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We need look only to the Cousins to see how easy life will be if we only buy into the vision of the New Democrat Party. Free healthcare! Hillary bonds! Connect America! Government-mandated 401(k) plan for everybody!

Families ‘must pay an extra £2,600 a year tax’
Families will be paying £2,600 more tax every year under Labour plans contained in the pre-budget report, a leading economic think tank says.

Alistair Darling’s proposals had been billed as offering tax cuts to millions with an eye-catching announcement that the inheritance tax threshold would be doubled for couples.

But those claims began to unravel after analysis by the Institute of Fiscal Studies showed that by 2012 millions of households will be facing an annual tax bill of more than £20,000, an increase of around £50 a week.

The revelation has echoes of Gordon Brown’s final budget as Chancellor last March when his pledge to cut income tax masked a series of proposals that saw many middle class families facing higher bills.

The Conservatives said the IFS analysis showed Mr Darling’s budget was “unravelling”.

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said: “The Chancellor said the budget represented a tax cut. But independent experts now find that there is a £50 a week tax bombshell for families. This shows just how cynical and calculating Gordon Brown’s government has become.”

In addition it emerged that under Mr Darling’s report:

- Householders face an increase in council tax of £360 a year

- The Treasury will grab £2bn from top-up state pensions

- A million families face paying hundreds of pounds in legal fees to rewrite their wills following changes to inheritance tax.

But it’s for the children.

There’s much, much more.

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