Oily Joes Fudget Budget

Joe Oliver's Budget Numbers Are Thoroughly Cooked
That, or he's been drinking his own Kool-Aid.

No wonder they're spending $7.5 million in public money to advertise Joe Oliver's budget. Bernie Madoff couldn't have come up with a sneakier sell than this.

 

Still, no one should be surprised. This misbegotten government's modus operandi is about much more than information control. It's about soaring, jet-propelled skullduggery in a never-ending political campaign. It's a power fantasy. It's Steve's way.

Armed with his narrative of convenience, Harper programs the electorate with fictions of prosperity, compassion and prudence. In the real world, he acts quite differently. There, he underfunds Coast Guard stations, veterans' offices, First Nations tribal councils, railway inspections, scientific research and Employment Insurance processing.

And don't forget health care -- $36 billion in cuts over ten years and still no Health Accord. Next step? Transfer tax credits for health to the provinces (after all, they administer health don't they?) and get the gum of medicare off Ottawa's shoe for good -- just like the founder of the National Citizens Coalition (once led by Steven Harper) advocated.

Numbers have a wonderfully elastic quality to them; like Harper cabinet ministers, they say what they're told to say. Numbers are the favourite tool of fraudsters and politicians alike. One swindles money, the other swindles votes.

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