I believe that both parties are guilty of using the budget as a political tool. The budget may contain a lot of proposals that sound good but will likely never be implemented. Its purpose will be to persuade people like me, the average citizen, that the Conservative Party is the best choice to govern the country. I realize that this is a cynical viewpoint, but as a Christian, I believe that a certain amount of cynicism is necessary for the world to progress and learn.
No seriously, the new budget has a bunch of crap possible in it:
- A tax break of some kind for capital gains, which was promised in the election last year, so the Tories need to do SOMETHING about this, but what? Who really knows? Maybe they will bring back Brian Mulroney’s infamous $250,000 life time exemption? That would be cool.
- An increase to the personal exemption? That would be nice too, since that helps everyone across the board.
- A TPSP? What’s that well that is a tax pre- paid savings plans that the C.D. Howe Institute thinks is a GREAT idea. You put after tax money in there, but it grows tax-free so when you take it out, the growth isn’t taxed. I like that too, if I could figure out how to make my money grow correctly.
- Income splitting? Well, if I see that, then I know that the Tories want a spring election, because that is something they are going to keep in the “bag of tricks” ’til they need it, because poor suckers like me, will vote for the Communists if they promised that!
No matter how it’s sliced, there will be many promises made, but how many will be kept?
More interestingly, the CCPA (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) thinks the Tories are frittering away the Government’s surplus by cutting taxes.
“Prime Minister Harper’s tax cut plan is so expensive, he may soon find himself having to choose between putting the nation back into deficit or slashing programs,” says CCPA senior economist Ellen Russell.
Let’s hope it does not get to that point!
Musings from the Past Week
- Do you have a Pension Plan? In 2006 there were a lot of folks who were part of a pension plan, but are they still?
- DRiP Downsides and Post 500! The great financial site FMF had an interesting posting with an interesting downside to Dividend ReInvestment Plans.
- Oh Canada, it sure is getting crowded here… Apologies for the alteration of our Hymn Nationale, but it is topical.
- Monday: Still no taxes for you!
- Sunday Thoughts: Giving
- A journey of 1000 miles Having a single step is a good start, but if you’re taking a 1000 mile journey, it takes more.
- Confessions of Cell Phone Salesmen
- Free Association Fridays
