More Canadian Politics: Harper & the GST

www.cbc.ca...

I gotta say, this is a pretty bold statement. No GST!!! Although his plan is to drop it by one cent in 2006 and then phase it out over a 5 year period, it's still a pretty gutsy play from Harper.

Admittedly, no Canadian enjoys having to do the extra calculations for what they will actually be paying everytime they buy something. At this point now I am able to calculate GST/PST like a robot and ususally can do so with a fair amount of accuracy. The GST has made me utilise basic math on a daily basis and for this I am grateful in a way!

Wasn't it Mulrooney and the PC goons of the 80's who introduced this tax? Didn't Chretien promise the same "GST abolishment" nonsense right before he got elected?

Is this just a way for Harper to grab some more votes...My opinion? Yes. How stupid does he think Canadians are anyways, eh?

He does not plan on eliminating it, just lowering it 2 percentage points.

"The government has money to waste, the government has money to steal, the government has money to spend on benefits for a few .... It's time for benefits for mainstream Canadians, hardworking people who pay their taxes, who play by the rules."

Absolutely this is a way for him to gain votes. I don’t think anyone will buy it though.
The government makes a lot of cash from the GST. If he wants to keep taxes low for corporations and remove the GST, guess where he will make up the difference?

Damn I gotta stop posting first thing in the morning...Me no read good.

Thanks Dulcimer, I re-read my own link... the fog has lifted.

2 cent drop, maybe not such a big deal.

Goodale thinks it will only favour the rich!? The Liberals are already starting to piss me off, if they keep having stupid retorts, they are in big trouble. And where is Goodale anyways... in that picture from CBC he looks like he is the middle of a forest!? Is he hiding from something?

Geez, even the Fraser Institute thinks cutting the GST is a bad economic move.

Grubel told the Vancouver Sun last month that "cutting the GST rather than business or personal income taxes may be good politics, but it is definitely very bad economics."

Grubel and several other economists say business and personal income taxes are a much stronger drag on the economy because they create a disincentive for consumers.

Moreover, a humming economic engine means that a lower GST and hotter spending trends could help force up interest rates.

Reached Thursday, Grubel said he stands by his assessment but declined to comment further until Harper releases his full platform.

cnews.canoe.ca...

Grubel's credentials:

Dr. Herbert G. Grubel
Senior Fellow, The Fraser Institute

Herbert G. Grubel is a Senior Fellow at The Fraser Institute, and Professor of Economics (Emeritus), Simon Fraser University. He has a B.A. from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. He has taught full-time at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania; and has had temporary appointments at universities in Berlin, Singapore, Cape Town, Nairobi, Oxford, and Canberra. Herbert Grubel was the Reform Party Member of Parliament for Capliano-Howe Sound from 1993 to 1997, serving as the Finance Critic from 1995 to 1997. He has published 16 books and 180 professional articles in economics dealing with international trade and finance and a wide range of economic policy issues.

www.fraserinstitute.ca...

For every percent that is cut down, it will cut the government coffers 4.5 Billion dollars. Where is this extra 9 billion dolllars going to come from? The money they have left over isn't a surplus, it's money that should have been put into healthcare, education and the military.

And they will need to pay for all the things Layton is running around promising people. Any minority government will need NDP support and the NDP is already tossing money around like it was going out of style.

Layton's proposal includes four key points:

A sustained and serious commitment to research and development so Canadian auto plants can build the cars of the future.
Incentives that would encourage retooling of plants and launching of new products.
Negotiations with Korea and Japan to open those markets to Canadian-built cars.
A national border infrastructure program.

Layton challenged the other parties to endorse the NDP proposal. He said he wants to see the plan adopted, no matter who forms the government following the Jan. 23 election.

"Any political party hoping to work with us in the next Parliament had better understand that an early, comprehensive, effective auto strategy must be part of the agenda," he said.

Layton presents NDP's auto action plan

Mr. Layton spoke to a small group of students at the University of Toronto, where he also said his party would restore what he estimates was $4-billion the Liberals cut from postsecondary education in the 1990s.

He said the new spending would be paid for by scrapping the corporate tax cuts the Liberals announced in their fiscal update in November.

Layton vows to restore college funding

Layton has spent half the money from the reduction already.

Our entire tax system is messed up. Its beyond any one single repair.

We pay too much tax. The government reaps rewards, spends it on crap.

Plain and simple.

Of course, if you dont agree with me, you agree that 270 thousand dollar grants for shoe museums are ok.

Shoe Spending

Ah, I still have more rage left.

Geez, you know, maybe I was a little harsh. Maybe shoe museums do need grants this big.

But why didnt they give the much needed grant to the shoe museum before they were going into political oblivion?

Bah, im going to make a spinoff thread. I dont want to take this one off course.

[edit on 1-12-2005 by Dulcimer]

C'mon Dulcimer - take this sucker off track, I need the points!!

The Libs did do the "Axe the GST" thing, Harper is doing the same thing, would he do it? What else though Stevie? He will be known as "Stevie" to me from now on. This guy is greasier than ducktail. Ask you folks if you don't know what that means.

[edit on 1-12-2005 by intrepid]

For them to toy w/ our minds knowing full well none of us enjoy paying the gst and then promising us abolishment of it, is a sick and cruel joke...

I can't believe nobody has beat these leaders w/ a hockey stick yet.
Can anyone remember if this is the reason why Chretien got a pie in the face??

I can't trust these people when they make promises, plus Harper's got devil eyes, dont know what happened to him but he looks like he needs an exorcism.

Here in NZ we have a 12.5% GST. GST is just another tax that places a heavy burden on the low - middle income earners. First the government taxs your had earned wages and then the government screws you over when your hard earned money is spend on goods and services.
What a load of Crap !

They may in fact abolish the GST at some point, but you know damn well they will already have a backup tax ready to take its place.

It, of course, will have a different name, but a tax none the less.

Maybe something like SAT (Screwed Again Tax)