U.D.P. lambastes new Social Security taxes

One thing that Social Security officials at today’s presentation did not want to discuss was government’s proposed legislation that would mandate a radical increase in Social Security contributions from both employees and employers. One organisation not so shy, however, was the Opposition United Democratic Party, which held a press conference this afternoon to criticise the rate hikes. While the presentation understandingly lacked the fire of the U.D.P.’s pre-election exposés of government scandal, the Shadow Minister of Finance, Doug Singh, did lay out a case that the proposed increase was both massive and unjustified. While we will leave the two parties to forcefully advance their positions at next Friday’s meeting of the House of Representatives, we cannot fault the U.D.P.’s math. The new taxes, described as a mere one percent increase by government, would actually result in hikes of over two hundred percent or an additional nine hundred dollars per year for certain workers. What we do not know is what new benefits, including N.H.I., will be generated from all this newfound cash.