Harper's Christmas Gift. Tax Cuts for the Wealthy. Tax Increases for Everyone Else

Now that the NDP are backing billions more in tax cuts for the wealthy, the richest Canadians are being assured another nice chunk of our money, bringing those gifts to about 60 billion dollars, since Harper took office.

But on the flip side, those lucky enough to still have jobs, are lucky enough to have their taxes go up. Yeah!

... nearly all Canadian workers will pay more income and payroll taxes in 2011 ... The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released its annual tax calculations Tuesday and projected an average increase of 2 per cent in 2011 over 2010. The federation said Ontario residents will see the sharpest payroll tax hike, with British Columbia and Nova Scotia right behind them. While those three provinces will be particularly hard hit, the federation’s report said the working poor – regardless of region – will be seriously affected.

So the working poor will be forced to pay more, so that the idle rich can pay less. Don't you just love Neoconservatism?

And the government's response is typical.

“[The] Harper government has not increased taxes, we believe in lower taxes and we have the record to prove it – cutting over 100 taxes and lowering taxes $3,000 for an average family,” Mr. Pothier wrote in an e-mail. He added the Conservative government has kept EI premiums low with rate freezes. Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty released a statement Tuesday mentioning tax relief, though it only addressed a reduction in the corporate income tax rate.

"Tax relief". He took the words right out of George Bush's mouth.

Conservatives Know about Framing: On the day that George W. Bush took office, the words tax relief started appearing in White House communiqués to the press and in official speeches and reports by conservatives ....

And the Bush Administration knew how to sell tax cuts for the wealthy, by making it appear as though everyone enjoyed this so-called "relief". And by suggesting that the wealthy would use their tax cuts to create jobs. And when jobs continued to be lost, there was a simple remedy. Give the rich more "tax relief".

So how did Bush deal with this proven failure? Like the character in Chicago who said, "You going to believe what you see or what I tell you?," Bush in 2003 brazenly attacked the problem head-on. "That six percent [jobless] number should say loud and clear to members of both political parties in the U.S. Congress, we need robust tax relief so our fellow citizens can find jobs"—even though four-fifths of the job losses followed his 2001 tax relief. So when press secretary Ari Fleischer said in mid-2003 that "tax cuts have helped create jobs and to promote growth in the economy," he must have had the economy of the Cayman Islands in mind. (1)

And while constantly suggesting that the average American was paying less taxes, the opposite was true.

The President also kept heralding the statistic that the "average" family would get back $1,083 from his proposed 2003 cuts. This combination of populist rhetoric and actual data would be more appealing, however, if it were true. But based on data from the Tax Policy Center, 80 percent of Americans will get three-fourths less than W.'s claim of an "average" tax cut of $1,083. Filers in the middle quintile of the income spectrum—the "median" household—would receive only $227, and that before increased local and state taxes due to federal cutbacks are subtracted. And the 42 percent of taxpayers who are neither married nor have children would get a "little bitty" $50 on average, according to Citizens for Tax justice. By including in his "average" the $20,762 each of the top 1 percent of all tax filers would receive and the $89,509 returned to those 0.2 percent earning a million or more annually, Bush's figure perfectly fit Mark Twain's definition of a "stretcher"—literally true but misleading. (1)

And the Harper government has their own "stretchers" when it comes to this so-called $3000 "tax relief" that all Canadians are supposed to have enjoyed.

Again, my best advice comes from Hannah Arendt. THINK!

Are we really paying less taxes? They lowered the GST by 2% but then shoved the HST down our throats, even having the audacity to use our tax dollars as bribe money. And yes the GST portion of the HST is lower, but it has been put on things that we never paid GST on before. There is no net benefit.

THINK!

Just because they say it, doesn't make it true. You just have to learn to speak Neocon. It's a bit Orwellian but a lot more complex. But to crack the code, remember that all language used is "framed" and wrapped in calculated ambiguity.

THINK!

"Tax relief" translates to "please give me the shirt off your back so my chauffeur can use it to clean my Mercedes." Only they never say please.

"If Ottawa giveth, then Ottawa can taketh away." - Stephen Harper

Sources:

1. The Book on Bush: How George W. (mis) Leads America, By Eric Alterman and Mark Green, Penguin Books, 2004, ISBN: 0-670-03273-5, Pg. 39-40

Stephen Harper's New Taxes Could Hinder Economic Recovery

In August of 2009, CBC ran a story: Flaherty's HST pitch fails to woo holdouts.

