After Joe Oliver announced his budget date this week, he pivoted immediately to an attack on the Liberals, implying that they did not have what he had -- "a plan and the discipline to follow it." That was rich. Stephen Maher writes:
He warned voters of Opposition plans for “a debt burden our children should not bear.”
He bragged Canada’s debt is half that of the Group of Seven average, adding, “There’s a moral issue here, because to the extent we pile on more debt, we’re basically asking our children and grandchildren to pay for our expenditures.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has added $122-billion to the federal debt since he took office. If Canada has a solid debt to gross domestic product ratio, it is not because of Harper, but because of his predecessors Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, who added only $33-billion in debt from 1993 to 2006.
The Tories were right to borrow to stimulate the economy during the recession, but they should blush when they brag about their record as debt fighters. They repeatedly missed their targets and drove us deeper into debt than necessary, slashing the goods and sales tax and offering boutique tax cuts that cluttered up the tax system without making it fairer or boosting productivity.
It’s the “starve the beast” technique, invented by Ronald Reagan. The idea is you cut taxes, go into debt, then cut spending, which makes it hard for your left-leaning opponents to tax and spend. It’s fair ball, but Canadians are suckers if they let themselves be convinced by millions of dollars in government advertising and endlessly repeated talking points the Tories are the anti-debt party.
The Harperites intend to spend millions of dollars -- $7.5 million -- repeating the line that they are better managers of debt than the Liberals. Paul Martin began to set the record straight yesterday. The message they are sending, said Martin, is "nonsensical."
It's more than that. It's a lie.
15 comments:
I find it richly hypocritical that the Harperites claim concern about future generations when it comes to the debt, Owen, especially given their total inaction on any measures to mitigate the horrors of climate change that those same future generations will have to contend with.
They read history selectively, Lorne. And they read the future with equal bias.
The out and out right lying needs to be challenged more Owen. Paul Martin was a good start. The liberals need to have him speak more often. He is credible.
He left Harper with a big surplus, Pam. More than anyone else, he has the right to ask, "What happened to it?"
.. its quite possible that only responsible Mainstream Media (MM) can perform the dual role of counteracting Partisan Media (PM) and the duplicity/ignorance of our current Federal Government.
Its quite obvious the Harper Party, complicit Media mouthpieces, our elected Conservative MPs, the PM himself, senior Ministers, Senators, lawyers, consultants, ad agencies, PR flacks, robocall vendors etc etc have concluded that complete deceit is all that Canada and Canadians deserve.
On a daily basis the crap flows from them, secure in the knowledge that nobody can keep up with it.. and to try and list the totality of the damage, the date, the perps, the incompetents, the details etc.. is to alienate and daze the population.
Perhaps we've reached the fabled status of the Russian peasants who said 'If only the Emperor knew'
So.. Identify and promote responsible MM journalism
Identify and 'out' PM Partisan Media propaganda
The Duffy trial will be a major crossroads for Canadians, the Media, the rotted government we are being abused by.. Huge rips and tears will appear in the magic curtain Stephen Harper operates behind.. and we will see who is brave enough to pull harder & who is fearful enough of their complicity and behavior to try a feeble sordid defense.
Going into debt is not necessarily a bad thing. But there's a limit.
Canada's Federal debt at $614 billion is past the limit. Then there is record high household debt.
Taking on debt is taking money out of the future.
How debt is spent is critical, Hugh. Piling up debt as a consequences of tax cuts merely digs the hole deeper.
Investing it so it reaps a return -- and increases tax revenues -- creates a virtuous cycle.
The Duffy trial could be the bomb that blows the wheels off the bus, salamander.
The question is, "Are we paying attention?"
The most we can hope for is that some citizen journos are allowed into the court because with few exception the entire media circus in this country licks Harperian butt.
Some parts of the country may not hear of the trial at all except on CBC TV/radio.
That of course assumes the judge doesn't grant a blanket publication ban on reporting. MacKay will twist his arm unto he experiencing pain from wielding the gavel.
All of this is also dependent on Duffy and/or his defence team escaping the assassination attempts.
We live in a petro-state remember. These things happen all the time.
The media might turn this into the Canadian version of the O.J. trial, Dana. Whether that would be good or bad is open to conjecture.
Um all I can add to this discussion is I have never seen a more depressing government and self depreciating than the self named Harper Government I like to call it the Harperium shit Owen we don't deserve this crap from an American trained wank we are Canadian and do things different we don't want Americans telling us what to do or think eh?
Mogs
We have control over that influence, Mogs. Our thoughts are -- or should be -- our own.
If we reject a school of thought, we change the world -- for better or for worse.
Dana, when I was a journo I never trusted lawyers. When I became a lawyer I never trusted journalists. A few times I had journos get a tad bitchy about my refusal to parlay in the course of a trial. When they got indignant about why I wouldn't discuss the case and answer their questions, I'd simply say, "look, I used to be a reporter." That was all it took.
Contemporary journalism rarely handles courtroom proceedings competently. They're always looking for the "sizzle", the stuff that sells. They neglect the other 98% of the evidence, the stuff that usually matters because it doesn't make good copy. The public winds up with a very skewed notion of what really happened at trial.
Ages ago I was at some diplomatic cocktail party. Then Chief Justice, Bora Laskin, was in attendance and we got into a discussion about the media's inability to comprehend cases in a way that enabled them to communicate the really salient points to the public.
Justice Laskin asked me to give it some thought and provide him with a memo on what might be done. The SCC later overhauled its media policies that incorporated a couple of my ideas.
I think that today, at the highest level, reportage is not as bad as it once was although the media still misses some really important decisions because they don't have that 'sizzle.' Sometimes it's as though they couldn't find their ass with both hands.
Well Owen I want to reject "The Frazer Institute and The CD Howe Institute" and their influence on government policy.
However the biggest thing is thus 90% of the people I meet and greet that I do not even know do not like "The Harper Government" we need them to get out and vote so we defeat this monstrous "Harper Con Criminal Clown Gong Show" enough said...
Owen are you having a nice Easter? I wish you one at the tail end of it!
Cheers,
Mogs Moglio
The Easter Bunny did not visit my house oh well I have organic eggs in the fridge anyways so I really do not need chocolate ones but my wife and I bought a really nice PC [Presidents Choice] extra dark - noir chocolate bar. It tastes wonderful when you melt it and add it to your morning coffee!!!!!!
Memories are great my mom and dad when we were living in the countryside as children one Easter gave us each a little bunny rabbit they were soft and human friendly. I hate to break this tale but I am into reality the local coyotes got them. Imagine as a child you have to grow up real fast in order to survive what is next you must learn...
Happy Easter to you your wife and your kin,
Mogs
Happy Easter to you and yours, Mogs.
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