CPCFTW

This is true, and is the reason why we should have 0% corp taxes. Keep private sector jobs in Canada, grow the REAL tax base, and consumers get lower prices. As far as consumption taxes, I think it is more palatable to divide up taxes in this manner because people in higher income brackets will be pissed off if you raise their tax rates to 60% of income. People making 100k already pay 60% taxes if they own a home and consume enough. I think msj's suggestion is a reasonable compromise which will still decrease bureaucracy, just not quite as much. The full tax strategy would be the flat consumption tax on everything with gst rebates, 0% corporate taxes, progressive income taxes, and higher basic personal amounts like Alberta's. Cut a lot of the welfare/social support system to get people working since 20k will go a long way with lower prices and no taxes.

Better email the GG.

Mystery solved. Give yourself a pat on the back, take off the tinfoil hat, and go to bed.

Stalk much?

Ah it's only groceries... yeah there is a lot of discrepancy in product pricing at grocery stores too. I also feel like poorer families are more likely to buy a tub of KFC or bring home some big macs for dinner. Home-cooked family dinners are increasingly becoming a luxury.

Back to the article, the study makes some interesting conclusions. I don't doubt that it is the wealthy that spend the most on medicine and food. From my experience, most people who are poor don't see a doctor or get meds unless they are on death's door... and they obviously spend a lot less on food. If you're on a tight budget you can get by with $200/mo on food if you shop for discounts at the grocery store. If you are wealthy you can spend $200 a day at fancy restaurants.

I'm sorry, wtf does an economist at U of Calgary have to do with Harper? And don't give me an anecdote from the 5th season of the Wire please..

Nope the onus of proof is on you to show why we should "raise corporate taxes by 5%." So for your only argument is "take a look at this infographic", and "because it's a nice bonus to ease austerity" (3% of the deficit is not a bonus, it is an afterthought. No one would care if our deficit was 450M, or 900M for a 10% hike). Try harder.

I already pay insurance premiums and taxes. The idea is to pay less taxes and get better service.

Great post from one of the bad guys... It's nice to see someone on the left finally post something that isn't blatantly partisan.

ugh... now look at what you've done..

Yes nearly all public services are bloated. 10% is not a small increment and corporate taxes don't need to be raised at all. You have never made any argument why corporate taxes need to be raised other than "look at this infographic" and "it will save $1B". No one will take you seriously if those are the best arguments you can come up with. If you're going to raise taxes, then, just like the article you already posted suggested, raise them on the wealthy (employment income only) and consumption, not on employers who create jobs and growth.

Obviously it would never happen although I certainly wouldn't mind privatizing the whole thing. But my response was clearly just an imitation of mentalfloss' arbitrary "raise corporate taxes because I say so" argument. You must be on some kind of drug to not comprehend that.

Please don't remind them... In their world, every single CPC supporter turned up at the polls. Obviously, the 40% who didn't show up would have all voted for a united left party along with all NDP and Liberal voters.

I can't believe I'm dignifying this drivel with a response. No matter how you look at it, 40% has been the threshold for a majority party for a long time. Stop bringing that nonsense up. "Blah election blah rigging blah"... that's all CPC voters will hear. Some wild speculation from the left wing media isn't comparable to being held in contempt of parliament. All's fair in love, war, and politics. Everyone knows that politicians are slimeballs. Canada is waking up to the realization that you should just vote for the least slimy one (or the one who will have the least impact on your wallet). The Trudeau "nation-building" era is over. Wake me up when the next lefty fabricated "scandal" comes around.

What a joke. Raising taxes is not "saving". It is taking more money to pay for bloated services. You truly are clueless. How about this? Enable all reasonable cost saving measures you want. In addition to that, cut education and health spending by 20% and save $14B dollars a year. Now we can cut personal and corporate taxes. Everyone's happy! Take a look at this infographic to see why: http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/drummondreport3.jpg This argument brought to you by the Mentalfloss School of Arguing.

No we're not. That's what you guys said last election when you forced another election and Canadians gave Harper a majority. Canadians don't want yearly elections no matter how much the opposition huffs and puffs that it isn't fair that they aren't in power.

Yes it is meaningless. This isn't Austin Powers. You can't say "1 BILLION DOLLARS" to give it meaning. Ratings agencies and Canada's creditors won't be impacted in anyway by Canada reducing it's deficit from 14.1B instead of 15B. I've never disputed that significant cuts need to be made. I am simply responding to your ridiculous post in which you tried to claim that corporate taxes need to be raised by 5% because of "this infographic". The infographic you provided didn't support your assertion and I called you on it. It sounds more and more like you looked at a fancy chart, decided that it would be a good opportunity for you to bash corporate tax rates, and didn't think that anyone would take the time to look at your link.

Can you stop referencing the Wire? It's embarrassing to read. "In Harry Potter, Snape kills Dumbledore so obviously the conservatives could kill people indiscriminately!!!"

Then that's bad left-wing politics. Or you can look at it as the lesser of two evils. Buy some votes to ensure that the parties that are campaigning on a platform that every house will be free and made of gumdrops and lollipops don't get elected. I don't pay enough attention to Alberta provincial politics to know what the deficit is being spent on... but it looks like part of the 2012 budget (or tax plan) has been released: http://www.finance.alberta.ca/publications/budget/budget2012/fiscal-plan-tax-plan.pdf There are some interesting numbers on personal and corporate tax rates in there, and great interprovincial comparison charts on the last few pages.

Again, even assuming the best case scenario of no economic harm, a 10% raise in corporate taxes would only cover 6% of the budgetary shortfall. It's a meaningless populist gesture.

You said "G&M is getting on board with the program", when we were talking about raising corporate taxes. You won't get any argument from me that massive cuts need to happen. But raising corporate taxes is a self-defeating proposition. Join us in 2012.

Ok I actually read your link now. Where in the hell does it say to raise corporate taxes? Mr. Simpson actually specifies which taxes to raise: I guess some people read what they want to read... Your arguments for raising corporate taxes are about as weak as the NDP's. They should be raised by 10% to create 900M of revenue when there is a 15B shortfall? You could double corporate taxes and still have a 6B shortfall. There is no evidence that raising taxes will have a significant effect on consumers? Re-read my above post, I explained exactly the effects of raising corporate taxes. You don't have to have Jeffrey Simpson's resume to understand what I wrote.

Who said anything about nationalization? I specifically said the government should invest in non-voting shares/bonds (ie. I clearly was advocating a system whereby politicians and hippies like you would have no control over the investments).

Someone got fired... Scandal!! You must work for the government.