He had bribed Ontario with 4.3 billion dollars and B.C. with 1.3 billion, if they would harmonize their taxes. Since this would help businesses by passing the tax burden from them to consumers, people began dubbing the HST: the Harper Sales Tax.

A day after Ottawa offered cash to provinces to harmonize their sales taxes across the country, the few holdouts remain cool to the HST idea. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Ottawa was willing to offer financial support to provinces choosing to harmonize their provincial sales tax with the federal GST.

Business groups like the idea because they argue it reduces red tape and lowers the tax on investment. But harmonization detractors argue it ends up costing consumers more in real terms because the GST applies to more goods and services than the provincial levy.

Now a B.C. court last week, defines the Harper Sales Tax, and clearly lays the blame where is should be laid: Legal case could expose Harper government to HST backlash

B.C.'s populist fight against the harmonized sales tax took an unexpected twist last week, one that could pose a challenge for the Harper Conservatives. As the Gordon Campbell government has gone about implementing the widely reviled new sales tax, its cabinet ministers and MLAs have done the heavy lifting in terms of selling it, however ineptly, to the public.

And so, blame overwhelmingly has been directed at the provincial Liberals, with the Conservative government in Ottawa bobbing and weaving to keep well out of the way. The feds in fact have been successful in that endeavour, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper making virtually no public comment on the tax or the vigorous fight against it in B. C, and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also keeping a safe distance. But last week's legal case in defence of the HST, launched by six business groups, brought public attention to the fact that the HST is wholly and completely a federal tax ...

And Jim Flaherty's new payroll tax, will again hurt Canadians.

At the end of this year, the Conservatives are going to increase payroll taxes by driving up Employment Insurance premiums – by a whopping 35%. These escalating Conservative EI taxes will become the fastest growing source of revenue for the Harper government.

What's the logic in that? Just when our economy is struggling to recover from a recession, the Conservatives impose a big new tax-on-jobs. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says Conservative EI taxes "will kill jobs and undermine economic recovery".

And yet in order to go ahead with corporate tax cuts, they are going to have to borrow more money on our behalf. Sounds a bit odd, doesn't it?

We can no longer afford this government. They are now presiding over one of the largest , if not the largest, tax increase in Canadian history.

Tim Hudak and Jack Layton Make Very Strange Bedfellows. The Emphasis on STRANGE!

This whole HST fiasco is getting stranger by the minute.

Federal NDP leader Jack Layton and Provincial "I have no idea what this party is but definitely not Progressive' leader Tim Hudak, have teamed up in theory to make attacking the HST the basis for their next election campaign.

In the case of Hudak, he's already started, and in fact has lost complete control of his party, who are now acting like nuts.

But this gets weirder.

The HST for Ontario and BC was the brainchild (I use the term loosely) of the federal finance minister Jim Flaherty. Jim's wife is a member of Hudak's caucus, that is now attacking Jim's plan.

And yet Stephen Harper, who is seen in this video lauding the HST, has put the onus on Michael Ignatieff who now must wear the tax. Boy, who ever said politics wasn't for the faint of heart, sure got that right.



HST is good policy

The debate over the switch to a harmonized sales tax has given both the federal NDP and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives a chance to show off their
considerable skills at populist spin. But that isn't serving the public.

The arguments in favour of the HST are several and strong, but they're also dry and technical. The arguments against, however, can be summed up in cheap slogans and fearmongering. ...

Tim Hudak and His Gang Are Making Complete Fools of Themselves

I don't know if they think these ridiculous tactics will work, but I can't believe the horrendous display that Tim Hudak and his gang of misfits are putting on in the Ontario Legislature. Who does he think he is? Mike Harris?

If I ever contemplated voting PC in Ontario again, the actions of these thugs would convince me not to even consider it. They are Reformers to the bone. Hudak used to belong to a group called "Canadians for George Bush". Enough said.

Coyle: Disgraceful show put on by PC caucus
By Jim Coyle Queen's Park
December ,2 2009

There are two lines that appear in most speeches by Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak. Among the values he purports to cherish are "respect for the rule of law." When he talks about his immigrant grandparents, he extols those who "play by the rules."

This week, as Hudak led his caucus in a disgraceful show of contempt for the Legislature and its rules, those words were revealed for empty rhetorical boiler-plate.

Heir, as he is, to the legacy of former premier Mike Harris, it's unsettling to many to imagine what a Tim Hudak Ontario might look like – especially since a Hudak PC caucus looks like something right out of Trailer Park Boys, an outfit where yahoos rule and where rules, when inconvenient, are to be defied and mocked.

