Another idol tarnished...
Monday, 27. April 2009, 23:44:59
British icon, actor, and film mega-star Michael Caine has written a letter to a newspaper complaining that after last week's budget he's now paying another 10p in the pound on everything he earns over £150,000 (Roughly $250,000) a year. He objects that he's having to get up at 6AM every morning just to pay for some lazy unemployed shirker living in a council house to maintain his workshy lifestyle.
Now I dislike the voluntarily unemployed just as much as the next man, particularly since most of them seem to have done a whole lot better out of the budget than I have, but Michael Caine's letter is, let's face it, utterly ridiculous. If he can't live in retirement on the millions he's earned over the years then there's been something wrong with his budget over the last few years.
It's interesting to note that he apparently earns so much that he believes he is paying the extra 10% on everything he earns. Exactly how much do you have to earn in a year to make the slightly under 20% tax that he's paid on the first £150,000 so miniscule that it no longer figures in the equation?
I would also venture to point out that at his age he's just lucky that he's in a job where he's allowed to go on working, and his employers are willing to continue to pay him for it. The majority of workers are tossed unceremoniously onto the dole as soon as they're old enough to claim a bus pass.
I'm delighted to learn that, unlike many in the entertainment profession, Mr. Caine has not been cheating the exchequor out of his due revenues, but nevertheless, he really should grow up.
Now I dislike the voluntarily unemployed just as much as the next man, particularly since most of them seem to have done a whole lot better out of the budget than I have, but Michael Caine's letter is, let's face it, utterly ridiculous. If he can't live in retirement on the millions he's earned over the years then there's been something wrong with his budget over the last few years.
It's interesting to note that he apparently earns so much that he believes he is paying the extra 10% on everything he earns. Exactly how much do you have to earn in a year to make the slightly under 20% tax that he's paid on the first £150,000 so miniscule that it no longer figures in the equation?
I would also venture to point out that at his age he's just lucky that he's in a job where he's allowed to go on working, and his employers are willing to continue to pay him for it. The majority of workers are tossed unceremoniously onto the dole as soon as they're old enough to claim a bus pass.
I'm delighted to learn that, unlike many in the entertainment profession, Mr. Caine has not been cheating the exchequor out of his due revenues, but nevertheless, he really should grow up.
WIDGETIZE