gc1765

Do you agree that if the GST hadn't been cut, that the extra revenue (the $5 billion or so per percent, per year) could have been used for something else...for example, income tax cuts??

Are you saying it's unreasonable to suggest that cutting the GST is a bad policy?? Or are you saying that it's unreasonable to suggest that advertising the GST cut, which is really just a political ad at the taxpayer's expense, is a waste of taxpayer money?

Are you saying we shouldn't criticize a government policy as long as that government has a few good policies? That's like saying we shouldn't criticize the Liberals for wasting $2 billion on the gun registry because they also cut taxes

My mistake. I shouldn't have used the word "wild" when describing the recent spending spree - that is obviously a naughty word. I should have used a synonym instead. I should have described the spending spree as: eager, enthusiastic, extravagant, foolish, imprudent, incautious, loose, uncontrolled, undisciplined, unfettered, and unrestrained. My apologies to anyone who was offended by the use of the word "wild".

Personally I think it wouldn't be worth the hassle to raise it again - and I think the Liberals will probably think the same thing. Especially if the Conservatives were back in power again and reduced it again. Imagine having to constantly change the GST depending on which party was in power. Imagine how much money would be wasted on ads constantly telling people the GST was going up or down. That being said I still think it was a stupid policy, just as Dion thought it was a stupid policy.

What if the transit tax credit is not enough? What if they wanted a larger tax cut, but didn't get it because the GST was cut instead? I believe I am behaving respectfully, but again, if you think otherwise please feel free to report it.

Maybe, but the fact is that without the GST cut, income taxes could be cut much more

What on earth are you talking about? I am comparing a GST cut to an increase in the GST rebate and/or income tax reductions. The original topic was about GST ads. It's normal for threads to drift a bit, for example from GST ads to the GST itself. But I don't see how GST ads are related to the transit tax credit? Nonetheless, the thread somehow drifted in that direction and I said I supported it, so where's the problem? If you have a problem with the language I use, please feel free to report it to the moderator. I don't think it was inflammatory at all, certainly not as inflammatory as some of the language you use.

Very true. It seems the vast majority of economists agree that a reduction in income taxes would have been better: Link

No, he raised income taxes, then lowered them back to what they were before. Huh? I'm saying low income earners would be better off with an income tax cut or an increase in the GST rebate, rather than a GST cut which benefits the rich.

How about the people who work hard but only make minimum wage? Say in the $15-$20K a year range. Which policy do you think helps these people the most? What are you talking about? If the Conservatives hadn't cut the GST, they could have decreased income taxes (rather than increasing them), or increased the GST rebate etc...

I have said numerous times that I think the transit pass credit is a great idea. This thread is about the GST, not any other policies. If you want to start a thread about the transit tax credit, I'll be there giving my support - as I have always supported the transit tax credit. But if we are talking about the GST, I think it is a bad policy, especially when it comes to helping the poor. Just because the government has done a few things right is no reason not to criticize them when they do something wrong, don't you think??

For the same price, between reducing the GST OR increasing the GST rebate & cutting income taxes, which do you think would help the poor more?? No, but they might lose sleep if that GST cut which benefits the person buying a new car is the reason why income taxes were not cut (or actually increased) or the GST rebate was not increased. Especially if they are struggling to pay rent & buy groceries. To you, yes. Others might think the Liberal spending decisions are well-founded.

Read my previous posts: Link Link Link Link and Link The Conservatives have increased spending by billions, especially in Quebec. So I guess it's accurate to say that the Conservatives increased income taxes in order to pay for their wild spending.

The average Canadian isn't going to turn down a tax cut. But if they had a choice between a GST cut or an income tax cut, I'd bet the majority would choose the income tax cut. I saw a Conservative ad the other day pointing out that Dion was considering raising the GST. What the ad conveniently left out is that Dion was considering raising the GST in order to pay for income tax cuts. Hmm, wonder why they would leave that part out of the ad?

As msj pointed out, businesses should have received notices in the mail. I think that's a much better idea. Even if some of those businesses were missed for some reason, as msj pointed out customers would soon make them aware. Certainly they would have figured it out before any paperwork was done. I would think that the average business owner would also have a much higher interest in politics & government announcements, especially considering that we have known for years that the government was planning on reducing the GST.

Good question. Let's do the math. Even if some people have been living under a rock, they are going to figure out that the GST has been cut when they make their first purchase - or at most, by their second or third. As Argus pointed out, we wouldn't want customers to be paying an extra 1% on this first purchase because they didn't know about the GST cut (assuming that there are actually some businesses who would try to pocket the difference - which is unlikely). So what is an average purchase? I don't know, let's say $10... 1% of $10 is 10 cents. If the ad cost $650,000, then it would have to help 6.5 million people to be worthwhile (6,500,000 x 10 cents = $650,000). I have a hard time believing that this ad helped 6.5 million people, don't you?

I pay income tax. Not a whole lot, but I do pay it. After tuition I make around $16k a year, which is enough to pay income tax on (the exemption is, what, like $9k?), but doesn't leave a lot of room for GST-taxable items. Keep in mind that rent here in Vancouver is almost a thousand bucks a month, or about $10k a year. Throw in food, savings, etc. and there's not much left. I think I estimated that for every 1% reduction in GST I save around 5 or 10 bucks. Compared with? If you're comparing it to a reduction in the higher tax brackets, then yes, I agree. It doesn't do much for those making minimum wage $15-$20k per year though. If you're comparing it with, say, a raise in the basic personal exemption, then I disagree. ...oh, and I agree it would be nice to get rid of the GST on textbooks, even though it wouldn't help me since I haven't bought a textbook in years (and when I did, I tried to get them used).

Sorry, just had to point out the humour in this: and this...

I think Argus said it best: Funny how that logic doesn't apply in this situation...

Now that is a good one! Higher status in the media and entertainment industries? Hah, the mere mention of someone being gay (for example: dumbledore) caused outrage among the anti-gay community. Heck, if these people can't find a gay fictional character to obsess over, they'll just make one up (spongebob, tinky winky). So to say that gays are portrayed as a higher status is laughable. If that were true, why are so many homosexuals afraid to come out of the closet? You'd think if homosexuals were somehow a "higher status" that people would want to come out of the closet, and that it would be heterosexuals who were afraid of their sexuality, no? And how the heck does the "promotion of homosexuality" help to create a society that is selfish? If seeing spongebob squarepants on television gives you the urge to do something selfish, you've probably got issues.

I wonder if the Conservative supporters here have any lines other than "well, it's not as bad as previous Liberal governments, so it's all good"?

Not everything. I (and probably many others who don't make very much money) spend almost all of my money on rent, food, tuition - and the rest goes to savings. I spend very little on things that actually charge GST. So I, and others with a low income, will not benefit very much from a GST cut. Increasing the GST rebate, making more items exempt from GST, or an income tax cut would have been much better.

If they are living under a rock, how are they going to listen to the radio? Seriously though, the cut to the GST has constantly been in the news. If you didn't know by now that the GST has been cut, radio ads won't help you. But I'm sure if there is anyone in Canada who doesn't know it yet, they will figure it out next time they go to the store...

I knew it was just a matter of time.