Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy89
That would entail the government being able to invest their money in a way that actually grows the economy faster than had they never taxed the money to begin with . Which it can't because efficient allocation of capital is an impossible goal when the civil service and politicians are involved. Government spending multiplier effect is less than the multiplier effect of money not being confiscated by government to begin with.
Mark my words, these plans will fail on a cost basis and when that happens the breaking point will be either ransacking Oil and Gas companies, a PST, a progressive tax system, or increases in registries, alcohol taxes et al.
Classic 'Progressive' Albertan politician. At election time say the right things about being fiscally responsible, pretend to work really hard to drive down costs, fail, then threaten the public to slash services if they don't get their paws on a new revenue source. Repeat. Stephen Carter has really tapped into how to get tax and spend Liberals elected in Alberta and it's the opposite of everywhere else. Campaign on the right, govern on the left.
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Or it could be that a lot of the programs which were proposed actually have a long term positive impact on the economy. The result of the cuts in the 90s in which the health care system was absolutely gutted resulted in a less healthy population, increasing the overall health care costs in the long run when the less healthy population relied on the health care system more.
I would much rather the PC party start looking towards long term savings rather than merely cutting and slashing.
Investing in education is one of the best things that the government could invest in - it has a positive long term impact on the entire population, increases the overall tax base in the long term. You could save 100 million today by not investing in the education system but if you do put that money into education, the benefits are on going. Higher graduation rates, better education achievement, better paying jobs, higher tax generated from the higher paying jobs, a healthier population in general (look at educational achievement and reliance on the health care system and long term health care costs)... the list of benefits to education is endless and I know I look at a leader investing in education as someone who is looking forward to the future. Compare that to Gary Mar who has a history of cutting spending in education and I can already tell you who I think is a more progressive leader.