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 Harper’s Budget is Largesse for the Super Rich By Gary Morton at
http://CitizensontheWeb.ca The Toronto Sun featured a cartoon of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as a rather fat and homely good fairy. It is accurate as this budget sees him as a midnight visitor who robs you of your needed tooth and leaves you a nickel. Alternatively, he robs you of child care and leaves some change for the baby sitter. Keep in mind that this is Stephen Harper’s nice-guy minority government budget. If he wins a majority it will be full speed ahead with his plan to radically redefine the federal government's role in Canada. Harper prefers a federal government that is lame in regards to social policy and big on giveaways to the rich with heavy spending on the military and national security. The feature item in this budget is the 1 percent cut in the GST. It is the smokescreen that pretends to give to all while hiding the real thrust of the document. Like the rest of the budget the GST gives much more to the rich. They buy more and buy big ticket items. Instead of addressing the growing gap between the rich and poor, the Tory budget widens the chasm. Largesse for the rich is the hidden key phrase; and they have failed to outline how other spending cuts will finance their tax cuts. Catherine Swift of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says she hasn't seen so much good news in years. Perrin Beatty of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters says the budget exceeds his expectations. Nancy Hughes Anthony of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce sees the document as ‘sending out a lot of very positive signals.’ The poor and low income folks thronging Canada’s streets say, “Hey, Harper has raised my tax rate from 15 to 15.5 % … while killing off a national child care program and tossing me some cash for a baby sitter. Where’s my tax cut? Is it only for the super rich?” The NDP are correct in labeling the budget an ‘opportunity lost’. One that squanders the surplus on corporate tax cuts. Feature corporate tax cuts include - eliminating capitol tax at a cost of $795 million. - eliminate much taxation of dividends from large corporations at a cost of $685 million this year. - cutting general corporate tax rates2%. - raising the small business threshold to $400,000 Other budget oddities include spending in the billions for the military with a lot of this money wasted on the protection of Arctic sovereignty. The environment is hit as climate-change spending drops. Then there is $1 billion to be spent on pandemic preparedness, which is a lot of money for ineffective drugs like Tamiflu. Culture, social policy, the poor, the elderly, healthcare … nearly all recognition of Canada as a nation of frail human beings is left out of Harper and Flaherty’s dictionary. We are to be one big corporation from sea to sea. ---------------------
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