{"id":45572,"date":"2013-12-18T18:48:40","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T23:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/forex-news\/?p=45572"},"modified":"2013-12-18T18:48:40","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T23:48:40","slug":"politicians-follow-the-moneyto-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/12\/18\/politicians-follow-the-moneyto-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Politicians Follow the Money\u2026to You"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MoneyMorning.com.au<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

It’s no secret that politicians<\/strong> like raiding wealth. That’s probably how politics <\/a>got started in the first place. A bunch of cavemen banded together on a hunting party figured out they could take other people’s wealth simply by outnumbering them. Beats having to chase woolly mammoths around. <\/p>\n

Democracy today is little better. And still uses the party system. The big difference is that those getting raided seem to put up with it more obligingly. Apparently because they get to vote.<\/p>\n

Usually wealthy individuals and big companies control accumulated wealth – the kind worth raiding. In Australia, it’s the mining industry that was a target these last few years. And so our politicians levied royalties, taxes, mining taxes and super profit taxes on those who provide resources. Meanwhile farmers, who also extract resources, get subsidised. For example, Australian farmers received flood relief while the mining companies operating in the same areas didn’t. The difference is in who has the wealth for raiding.<\/p>\n

Now I don’t have a problem with helping the needy. In fact, I think we have to do it. But there’s a big difference between helping the needy and raiding wealth. Using government to transfer wealth is dangerous because of the power it gives those doing the distributing. First of all, they have the power to take. And second, they have the power to selectively give what was other people’s money. You’re a lot less careful with other people’s money. At least politicians are.<\/p>\n

Retirees are where the money is now and where it is going to be in the future. Retirees may represent a growing voting bloc, but my bet is that your wealth is the politicians’ next target. They have to pay for their harebrained schemes somehow. And you’ve got the money. <\/p>\n

$1.6 Trillion in Superannuation<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

The Australian government<\/strong> has created one of the biggest build-ups of politically controlled wealth ever by setting up the Superannuation system<\/strong>. The combined total assets in the system topped $1.6 trillion this year. Just think of the kind of government spending that could finance. We could have Abbott Airports, or Shorten Bridges all over Australia…or maybe in Afghanistan and Iraq.<\/p>\n

You might think that the money you’ve been paying into Super all these years is yours. But you can’t get close to it without following the government’s rules. So is it really yours?<\/p>\n

Either way, the irresistible pile of money is there, just waiting for the government to take it. But can they? Of course! The government already controls the Super system right down to its day to day operations. It is truly surreal to dig into the complexity and nuances of how Super works, as I’m required to do for ‘professional development’ at the moment. It’s the political equivalent of a peacock’s plume. Ridiculous complexity to convey power and control. It works on voters in the same way as the birds. They get ‘taken advantage of’.<\/p>\n

The government is already using their power to skim off some of the cream from the Super system. Daryl Dixon in the Australian<\/em> gave four examples:<\/p>\n