Final Word from Tuesday, September 3, 2002
The "millionaire's" tax has been seen by the media and analysts as the worst thing to come out of the floods, aside from the water damage itself. MF Dnes called it the "vilest" of the proposed taxes. Euro magazine said it was a product of class hatred. No one, so far, is trying to blame the "rich" for the floods themselves. However, the government is indeed trying in a sense to punish those who had the foresight to insure their assets, by reducing the state flood-relief subsidy they can get. Insurers are strongly opposed. The government is sending the message that we don't need to act responsibly in times of calm, because the state will always take care of us in times of crisis. This promotes a devil-take-all attitude. If adopted en masse, the country as a whole will start to produce far fewer honest millionaires. That, sadly, seems to be the goal.