This week, Hudak did himself considerable harm. He let his party be defined by its least credible and most ridiculous MPPs – bumptious contrarian Bill Murdoch from Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, and renegade libertarian from eastern Ontario, Randy Hillier.

The PC need for growth in urban Ontario will hardly be aided by the antics of those two smirking loudmouths, as pleased with their disruptive antics as a couple of adolescent spitball throwers.

Given the wide support already on the record for tax harmonization from Ontario PCs, the caucus's outrage about the Liberal government's proposed harmonized sales tax has always been opportunistic and contrived. This week, it bordered on the obscene.

Reporters were told ahead of time that Murdoch was going to put on a show. Dressed in a kilt, he stood Monday in the Legislature and pointedly called Premier Dalton McGuinty "a liar."

This, he knew, violated rules. Asked three times to withdraw the remark, he refused. He was expelled from the Legislature, but refused to leave. Then, he was quickly surrounded by caucus-mates and the standoff was on.

Both Murdoch and Hillier were expelled indefinitely by Speaker Steve Peters for continuing to defy his rulings. But the two Gong Show refugees carried on. They occupied seats not their own and defiled them, roaring spittle-flecked insults at the government.

Frankly, it's hard to imagine an image less likely to help Hudak in the longer term than that presented to Ontario by two rural, middle-aged tantrum artists as they defied the Speaker and the rules.

It's no great victory for Hudak that his PC party now wears the flushed and foolish faces of Bill Murdoch and Randy Hillier.

They were faces of raving irrationality that any woman abused by her mate would recognize. They were faces of incoherent fulminating that any child terrified by a drunken father would know. They were the faces of inane intransigence with which most beat cops are wearily familiar.

It was conduct of a sort Hudak would surely have denounced were it a student defying a teacher or a defendant defying a judge. It was evident by the body language of some PC MPPs that they were uncomfortable. Still they went along.

So shame on Christine Elliott and Sylvia Jones for letting the biggest bozos in their number rule the day.

Shame on Ted Arnott and Elizabeth Witmer for participating in the debasement of an institution in which they have worked honourably for decades.

Shame on elder statesmen Norm Sterling and Bob Runciman for demeaning a Legislature to which they will utter sentimental paeans in the retirement speeches in their not-too-distant futures.

And, most of all, shame on Tim Hudak, who, if his grandparents did put great stock in playing by the rules, can be no credit to them.

Stephen Harper Admits That He's Threatened by Michael Ignatieff

As a deflection from war crime allegations and his non-action on climate change, Stephen Harper; running scared from Michael Ignatieff, has decided to change the channel. The only problem is he's tuned to the wrong program.

The bluster against the HST is coming from Tim Hudak in Ontario and Jack Layton federally, but he's using it to challenge the Liberals?

Unless he's just a complete moron, this is rather a ridiculous route to go, because it leaves a further opening for the NDP. In fact, the Conservatives have been trying to distance themselves from the tax and they won't be able to now. And yes Ontario and BC have Liberal premiers, but Hudak hopes to be premier of Ontario someday. (Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha)

And let's not forget that most economists believe the HST is a good thing, so this could work in Mr. Ignatieff's favour. I think Harper may have finally lost it.

But hey, it's made me forget everything horrendous he's done, because I now feel sorry for him (not really). Clearly he can't read, or maybe he only reads US papers. Besides the Bloc intends to support the motion. Maybe he didn't see that coming.

Tim Hudak's Bluster is All Hot Air. Harris Taught Him Well

Tim Hudak is living up to his expections, simply because I had none.

As a Mike Harris protegee, I already knew what he stood for, so would prefer he just sit down.

Bluster and blather with nothing to offer. If this was the best the party had to offer I see a long Liberal dynasty in this province.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 6:13 PM

10 simple HST myths
Andrew Steele

The cardinal rule of political communications is “keep it simple, stupid.” Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak probably writes it on the blackboard 100 times a day; he's good at it ....

Tim Hudak is Losing His Credibility Faster Than Mike Harris Did

Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak, is making a complete idiot of himself over the HST, clearly just making stuff up now.

If this is the best he's got, then I don't see the PC party winning an election in this province anytime soon.

But then what did you expect from a Mike Harris protege. The worst premier we ever had.

PC leader, OFA face off over HST’s impact
By Kevin Werner

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak says the Ontario Liberals’ proposed harmonized sales tax (HST) will plow farmers under a financial burden.

But the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) disagrees, saying the HST will actually help economically-stressed rural communities.

At a London, Ont. event last week, Hudak said the proposed tax will “discourage people from getting into the farming business in the first place.”

