. This does not apply for cars
driven by chauffeurs, as they are tax-free. All ministers have chauffeurs.
Almost all transactions in Denmark have
numerous hidden taxes. To give an example, let me try to analyze an electricity
bill for you. We pay around $0.35 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is about $1,400
a year for a normal home. The basic price is roughly $0.078 per kWh, but after
adding energy tax, appendix tax, distribution tax, energy saving (CO2) tax,
public duties, transport of electricity, actual consumption and subscription,
and 25% VAT, we end up with $0.35!
Gasoline is now at US$9.60 per gallon and
still rising. By far the largest part of that price is tax.
And it's like that with almost everything in
Denmark.
A Toyota Hilux pickup, which is similar to a
Tacoma but has only four cylinders, is a two-seated car on yellow plates. You
have the option not to pay VAT, but then you can't drive it privately. If you
do and get caught, you have to pay full (white-plate) registration and a fine
of the same amount. This Hilux, incidentally, costs $1,600 a year in road
taxes.
A guy just got caught in a Ferrari on
temporary plates. He was charged for private driving and got a combined ticket
and registration tax for $1,070,000 PLUS six months in jail.
It's considered tax evasion, and tax evasion is punished more severely here
than violence. In normal law, the police have to prove you guilty. With the
IRS, you have to prove your innocence. The IRS can conduct a search on your
private property without a warrant.
A recent legislative proposal is that the buyer
of a service from a craftsman can be held responsible if the craftsman fails to
pay tax. That means that the buyer has to make sure that the service provider
pays the tax!
For the sake of illustration, the latest
survey of estimated prices for craftsmen in Denmark shows that companies charge
the following hourly rates:
|
Plumbers
|
$125
|
|
Electricians
|
$107
|
|
Carpenters and
bricklayers
|
$90
|
|
Floor Sander
|
$63
|
To compare, a policeman or nurse makes roughly
$33 an hour - before taxes.
It will be illegal to pay a craftsman in cash
on transactions exceeding US$1,780. Transactions exceeding that have to be done
through bank transfer, so the Revenue Ministry can track in detail what you do
with your money.
You are not allowed to carry more than $13,600
on you (included valuables) anywhere in Europe, unless you have declared them
to the authorities.
By now you get the picture of what it takes to
run a "paradise."
But don't worry if you feel like your country
is heading the same way, your personal freedom slipping away, your rights
disappearing and your money being taken. You hardly notice it, and slowly, day
by day, you will become accustomed to it.
Jan Gindrup
My response in reading this article in Casey
new letter was to say this craziness could never happen here. After a few cups
of coffee while staring out the window I realized everything the government
needs to make this next leap into the European way of government and life is
already in place. Just look at all the add-ons on your phone bill, the social
programs that are up and running, and Obamacare just around the corner. (Note:
There is a link at the end of the article to an interesting tidbit on Medicare
Advantage for ones who are on it or whose parents are on it.)
Government controls the money supply, they
have control over businesses through regulations, and they take the money we
earn. And they now have control over health services, and multimillions of people
on social programs dependent on them for their day to day living.
What else do the liberals need to finally
bring America to the European level of government control? 1) They need to
reelect Obama for another four years; 2) they need to keep control of the
Senate for another four years. Given the current poll numbers they maybe well
on their way.
It is my belief that it is only the Tea Party
that stands between the American way of life and the European way of life. A
government for and by the people or a people for and by the government is our
choice. No matter how we read our last fifty year history we have been moving
in this socialist direction towards the latter.
Maybe soon someone will jokingly say, “America
is another country where socialism has been successfully implanted without
anybody noticing.”
How did we get here? Is there some innate need
in humans to be taken care of? Does our present population want to govern
themselves through elected representatives?
Tea party folks seem to want to but do we reflect the population as a
whole?
We are at a crossroad. A wrong turn here/now
will take us to Europe and like Europe once there we cannot get back. For sure,
after one generation our grandchildren will have forgotten the American way of
life and what that life uniquely offered.
We need a new president and eight more
conservative senators. How can we get them? The conservative candidates will
need lots of money and lots of our time. I just sent Josh Mandel (in Ohio) some
money and he needs lots more because he is well behind in the polls. Crews need money and our support. That is just
two and there are more candidates that will need our help.
Mississippi Tea Party just sent out a list of
six candidates running for the senate and most on the list is doing well in the
polls.
Florida US
Senate Election 2012 – Must Win
Incumbent: Bill Nelson – Democrat
Challenger: Connie Mack IV, U.S. Representative – Republican
Incumbent: Bill Nelson – Democrat
Challenger: Connie Mack IV, U.S. Representative – Republican
North Dakota US Senate Election 2012 – Must Win
Democratic candidate: Heidi Heitkamp
Republican candidate: Rick Berg, U.S. Representative
Virginia US
Senate Election 2012 – Must Win
Democratic candidate: Tim Kaine
Republican candidate: George Allen – Former Senator
Democratic candidate: Tim Kaine
Republican candidate: George Allen – Former Senator
Massachusetts
US Senate Election 2012 – Must Hold
Incumbent: Scott Brown – Republican
Challenger: Elizabeth Warren – Democrat
Incumbent: Scott Brown – Republican
Challenger: Elizabeth Warren – Democrat
Montana US
Senate Election 2012 – Must Win
Incumbent: Jon Tester Democrat
Challenger: Denny Rehberg, U.S. representative – Republican, former lieutenant governor, and former state representative
Incumbent: Jon Tester Democrat
Challenger: Denny Rehberg, U.S. representative – Republican, former lieutenant governor, and former state representative
Nevada US
Senate Election 2012 – Must Hold
Incumbent: Dean Heller – Republican
Challenger: Shelley Berkley, U.S. Representative – Democrat
Incumbent: Dean Heller – Republican
Challenger: Shelley Berkley, U.S. Representative – Democrat
Wisconsin
US Senate Election 2012 – Must Win
Democratic candidate: Tammy Baldwin
Republican candidate: Tommy Thompson – former governor, and former Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Democratic candidate: Tammy Baldwin
Republican candidate: Tommy Thompson – former governor, and former Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Missouri US
Senate Election 2012 – Must Win
Incumbent: Claire McCaskill – Democrat
Incumbent: Claire McCaskill – Democrat
The GOP primary will take place on
August 7th. There are three Republicans vying to challenge McCaskill. Running
are former state treasurer and state senator, Sarah Steelman, U.S. Representative Todd Akin, and businessman John Brunner.
Gindrup's article is a warning hopefully to
our citizens…
My mind wants to believe that socialism could never
happen in America… Growing up when I did has left me with a naïve belief about
government and the elite political class that has been running the country.
We are in danger and the conservative American
is an endangered species.
126 days, 0 hours, and 11 minutes till the November voting
begins.
Ron
docnick37@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Let us know what you think?