Essay Basis For Debate On Canada

We agree with Zeisman's self-evaluation of his proposals. A flat tax and monetary union with the United States are indeed radical proposals and we believe that only a handful of Canadians would readily embrace them without any serious reservations. Canadians may complain about their tax burden, but they are likely to agree with the fairness of the current system. Those who earn less pay less, those who earn more pay more. It is that simple. Yes, a flat tax would simplify the tax system. But most of the extra revenues would go towards a relatively small number of income earners. Such unfairness would be political poison in Canada and flat tax supporters have not fared well elsewhere, including the United States. That country's past and current experiments with large corporate tax cuts also give pause. They, along with increased military spending, created large budget deficits during the early 1990s and 2000s. Zeisman, in his defence, continues to call for balanced budgets. But if Zeisman calls for tax cuts and balanced budgets, something has to give. Ronald Reagan once tried to balance budgets while cutting taxes and spending more money on the military with devastating results for U.S. budgets and the less well-off. We are also not sure if Canadians would be receptive towards Zeisman's plan, included in his essay, for monetary union with the United States. Zeisman wrote his piece before a number of issues soured U.S.-Canadian relations. The Iraq war, softwood lumber and BSE along with a host of other issues have since irritated relations with our neighbour and largest trading partner. Any supporters of a monetary union with the United States should also note that the European model of an integrated currency might not be readily transferable to the Americas. http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=102&cat=48&id=552330&more= [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on December 12, 2005]

Note: http://www.pentictonwes...