This is just a personal observation ... but it's interesting that there is a federal tax credit for families who put their kids in activities that promote "physical fitness," yet there is no equivalent credit to promote the arts (visual, dramatic, musical).
The only province in Canada that has an arts deduction for kids is Québec. The other provinces and the territories which use the federal base to calculate their income taxes follow the federal rules and discriminate against the artistic. What do kids in Québec have that others in Canada do not? Could it be that the present régime in Canada is content to create a generation of people who won't have the ability to think? That partly explains why so many Republicans get elected in the States -- their backers are those who tend to prefer NASCAR and the NFL to Live from the Met and MTV.
It doesn't have to be one or the other -- we do need the sporting life but we also need the artistic life. Kids who may not have innate talents in athletics but may prefer the finer things in life that also stimulate the mind as much should not be punished for that. Some minors also excel in both as well -- but don't spend enough time in the athletic component to qualify for the credit. That is also wrong.
The physical fitness credit should be extended nationally to include artistic pursuits, and should be renamed the fitness and arts amount. And it should be increased substantially -- from $500 to $5000 per child with an inflation adjuster (increasing the actual tax savings from $75 to $750 per year, at just the federal level).
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
4 comments:
Ballet is not athletic; bowling is!
Tell that to Karen Kain or Veronica Tennant!
Agreed.
I have never been to a ballet class. I've seen one on TV where the ballet dancers and football players perform consecutive push-ups. The dancers beat the football players in terms of numbers and types of push-ups.
Even competitive dancing in its different forms is very aerobic and physical. However, it ain't a sport. Transform it into Dance-dodgeball and you've got action! Don't tango with a dodgeball mango.
I gotta go play a really athletic sport: shuffle board.
The object was physical fitness, correct.
Mixing water-colors does not qualify.
How do propose to get 200,000 people in to see "Live at the Met" NASCAR, Petit Lemans and F1 are far more exciting . . . note also, they also support themselves, unlike the arts that always have their hands out for my tax dollars!!!
Post a Comment