The $165m tax scam

being reported in the media will no doubt bring out more complaints about having to pay tax than "how did they hope to get away with it?" type comments.
I don't suppose anyone likes paying tax. Most of us, if we are honest, see the need for it of course. Someone has to pay for all the services we want as well as those we actually need.
Paying tax is not the issue of course. It is what the money is spent on that is.
I did some work once for a politician. It was not something I ever intended to do. He was not a particularly nice or nasty man, just an average sort of individual with a fairly high opinion of himself. It was his secretary who actually needed my help and I did like her. She was a JP and I had been in and out of her office on many occasions for her to witness my paw print on official documents. She was the one who asked me if I could help out. My response was, "As long as he understands I am doing it for you. I don't do party political work of any sort for anyone."
       "That's fine. I've already told him that. I've told him he has to get his own coffee too," she told me - being well aware that I can't carry a cup of liquid to save my life.
So, I went. I worked there for a month while she went into the city and set up his new ministerial office. In that time I managed to learn a lot about politics (ugh) and people (mostly nice) and problems (many). I also managed to learn a lot about money and how it is spent, on what it is spent, and why. 
It did not impress me. So much money was clearly being wasted simply trying to stay in power. It was something I had always suspected but that month confirmed it. Money is spent trying to keep pressure groups happy. Money is spent trying to shore up support. Advice? It is rarely listened to unless it is going to get votes. 
I asked his secretary about this when she made one of her flying visits back to the office. She sighed and said, "Yes, it is people like me - and you - who have to try and curb the excesses. Don't let him take you out to lunch."
I knew what she meant.
I would much rather money got spent on a proper emergency department for the shiny new hospital - built as a monument to government rather than a facility for the sick - than lunch for me.