Quote:
Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan
Ignatieff is doing damage control on the Home Reno credit:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/...ax-credit.html
This is a smart move by Harper. Force the opposition to vote down the tax credit in order to bring down the government, and make the first few weeks of the election all about the tax credit, which will lead well into a messaging campaign that accuses the Liberals of raising taxes. Force the Liberals into damage control mode now, and then control the terms of the debate later on. Very shrewd. |
I saw this one coming as soon as I knew that the reno credit was not fully ratified while the government has been advertizing extensively to get people spending. It's an easy argument to make - Liberals vote against the GST, promise to eliminate it, then keep it anyway. Now they are forced to vote against the credit, promise to reinstate it then, . . .
It's too bad that elections boil down to these kinds of false optics issues. When I evaluate a party's platform, it comes down to eliminating parties whose platforms would be the most ruinous for the Canadian Economy first with every other consideration coming a pretty distant second. I would love it if people actually thought in-depth about what the different options mean but after I have made my decision and begin trying to convince others to vote the same way I do, I am disappointed by the shallowness of the political understanding in the people I talk to.
The first week of the election will be about having yet another election and about the Liberals killing the tax credit. It will be false(ish), but that will be what the story will be about.