Tories to Raise Taxes

(Cross-posted at Centrerion)

You read that right.

If the Tories form government, they plan to raise taxes. Harper won't talk about it on camera, for obvious reasons, but nevertheless part of the Tory election platform is to raise personal income taxes.

The worst part? They're going to raise them on the poor. That's right, the poor. So in one broad swoop, the Conservatives buck their strength as tax-cutters, and re-inforce the common attack levelled against neo-liberal types that they want to screw the poor. Brilliant move, guys!

The plan is simple: an increase for the lowest tax bracket from 15% to 16%. The Liberals just recently cut that from 16% to 15%. In addition, they plan to lower the basic exemption by $400, which the Liberals just raised by $500. These are moves that directly affect the lowest income earners, increasing the tax burden on the poor to subsidize their GST cut, which let's remember, you won't notice unless you're someone who buys luxury cars and computers regularly.

You can't get much more "rob the poor to feed the rich" than this. Quite frankly, it's sickening. One of the reasons I was a Progressive Conservative, and still describe myself as a blue Liberal, is because I believe in tax cuts, especially tax cuts for lower income earners, and I am bitterly opposed to raising taxes. For the part of me that still harbours conservative sympathies, this is a huge betrayal. I left the Conservative Party because they no longer shared my views on social issues - now it appears they are aligned against me on economic issues as well.

Whatever happened to Stephen "I think all taxes are bad" Harper? I can't even call him a socialist, because socialists call for tax increases for the rich, not for the poor. No, this is plain, old fashioned, 18-19th century conservatism, and everything wretched that it embodies, including an emphasis on "moral order" (no fags), cracking down hard on crime instead of trying to eliminate its causes (cutting youth programs, and then wondering why youth violence goes up, apparently necessitating putting 14 year olds in prison for ten years for having guns), and increasing the burden on the poor so that the rich can live in more luxury than ever before.

For all the clamouring for tax cuts from right-wingers, this is what I've been able to discern from this policy proposal: Tory tax cuts are good, but Liberal tax cuts are bad. Conversely, Tory tax increases are good, but Liberal taxes increases are... well, non-existant, but hypothetically bad. Say it with me now: p-a-r-t-i-s-a-n-s-h-i-p.