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Although he likely doesn't articulate anything that progressive bloggers don't already know, Star letter-writer Paul Kahnert of Markham neatly and succinctly addresses the real design behind tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. It deserves to be shared widely with those who may not be fully aware of some essential facts.
Have we had enough? Insight Jan. 4
Tories like Stephen Harper and Rob Ford (and Tim Hudak) follow the Tory plan of tax cuts, which mostly goes to corporations and the wealthy. Tax cuts then create a crisis in public services. Then the Tories bring in privatization to deal with the crisis by selling public assets and services to the corporations and the wealthy.
Why do we the public constantly vote for this scam? You can’t build a civilization on tax cuts. Look where we’re going with the Tories. A just civilization was never built on tax cuts and never will be.
Where is the politician who promises fair taxes, good governance and independent oversight? This is how we built our city, our province and our country before. This is how we built a just society.
There is more wealth now than there ever has been. We can afford healthcare, education, public services and livable pensions. The only reason Harper doesn’t want to increase the Canada Pension Plan is because his friends at the banks won’t get their service charges.
Strip away the smoke and mirror show of Harper, Ford and Hudak and you’ll see the truth. The only thing that Tories do, is transfer public wealth to the private few.
Paul Kahnert, Markham
I refer to that as Neo-liberalism 101
ReplyDeleteA good categorization , Kev. It is sobering to realize that the letter's facts would be a real revelation to countless numbers of people.
DeleteThat's the saddest fact of all Lorne, this is not new. The policies have been foisted on people the world over particularly in South America,always to ruinous results.
DeleteThose pushing this agenda know this yet press on anyway. It is logical then to conclude they are getting the results they wish.
Yesterday on 'Power and Politics' of CBC there was a discussion on privatization of healthcare. It sounded scary. Looks like they want to follow the U.S model and we know what a mess that is.
ReplyDeleteThe government rep.kept saying that it is up to the provinces. Yes, jackass, if you keep cutting funding you may succeed in you scheme of privatization.
Thanks for the information, LD. I will check the CBC website to see if the segment is available there.
DeleteThis is the legacy of ruin bequeathed to us by Reagan, Thatcher and Mulroney. Stiglitz chronicles their model for transferring wealth and political power out of the middle class to the richest of the rich in "The Price of Inequality." Bush/Cheney were the boldest of the lot - running big deficits during an inflated economy while paying for two foreign wars of choice plus two rounds of tax cuts for the rich entirely with foreign borrowings. Remember what Cheney said to Bush - "Reagan showed us that deficits don't matter." They don't, provided you're prepared to foist that debt on a future generation.
ReplyDeleteAnd I might add, Mound, as long as people are willing to remain willfully ignorant of the inevitable consequences of such acts.
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