Death By 5.4 Billion Cuts.

WayWayBack
ToTheFutureVille


Well, well, well...

It would appear that Kevin Falcon is throwing a $5.4 Billion Hail Mary straight over a fiscal cliff:

A B.C. United government would eliminate the provincial income tax on the first $50,000 earned by every British Columbian, Leader Kevin Falcon announced Tuesday.

The move would save British Columbians an average of $2,050 a year each at a time when people are struggling to afford the rising cost of living, Falcon said.

The tax cut would cost the province $5.4 billion in tax revenue, B.C. United says...

Of course, the good Mr. Falcon says that he can do this without cutting services and programs:

...Falcon insisted he would not cut social services to offset the $5.4 billion hit to the provincial coffers, but instead would find savings in the "government waste" he claims has ballooned under the B.C. NDP...

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There's only one problem with the wind whistling between Mr. Falcon's ears and out of his mouth.

Which is that people who have been paying attention, including The Tyee's Andrew MacLeod, aided by George Abbott, have the receipts for the pre-Soccer Party's previous foray into voodoo-inspired Falcon and the Snowman economics:

...Several times Falcon compared the proposed (BC United party) tax cut to one the BC Liberal government he was part of made in 2001.

During that campaign his party promised a dramatic cut to personal income taxes — which they announced to be 25 per cent after they were elected, an amount so large even some BC Liberal insiders were surprised.

One of Falcon’s cabinet colleagues from that time, George Abbott, wrote a PhD thesis and book on how the 2001 tax cut created a massive hole in the budget, failed to spur economic growth and inevitably led to service cuts, often with damaging results.

“Although the tax cut was undoubtedly popular among many British Columbians, few fully understood the fiscal repercussions that would follow,” Abbott wrote. “Cautionary advice was dismissed and tax cuts quickly translated into a $4.4-billion deficit and deep expenditure reductions for ministries other than health, education and advanced education.”

Since the three protected ministries made up 70 per cent of the province’s budget, deep cuts had to be made in the resource and social ministries that make up the rest of provincial spending...

So, there you have it.

What was codswallop in 2001 is still codswallop twenty-three years later.

No matter what Mr. Falcon and/or his (still?) loyal lickspittles have to say:

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Norm Farrell, who is back in the saddle again, bites the bullet for all of us and takes the entire Falcon/Soccer Party platform, such as it is, to task over at his place...

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