Reboot Alberta

Monday, March 29, 2010

Big Business Calls for Tax Increases to Pay for Harper's Budget Deficits

The Globe and Mail Report on Business top story today is about “Balancing the Books” and quotes a recent survey of corporate executives in Canada where most of them say it is time to raise taxes if the federal government is to balance its books.

Conservatives are fond of their ideological mantra that Klein used often. That was “The only way taxes are going is down.” Well Harper’s promise of deficit budgets through to 2015 and using borrowed funds to do it are just tax increases by other means and they are imposed on our children who will have to pay for the deficits in a time of anticipated extended flat or low economic growth. Hardly the stuff of prudent fiscal management that is the myth of conservative governments and the Harper hypocrisy is showing.

Almost 60% of the Canadian senior executives in the Gandalf poll done for the Globe and Mail said it will be necessary for the federal government to get back into fiscal balance of the public purse. Harper has another plan however. He wants to cut government to the point where it is incapable of doing the public service jobs we expect of a progressive, caring, productive and innovative society.

Harper wants a more Libertarian social and fiscal regime where government’s role is shrunk and stifled. He sees the world as best served where individuals are totally personally responsible for their own well being in a Darwinian law of the jungle kind of competition not only for success but for survival. The poor, infirm, elderly and disabled just have to pull up their socks…if they have them.

Harper has a tentative and tepid toe in the policy pool of fiscal prudence going forward and that is not impressing big business. Half of them think Harper is doing a “poor job of reducing the deficit and 2/3 think it is bad policy to continue to run deficits through to 2015 as the recent Budget says.

So our Ayn Rand wanna be Prime Minister will cut and kill social, cultural, education, aid and support programs instead of raising taxes. This is because Harpers governing philosophy is to diminish and demolish the capacity of government to be an enabler and a partner with society and citizens.

Nobody likes taxes but we all know we need services provided as a society that individuals can’t do themselves. That is one of the fundamental roles and responsibilities of progressive governing and public policy. Business now knows that Harpers slash, trash and burn approach to public policy in social and environmental areas is going to harm Canada’s productivity and capacity to grow in the future and stifle and constrain them as well.

The market place is not the total answer nor is government as nanny state but finding the balance between them is the key. We need governments to help build educated, safe, secure, healthy, diverse, inclusive, innovative, adaptive, resilient and respectful societies where a person can achieve their potential for their own benefit and contribute to the common good at the same time.

None of these concepts are in the Harper play book of grinding down government’s role regardless of the toll it takes on vulnerable people. Business leaders get it but Harper and his callous caucus could care less. We need an election in Canada to have an adult conversation about what kind of government we want and then to see who is prepared to provide it.

Citizens can’t presume cynicism will be ok and we will sustain democracy. That is not the obvious democratic default position when we are governed by social libertarians using fiscal foolishness as a trick to destroy our capacity to be caring and compassionate as a society, to grow our capacity and economy and be assiduous in how we must learn to live in and part of the planet.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:26 pm

    Sounds good to me out of my life and out of my pocket!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope you have deep pockets Anonymous, you are going to need them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Graham Fletcher7:39 pm

    Eh? What's this? Harper reducing the size of Government? Yahoo!!!!!! about time???
    No one told me...

    There has been a steady but alarming growth in the size of Government since Harper became PM. Great that this may change, finally.

    I don't believe that the growth of Government is anything but a wealth redistribution process, and robs people of incentive. Hey Government: Stay out of my pocket, my right to free speech, and out of my life as much as possible, OK?

    Tax the crap out of Liberals if you have to tax someone. At least they agree with the principle.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Graham you myopia is exceeded only by your optimism for the past. Harper has not increased the size of government - only the public debt. He uses the debt as an excuse to take away services from people and to destroy the public infrastructure by neglect. Klein did the same thing thne we all paid a premium trying to get back to the starting line with infrastructure maintenance and repair and building or the growth in popultion.

    Who will build your roads? All private and tolls and not maintenacne standards? Who will ensure your currency has value or your contracts are enforced or your property is secure? I could go on but I don't expect you get my drift anyway

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous11:07 am

    Ignorant Anonymous Coward here. We need less government. Period. That is the strategy.

    I am tired of all the bedwetting and yapping about each and every aspect of my life that some liberal wants to take control over.

    I am looking forward to these Liberals proposing GST tax increases, carbon tax increases and massive new social programs because the long suffering and too long quiet average Canadian is going to get mad and wipe these Liberal elitists off the map with the exception of a few metro ridings.

    Go ahead Libs, announce a tax increase. Justify it any way you want. I dare you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Graham Fletcher7:21 pm

    Ken: I clearly remember the Libs, the NDP and the Bloc forming an alliance to force the Cons out of power, and bring in a huge stimulus bill that would lead to deficits. I clearly remember you couldn't support the Coalition and its goals hard enough. So your concern as a big spend Coalition supporter is not whether we went into deficit, it is your view the wrong Party took us into deficit.... Is that about it?

    Except Dion also wanted Cap-and-trade, and Layton wanted to shut down all the union jobs along with the Oil Sands. And you were fine with that too. Dion was your guy.

    So I prefer the deficits provided by Harper (I tend to think they gave far too much money away) but big spending Libs coming out of your Montreal Conference - Nyet!!!

    This is where we differ.

    And yet you and I are good friends. It IS possible to have a friendship even if we live at different ends of the political spectrum.

    Not boring, is it?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Graham Fletcher7:30 pm

    Oh Oh - and another thing!!

    I personally received Federal checks on behalf of west end community leagues for upgrades to existing infrastructure, and new infrastructure, for about $2 million in shovel ready INFRASTRUCTURE programs having to do with our neighborhoods. From our good friend David Xiao we received a good pile of money from the Province as well. From our good friends Karen and Linda at the City, with support from our Mayor, more money more much needed improvements.

    So to answer your question about who will build our infrastructure?

    Our three levels of Government.

    Things are fine, Ken. Get some sleep and stop drinking so much coffee. The world will look better. Let the desperation from the Lib "we are doomed" conference wash away.

    ....and thank you Mr. Harper for taking care of Canada while the Libs self-destruct.

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous comments are discouraged. If you have something to say, the rest of us have to know who you are