Government Stimulus For Jobs?
I get worried every time I hear that government should spend money to create jobs.
What comes to mind right away:
- Department of Motor Vehicles – DMV
- Canada Border Services Agency
- Canada Council For The Arts
- Canada Firearms Center
- Revenue Canada
- Canada Post
- Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
The list goes on…
When will we learn that the government can’t create productive jobs. Don’t believe me? Drop in or call a government agency and see how these workers treat a customer.
The last thing we need is more government jobs.
So, if we are determined to “spend” our way out of this recession – let’s say $30 Billion as the opposition has thrown out…
Let’s suspend income tax for a period of time equal to the expenditure.
This should translate to a 2-3 month income tax holiday.
And cut the GST another 1-2 points while you’re at it.
But please don’t spend money on creating jobs.
December 7th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
or we can just eliminate the GST altogether. when economic times were good, a 5% GST brought in about $30 billion. so if we want to match the opposition on the stimulus package dollar for dollar, eliminating the GST has a much bigger political impact than anything else we can muster.
however, i personally prefer a smaller stimulus package to start with. a tax holiday is a good idea. but permanent tax reductions don’t look good for the fiscal shape of the country right now, so i think we should just focus on one-off spending measures. and yeah government bureaucracy does suck.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Flooding $30,000,000,000 into the economy will only cause inflation down the road. The $2,000,000,000,000 spent in the US is working great so far right?
How about we cut about 80% of the Federal government departments? How about a flat income and business tax with no deductions credits etc.? We all end up paying a premium on everything just to pay for all the lawyers / accounts to track all these items.
While you are at it hike the basic personal amount as well.
The best stimulus would be to return OUR money to our own wallets.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Well you shouldn’t be worried because spending is good for the economy right now.
It doesn’t necessarily mean the money will only go into the Government sector. Money can be injected into areas such as transit, education and alternative energy… which would be great for Canadians.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
They certainly can gas that POS gun registry any time. It won’t get back the billion so far wasted on it, but it definitely save at least another billion or two down the road.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I agree that we should spend money in these troubled times to stimulate the economy but spend it on infrastructure. Nobody is getting any help when you give money to failing businesses. You have nothing to show for it after making these companies survive for an extra 6 months. You just prolong the inevitable bankruptcies. If you build roads, sewers and provide safe drinking water for Canadians then the benefits are her to stay forever. I long to go to eastern Canada on holidays but the lack of a twin highway coast to coast sends me down to the States for my holidays. I cant help but thinking that I live in a third world country when I look at our roads when I get back. We are a rich country let improve it for everybody instead of just spending money to win an election with no long term benefit.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
One analogy of stimulus spending would when Germany in the 1920’s had huge unemployment and the resulting unrest.
Let’s imagine they decided to “bail out” the one industry that they were the most technicaly advanced in. One that no other country was even close to in it’s ability to compete with.
That industry was the manufacture of Zepplins! Imagine the huge waste of money and labour had they done that. Although few people realized it at the time Zepplins were rapidly becoming extinct.
It is a real crap shoot to pick and choose what, if anything, should recieve Gov. funding.
December 7th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
And what do we all think the Bloc veto means when it comes to determining where the money will be “invested”. The Bloc can insist that all $30b is spent creating jobs in Quebec, cushioning Quebec, while leaving the rest of Canada with the tab.
The economic stimulus package, with a veto held by the Bloc, is a crock of you-know-what.
December 7th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Carl Marx… A referendum (attached to the next election ballot) to vote quebec off the island would solve the problem of the “leach province” sucking taxpayers dry.