Rick Mercer: a destroyer of opposition leaders?

I have to give the guy credit, when it comes to weak federal opposition leaders, [Mercer] has a knack for smelling blood in the water. I mean let's face it, we all remember Doris Day.

The latter really minimized any chance at all the Canadian Alliance leader had of possibly forming government by completely embarrassing him publicly. Will he do the same to Dion? Discuss.

Federal Budget '08: The Highs and Lows

Though many are touting this one the "Seinfeld Budget - the Budget About Nothing", I have to admit, I was very pleased with most of the announcements made today by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Here are my highlights and low lights of Budget 2008-09.

What I liked

Tax-Free Savings Account [TFSA]: "Starting next year, Canadians aged 18 and older can save up to $5,000 a year in a registered Tax-Free Savings Account, a new vehicle that essentially allows people to enjoy the benefits of a tax-free offshore account as long as they want without sending their money out of the country."

This is an excellent policy proposal that not only encourages pro-growth and savings for Canadian families as well as individuals, it also offers a residual clause (three years), so if you fail to invest $5,000 in the first or second year, you can invest $15,000 in the third year without penalty. Grade A

Crown corporation to manage the EI fund: "The government is proposing a new Crown corporation to handle surpluses in the multi-billion dollar employment insurance fund and to ensure the money gets back to millions of employees and their employers. The surplus, starting with a reserve of $2 billion, would be used to pay for any increase more than 15 cents in annual insurance premiums levied on workers and companies and would be used to reduce premium rates in the event of economic upturn. Rates would be set with the aim of "breaking even over time."

This is excellent news, because as I've said in the past, high payroll taxes while running a huge surplus in the EI fund is nothing more than a "tax on jobs". Grade A+

What disappointed me

Modest spending increases: "Under Mr. Flaherty, the size of the federal government has grown by an astounding 14.8 per cent. [...] As prime minister, Paul Martin grew the federal government by 14 per cent over two years. Amazingly, the Conservatives have bested Liberal spending. This is a spend-thrift government.”

I saw Macleans' editor Andrew Coyne blowing another gasket on CBC, and I don't blame him or Williamson since the last three budgets were far from being fiscally conservative with increased spending. Grade C-

What I didn't like

Abandoning commitments on annual debt repayment: "Debt repayment, which has stood well above $3 billion annually for a decade, falls to $2.3 billion this year and $1.3 billion in 2009-10."

This is concerning, especially since the Government has left very little wiggle room in '09 between a possible balanced budget and running a deficit. I was hoping that the government would implement even stricter deficit cutting measures, maybe even a pledge to reduce it below the Maastricht guidelines like they have in Europe (i.e. the ratio of annual government deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) must be below 3% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. If not, it at least is required not to exceed the ceiling set at 3%). Grade C+

Canada Student Grant Program: "The Canada Student Grant Program will distributed according to income levels. Because the grants will be awarded each year of study, students will know how much to expect in support from year to year. The grants will range from approximately $250 per month for low income students to $100 per month for middle income students. 245,000 studens will benefit from the program each year."

Instead of reviving Chretien's ill-fated Millennium Scholarship Foundation, they shoould have looked at better ways to address post-secondary education and its funding. Grade F

Update

To see where all your tax dollars go, click here, as the federal finance department have created a really nifty interactive pie chart. (Kudos to Lee Harding)

Federal Taxpayer Ombudsman Appointed

This is a great day for Canadian taxpayers as their constituency will finally be accorded a strong voice from within. And the ombudsman, Paul Dubé, is a former NBer who spent 13 years as a private lawyer.

Tax and spend Democrats

Looks like the general election in November could turn out to be about the Democrats rescinding the Bush tax cuts and McCain fighting to keep them permanent. I see the Ohio Democrats already have their first set of anti-McCain talking points running off the presses.

Although, it appears that Obama's economic solutions [at the bottom] are heading in the direction of big-government planning, spending, and taxing - exactly what American taxpayers and the stock market do not want to hear.

ODP McCain Economic Memo

McGuinty's Nanny State: No Booze for You!

As a former longtime denizen of the nation's capital, I always considered the place to be not only cold as hell in the winter, but fairly boring as well. But now that the liquor police (inspectors) are lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce, it just got a lot "less fun" for ppl looking to break up the monotony with a couple of cold ones.

Chretien to Dion: Trigger an election

CTV.ca: "We hear now that ... Chretien and Jean Pelletier, his former chief of staff, are telling him it's a matter of credibility, that he can't support the government any more and that the timing would be right," Jean Lapierre told CTV's Question Period on Sunday.

Translation: our party has made a grave error in picking you as leader because it is obvious you don't have what it takes (charisma or toughness) to lead our so-called natural governing party back to the promised land. So get on with it and trigger an election already.

Harper to call a snap election??

G&M: "The Tories still say that if the Liberal-dominated Senate doesn't pass the crime bill by the end of the month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is prepared to ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call an election."

