Apolitical Staples

I Hate you

Why?

Well, I don’t get anything out of the budget, but I still think I like it. It will take some reading to see though. I like the tax credits vice direct doling out of cash to folks, means if you earn it, and you get a credit, you get some back. Now that my kids are all grown up I don’t get any benefit from the breaks, but I guess I don’t need it as much.

I would like to have seen a lowering of the percentages in all the tax brackets for personal income tax, I mean if you have that much money to dish around, you have collected too much, in my opinion. I like paying down the debt though, smart thing to do… like they say, pay off the mortgage is better then savings account interest so pay it off!

Not a lot in there for those who would like tax relief and do not have young children in sports. IMHO, there was too much gerrymandering done with the tax incentives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still happy about the overall budget, I just think that the individual has been left behind so to speak.

Coyne is a cross between a liberal and a libertarian thus, as a real conservative I don’t pay him much heed.

A real conservative doesn’t pay Coyne much mind? I guess that means most of the party aren’t “real conservatives” given that Coyne is one of the most influential conservative columnists in Canada.

Hmmmm. Since I happen to have 8 kids, I will benefit more than most from this budget. I am going back to school full-time in Sept and it won’t do me much good for the next couple of years. However, no matter how much benefit I might gain from the Budget, I am still not thrilled about it. I would feel much happier if I thought that Harper was going to win a majority on the back of this budget, and he wouldn’t have to spend quite so lavishly in the next budget.

It’s nice of you to not care about anybody else who pays taxes.

“Coyne is one of the most influential conservative columnists in Canada.”

Nonsense. Coyne is a Trudeau Liberal on the cheap.

“It’s nice of you to not care about anybody else who pays taxes.” Please Jason, I said I speaking for myself.

I am personally outraged by this budget. It is meant to divide people and only give money to those who are expected to vote Tory. The idea that single income families with children should get $200, plus $300 per child while single people trying to pay off students loans get a tax raise compared to a year and a half ago is an insult.

Jason, with all due respect, we all knew you would be outraged, regardless of what was in the budget.

“with all due respect”

Can you quantify that for us, Greg?

Imagine living in a universe where it is possible to be “personally outraged” over a government budget document. One recoils at the thought of such a sad existence.

Here’s hoping for a brighter future, Jason. Rise up now out of your mother’s basement and step into the light.

No. I would have been negative no matter what. If they had lowered taxes, I would have talked about how they were just reinstituting a Liberal cut. This budget is MUCH worse than I expected it to be.

H. L. Mencken said, “The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can’t get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods”.

Prime Minister Harper can’t change that. The most we can hope for is that he is the best auctioneer. Mr. Harper has a masters in economics, and one of his first actions was to appoint Mr. Lynch, who has a doctorate in economics, as Chief Privy Council Officer (head of the permanent civil service). Here’s how some other economists and such are grading this buget:

A Clement Gignac, Chief Economist, National Bank Financial B+ Craig Wright, Vice-President and Chief Economist, RBC Financial B Sherry Cooper, Chief Economist, BMO Nesbitt Burns B+ Catherine Swift, CEO, Canadian Federation of Independent Business B Nancy Anthony, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce B John Williamson, Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Interestingly, perhaps, almost all the punditocracy are complaining about one thing or another. Of course, they make their livings by getting people upset, so perhaps that’s to be expected. If ignorance is bliss, why are so many people unhappy?

Considering the above, and everything I’ve read to date, I’d have to conclude that this budget is pretty economically reasonable, which the best one can hope for in these sorts of auctions.

Based on the last few decades of Mr. Harper’s work, I think that his long-term plan is to begin the devolution of power from the center to the provinces, and I happen to think that is the single most important thing Canada needs to do if it is to retain its current geographic form. In order to do that he needs to get and keep at least two majorities in the house. History suggests one needs about 40% of the popular vote to do that (depending on how the ridings split). He doesn’t have that at this time.

I was a founding member of the libertarian party of Alberta in 1972. I think total government spending should be cut to about 1/4 of what it is now. That is not going to happen in my lifetime. So, given all the above circumstances, I’m not in the mood to quibble with Mr. Harper just because I get very little from this particular budget. I’m not that selfish.

Mr. Harper is, more importantly than anything else, the Chief Operating Officer of a large dynamic system known as the government of Canada. Like other large dynamic systems, such as the power grid, one can’t turn it on a dime. Throw the wrong switch, and the north-east quarter of the continent loses power. What Mr. Harper can do is apply pressure toward effecting the shifts he wishes to encourage, and the biggest resource he has to that end is how to collect and deploy federal tax dollars.

So, for example, the provincial equalization changes, with his proviso that the provinces are responsible for funding their municipalities, is applying pressure in the decentralization direction. The gas-guzzler initiative applies pressure on manufacturers to continue to improve vehicular efficiency. The tax-haven measure puts pressure on the oligarchies to behave like proper corporate citizens. And the overall effect is to put pressure on Canada to not have another election right now: we’re getting tired of elections every 18 months, and it would not be great for the Conservatives anyway.

Managing a large dynamic system requires strategies, tactics, and operations. If one hits the brakes too hard on a long train moving at high speed, one gets a train wreck. There are limits to what the operator can force on a spooled-up system.

Until just over a year ago, for 40 years Canada had been gaining momentum in the leftward direction. Now, it would appear, some people expect Mr. Harper to reverse all that momentum in just over a year, and with a minority government.

Those people are being unreasonable.

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