Tim Hudak has been traveling around Ontario, pledging to create a million jobs by cutting taxes. Linda McQuaig writes that the problem is that Hudak's plan is an hallucination:
But what makes Hudak’s plan veer beyond nutty to insidious is the fact that it’s coupled with a plan to cut 100,000 public sector jobs. (That’s how he plans to pay for the tax cuts that, allegedly, would create the jobs.)
Unlike the imaginary ones, these public sector jobs — mostly in education, health care and social services — are real jobs held by real workers providing real services to real people. This will all go, Hudak pledges boldly.
So Hudak’s job creation plan begins by eliminating 100,000 jobs, leaving him obliged to create even more new jobs — 1.1 million. Since they’re imaginary, this turns out to be easy.
Hudak claims that the Conference Board of Canada has approved his plan. That, too, is an hallucination:
Yes, the PCs did pay the Conference Board to do an analysis. But Pedro Antunes, deputy chief economist at the Conference Board, told me in an interview that the Conference Board is not endorsing the Million Jobs plan — nor did it even see the plan.
Antunes also acknowledged that data produced by the federal Finance department shows that far more jobs are created by government spending than by corporate tax reductions.
For instance, a 2009 Finance department chart estimates that if Ottawa spent $1 billion on support for unemployed and low-income individuals, it would generate 18,755 jobs. The same chart shows that if
Ottawa gave up $1 billion in revenue in corporate income tax reductions, this would create only 3,310 jobs.
In other words, the federal Finance department — not known for progressive economics, particularly in the Harper era — concluded that government spending on the poor and unemployed creates substantially more jobs than cutting corporate taxes.
When I asked Antunes if the same pattern would be true in Ontario, he replied: “You’re absolutely right. There are economic levers that could be bigger than corporate tax cuts.”
It's being kind to call Hudak's plan an hallucination. Some might call it a lie.
10 comments:
Even the dearly departed Jim Flaherty indirectly admitted that tax cuts don't lead to job creation when he spoke of all that cash being sat upon. Simple from the ground up supply and demand creates jobs. The real "trickle down" happens when people are continually stripped of their spending power. It is such a tremendous insult to anyone in the public sector that their jobs equal unnecessary government spending. That statement alone should sink any plans for a disastrous Hudak lead government. Hopefully the whole province doesn't fall victim to the Rob Ford "gravy train" effect. Like BC's Christy Clark, Tim Hudak is a total empty suit and shockingly stupid.
And -- like Stephen Harper -- he claims to hold a Master's degree in Economics, waterboy.
"Like BC's Christy Clark, Tim Hudak is a total empty suit and shockingly stupid."
Anyone that votes for people like this in this day of internet communication where you can find the facts about the 'trash' they peddle like Photo Op Hissy Clark and her pipedreams of LNG gas fracking being BC's road to economic superiority are a sorry lot indeed.
Before Clark left for China last year she promised an LNG deal with China that would put BC on a road to prosperity. All the Chinese wanted was the technology so they could frack their own fracking gas. She said at the time while in China that she would be happy to oblige them and extended an invitation for them to come over and learn how (steal technology).
How is it the laggards that vote overwhelmingly are beginning to vote far right destroy Canada zealots in the name of corporatism as opposed to leadership that had the best interests of the majority of Canadians at heart instead of the elites?
If these people they vote for are "...shockingly stupid." What does that say for the gullible little sheep that follow them willingly to slaughter? All the while baa-baa-baaing praises for their captors.
Thomas Jefferson said that democracy could not survive an ignorant electorate.
The powers that be know that, Mogs. And they're working hard to make sure the ignorant stay that way.
Some interesting observations:
(a) both Young Steve and Young Hudak hold M.A. degrees in Economics, from Universities not exactly having a high reputation in that field,
(b) both had also not worked a real job as an Economist (some would stop at a real job, although Hudak did have some apparent real work experience), and
(c) both took longer than what an average student would be expected to take to complete their M.A. degrees, 6-7 years in Young Steve's case, 3 years in Young Hudak's case. The average would be 1-2 years,
My take? I don't think either of these guys are exactly top Economics students.
Perhaps that is why one increased spending while he cut revenues by reducing the GST while the other claims he can create a million putative jobs by first cutting 100K real jobs.
We joke about Cons math. We should be joking about Cons Economics too. Lol
It strikes me that both men see economics as more of a theology than a science, Anon.
And neither seems to keep up with the latest research.
They are both quite obviously morons, and so apparently is the Canadian electorate!!
If we can be fooled by these two guys, astone, we must be easy marks.
Ex BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell, is Harper's favorite henchman. Harper rewarded Campbell the post of, High Commissioner to the U.K. Campbell does a lot of underhanded work for Harper. Christy Clark is just another Campbell wearing a skirt. Christy Clark is merely a mouthpiece for Harper. Christy puts families first, my @$$. Harper's dictating comes first. I can't type all day to explain Christy Clark's lies and deceit regarding, the Enbridge pipeline.
Hudak and Christy Clark are the exact type of, a ditz pair Harper prefers. Harper can easily control them, to do his corrupt bidding.
Canadians are shocking fools and sleep through absolutely everything. Harper knows he can count on that. Harper does think Canadians are stupid.
And as long as we return him to power, he is justified in that opinion, Anon.
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