{"id":1263,"date":"2010-10-22T09:43:46","date_gmt":"2010-10-22T13:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2010-10-22T09:43:46","modified_gmt":"2010-10-22T13:43:46","slug":"sirens-cries-on-the-cost-of-big-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/?p=1263","title":{"rendered":"Sirens’ cries on the cost of Big Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Globe and Mail<\/em> column from Jeffrey Simpson is yet another siren cry about big government and the frightening costs that will need to be paid. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read The fiscal drag in Ontario is bad \u2013 why won\u2019t our politicians say so?<\/em> found at<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/opinions\/the-fiscal-drag-in-ontario-is-bad-why-wont-our-politicians-say-so\/article1717028\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the wake of the Ontario Government\u2019s recent announcements of how it intends on balancing the books, Simpson ponders: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An unsettling postrecession disconnect has settled over Ontario politics. It\u2019s the same kind of disconnect that can be seen elsewhere in Canada.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The disconnect lies between the doleful fiscal situation of Canada\u2019s largest province and the apparent unwillingness of Premier Dalton McGuinty, or any of the province\u2019s politicians for that matter, to talk seriously about that situation….<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Never, ever believe fiscal predictions seven fiscal years from now. They are jokes at best, deceptions at worst. When Mr. McGuinty\u2019s government predicts a balanced budget in 2017-2018, it is literally fooling itself and the voters.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Simpson concluded his column by stating an obvious: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to blame politicians for not dealing straight up with issues as painful as a government that spends too much and taxes too little, since the antidotes to these deep fiscal problems are: higher taxes and\/or lowered spending.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Apparently, it\u2019s we the voters who don\u2019t want to hear that kind of straight talk. So politicians don\u2019t give it to us. They fear us.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As governments emerge from the deficit pits into which they all fell during the recession, their fear of our unwillingness to hear straight talk will lead to more of the disconnects\u2026<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This problem is also being wrestled politically at the federal level, as Tasha Kheiriddin so adroitly points out in her article It\u2019s the economy, stupid\u00a0(again)<\/em> found here:<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/fullcomment.nationalpost.com\/2010\/10\/21\/tasha-kheiriddin-its-the-economy-stupid-again\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kheiriddin writes: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Faced with a larger-than-expected deficit this fall, ending stimulus next year will not be enough to get the economy on track.\u00a0 \u00a0Will Mr. Harper\u2019s 2011 budget call on Canadians to \u201cpitch in\u201d and help with recovery by supporting spending cuts?\u00a0 Instead of cutting spending for legitimate reasons (ie, our government was too big to begin with), cuts would then\u00a0be made under the auspices of \u201ceconomic recovery\u201d.\u00a0 Trimming back the state is a good idea, but would be done for the wrong reasons \u2013 because the government overspent in the first place.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Electorally, this does not bode well for the Conservatives.\u00a0 Having made the economy their flagship issue, their fortunes will be tied to the country\u2019s economic performance.\u00a0 While the Liberals aren\u2019t offering anything dramatically different, apart from axing planned corporate tax cuts, it is the government, not the opposition, which will have to wear whatever economic situation presents itself at election time.\u00a0\u00a0Between worrisome noises down south and warnings from the Bank of Canada up here, the Tories have reason to be nervous.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It comes down to when Canadians will have the stomach to\u00a0talk about this mess caused by Big Government and not allow our politicians to conveniently side-step the issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today\u2019s Globe and Mail column from Jeffrey Simpson is yet another siren cry about big government and the frightening costs that will need to be paid. \u00a0 Read The fiscal drag in Ontario is bad \u2013 why won\u2019t our politicians say so? found at http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/opinions\/the-fiscal-drag-in-ontario-is-bad-why-wont-our-politicians-say-so\/article1717028\/ \u00a0 In the wake of the Ontario Government\u2019s recent…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[52],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1264,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions\/1264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}