Damn.

I should just change the title of this blog to "Go Read Dave". Today, Galloping Beaver catalogues the myriad problems with Harper's proposed GST cut as supposedly responsible fiscal/social policy.

My big objection to cutting the GST has been that it smells like a classic New Right measure designed to tie the governmment's revenue-raising hands over the long run. A highly visible and unpopular tax, the GST, once reduced (and if, as has been recently suggested, the cut leads to a more serious reduction in federal revenues than the Tories claim in their budget), will be almost impossible to raise again. This, in turn, paves the way for regressive income and/or payroll tax hikes down the road once those lovely, essential budget surplusses that Paul Martin worked so hard for dry up. (And like most good things that get handed from neoliberal to New Right governments, I'm guessing they're quite likely to do so.)

But this was a bad (i.e. ineffective) argument to make, even to progressives, during the election. So I ususally just fell back on waving my arms and yelling THE TORIES WILL TAKE AWAY THE LIBERALS' INCOME TAX CUT! HIDDEN AGENDA! HIDDEN AGENDA! STEPHEN HARPER OWNS A DRAGON! like the good Martin Liberal I was. Three months too late, Dave hands me all the intellectually honest, non-demagoguic talking points I needed. Thanks Dave.