Harper Gives us Tacks on Seat Not Taxes in Pockets

Harper's big announcements of tax cuts are not for anyone who needs them. From the Montreal Gazette:

The most interesting thing about the first major campaign announcement of Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party is what it conceals, not what it reveals. This proposal, entitled the Family Tax Cut in the Conservative Party press release, would cost a whopping $2.5 billion a year, and is pitched as a way of lightening the burden on hard-pressed families raising children. But what’s not said is that most such families would receive little or nothing from this costly measure. And that’s on purpose. If you’re a single parent raising a child, you get nothing. The tax break is solely for families with two parents.

I think Jim Flaherty's pal Charles McVety wrote that one.

From Stephen Gordon in the Globe: The truth behind tax cuts: You might not be better off

From News1130: Critics slam Harper's post-dated tax break promise. Probably won't kick in until 2015

From Barry McKenna in the Globe: Reality Check, Probing the pledge: The Tories’ flawed tax break for families