A first rate Liberal budget
The naif idea that one might vote for the CPC and get a conservative government is now done. There is nothing conservative about today’s budget.
And yes I do know that the big bad Liberals and the NDP and the Bloc were threatening to huff and puff. And as there is nothing more terrifying than that the CPC rolled over and simply brought in the Budget that the coalition would bring in less a billion or two dollars.
I suppose it is something that the CPC used tax reductions as well as the usual “targeted” spending to create its “stimulus”. But they missed the chance to eliminate the marriage penalty by allowing income splitting.
The real tragedy here is that had the CPC been more effective in cost cutting over the last few years – and Lord knows there were plenty of program cost cutting opportunities.
David Janes points out on twitter that in 2002 total Government of Canada expenditures were $163b; in this budget we go to $232b. And that is in an environment of declining debt payments and minimal inflation. Call it 7% per year. Had the CPC (and the Liberals before them) managed to hold that growth to 2% this budget, with its tax cuts and its “stimulus” would have been very close to balanced.
My CPC friends need to realize that the deficit we are about to inflict upon ourselves is largely the result of the failure of the government to restrain spending when times were good. It is the result of a so called conservative party growing government rather than shrinking it. Which, come to think of it, is supposed to be what Liberals do but, since Mulroney, has actually been what the Conservatives do.
January 27th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
“...supposed to be what Liberals do…”
Other than Trudeau, which Liberals are you talking about? Not Pearson. Not Chretien. It was Jean who put the house in order and set the table for these fritterings which followed. At a certain point, don’t conservatives have to admit they have a problem with their low tax and big spend ways? If not, can you point me to the conservatives who haven’t? Didn’t Harris, Mulroney, Thatcher, Reagan, Bush Aye – as well as obviously Aye-aye – (not to mention a cast of other Premiers of shades of blue) all play these same lame ponies? Not giving you the gears or anything but, without a windfall of a resource dropped in the lap, where is this track record of good fiscal management we hear about?
January 27th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
“It is the result of a so called conservative party growing government rather than shrinking it. Which, come to think of it, is supposed to be what Liberals do but, since Mulroney, has actually been what the Conservatives do.”
Which makes the title counter-intuitive ;)
January 27th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Well, Alan, being a tiny bit older than you…there was a lot of Trudeau. But your point is well taken.
KevinG…counter-intuitive is my middle name.
January 27th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Harper and Flathead basically just finished off the CPC. This is a Mulroney moment just before the coalition crumbled. But let’s be clear. It is not the voters who will abandon Harper. It is Harper making their choice so easy – they will choose the true Liberal party over the pretender.
January 28th, 2009 at 4:24 am
If that is true, where the hell is Preston Manning?
January 28th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Humm…I must say that Plan-B is lookin’ mighty good right about now. I have to admit that I’m getting really tired of being a Harper apologist, but do you think that this budget could be part of a bigger strategy for Harper to get his majority, at which point the current budget would be replaced by a “real” conservative budget? I mean, it may take years before much of the planned “stimulus” can be spent, if it can be spent at all (I’m thinking about the 1/3 federal, 1/3 provincial, 1/3 municipal infrastructure funding). I wonder which of the following is true:
(1) Harper’s beliefs have changed and this is the way he’ll act with a majority government.
(2) Harper’s beliefs have not changed and this is not the way he’ll act with a majority government.
January 28th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Here’s one:
Harper’s beliefs have not changed, but this is the way he’ll act with a majority government.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
This is a Trudeau era budget. After patching up the damage done by deficit splurging Martin robbed the provinces of health funding and equalization to run the balanced budgets the IMF was demanding of that administration to keep their credit rating from the dumpster.
So after 13 years of starving the provinces to fix Trudeaupian debt load financing , the LPC wants to play the candy man roll again…except they found a gutless proxy to turn on the deficit taps. Harper will take the blame for the deficit fallout and its inability to effect the economy.
January 29th, 2009 at 10:42 am
“do you think that this budget could be part of a bigger strategy for Harper to get his majority, at which point the current budget would be replaced by a “real” conservative budget?”
So you hear some noise one night, and you’re looking out the window with your roommate. You see a mob of your neighborhood, um, “community activists” rampaging down the street breaking windows and stealing TVs, liquor, cigarettes, firearms, etc. from the stores and houses.
“Wow”, says your roommate, “I better do something about that.”
He runs outside, and as you watch, you see him run up to the mob and start yelling at them to get their attention. They turn to look at him, and you see him pointing at all the stores and expensive-looking houses farther down the street that they haven’t broken into yet. Then you see him waving his arms in a “c’mon let’s go” gesture, and he leads them to the first undamaged store, breaking the window and urging them inside. He emerges a few minutes later with a plasma TV and he runs to drop it off at your pad and then runs back to join them.
“What the F@#$ are you doing?
“, you ask him.
“I have to win them over! After I get the confidence of a solid majority of the looters, then I’m going to convince them that looting is bad for them and that they should stop. C’mon, help me get elected as the leader!”