Fiscal update: Liberals make Harper's surplus disappear, will blame deficit on... Conservatives

How could you not like it — as with all your posts — this country is in dire need of a ‘real’ look at the political shenanigans and it is time Canadians were able to get an in-depth look at the immense impact politics has on, not only our daily lives, but the lives of our offspring, their children and their children’s children and if we choose to remain innocent and naive we will lose the finest country and social structure ever to be implemented throughout history. Perhaps a bit strong but, after some 45 years working for, working with and fighting government I can tell you things that even I do not believe today – and I was there! We are in desperate need of the efforts and time that each of you take from your personal lives to bring out the real politics. The question is: Is it too late and, if not yet, will Canadians finally become aware and involved? My regards and my thanks to each of you and I wish each of you all the best -not for the New Year, but for all the years you have left.

Drew, Andrew misses a lot of things that do not fit his narrow leftie view.

Andrew Harper also lowered taxes, did you miss that part of it?

Andrew how much did the libs steal to make their phony surplus? And we had to pay for that in the last while.

Andrew the world is in recession, we did better than many other countries and a basket case like Ontario did not help. He left a surplus, plain and simple.

I love how this story was actually on CBC’s Exchange, and it was even from a right of center point of view.

“You really do have difficulty with accounting, don’t you.
First, deficit and debt are two different things. The debt increased because Harper was forced by the opposition party with a coalition threatening to over throw the government of he did not run an economic stimulus, which in turn forced Harper to bring the deficit back into order, which he did and assholes like you deny after the fact.”

I am talking about 2015. This year. The debt has continued to increase through this year. The “coalition” was a number of years ago. No longer an excuse. Increasing debt infers deficit, even if they claim otherwise. It’s hilarious that you’ve gone and picked that gem out, means you’ve run out of talking points and are tossing random old ones and hoping one sticks. Do you acknowledge the recession this year? Or is that solid and proven economic data a “lie” too, because you don’t like facts that disagree with your worldview?

“Robert Caughell said, “He then took 2-3 BILLION dollars out of the contingency fund to balance his last budget before the election was called. Before declaring any surplus, the 2-3 BILLION must be returned to the contingency fund.”

A lie."

Your denial does not make it incorrect. Contingencies were indeed raided.

Andrew said, " For one thing, the national debt continued to increase by a billion dollars a month despite the “surplus”, indicating the illusory nature of it. "

You really do have difficulty with accounting, don’t you.
First, deficit and debt are two different things. The debt increased because Harper was forced by the opposition party with a coalition threatening to over throw the government of he did not run an economic stimulus, which in turn forced Harper to bring the deficit back into order, which he did and assholes like you deny after the fact.

I get so effing sick of lefties trying to rewrite history to fit their twisted narrative.

Andrew said, “This makes no sense. Trudeau WON an election on a deficit platform, why would he need to “cook the books” to suit the agenda?”

Of course it makes sense. By claiming that there was a deficit before he [Trudeau] took office, then he can and will blame Harper for all the deficit spending he will do. It is all the filthy type of political games the Lieberals are known to do. No morals, no ethics … just like those that support them.

Robert Caughill said, “Harper was no economist.”

He most certainly was, and what you just spouted in your little rant was mostly lies and half truths, but Robert Caughill, don’t let the facts and truth get in the way of Lieberal socialist/borderline communist ideology.

Robert Caughell said, “He then took 2-3 BILLION dollars out of the contingency fund to balance his last budget before the election was called. Before declaring any surplus, the 2-3 BILLION must be returned to the contingency fund.”

A lie.

Robert Caughell said, “He reduced the GST too much so when the economy tanked he did not have enough tax money in to pay the bills.”

Yes, he held top his campaign promise to reduce the GST. The concept of keeping campaign promises is something the Liberals cannot grasp.

Robert Caughell said, “Liberal PM Paul Martin left Harper a 15 BILLION dollar surplus which he spent paying off his political cronies”

1) It was 13 billion, not 15 billion.

2) Paul Martin stole that money from E.I. and from the Provinces, so it was not a real surplus. That would be like you, Robert, spending your chequing account into overdraft, then withdrawing from your savings account and depositing it into your chequing account to make pull it back into the black and then claiming you have a surplus. That is called “accounting Liberano style”.

3) Harper spent the surplus on the national debt. That is a fact that you can easily look up, if you really wanted to, but I doubt you want to know the truth, though.

“Too bad the left is too stupid to understand the numbers in front of them. It must be some kind of new calculation method. "

This calculation method – if revenue minus expenses is negative, you have a deficit, (ie, that the national debt is still increasing) is one shared by both the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and third parties such as the Taxpayers Federation.

“already making excuses for the Liberal government by falsely claiming that there was no surplus and that it was the big bad mean old Harper government that left the books in the red when Justin already stated that he was going to run a massive deficit before his lying minister of finance had a chance of looking at the books and “cook” them to suit JTs’ agenda”

This makes no sense. Trudeau WON an election on a deficit platform, why would he need to “cook the books” to suit the agenda? It was in his platform. There is literally no reason why he would need to do that. In fact, he’s made his life more difficult by announcing this since it dramatically reduces his wiggle room. He promised controlled deficits AND infrastructure spending. Not either/or.

