SigPig SigPig:
I love how the logic works when it comes to the GST for some people. When Harper cut it, people said it was too insignificant to actually make a difference to people because the amounts were too small. Well, then by extension then wouldn't that also mean that the revenue lost is also relatively insignificant to the government? But when it comes to solving the deficit problem, bringing the GST back to 7% is more then enough and would even provide a surplus.
Strange strange logic.
*EDIT* As for the implication that Harper brought us to the brink of deficit before, its just because he increased spending but also budgeted in debt payments instead of relying on huge surpluses at the end of the year. The surplus is still there, just its amongst other spending.
Well, given that everything I've seen has pegged each reduction of 1% in the GST as reducing revenue by 5-6 billion dollars per year, and surpluses were running 10-15 billion per year, the GST cuts basically completely ate the surplus. Then there are the income tax cut on the lowest bracket, the child care benefit, the business tax cut, and all the other little ones. I'd be very interested to see where there is anything that shows us paying down the debt at anything like the rate the Liberals were with their surpluses.