Paul Martin's deficit thoughts

[dcbogey]

For what it's worth, I tend to agree, particularly with the GST cut.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081024.wmartin25/BNStory/politics/home

Deficit slayer sees his foe rise again
Article Comments (161)
LES PERREAUX
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
October 24, 2008 at 8:30 PM EDT
COWANSVILLE, QUE. — Paul Martin detests many of Stephen Harper's moves in government, but nothing gets a rise out of the former prime minister like the imminent prospect of Canada slipping into the red.

As finance minister, Mr. Martin balanced the federal budget in 1997-98 and set the stage for a long string of fat surpluses. But that legacy is about to be blown away, he says, because of shortsighted Tory fiscal management.

“The surplus has been virtually gutted,” Mr. Martin said, springing to the edge of an easy chair at his farmhouse in Quebec's Eastern Townships. “What the Conservatives did in two years was to virtually eviscerate, gut that surplus, so it isn't there when we need that margin of manoeuvre.”

Top of the list of the Harper government's imprudent moves, in Mr. Martin's view, is the GST cut that took some $12-billion out of government coffers.


Enlarge Image
Former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin at his farm in Quebec's Eastern Townships on Friday. (Globe and Mail)


Now leading economists predict annual deficits could reach $10-billion in the next four years. The government posted on Friday a monthly deficit for August.

Mr. Martin dislikes how the Tories walked away from his childcare plan and agreement to boost funding for native education and health, but he recognizes Mr. Harper came to office with his own agenda.

“But how they could walk away from the fiscal agenda is simply beyond me,” Mr. Martin said.

 

[mac]

surpluses are highly over-rated. Typical liberal response to be complaining about tax cuts and cuts to left wing goverment spending programs. Martin had his day in the sun and blew it big time....he should go back to playing with his tug boats and leave leadership issues for leaders to handle.

 

[robert99]

surpluses are highly over-rated.

How is paying down the deficit and spending within your means over-rated?

 

[james t kirk]

IMHO, Paul Martin did more for national unity by getting our economy back on track than any other egg head before or since.

Nothing pisses people off at the government like being unemployed and feeling insecure about their futures.

The massive federal deficits year after year of Trudeau and Mulroney was adding up to crisis proportions. If they kept going the way they were going, we'd have ended up broke. Martin was the only guy who knew how to balance a cheque book.

In my opinion, Martin was a decent guy and would have made a great Prime Minister, but he was cut off at the knees by the corruption of one Jean Chretien. (I suppose it was Chretien's parting gift to Martin.)

As to the deficit, to me, the solution is quite simple

Raise the G.S.T. back to 6%, or 7% if need be.

I'd rather pay 1 or 2 percent more and keep the lid on the debt than start running up the debt again. (I'm afraid that it will be a sliperly slope - Year one, a mere 3 billion dollar deficit. Year 2 - 8 billion. Year 3 - 14 billion. First thing you know, we're right back to 40 billion dollar deficits like we had with Mulroney.)

 

[Cinema Face]

Government surpluses were not the result of some great money management. They were the result of over-taxation.

Harper's government lowered taxation more to what is should be. That's why the surplus is not as high.

The lie-berals had one of the worst records of economic mis-management with Ad-scam and the HRDC scandal. They lost billions that they couldn't account for.

 

[james t kirk]

Government surpluses were not the result of some great money management. They were the result of over-taxation.

Harper's government lowered taxation more to what is should be. That's why the surplus is not as high.

The lie-berals had one of the worst records of economic mis-management with Ad-scam and the HRDC scandal. They lost billions that they couldn't account for.

blah blah blah.

And what did the conservatives do about it?

Did they throw ONE politician in jail?

Nope.

Will they?

Nope.

Why?

Because they are no different. They only used adscam for their own political advantage.

Whether or not surpluses are the result of over taxation is irrelevent. The fact remains that the DEBT which MULRONEY largely built remains at about a half trillion dollars. Until that gets paid off - you may be over taxed now, but you were under taxed when they were running up the debt.

You can't simply walk away from the debt.

Once it gets paid off we can worry about cutting taxes. Till then, I'd rather them have kept the GST at 7% and kept paying the debt down.