Federal Surplus Grows

[jdobbin]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/25052007/3/cana...x-revenues.html

The federal government ran an estimated budget surplus of $13.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31, the Finance Department said Friday.

However, the figure doesn't include about $4 billion in promised spending to address patient waiting times, air pollution and climate change.

Factoring that in, the surplus for April 2006 to March 2007 will come in at $9.7 billion.

That is $500 million above the $9.2-billion surplus that Ottawa forecast in the 2007 federal budget.

The Tories used to ridicule the Liberals for making such huge underestimations.

Sadly, the Tories are likely to just try to cut the GST rather than address income taxes where the largest percentage of growth in federal income was made.

And if they don't cut taxes, expect a new wave of spending prior to an election announcement. Perhaps they will be defeated before they have a chance to cut or spend.

[Michael Bluth]

Factoring that in, the surplus for April 2006 to March 2007 will come in at $9.7 billion.

That is $500 million above the $9.2-billion surplus that Ottawa forecast in the 2007 federal budget.

The Tories used to ridicule the Liberals for making such huge underestimations.

The Conservatives underestimated the surplus by 1/2 a billion dollars on a 1/2 trillion dollar budget?

They were off by 0.1% and you call it a HUGE underestimation?

Holy f*ck your misrepresentations are a HUGE joke.

[jbg]

Were the Liberal underestimates bigger?

[Michael Bluth]

Yes. I'll leave it to dobbin to try and prove me wrong. He can't, so he won't.

Can't be arsed to search around and prove dobbin wrong all the time...

[geoffrey]

5 billion on a half trillion budget is pretty reasonable to. Anyone that budgets within 1% of actual costs for the biggest ugliest organization in the land is doing a pretty steller job in my opinion.

[jdobbin]

Were the Liberal underestimates bigger?

The largest the Liberal surplus was $12 billion. The Tory one is $13 billion. Even shaving off $4 billion in huge spending, they are still ahead by $500 million.

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2004/10/13/surplus_041013.html

[Michael Bluth]

The largest the Liberal surplus was $12 billion. The Tory one is $13 billion. Even shaving off $4 billion in huge spending, they are still ahead by $500 million.

Ahhh Dobbin thank you for providing the evidence to prove you wrong.

The Conservatives criticized the Liberals for underestimating the SIZE of the budget surplus.

Your attack on the Conservatives HUGE misrepresentation was for being off by 1/2 Billion on the size of the surplus.

From the link you provided.

Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said the federal government posted a $9.1-billion surplus in its most recent fiscal year as a healthier-than-expected economy and higher corporate taxes boosted government revenues.

BACKGROUND: Federal budget surpluses: FAQs

When Goodale presented his first budget last March, he projected a surplus of just $1.9 billion.

The Liberals underestimated the size of the surplus by $7.2 Billion. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004. Get the difference?

[jdobbin]

5 billion on a half trillion budget is pretty reasonable to. Anyone that budgets within 1% of actual costs for the biggest ugliest organization in the land is doing a pretty steller job in my opinion.

It is still a $13 billion surplus. The Tories used to rake the Liberals over the coals for this type of surplus.

[hiti]

WOW!

Steve and Flim Flam overspent by $11 billion this past year while Ralph Goodale underspent by $2 billion.

PLUS Steve and Flim Flam RAISED personal taxes!!!!! More than half of the surplus came from personal income taxes and it has been spent on crapola for Con pet projects like $100 per month that is not day care, rebates for public transit which did NOT increase transit use, rebates so rich kids can play hockey, and more crapola of the same, none of which benefits the country.

I don't care how much the Liberals underestimated their surplus.........

At least the economy was in better shape and people had more of their money in their own pockets.

[Michael Bluth]

It is still a $13 billion surplus. The Tories used to rake the Liberals over the coals for this type of surplus.

The came pretty damn close in their estimate.

Simply ignoring how false your newest attack was?

[hiti]

Don't matter how close they came. They still screwed Canadians over.

[Michael Bluth]

Don't matter how close they came. They still screwed Canadians over.

By paying down the Trudeau debt, providing Choice in Childcare and cutting a point off the most despised tax in Canadian history.

Imagine how much better off we'd be if Trudeau had "screwed us over" so well.

[jdobbin]

Don't matter how close they came. They still screwed Canadians over.

I certainly don't call $500 million a close estimate.

Moreover, a $13 billion surplus is a billion over what the Tories used to go ballistic about.

[Michael Bluth]

I certainly don't call $500 million a close estimate.

Moreover, a $13 billion surplus is a billion over what the Tories used to go ballistic about.

No, they went ballistic over the $7.2 billion underestimate in the size of the surplus.

