Declan gives us lots to chew on in his review of the budget that Flaherty presented yesterday and I would recommend the entire post. But I wanted to send this in particular out to all those who are lamenting the way Stephen Harper has supposedly betrayed his conservative principles.
People who refuse to adjust their preconceived notions that people on the right are responsible stewards with firm hands on the tiller while people on the left are starry eyed hippies who are still trying to get their head around the concept of a 'budget' are clearly slow learners, so let me help:Right wing governments are not fiscally conservative
Right wing governments are not fiscally conservative
Right wing governments are not fiscally conservative
Right wing governments are not fiscally conservative
Right wing governments are not fiscally conservative
Right wing governments are not fiscally conservative
Right wing governments are not fiscally conservativeGot it?
Stephen Harper isn't a conservative; he's an extremist. Lately he's just an extremist in a sweater vest pretending to be a moderate.
This is a terrible budget. While there is a "deficit" because the Conservatives cut the GST a few years ago, and because there is little economic activity in the country, there is VERY LITTLE STIMULUS.
The stimulus offered is $18 billion this year, and less next year. Barack Obama is doing about SIX times that PER CAPITA.
A good review is found here:
http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2009/01/27/clc-preliminary-budget-analysis/
Yes, The Progressive Economics Forum has a number of good posts on the budget. And yes, the budget sucks. Even much of the stimulus that's in there may never happen because it's contingent on other jurisdictions coming up with matching funds.
One thing that was pointed out at Progressive Economics that hadn't even occurred to me was that corporate tax cuts, aside from being useless in general, are very useless in specific because the corporations in trouble are the ones not making profits and therefore not paying taxes, so a tax cut will do diddly for them. Sort of like income tax cuts to help unemployed people.
Yeah, the closer you look the worse this thing gets.
Today, the International Monetary Fund published a report on the health of the world economy, which sharply contradicts the assumptions of yesterday's Canadian budget.
"We now expect the global economy to come to a virtual halt," said IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard."
Whereas Mr. Flaherty forsses a "V-shaped" recession in which Canada is quickly back to growing at 3% a year, the IMF now says Canada will lose 1.2% of GDP in 2009, and barely recover by the end of 2010, with two-year growth at about .2% overall.
This budget is TERRIBLE.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2009/RES012809A.htm
Jeff - From a Nanos Research Poll released Jan. 25/09:
Seems like Canadians agree with the IMF. Now can anyone out there explain, if we average Canucks are so damn smart, how the hell we elected a government and offical opposition that are so damn stupid?
Exits muttering - this does not compute, this does not compute, this does not....
Sure, Canadians know better than the government does; but were Canadians first past the post? Since our electoral system is so unrepresentative, we shouldn't expect things to "compute", because they are rigged.
I guess we better find another way to express our superior knowledge then because an alternative to FPTP is not in our near future. As long as the larger parties think there is a way to make FPTP work to their advantage, it isn't going away. At least one of them has to become convinced that minority governments are going to be the norm rather than the exception for any kind of democratic reform to occur.
Yeah, you really have to wonder how many fiscally irresponsible and incompetent 'conservative'/Conservative governments people have to live through before stumbing their way to the obvious inference. It just never seems to take hold.