Topic: What if only taxpayers were allowed to vote?

[azzkicker]

a good read...!

What if only taxpayers were allowed to vote?

This is one of those proposals that crops up every so often, but which never goes anywhere because too many sectors slam it as anti-poor, anti-democratic, and anti-populist.


It may be all of the above, but it is also a sensible proposition when you get right down to it.

Who, after all, has a bigger stake on the future of the country than the working men and women who fund the government’s day-to-day operations with their taxes?

And what of the millions of poor Filipinos who cannot pay taxes? opponents to the proposal will ask.

This is precisely the point. All they have to do is to work their way up to taxpayer status, and voila! They can become active participants in all the electoral exercises. They don’t even have to be among the top taxpayers either. Anyone who pays a minimum amount of taxes— say P1,000 a year in basic income tax—can qualify to become a voter.

We cannot ignore the obvious: vote buying is rampant in all our elections because there is no shortage of vote sellers. Anyone who sells his or her vote clearly does not understand or appreciate the democratic institutions that so many Filipinos have fought so hard to attain.

Call them the masa if you wish. They are the ones who keep dynasties in power because they refuse to fight for a better quality of elected leadership. They are the ones who elect con men to public office on the premise that they would do the same things if they were given the chance to become mayors, senators, governors, congressmen and yes, presidents.

Another impossible condition
Add to this requirement another one that will have human rights groups up in arms —only those who can read and write should have the right to vote.

This, too, is another sound proposal that deserves serious consideration once the emotional arguments are set aside.

This can be implemented not in the next elections, but somewhere down the road. Those who say that it is an anti-poor proposal should be reminded that poverty cannot be used as an excuse to get an elementary education. The government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program sees to it that the poorest of the poor may not use their economic state as an excuse to deprive their kids of an education.

For one, education is free nationwide. And secondly, they receive cash from the government on the condition that their kids of school age be enrolled.

A generation or two from now, the overwhelming majority of Filipinos will be able to read and write, and more importantly understand, what the voting process is really all about. Theoretically, because of the CCT program.

Also, one or two generations from now, the country’s economy would have reached a point where the chronic problems of unemployment and underemployment would have been solved.

By then, an enlightened, educated and tax-paying population can lift the Philippines out of its present state as an imperfect democracy.

In the meantime, we have today’s mid-term elections to plod through.

You’re not voting for any notorious crooks or non-qualified candidates for senator, governor, congressman or mayor, are you? Of course not. I’m sorry I asked.

http://manilatimes.net/index/index.php/opinion/columnist1/47396-what-if-only-taxpayers-were-allowed-to-vote

[sweetbayag2]

di na ko puede bumoto 

[rjelstyx]

di makakaboto ang mga entry level kagaya ko pati na rin mga studyante at mga kakagraduate lang katulad ko.

What if magbayad ng community tax, counted ba yun?

[maniac2999]

di makakaboto ang mga entry level kagaya ko pati na rin mga studyante at mga kakagraduate lang katulad ko.

What if magbayad ng community tax, counted ba yun?

hindi pwede sedula, kayang kaya na yan bayaran nung mga politiko haha , dapat may resibo ng pagfifile ng ITR bago payagang bumoto

[Pall-Eren-Mnr]

ok lang ako di makaboto kung wala akong trabaho at di makabayad ng tax kesa makaboto ng pera lang ang pinaandar sa pagboto

[frost entangle]

The problem is proper education. Siguro sinasadya ng mga pulitikong ito na wag pag tuonan ng pansin ang edukasyon because they want to keep the masses as dumb as possible. Instead yung panay nakikita ng masa sa TV yun na yung ginagawa nilang basehan para sa pagboto, kung sino sikat yun na iboboto nila.

[dying4you]

parang Nazi lang naman - socialist type of government.
I'm a taxpayer myself and can I see neither harm or gain if only taxpayers are allowed to vote.
pero parang sobrang pabor yata sa mga kapitalista kung ganito. dami pa namang mga abusadong bourgeois.

[markakol]

lahat naman nagbabayad ng tax ah, kumain lang ako kanina sa fast food may tax na.

[spikespeigel]

lahat naman nagbabayad ng tax ah, kumain lang ako kanina sa fast food may tax na.

Kayo naman...iyan ang bukambibig ng mga neo-liberals...ayaw nila ng universal suffrage, dahil daw sa ayaw nila sa oligarkiya gusto nila buksan ang Pilipinas para sa mga mutli-national companies sa pamamagitan ng liberalization...

 

[*schizophrenic*]

i dont know what he means by taxpayers when everone is paying tax. maybe not through ITR but with with VAT for instance, among others..

 for me, this would just create more problem, it will widen the gap between society claissification (poor , middle class) Its just the same as saying only the people who has a certain amount of money can their voices be heard... what about the farmers? the fishermen? the people living in the rural areas?

 why dont they upgrade the requirements needed for each government position so that the person running for that certain position must think twice before entering politics..

[dying4you]

lahat naman nagbabayad ng tax ah, kumain lang ako kanina sa fast food may tax na.

damn tama ka dyan bro. araw-araw na bumibili ako sa tindahan may kasamang tax na binabayaran yun. ipinasa lng sa akin ang cost ng tax.

[azzkicker]

pwede rin siguro tanggalin na lang ang pork barrel, ewan ko lang kung me mga tatakbo pa!

[bugtook]

yari si erap zero vote siya pag ganito.

[HeLL_Vhoy]

I think kung ganito ang mangyayri parang malaking business na ang pag uusapan natin dito kasi as a tax payer syempre ako boboto ako kung san ikakaunlad ng negosyo ko yun makakakuha ako ng mas pabor pero pano kung bumagsak ang negosyo? kahiyahiya na tapos di ka na pwedeng bumoto sagwa naman din nun.

[BlueAlphaZero]

If only taxpayers were allowed to vote...then the printing presses in downtown Manila would make a fortune "printing" income tax returns.

[maniac2999]

I think kung ganito ang mangyayri parang malaking business na ang pag uusapan natin dito kasi as a tax payer syempre ako boboto ako kung san ikakaunlad ng negosyo ko yun makakakuha ako ng mas pabor pero pano kung bumagsak ang negosyo? kahiyahiya na tapos di ka na pwedeng bumoto sagwa naman din nun.

pwede ka magfile ng voluntary tax AFAIK, yung sa may steady income ang mandatory, pag ganyan ang sistema, hindi lang yung kumikita ang makakaboto kundi yung nagchi-chip in talaga either voluntary o hindi.