On the other hand, Harper had any number of reasons to “cook” the books in his favour. His whole platform was based on running a surplus and/or good economic management, so if there was any way to spin a surplus, he would have. And, this is what we see. For one thing, the national debt continued to increase by a billion dollars a month despite the “surplus”, indicating the illusory nature of it. The PBO acknowledged his forecasts were optimistic, based on numbers that weren’t at all realistic at the time, and finally, balancing the net budget was done by selling assets, akin to burning the furniture for heat.

So, yes, Harper left the books red and lied about it, and had huge political incentive to do so. Trudeau has no such incentives. His political wranglings lie elsewhere.

Liberal PM Paul Martin left Harper a 15 BILLION dollar surplus which he spent paying off his political cronies. He reduced the GST too much so when the economy tanked he did not have enough tax money in to pay the bills. He then took 2-3 BILLION dollars out of the contingency fund to balance his last budget before the election was called. Before declaring any surplus, the 2-3 BILLION must be returned to the contingency fund. Harper was no economist. But don’t let the facts/truth get in the way of PC/right wing ideology. And I would say the same to any government with questionable fiscal policies. After 10 years of Harper policies the right wing needs t suck it up for 4 years until the next election.

You gotta know these scum sucking pervs had that surplus spent during the champagne – now (magically/predictably) it disappears. Cummon people wake up to Librano MO!

Liza said, " It must be some kind of new calculation method. "

Yes, a bastardized form of fractal math merged in an unholy union with quantum math.

Andrew Stephenson … already making excuses for the Liberal government by falsely claiming that there was no surplus and that it was the big bad mean old Harper government that left the books in the red when Justin already stated that he was going to run a massive deficit before his lying minister of finance had a chance of looking at the books and “cook” them to suit JTs’ agenda.

Ahhhh, the liberal mind, lie all you want so long as it suits your agenda. The end justifies the means in the leftie world.

This Liberal spinning about Harpers surplus being an actual deficit is out and out lying. It really pisses me off. Too bad the left is too stupid to understand the numbers in front of them. It must be some kind of new calculation method. They are wrong. This is just another bunch of lies designed to pad the way for their pillaging, right under the eyes of the of the low information, synapses challenged Liberal masses. Trudeau boy’s deficits will be much worse than projected because of his own spending, and no other reason.

Oh, how easy it is for the Liberals to lay blame on the Conservatives for this! A lot has happened since July, 2015 when a fiscal update was given. We have a new government in place that is governing Canada outside of Parliament as there has not yet been a sitting of the House of Commons, etc. So, Liberals pull a fast one yet again.

When JT was making his “promises” I said they would result in higher taxes and an 8% to 12% increase in the cost of living. I also said that the first thing he would do is claim an examination of the books showed a worse fiscal status than he expected and he would have to further increase taxes and cost of living. The lefties said i was wrong but I was and am right – in more ways than one.

how does ANY of that help the middle-class that trudy was SO adamant on ‘helping’?

“No, Andrew, they were not overly optimistic. There was a real surplus when the Liberals took over. You really do have to stop lying. It would make your comments more credible. "

Your accusations of lies are meaningless without evidence to back them up. I’m not a conservative, I’m not going to take unsubstantiated claims at face value.

The PBO was warning of the excessive optimism in the so-called “balanced budget” as early as May. These budgets are forward looking, and the surplus was never more than a forecast, one which wouldn’t have final verification until possibly 2017 or so, since that’s the timeline government budgeting runs on. Obviously the oil rout and economy have turned out deeper than anybody expected, that reduced revenues, and surprise, deficit. No different than the surprise recession in the first half of 2015 that actually surprised nobody with any sort of economic awareness, and related to it.

Andrew said, "Yes, the overly optimistic projections were a product of the Harper government, … "

No, Andrew, they were not overly optimistic. There was a real surplus when the Liberals took over. You really do have to stop lying. It would make your comments more credible.

It’s probably better to not get super-defensive about it. Economic projections were too optimistic. It happens. Yes, the overly optimistic projections were a product of the Harper government, but you would be far better off accepting accountability for that, while pointing out that it was primarily due to factors beyond the government’s control (it’s mostly related to the oil bust). Trying to turn it back onto the Liberals is petty and mostly damages your cause.

It’s going to cost at least $1,000,000,000 in the first year just to pay for the 25,000 “Syrian Refugees”.
25,000 x $40,000 = $1,000,000,000
Food, clothing, housing, healthcare, phamacare, eye care and dental care will cost $40,000 per year minimum plus they will probably get hundreds of dollars cash on top every month. This doesn’t include administration or the costs in vetting and transportation.
It is easy for Justin Time to spend the surplus into a deficit by Christmas.

Donald Perry …Yes I used the word vomit. Apt I would say for this BS financial statement. And no, I do not post on the CBC site. Doesn’t mean I don’t check on them from time to time. They and their BS they call “news” can take a flying leap.

Jack Pallance said: “I am willing to wait and see how the Grits handle the budget. It was sad that harper ran deficits. My fear is that they balance the budget on the backs of the military and working families.” I don’t believe it will ever be balanced. Too many Lieberals out there looking for their pay offs! They will run up the debt and blame Harper!

I am willing to wait and see how the Grits handle the budget. It was sad that harper ran deficits. My fear is that they balance the budget on the backs of the military and working families.