30 March 2009

The Prime Minister's Credibility Deficit

While it is expected of a Prime Minister to act as head cheerleader for his country and its economy, there is the very real risk of becoming, to use the sports term, a "homer" that does so lacking credibility and not letting the little details that some people refer to as "facts" get in the way.

From's today's Globe and Mail:
"The concern is that if we're not careful, these deficits will become permanent, and then they'll demand higher taxes," Mr. Harper said. "As you know, we aim to avoid that. We're very clear: spending will be time-limited. This government will not raise taxes, and we've been very clear on that."

A nice thing to say, to be sure. But it sounds oddly familiar. A quote from the Calgary Herald ran on November 25, 2008:

"We're not running a deficit. We have planned a realistic scenario. We've got conservative budget estimates. We've got a modest platform that doesn't even fill the existing fiscal room that we have and we have plenty of flexibility in how we phase it. So that's our policy. We're not going into deficit."

Brace yourselves, Canadians, tax increases are coming in order to offset this government's fiscal incompetence. It may be income tax increases. It may be a reversal of their ill-conceived GST cut. It may be other new taxes. It even be all of the above. But they are coming.

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