Stephen Harper: I don't believe any taxes are good taxes

[Pastiche]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1216778/

This assertion, from an interview the Prime Minister gave The Globe and Mail after the G8 summit in Italy, is one of the most stunning, revealing and, frankly, ignorant statements ever made by a prime minister, let alone one who keeps purporting to be an economist, despite doing so many things that economists deplore.
Think about it: The prime minister of a country is saying, “I don't believe that any taxes are good taxes.”
There is no “school,” to use Stephen Harper's word, anywhere in economics that says “no taxes are good taxes.” Not even Milton Friedman and the Chicago school think that. Nor do Mr. Harper's former mentors at the University of Calgary.

[Flame Of Liberty]

Good on Harper, and for the record I agree with him.

Why is everybody trying to paint Friedman and his Chicago school fellows as some kind of poster boys for free market economists??? They are not, and that's fine, but lets not pretend Friedman is some kind of a hero of the "taxes/government/regulation/etc are evil" crowd.

[peter12]

The attempt by many in the popular media to smear thinkers like Strauss and Friedman as ideological extremists stops just short of slander.

[llama64]

Taxes are bad! Yay go Harper!

...

No, Taxes are disliked but are required for a society with a centralized form of government. For an economist and the leader of a government to say something like that at an international meetup like the G8 is incredibly questionable.

Still, gotta love the dig at UofC - as if it's some sort of right wing school.

[starseed]

'bout damn time we put dat dere westerner in office.

I say taxes aint good for society. Time to do that privitation thing with the coppers, post office, fire department, militree, and health care. The free market will give us the reguh'lations we need in society.

He makes us here albertans proud.


**edit**

Seriously though, I think he is on an inevitable course to Stornoway. He will not raise taxes despite the forecasts claiming it will be many years of red ink and accumulating debt. Most Canadians are not economists, but when they see huge deficits and increasing national debt, they get ansy and have tended to turn to the left federally. It may not be a good idea to increase taxes now, but in a year or so, when the economy has turned around (hopefully), taxes will need to be increased.

Politically, of course, this aversion to tax from a prime minister who believes “no taxes are good taxes” has terrified the Liberals, who are afraid of being honest by telling Canadians that resumed economic growth alone will not restore Canada's balanced budget.

Its all about optics, but I dont think it is such a bad idea to be honest about the prospect of having to raise taxes. To hell with the politics of politics.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I read this article over my morning coffee to-day. I love to hate Stephen Harper, but I think going after him for a single piece of lofty supply-side rhetoric is a little goofy. Of course he doesn't really think that taxes are always bad in every situation. If he did, he would be cutting spending to the military and other programs and slashing the income tax rate would be his first priority. It's just rhetoric. And that's part of politics--a game that I happen to think Harper is not very good at--but it's silly to fault him for trying to play it.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by llama64

Taxes are bad! Yay go Harper!

...

No, Taxes are disliked but are required for a society with a centralized form of government. For an economist and the leader of a government to say something like that at an international meetup like the G8 is incredibly questionable.

Still, gotta love the dig at UofC - as if it's some sort of right wing school.

Commie

[GreenTeaFrapp]

This article just reads like an excuse to bash Harper.

[Traditional_Ale]

That article reads like it was written by a grade 10 student for the high school paper.

[Pastiche]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

I read this article over my morning coffee to-day. I love to hate Stephen Harper, but I think going after him for a single piece of lofty supply-side rhetoric is a little goofy. Of course he doesn't really think that taxes are always bad in every situation. If he did, he would be cutting spending to the military and other programs and slashing the income tax rate would be his first priority. It's just rhetoric. And that's part of politics--a game that I happen to think Harper is not very good at--but it's silly to fault him for trying to play it.

I agree that it's political mincing.

However, the statement is absurd and one of the most ideologically radical statements made by a Prime Minister in a long time.

Equivalent to a PM stating that he doesn't trust the private sector.

All around weird thing to say. I'm not sure there's alot of political hay to make to say you hate all taxes. Especially as your population is aging, you're running huge deficits, you're bailing out corporations for billions of dollars, supporting a war in Afghanistan.

[transplant99]

Terrible article...just juvenille actually.

[CaptainCrunch]

I'd like to see the whole interview and the context of this statement. This reads more along the line of a person taking one line out of many and smearing the crap out of one statement out of context.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Pastiche

I agree that it's political mincing.

However, the statement is absurd and one of the most ideologically radical statements made by a Prime Minister in a long time.

Equivalent to a PM stating that he doesn't trust the private sector.

All around weird thing to say. I'm not sure there's alot of political hay to make to say you hate all taxes. Especially as your population is aging, you're running huge deficits, you're bailing out corporations for billions of dollars, supporting a war in Afghanistan.

Haha, he didn't say he was going to cut taxes, just that there are no good taxes. As a taxpayer and a supporter of public services, I still agree with him. I wish taxes were not necessary, but sadly, they are.

[Muta]

Maybe I was drunk somewhere when I heard this, but isn't the ideally-run government one where there are no taxes imposed upon the citizens and the government works in the background dealing with financial matters so as to break even and work not-for-profit? Basically, the citizens are not involved in any tax structure and the government operates under its own income / assets, expenses and liabilities?

[mykalberta]

He is right. No tax is a good tax. However they are necessary in this socialistic society that we have all become accustomed to.

First they try to make him out as scary because he is going to put troops in Canadian cities.

Now since that load of BS didnt fly they have to make up some other reason to be scared of him. I know, he thinks there is no such thing as a good tax. The neverve of him, thinking that some people think that in a perfect world there would be a better way to fund servies than income tax - the nerve of him. He is so scary.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by Pastiche

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1216778/

This assertion, from an interview the Prime Minister gave The Globe and Mail after the G8 summit in Italy, is one of the most stunning, revealing and, frankly, ignorant statements ever made by a prime minister, let alone one who keeps purporting to be an economist, despite doing so many things that economists deplore.
Think about it: The prime minister of a country is saying, “I don't believe that any taxes are good taxes.”
There is no “school,” to use Stephen Harper's word, anywhere in economics that says “no taxes are good taxes.” Not even Milton Friedman and the Chicago school think that. Nor do Mr. Harper's former mentors at the University of Calgary.

Well, he has a Masters in Economics so I guess he IS an economist and the only thing a roomful of 15,000 economists could agree on last year was that we weren't going to have a mammoth global economic flameout!!! Otherwise, they don't agree on anything so no surprise there.

Huge overreaction by Simpson and, as Tranny said, pretty juvenile.

The arguments of Libertarians aside, all governments need to find the prudent balance between supplying the services the public needs/wants versus not strangling the economy with an excessive tax burden.

Cowperson

[troutman]

Tobacco Tax = Good

[burn_this_city]

What a shock the Globe and Mail bashing the Conservatives.

[Bobblehead]

Generally I like Jeffrey Simpson, but that is a pretty poor article. I'll be the first in line to chastise Harper, but in this case I think the article is making a mountain out of a molehill.

The worst part is Simpson knew what Harper meant; "Maybe he was just using a figure of speech, although he could have said something like 'all taxes are a necessary evil.'" but still continued on.

[Azure]

Well I agree with Harper.

There are no good taxes. And there is no 'good' form of government.

But, because of the way we live, the government needs to find the perfect niche between overtaxing, and undertaxing.