Not only is the above executively dictatorial (all bicameral debate must pass the PM smell test), it completely contradicts their [Tories] utopian fixed election pledge legislation. In other words, it ranks slightly below the Emmerson cabinet appointment and the Fortier senate ordination, but very baffling to reformers just the same.

Personal income taxes way too high

In his report, New Brunswick Auditor General Michael Ferguson confirmed what I've been saying in this corner for quite sometime, in that, not only are personal income taxes way too high in this province, last spring's rate hike [to inrease the provincial coffers by $50 million] was totally unnecessary. And as CTF national director John Williamson says, "that was unfortunate and really set the province apart from its peers across the country, which are moving to become lower-taxed." You can say that again.

Update (Federal)

On the federal front, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty sees very little wiggle room for large tax cuts in this yrs federal budget. But worry not folks, the same negative musings were bandied about last month by the Russian Finance Ministry only to be sullied, in the end, by President Vladimir Putin. Let's hope PMSH does the same thing in the weeks to come.

Update II

NB Auditor General: "One thing that the government can do to improve the integrity and transparency of its reporting of the Province's financial situation is to release the audited financial statements earlier."

I completely agree. Furthermore, the province should move to adopt the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) which would move the Finance Ministry away from double reporting wherein everything from the government's operating budget to crown corporations would be required in one single document.

Moreover, if there's one thing that the work this week by AG Michael Ferguson has done, it has raised the awareness of the importance of the position. That is why the New Brunswick government must dedicate a greater number of resources to the province's auditor general, especially if we [NBers] want to see a reduction in New Brunswick's accountability and transparency deficit. Let's face it, we all saw how important Sheila Fraser's role was in uncovering scandals, waste and mismanagement at the federal level. This could never have been accomplished without the proper staffing and resources to assist her in her very difficult position. Remember folks, the Auditor General is the legislature's watchdog and by default, taxpayers best friend. As a trustee of the public purse, there is no other greater responsibilty that is worth the investment than this office.

More transparency needed @ Moncton City Hall

City Managers Withholding Salary Information

This is disturbing. Not only does Council [and city staffer's] compensation need to become more transparent, it is essential that it be presented to Monctonians in a clear and easily understandable manner, especially after reading the derisory comments made by City Manager Alan Strang in today's Times & Transcript where he indicated, "he would not provide what he considered private information in a public forum."

For the record, I would like to remind Mr. Strang that any use of taxpayers money (municipally) is a public matter, and therefore, the information should be made fully available for public scrutiny (regardless of the rules stated in the right to information act). Anything less is simply unacceptable.

Click here to send a strong message to Moncton City Manager Alan Strang demanding that [he] and the rest of the city managers make their salaries and expenses a matter of public record.

Super Duper Giga Tsunami Tuesday Predictions

Here are my final "delegate count" predictions (*shared google spreadsheet). I have Hillary and Obama pretty much in a neck and neck tie. Although, as I see CBS is reporting, Hillary is substantially ahead in the Super Tuesday states:

Among voters in those states, she leads Obama, 49 percent to 31 percent, with 16 percent still undecided.

Clinton also holds a big edge on the issue of most concern to Democratic voters: the economy. Nearly 60 percent say she would do a better job of managing the economy than Obama. However, more than two-thirds of Democratic voters see the policy differences between the two candidates as minor.

I think the last I heard was that close to 50 per cent have already voted in advanced polls in the state of California. And since Obama has made a late surge, this could be a huge factor, especially since there are 370 delegates up for grabs. McClatchy-MSNBC polled 9 states, and found Hillary ahead in all but Georgia. (Remember the maps showing the Florida counties won by Obama? All 9 were in the most northern part of the state, 7 bordered on Georgia and 1 on Alabama.)

Furthermore, while I think Hillary will win California, New Jersey and New York (where the Latino vote is huge), I still see Obama picking up a lot of delegates and I expect he will win some other states besides Georgia and Illinois, despite what the polls say.

However, for this to happen, voter turnout will be a key factor because of the manner in which Democratic delegates are counted. In other words, Obama is hoping to attract a significant amount of ppl under 35 years of age, not to mention, a high African American turnout.

Final Predictions: Neither Hillary nor Obama will clinch the nomination tonight. Obama's got a lot of momentum and is getting a lot more media play than Hillary (and is winning the endoesement battle). But he also has a lot of ground to catch up. I think it will be very close.

As for the Republican side, not as exciting folks. I think McCain will pick up well over half the 1,008 delegates that are up for grabs. In other words, Super Tuesday will be nothing more than a coronation for the Arizona Senator. Which may be an advantage for the GOP as they can sit back for a few weeks and observe the brutal bloodbath which will likely ensue between Hillbilly and Obama.

*not including American Samoa and Democrats Abroad. Totals were an estimate of District Level Delegates, At-Large Delegates, PLEO Delegates (Pledge). See nbpolitico for more state-by-state breakdowns.