Happy Days For PM

Barring a major economic downturn over the next six months, there is every reason to believe last year's whopping $14-billion surplus (read: overtaxation) will be repeated, and maybe even exceeded. By rough calculation, that would leave enough leftover cash in the till to cut the personal income taxes of every Canadian by more than 10%, or an average of something like $700 a year. Alternatively, the same amount would buy a 50% increase in old age pensions; a 75% hike in federal health spending; cutting the GST in half to 3%; or a hefty combination of all of the above. Well, you get the point. By federal budget time, roughly six months from now, the Harper government will have enough money in its spare-change drawer to buy every swing voter in the country several times over. Conservative insiders say the decision to blow a wad of the surplus on tax cuts is as much about retail politics as it is good economics. http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Weston_Greg/2007/10/09/4561337-sun.php [Proofreader’s note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on October 10, 2007]

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