Opposition parties are threatening to vote down this week's much-anticipated Conservative budget because it contains a potentially contentious proposal to permanently slash taxes for middle-class Canadians.
While the Conservatives say the tax cuts will help working families during a challenging economic era, the Liberals say the rollback is ill-advised and will do little to stimulate the economy.
"If the permanent tax cuts were very large, we would be very concerned, partly because it would saddle future generations with a big debt and a permanent deficit," Liberal finance critic John McCallum told CTV's Question Period Sunday.
McCallum added that the tax reductions will be an ineffectual stimulus because people are more likely to save extra money during recessionary periods.
And if the Tory budget fails to deliver what's best for Canada, McCallum said the Liberals will have little option than to vote it down.
Good luck with that message. "Hey Canadians, you wouldn't spend your money like we want you too, so we are going to take the tax cuts off the table. " Not a very good piece of an election platform. Sounds like a bluff to me.
Hat tip to Strack Attack. Who also mentions that heroic Obama is giving lower and middle class tax cuts in the US, why is it so bad when Harper does it?
I can see Harper taking advantage of this situation. People are willing to go into deficit and actually think it's necessary. It's a wonderful time to bring in permanent tax cuts. It could be his legacy years from now as one of the PM's that slashed taxes radically when in power. Even though the climate may call for such measures the Libs see this as a threat to their piggy bank when they inevitably return to power. Harper will have left the cupboard bare and they won't be able to bankroll any of their grand socialist schemes. The Libs won't be able to campaign on a grand national program without being accused of having to raise taxes to pay for it. Awesome. Tax cuts in the short run and handcuffing the Libs in the long run. Good stuff Harper. No wonder the Libs want to prevent this from happening.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen a list of the spending. Social housing, Indian Reserves, new University buildings, how will this help the economy? Tax cuts (it will never happen) would make so much sense. A university actually gets more business in a recession, why give them more money? Who is coming up with these kind of ideas?
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it was wishful thinking on my part. It was probably nothing more than a trial balloon. It appears Harper has used the NDP and Lib economic playbook in hopes of surviving.
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