looks... meh

Actual life of an unemployed man:

1. Wake up around noon/1pm

2. Go to the unemployment office and collect monthly (or bi-weekly, whatever it is) cheque

3. Go back home, sit on the couch, and complain about how the government sucks and how you don't have enough money to buy anything nice

People have to pick up an unemployment cheque? Haven't they heard of electronic banking?

Actually, I think our unemployment is supposed to be done on debit cards.  I dunno though, never actually collected it.

As a person who had been on unemployment, I can speak what it is like:

* Either get a debit card they update, or set up electronic funds transfer.

* Each week call in to say you are still out of work.

* Apply for X number of jobs a week, remotely close to what you can do.  If you can't find any, you MUST keep looking.  Get on indeed.com and keep finding stuff remotely in ballpark and apply.  Track these and print them out.  Then send in the forms you fill out once a month to the state capital for processing.  Also track any results you had on the sheet.  State whether or not you managed to find anything.

* Watch as, after you don't get anything, your unemployment benefits run out, and they don't extend it.   Then you are on your own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax

In the VAT tax, what you have is something equivalent to a sales tax.  Each part in the production chain, a tax is added.  I have been informed, when taxes are discussed that taxes are always passed on to the consumer.  In the case of sales tax in the United States, the sales tax is added to the value of the products.  Goods cost more as a results. Taxes ARE added here, in the consumption side, where costs are determined.

Yeah, taxes are always passed on to the consumer.

Said taxes are ALREADY passed on to the consumer.

The taxes corporations pay now are already added on, therefore if you replaced them with a different kind of tax, prices stay the same.

Ok, looks like I was a bit off on how VAT worked in regards to how taxes are assessed (system works it out to be only once, not multiple times).  BUT, it still ends up causing prices to go up, as I said.  Here is an article on VAT:

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Issues/Budget-Impact/2010/10/22/Republicans-Rip-into-One-of-Their-Own-Over-VAT-Tax.aspx

The current system, taxes are based on PROFITS a business has.  Everything else is taken out of the equation.  So, the current system is taxes AFTER all expenses are taken out.  With VAT, it isn't the same thing.  It is a tax on consumption, rather than profits.  The later is more likely to impact consumer spending.  What do you think happens if you end up putting a VAT tax on items around 20%, which is said to be needed to make up for loss revenue scrapping the current system.  Do you think a nationwide sales tax around 20% or higher isn't going to make items more expensive than they are now?

By the way, you won't get the current system scrapped.  You will get VAT ON TOP OF what is currently being done.

Did you read your own article on why it "raised prices"?

It blames the economic times, and nothing to do with the actual VAT in europe... and furthermore supports a VAT and says that it's our current tax system is making things cost more and restraining growth.