[sharkman]

I certainly don't call $500 million a close estimate.

Moreover, a $13 billion surplus is a billion over what the Tories used to go ballistic about.

In pondering this, your latest attempt at straight faced misrepresentation of the facts, I've come to a conclusion. You misrepresent the truth most of the time. When it comes to the Liberals, you can't see straight. I've got bad news for you, with Dion at the helm, wishing for the Liberal government on this forum will be as close as you get for a long time.

[jdobbin]

In pondering this, your latest attempt at straight faced misrepresentation of the facts, I've come to a conclusion. You misrepresent the truth most of the time. When it comes to the Liberals, you can't see straight. I've got bad news for you, with Dion at the helm, wishing for the Liberal government on this forum will be as close as you get for a long time.

Let see what those facts are: Tories went insane with the budget surpluses being underestimated. $500 million is quite a large miscalculation.

They used to go crazy about the size of the surplus. It is $13 billion in this fiscal year.

[geoffrey]

It is $13 billion in this fiscal year.

$13b / 33million = $394. (considering that only 60% pay taxes, we're actually looking at like $700/person)

When do I get my refund for my overbilling this billing period?

[jdobbin]

$13b / 33million = $394. (considering that only 60% pay taxes, we're actually looking at like $700/person)

When do I get my refund for my overbilling this billing period?

I'd settle for an income tax cut. Leave the GST alone.

[Michael Bluth]

Let see what those facts are: Tories went insane with the budget surpluses being underestimated. $500 million is quite a large miscalculation.

They used to go crazy about the size of the surplus. It is $13 billion in this fiscal year.

Let's take a look at your falsifications.

Falsification # 1

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007 the Conservatives had understimated the size of the budget surplus by $0.5 billion.

To which you said:

The Tories used to ridicule the Liberals for making such huge underestimations.

But for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2004 the Liberals had underestimated the size of the budget surplus by $7.2 billion.

That is a 1440% difference in the size of the understimation.

Falsification #2

You are trying to change the nature of what the Conservatives ridiculed the Liberals about. It was always more about the size of the underestimations than the size of the surpluses.

[geoffrey]

I have a bigger problem with surpluses than overestimations.

Why am I being overbilled? Does the government pay out the same interest to me as when I don't pay taxes on time??! Somehow, I doubt it.

[Michael Bluth]

I have a bigger problem with surpluses than overestimations.

Why am I being overbilled? Does the government pay out the same interest to me as when I don't pay taxes on time??! Somehow, I doubt it.

Unfortunately nothing is perfect in life.

We currently have a massive Federal debt. It sucks our parent's generation, damn you Pierre Trudeau, put us in this position. But I don't think we should push the debt onto our children's generation given the current fiscal situation.

[jdobbin]

I have a bigger problem with surpluses than overestimations.

Why am I being overbilled? Does the government pay out the same interest to me as when I don't pay taxes on time??! Somehow, I doubt it.

Surpluses and underestimations of government revenue are part and parcel of the same problem.

[sharkman]

I have a bigger problem with surpluses than overestimations.

Why am I being overbilled? Does the government pay out the same interest to me as when I don't pay taxes on time??! Somehow, I doubt it.

You are being overbilled because the nation of Canada has a massive debt that needs to be paid off.

[Michael Bluth]

Surpluses and underestimations of government revenue are part and parcel of the same problem.

Do explain.

[geoffrey]

We currently have a massive Federal debt. It sucks our parent's generation, damn you Pierre Trudeau, put us in this position. But I don't think we should push the debt onto our children's generation given the current fiscal situation.

Nonsense, I explain in the next post. Beyond that, the Federal debt has nothing to do with the surplus. If the CPC wants to pay the debt, put it in the budget. Don't overbill me and then tell me that the extra money is just going against the debt (poor investment).

You are being overbilled because the nation of Canada has a massive debt that needs to be paid off.

Why pay it off? Is Canada planning to retire soon? Debt is a great thing, you can't make (lots of) money without it. I have no issue with the government borrowing for long-term capital projects that have favourable returns.

Paying off the debt provides much less benefit than investing that same dollar in the economy. Example...

The government pays about 3.5% on it's debt (haven't checked recently, it's +/- .25 of that). Let's say we have $100 to use.

Apply that $100 directly to the debt: Saves us $3.50/year

Cut our taxes giving all Canadians that money to apply to mortgages: Saves about $6.50/year

Buy a new software system that eliminates a government employee: Saves say $10.00/year

Cut our taxes giving all Canadians money to invest in enterprise: Generates about $12.00/year

Cut our taxes giving all Canadians that money to apply to credit card debt: Saves about $18.00/year

What do you want to do with that $100?