- published: 13 Apr 2013
- views: 35870
A poll tax (head tax or capitation tax, per U.S. English usage) is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount applied to an individual in accordance with the census (as opposed to a percentage of income). When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax (and vice versa, if a poll tax obligation can be worked off). Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments from ancient times until the 19th century. There have been several famous (and infamous) cases of head taxes in history, notably a tax formerly required for voting in parts of the United States that was often designed to disenfranchise poor people, including African Americans, Native Americans, and white people of non-English descent (e.g., the Irish). In the United Kingdom, poll taxes were levied by the governments of John of Gaunt in the 14th C., Charles II in the 17th and Margaret Thatcher in the 20th century.
The word poll is an English word that once meant "head" - and still does, in some specialised contexts - hence the name poll tax for a per-person tax. In the United States, however, the term has come to be used almost exclusively for a fixed tax applied to voting. Since "going to the polls" is a common idiom for voting (deriving from the fact that early voting involved head-counts), a new folk etymology has supplanted common knowledge of the phrase's true origins in America.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, née Roberts (born 13 October 1925) is a British politician and the longest-serving (1979–1990) British prime minister of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. A Soviet journalist nicknamed her the "Iron Lady", which later became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As prime minister, she implemented conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became prime minister after winning the 1979 general election.
After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived as Britain's precipitous national decline. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership.
Thatcher Poll Tax Riots 1990
London Poll Tax Riot Documentary 1990 - The Battle of Trafalgar FULL
Thatcher - The Poll Tax 1of5.flv
Margaret Thatcher Defends The Poll Tax At PMQs 03.29.90
Michael Portillo on the introduction of the 'Poll Tax' (23Nov09)
Mrs. Guilford, 94, reflects on poll taxes, literacy tests and new efforts to limit voting
Thatcher Vs Ashdown on Poll Tax
"I Predict a Riot" - The Battle of Trafalgar Square (Poll Tax Riot) 1990
Poll Tax Riot 1990
Could tax credits be the Tories' new poll tax? BBC News
if you felling riche rich play if you fell it scream memp
play you can wear your ice this way when you ain't knowing it knowing
it knowing it knowing it
i'm the youngest soilder i got the game fitted the new no
limit game time did it from romie rome homie to riche rich don't talk
about dough cause i been at it learn the game quick and ya'll know who
the teacher i call him pops when he uhhhhh on the speaker haters get
weaker skip to my lou half kid half amazing beat boys i blaze him wash
face and save it show's i lace em number 1 on billboard i'm sorry i
replace em rome lil d two way play all day got me game face on uh huh
okay
two many players that could hang wit us (hang wit us)when
we step up on the scene we looking marvolous(marvolous)when i fuss at
this thing that mean you hard to touch(hard to touch)all the haters in
my ear saying we ain't enough(okay)when the beat go just throw your
hands up all the players pushing up to the cadillac truck better hold
on tight cause we about to bust riche rich and tyron can you dig it
what what
i'm lilromeo i know about cars and know about clothes and it aint
no cost paid the cost to be the boss clutch player pen and paper pass the
apple nowlater that's what's on play jazz like the lakers from the south
so i bite like a gator another year passed so my game got greater court
size seats for the sixers and the lakers shake shake them haters do me a
favor check out the wrist ice big like a blazer kid got flavor say oooohwe
i'm where you wanna be ya'll can't stop me sing
balling lil d and i roll wit a tank i'm in the sixth grade but
you know i got paper platnum iced out when i roll the fees so when the
school bell ring they be rolling me chrome wheeling scanding pank baby
sittin on chrome iced out from my neck and my wrist all two way lilromeo