He said farmers purchasing 100 acres of farmland at $10,000 an acre will have to pay an additional $80,000 in harmonized sales tax. He also said the “point-of-sale-exemption” that farmers now receive for the PST will be “history” when Premier Dalton McGuinty implements the HST on July 1, 2010.

“That is not correct,” said OFA president Bette Jean Crews. She said no decision has been made by the province to eliminate the point-of-sale-exemption. “It’s a work in progress,” said Crews. “We are still lobbying for that.”

Under the Ontario Farm Business Registration Program, provincial farmers have a card that exempts them from PST on farm items at cash registers. To qualify for the card, farmers need to show they are earning $7,000 in gross revenue.

A call was made to Hudak’s assistant asking to talk to the newly elected Progressive Conservative leader to elaborate on his statement. Hudak did not return the call.

There is some concern among farmers that they may have to apply monthly or quarterly for a rebate to the provincial government under the new HST, a similar process they already do for the federal government’s GST.

Roy Shuker, president of the Hamilton-Wentworth Federation of Agriculture (HWFA), says he’s afraid the exemption could be taken away from farmers. Still, regardless of how the HST will affect the farm sector, it will have an impact on farmers.

“We are consumers, too,” he said.

Shuker acknowledged the HWFA hasn’t seen any details about the proposed HST, nor how it will be implemented. And he knows the OFA has been talking to provincial officials about the issue.

“It might not be that bad,” he said.

Crews said OFA researchers have found that harmonizing the 5 per cent GST and the 8 per cent PST will turn out to be “a real benefit for us.”

She said the OFA says the agricultural sector could save about $30 million a year. Crews didn’t know how much money individual farmers would save. As for beginning farmers, she said, the OFA will be working in collaboration with financial institutions to assist young farmers financially.

Hudak stated the HST will prevent start-up farmers from getting into the agricultural business.

“Start-up farmers will have to include the cost of the DST (Dalton Sales Tax) in any mortgages they take out to buy new farm property,” he explained.

Ontario government officials have argued farmers’ rebate eligibility will be expanded under the HST to include trucks, light vans, vehicle parts, furniture, lawn mowers, farm equipment, computer services, office equipment and refrigeration units. In addition, families earning less than $160,000 per year will get three payments totalling $1,000, and individuals will see a $300 rebate.

The HST is proposed to be applied to fast food, home heating fuels, children’s clothing, diapers, feminine hygiene products, books and child care seats. New homes costing less than $400,000 will only be subjected to the 5 per cent GST.

In 1997, the federal and provincial sales taxes were merged in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. British Columbia recently announced it will merge its provincial sales tax with the GST by next year.

Hudak has been criticizing the harmonized tax, arguing it will unfairly hit families, renters, farmers and other vulnerable people during an economic recession.

“Ontario farmers deserve our support, especially now during tough economic times,” he said.
Still, Hudak has refused to say what he will do about the HST once it takes effect July 1, 2010. Instead, he has said McGuinty will ultimately not implement the HST.

Jack Layton Thinks Harper's HST Could Hurt Conservatives Election Chances

Despite the fact that the Reform Conservatives later tried to distance themselves from it (you can hear on the video Harper admitting they offered incentives), the HST may have hurt them in BC this past byelection. I know a lot of the hype was over the Liberal showing, but they weren't expected to win any on those ridings.

But the Ref-Cons going down since last election with the NDP campaigning against the HST, clearly had an impact. How this will play out in a national campaign is difficult to say.

Now I have no problem with the NDP improving their position. I get angry with Jack Layton sometimes but he usually puts Canadians needs first. At a different time, I would not be too upset if the NDP formed a government. However, with the economy the way it is, I don't really see them as being good money managers. Although, I suppose they can't be any worse than the Harper government.

However, the Ref-Cons should pay attention here. They may need to mend some fences because obviously the people in BC are making them wear some of the blame for this unpopular tax. Will we see some attack ads against Jack Layton on our TV screens soon?

Is NDP's 'election on the HST' bad news for the Tories?
Steven Chase
Ottawa — Globe and Mail
November 13, 2009

Stephen Harper, who once famously declared there was no such thing as a good tax, must now be wondering if a revolt over consumption tax hikes in B.C. and Ontario could eat into Conservative political fortunes.

It certainly appears to have helped one rival beat him this week.

NDP Leader Jack Layton's resounding by-election win in a Vancouver-area riding Monday – the New Democrats thumped the Tories by 14 points – occurred in part because the opposition turned the race into a referendum on the looming harmonized sales tax in B.C.

