Bush vs. Blair: Who is Worse at Home (quality of life, cost of living, etc.)

So, while our mutually beloved leaders Bush and Blair royally screw things up oversees, did you ever stop to wonder how things were going over here? More importantly, which costs more - to live in Blair's lair, or Bush's homeland? And who has a better quality of life?

UK GDP vs Life Satisfaction: The Early Blair Years

Hmmm, our GDP grows but not our life satisfaction? Where is all this money going - obviously not to people who stand to become more comfortable, and instead to the people who already are!

One may wonder the costs of living at the heart of the two western powers before deciding to move. Although UK citizens start with an annual salary of $56,902 that surpasses the american's $44,598, much of that money is eaten away by taxes and utilities. Where did your money go? Living expenses like the usual car repair and eating out accounted for a huge chunk of your loss. This was then followed by the governement's burgary of your savings in the guise of income and sales taxes. In 2006, essential utilities such as electricity and gas prices skyrocketed thanks to the government's involvement in the Iraq war. This is way past your usual inflation rate .

What have the governments try to do to keep your hard earned dollars in your pocket? Absolutely nothing; instead , they have encouraged you to continue splurging to 'revive' the economy. No wonder why people in US are going through foreclosures . They just can't keep up with the rising mortgage payments. This seems to foreshadow what will happen in Birmingham in a few year's time. Rapidly rising house prices followed by excessive splurging and failure to pay for subprime rates. Costs of health care are relatively the same despite the difference between the public health care in Birmingham (NHS) and private health care in Boston.
City Birmingham, UK Boston, MA Difference
Residency/Utilities
12090
17010
-4920
Taxes
14180
8930
5250
Health Care
2010
1800
210
Transportation/Gas
4220
2270
1950
Food and Goods
11090
8020
3070
Totals
43590
38030
5560
Percentages
100%
87%
13%


Bush's government has been terribily ineffective in controlling the prices that all americans considered have to be kept low to keep their cars rolling. Rather it has become a puppet to the OPEC and the middle eastern alliances. If prices contine the way they did in 2006, we will see a doubling of gas prices in less than 3 years. It would be interesting to see if they have personal interests in any particular oil companies at this point.

* Notice the UK only gets 1 onto this list of high quality of life scores!

2006 Rank
2005 Rank
City
Country
Points
1
1
Zurich Switzerland
108.2
2
2
Geneva Switzerland
108.1
3
3
Vancouver Canada
107.7
4
3
Vienna Austria
107.5
5
8
Auckland New Zealand
107.3
6
5
Düsseldorf Germany
107.2
7
6
Frankfurt Germany
107.0
8
7
Munich Germany
106.8
9
9
Bern Switzerland
106.5
9
9
 Sydney Australia
106.5
11
11
 Copenhagen Denmark
106.2
12
14
Wellington New Zealand
105.8
13
12
 Amsterdam Netherlands
105.7
14
13
 Brussels Belgium
105.6
15
16
 Toronto Canada
105.4
16
16
 Berlin Germany
105.1
17
14
 Melbourne Australia
105.0
18
18
 Luxembourg Luxembourg
104.8
18
21
 Ottawa Canada
104.8
20
19
 Stockholm Sweden
104.7
21
20
 Perth Australia
104.5
22
22
 Montreal Canada
104.3
23
22
 Nürnberg Germany
104.1
24
22
 Dublin Ireland
103.8
25
25
 Calgary Canada
103.6
26
25
 Hamburg Germany
103.4
27
25
 Honolulu USA
103.3
28
28
 San Francisco USA
103.2
29
29
 Adelaide Australia
103.1
29
29
 Helsinki Finland
103.1
31
31
 Brisbane Australia
102.8
31
32
Oslo Norway
102.8
33
33
 Paris France
102.7
34
35
 Singapore Singapore
102.5
35
34
 Tokyo Japan
102.3
36
36
Boston USA
101.9
37
37
 Lyon France
101.6
37
37
 Yokohama Japan
101.6
39
39
 London UK
101.2
40
40
 Kobe Japan
101.0
41
41
 Washington USA
100.4
41
52
 Chicago USA
100.4
43
42
 Portland USA
100.3
44
43
 Barcelona Spain
100.2
45
44
 Madrid Spain
100.1
46
46
 New York City USA
100.0
47
46
 Seattle USA
99.9
48
47
 Lexington USA
99.8
49
48
 Winston Salem USA
99.7
51
50
 Osaka Japan
99.6
51
51
 Milan Italy
99.6
51
50
 Milan Italy
98
53
52
 Lisbon Portugal
97.5
53
52
 Tsukuba Japan
97.5

Blair does even worse in this department. Gas prices can double in 2 year's time. In Birmingham, you are essentially working for the government regardless of what industry you are in. That's where the money ends up anyway. It's close to 15% more expensive to live in Birmingham than in Boston. Retirement doesn't seem to be so golden anymore.

So, before you are caught by the bug of living in the glamour of the western cities, you should consider all the consequences . If a move is inevitable , the least you can do is give the governement hell (by peaceful protests of course) for doing this to you.