Fixing the Books - Liberal Style

So Finance Minister Ralph Goodale projects a surplus of around 1.5 to 3.0 billion. But, oops, it was coming in at around 5-7. What to do??

A flurry of spending during the spring helped drive down the federal budget surplus to just $1.6 billion.

That is roughly what Finance Minister Ralph Goodale had predicted for fiscal 2004-2005, which ended March 31….

And federal Finance Department officials acknowledge the fact a flurry of spending in the spring helped soak up much of the surplus, to lower the final results to less than $3-billion.
globe and mail

So rather than have, say, 5 billion to pay down the deficit and think about cutting taxes with, Ralph just turn on the spending tap and had a little binge.

I note that this was for a year end of March 31 so the bribes during the contitutional crisis and Katrina relief are not included.

Reducing the size of the surplus by blowing money out the federal government’s door is simply fraudulent. Which Dithers and Goodale know. Their surplus is not play money; it is money which is taken from Canadian taxpayers. If there is a surplus it should be used to pay down the debt and cut tax rates, not fund some loony federal iniative or another.

Written by jay on September 22nd, 2005 with 4 comments.
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Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Robert McClelland
#1. September 22nd, 2005, at 3:34 AM.

I agree, Jay. The feds never should have given that billion to the cattle farmers.

Here’s your spending spree.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1127326364519_122735564/?hub=Canada

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com jay
#2. September 22nd, 2005, at 4:08 AM.

Nice wedge there Robert. Same article:

In the last fiscal year, federal program expenses jumped by a dramatic $21.3 billion or 15 per cent compared with one year earlier.

15%

With inflation around 2.5% that means an across the board real increase of 12.5%. It is a wonder there is a surplus at all with the Liberals banging up program spending that dramaticaly.

Now, think for a moment, if the feds had kept spending increases to inflation plus a couple of points the surplus would have been on the order of 15 billion.

Goodale is swift to say that the 1.5 billion which was still in the cookie jar after the fawcet was turned off would be slapped, slapped I say, on the 499 billion dollar national debt.

“Ouch” said the debt,”stop it you’re killing me. Another 200 years of this and I’ll be gone.”

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Robert McClelland
#3. September 22nd, 2005, at 5:01 AM.

There’s more than one wedge there, Jay. How about the offshore oil deal with Newfoundland. What about the money that went to decreasing hospital wait times. If you think this money shouldn’t have been spent, then step up to the plate like a man and say that the cattle ranchers and Newfoundlanders should have gone without it. Don’t hide behind some generalized complaint about spending.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com jay
#4. September 22nd, 2005, at 5:14 AM.

Robert, as a faithful reader you will know that I was utterly opposed to the entire Atlantic accord. (How loony is it to deem a province have not and eligible for equalization payments while allowing it to participate in revenues to which it has no legal claim and to pretend that those revenues somehow don’t count for purposes of equalization.)

On the cattlemen I have mixed views. First, I think much of the entire BSE thing is hype. Second, I abhor the way in which the protectionists in the US use Congress and the Courts to nulify free trade. Third, the ineptitude demonstrated by the feds in dealing with the Americans almost certainly prolonged the problem. Fourth, a short term bailout might make up for that ineptitude. Fifth, the bailout went on too long. Sixth, all that said, it is nice to see someone other than Bombardier getting a trun at the federal teat.

On wait lists: parallel private care would have solved the wait list problem years ago for a lot less federal and provincial money.

I trust that is specific enough.

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