It was a disappointing result for the Tories, who'd even announced a judicial inquiry into disappearing salmon stocks days before the New Westminster-Coquitlam by-election in hopes of boosting their appeal.

Mr. Layton says results in New Westminster-Coquitlam show his party can make Mr. Harper pay a political price for the Conservatives' role in the HST, a massively unpopular tax shift taking place in both B.C. and Ontario next July.

Pollster Darrell Bricker of Ipsos-Reid cautions against reading too much into one by-election. He says HST anger may serve as a catchall for unfocused voter discontent, but it's hard to predict its staying power for future races.

Mr. Layton begs to differ.

“[This] was the first election on the HST,” says the NDP Leader, whose party's portion of the riding vote went up eight points from 2008 results. “If it's even worth five points [of vote share], that's worth seats in B.C. and Ontario.”

The Harper government is spending $5.9-billion bankrolling the shift to the HST in B.C. and Ontario. It's estimated the new levy will increase sales taxes on about one in five consumer purchases in these provinces.

Economists say this compensation was crucial in persuading B.C and Ontario to adopt the HST, which merges the GST and provincial sales tax into one levy covering the same set of goods and services.

The Conservatives, however, reject the notion their New Westminster-Coquitlam showing is an indication that voters are blaming them for the HST. Heritage Minister James Moore, a Vancouver-area MP, said the Tories were out-organized in the race by New Democrats in an area that has traditionally leaned NDP. The Tory vote dropped three percentage points from 2008.

Pollster Nik Nanos says the B.C. by-election results should give Tories pause. “It may be a precursor of the rough ride Conservatives could expect on the harmonization front.”

For months, the Tories have publicly ducked any responsibility for the HST, even though they counselled Ontario and B.C. to embrace the tax. Federal ministers have framed the shift as entirely the result of provincial decisions and left it to premiers Dalton McGuinty and Gordon Campbell to weather the storm. The backlash has hurt Mr. Campbell's Liberal government, in part because it reversed positions on the HST just after a general election.

Yesterday, however, in a sign that populist anger is also troubling the McGuinty Liberal government, Ontario unveiled more exemptions from the HST for consumers.

The HST's economic appeal is that it yields a tax break for business and improves the investing climate for provinces that adopt it. What's politically perilous, though, is that it shifts some sales-tax burden to consumers from business, and, in the short term at least, hikes costs for consumers.

Mr. Nanos said the minority Harper government should be wary of heading to the polls for a general election in 2010 that's anywhere near the July 1, 2010, introduction date for the HST in Ontario and B.C.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has largely held off attacking the Tories over the HST, leaving the field to the NDP rather than mounting a campaign against the shift that would hurt his brethren in the McGuinty government.

This leaves the NDP free to run against the HST in seat-rich Ontario and B.C. ridings, where they are serious contenders for seats with the Tories.

“Harper should be quite worried because of the timing,” Mr. Nanos says. “As soon as the first cash register rings on this, judging by what happened with the GST in the past, this is going to be a political issue.”

Jim Flaherty Sticks it to Taxpayers Then Walks Away While We Bleed

For all the Conservatives' bluster about the harmonized tax, blaming it on the provincial governments; it was Jim Flaherty who first proposed the idea in his 2008 budget, and then again in 2009.

He's now trying to walk away from it when it's pretty clear that it was his idea to tax everything. And we thought Jim Prentice's cap and trade carbon tax was going to drive up the price of everything.

Let's call this one 'Hurricane Jims', because it's a double whammy.

Jim Flaherty’s permanent tax on everything

Federal budget 2008: Replacing remaining provincial retail sales taxes (RSTs) with value-added taxes harmonized with the GST is another area where provinces can contribute to strengthening Canada’s Tax Advantage … The Government recognizes the significant economic benefits to Canada from sales tax harmonization and is willing to work with the five provinces that still have RSTs to help facilitate the transition to provincial value-added sales taxes harmonized with the GST.

Federal budget 2009. Modernizing these harmful taxes by implementing a value-added tax structure harmonized with the GST is the single most important step that provinces with RSTs could take to stimulate new business investment, create jobs and improve Canada’s overall tax competitiveness.

Washing their harmonizing hands

Stephen Harper's Conservatives wish to have it both ways. For years, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has lobbied the provinces to harmonize their sales taxes with the federal goods and services tax. Now that two provinces have complied, some Conservatives are shrinking from the ensuing controversy. Don't blame us, they're saying; it was all the provinces' idea.