i'm really disappointed that i haven't yet heard the term "nanny state".

i didn't initially draw the connection between this and the uccb, because there isn't one. it just struck me as typical kneejerk fiscal conservatism, the type we see everywhere that can't place anything in context. and, once it was pointed out to me, it took me a while to work through it, because it's so convoluted.

but, here's the right way to think about it...

so, the uccb is a tax cut. the nannies are a perk employed by his employer. the correct way to look at the situation is consequently not that he's using tax dollars, it's that his employer is covering his child care.

now, it's true that his employer pays him in tax dollars. but, that's not the same thing as using tax dollars. i think it's important to stop at this point, because i think it's difficult to grapple with from both perspectives. and, i'd actually like to thank whomever brought this up, because it was a good mental exercise.

see, i understand that this is a conceptual jump that a lot of people won't be able to make. tax dollars are tax dollars are tax dollars. right? but, these people need to understand that, on the other hand, conflating the two things is the part that people like me needed explained to them - because we would never think to do so, otherwise. the difference between getting a tax cut and having tax dollars pay for employment related costs are such different things, that it would never cross our minds to link them. see?

whether your approach is that it's hard to see how to put the pieces together into a contradiction, or conceptually hard to separate these two things from each other, the right analysis has to be that these are two different things - because they are.

he's not getting a tax break. it just happens to be that his employer pays him in tax funds. and, once you realize that, the contradiction resolves and we can get back to talking about the climate conference in paris.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rona-ambrose-rich-trudeau-nannies-1.3347148

Billy McGruff
Whoaaaaaaaaaaa lmao

jessica murray
it's actually a really interesting question in perception, and logical pathways.

i mean, i wouldn't expect this from every seemingly ridiculous right-wing criticism.

but, this so convoluted that they really fluked out on something really interesting with this.

Alma_Fudd
Maybe cut back on the herb a bit?

jessica murray
well, you have to wander a little when the issue is this half-baked.

it's been almost two weeks, actually. frankly, i'm too old to be baked all the time.