How much of the food bill is tax's?

[checking]

I don't believe the wine should have been included to inflate the price of the meal celebration, and by extention the government tax grab in dollars. That aside, most of us don't require a special event in order to drink!!!

I'm saying that an average person would cry bullship if presented with figures from organizations that are two to three times higher (just to get to an average price) on what they have identified as a major expense in a celebration. If that's wrong, does it then place doubt on their main premise?

They should not have shown their math without the caveat of "if."

[Fransisco]

"Farm Bureau volunteer shoppers are asked to look for the best possible prices, without taking advantage of special promotional coupons or purchase deals, such as spending $50 and receiving a free turkey. Shoppers with an eye for bargains in all areas of the country should be able to purchase individual menu items at prices comparable to the Farm Bureau survey averages. Another option for busy families without a lot of time to cook is ready-to-eat Thanksgiving meals for up to 10 people, with all the trimmings, which are available at many supermarkets and take-out restaurants for around $50 to $75

The AFBF survey was first conducted in 1986. While Farm Bureau does not make any statistical claims about the data, it is an informal gauge of price trends around the nation.

<b>More than 200 volunteer shoppers from 35 states participated in this year’s survey.</b> Farm Bureau’s survey menu has remained unchanged since 1986 to allow for consistent price comparisons."

[Fransisco]

Just over 200 volunteer shoppers from 35 states sounds like a reasonable and random enough sample to be considered "average".

Yes, you can find the $5 wal-mart turkeys but no, everybody does not buy their turkey at wal-mart.

[Fransisco]

The tax fighters didn't use their own shopping figures they used a third parties, the American Farm Bureau's. And the American Farm Bureau didn't get their numbers themselves either, they used voluntary shoppers.

You can't get much further from cherry picking data than that.

[checking]

Are the items of a mostly unprepared classic Thanksgiving dinner for ten people the same as a ready-to-eat Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings for ten people?

It seems like a lot of husbands and wives are beating themselves up, if their preparation time is valued for as little as $7.09. Maybe, there is a bottle of wine in there, as a center piece, to make it worse.

"Shoppers with an eye for bargains in all areas of the country should be able to purchase individual menu items at prices comparable to the Farm Bureau survey averages." Are the masses even trying?

Humm! Are best possible prices of the 200, the same as bargains for the rest?

I'm confused, but there is nothing new there!!

[Fransisco]

Let me guess you think tax's are too low.

[checking]

Actually, I believe taxes are higher in the US than this report states. Which brings up the question of, how many volunteer tax accountants in 35 states did it take to determine the hidden tax bite?

Even with those hidden taxes I think the public, at an individual level, is receiving more than value for their dollar. I'd hate to have to create those products from "scratch" because I know the time and effort, would eat me up.

As a primary producer, however, the selfish part of me says I don't want all products to get to the CWB model of the more you buy the cheaper I'll sell the individual units to you (you know, like a Saudi wheat sale.) Carry that to the extreme and the only value in the system will be the hidden taxes! My country does not come first!!!!

[Fransisco]

"at an individual level, is receiving more than value for their dollar."

You must have a different definition of value.

The CBC, giant floating bananas, snowmobile trails, junkets and booze for bureaucrats, bailouts for failed automakers, the $10 million dollars a year MP's spend on junk mail that nobody reads, pot hole infested roads, a health care system that can make you wait years for treatment, and endless welfare payments for everybody are not my ideas of "value".

I'd like to see government spending get down to 25% of GDP. That way they'd actually have to prioritize what they do instead of constantly spending whatever they wanted all the time.

[Fransisco]

From today's news...

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Corporate welfare tops 200B over years report/2279403/story.html

Bailouts and subsidies to businesses by Canadian governments surpassed $200 billion between 1994 and 2007, adding up to $15,126 per taxpayer, according to a report Friday by the Fraser Institute.

"Unfortunately for Canadian taxpayers, our governments have a long history of spending public money on corporate welfare in attempts to pick winners and losers among various business sectors," said Mark Milke, author of the report."

and

"(The federal government) will take in around $32 billion on corporate taxes this year, and what they've effectively done is taken half the taxes paid by all other businesses in the country and send it to GM and Chrysler."

I do not see good value in any of this to myself or to most Canadians as individuals. I would have put that 15 grand to far better use.

[checking]

My comment on value refers specifically to food, with the recognition that many of those hidden taxes on grub are on non-eatable items that make it possible to have something to go on top of the barren plate.

But I could say something about GM, if you'd like. It claims to be on schedule to pay us all back. Bunch of losers!

I grew up with a neighbour who decided to build his own air seeder. His time and effort on the task ate him up. He refused to acknowledge that although he saved a few dollars over the cost of a brand model, he lost his shirt, and eventually his farm on the seeding job it would do.

I wouldn't have gone to that extreme, even if I could have manipulated the raw iron. So I sucked it up and paid the tax bite on something that was proven to work. I, now, own the neighbour's farm. I know, I'm selfish.

That example, however 40% plus painful, doesn't mean I automatically go to the manufacturer's distributor sources for the bulk of my farm goods. I've found that Brandon based auctions and e-bay are a means of having someone else pay for the tax bite.

Although, maybe you are in the camp that believes most of the items on e-bay are stolen. I am, therefore, encouraging theft with the vicious cycle then that source goods with their hidden taxes are higher for you.

Do you have a source that says the percent of government allocated budgets that are never spent/wasted ?

[Fransisco]

"My comment on value refers specifically to food, with the recognition that many of those hidden taxes on grub are on non-eatable items that make it possible to have something to go on top of the barren plate."

Please explain.

[checking]

You're actually a polite fellow. Seldom does anyone ever say "please" on this site.

Your post says you don't find value in providing government funds to automobile makers, CBC, ...etc.

My tunnel vision was on food. Your original organizations' study was on the hidden tax component of food. You believe it to be too high. I believe that even at the level it is, taxes included, food is a bargain in this country and the US. I don't have the same feeling on many non-eatable items. I get around that by buying like new or used in most cases.

Those blueberries I ate didn't just mysteriously appear in front of me. They went through a lot of processes and hands, all of which or whom were taxed by government, and I as end user paid directly or indirectly the bulk of them.

Sorry for the confusion. It wasn't planned.