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   RM>  And in general I would not want to be   
   RM> poor down there seeing how a lot of them live compared to up here.   
   RM> Not that it's universal, we all have bad areas. But Trumps biggest   
   RM> platform in his bid to take over Canada is how much our taxes would   
   RM> go down if we joined the USA, which are admittedly high,   
      
   KW> Their taxes pay for medical care, a pension fund, welfare and other social   
     > services we don't have or don't do as well. And, they certainly don't   
     > threaten to take services away as "entitlements".   
      
   KW> If you include everything we pay to private insurance and retirement   
     > funds, I bet it's a wash.   
      
   It's hard to say without really looking closely at it. I know we spend   
   about $5000 per person by population on 'free' healthcare, so there   
   are taxes to pay for that, and generally not enough so services are   
   getting slower and a few things not covered even though paying full   
   price for most medical treatments here is much cheaper than what you   
   would pay down there without insurance.   
      
   But a senior over 65 who has never paid a cent into pensions, gov't   
   or private, still gets over $1700 a month. You can make something   
   up to about $25,000 a year and pay no taxes at all and a lot of our   
   low income earner benefits only rely on your actual income to decide   
   if you qualify. They don't look at your assets / net worth.   
      
   No system is perfect. We land somewhere between your system and   
   Britain's system, which has become a joke for decades now but I'm   
   happy enough with ours. My Niece had a very premature baby, who   
   thankfully is now perfectly normal and healthy and too smart for   
   her own good, but without our healthcare system, they would have   
   been handed a bill for $250,000 when they left the hospital.   
      
   ---   
    * SLMR Rob  * Professional cordless bungee jumper   
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