Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Liberals inadvertently reveal more lies about the Green Shift

By now I am sure you have all read the latest news that Dion is going to try to modify his carbon tax proposal after his much ballyhooed summer tour trying to sell this bad piece of policy to Canadians failed miserably. While the story about how the Liberal sales job of the Green Shift has been a complete failure is damning enough in itself; hidden away in the latest Liberal rhetoric is something even more damning as it reveals just how Dion and the Liberals have been lying about the carbon tax from day 1.

Here is what Dion is now proposing: Dion will announce that part of the $1 billion contingency fund in his plan, designed for tax relief to address the unavoidable costs associated with the carbon tax, will be set aside for truckers, farmers and fishermen. "There's $1-billion wiggle room," said Montreal MP Marlene Jennings. "We've never said that the plan, in terms of the spending side, is complete, because it's not. There is money that we're setting aside in order to be able to assist sectors that are going to be particularly hard-hit."

A 1 billion dollar contingency fund?

Now how exactly can a plan "that every dollar that is raised from carbon pollution will be returned to Canadians in tax" cuts." and a plan where "This shift will be done in a revenue neutral way –putting it in law that every dollar that is raised from carbon pollution will be returned to Canadians in tax cuts." possibly have a contingency fund if every penny collected will be going back to Canadian taxpayers?

It absolutely cannot be done, that is unless of course someone has been lying to Canadians since day 1.

A couple of other pertinent questions:

Just how did Dion and the Liberals plan to slip a billion dollar fund made up of money that was promised to go back to the taxpayer past the Auditor General, who the Liberal have promised would oversee the revenue neutrality of the carbon tax?

If the Green Shift was going over well with Canadians at this time, does anyone honestly believe that the money would go back to the taxpayers?

And perhaps the most important question of all: What did the Liberals really plan to do with this fund?

Update: Buried in Dion's carbon tax is a note on the creation of a special fund. "Contingency offset. We will set aside $1 billion over four years ($100 million in the first year growing to $400 million in the fourth year) which will be reserved for tax cuts designed to off-set the impact of the carbon tax on groups such as not-for-profit organizations and charities. This contingency offset will also be used to design tax relief to address unanticipated and unavoidable costs associated with the new price on carbon for the most vulnerable in society."

So are farmers and fisherman non profit organizations, charities, or part of the most vulnerable of our society? I am sure they would like to know and eagerly await an answer from Dion.

By the way, when did a subsidy become a tax cut?


ht Steve Jenke and the comments at Unambiguous.



11 comments:

wilson said...

Hidden agenda....what was the Liberal hidden agenda?
Was it another slush fund, like the one Chretien started, that turned into ADSCAM money?

Anonymous said...

Or just maybe to comrade Mo and Jean for Koyoto?

Platty said...

Thank you Stephane, now, anything that any Liberal says about the Green Shift plan will be seen as nothing but cover up and lies.

As Wilson says, Hidden agenda.
The Albatross that the cons wore for so long has now been hung on the neck of every Liberal MP.


==

Anonymous said...

Duh yoo tink itz izzy to fole da pipples und keepz uhl da monee hiddunz frum da aaditer guneralz.

We know it is not revenue neutral and now they have confirmed that it is not revenue neutral. I can hardly wait for the debate between Harper and Deyawn. It will be a mastercard moment, priceless as Harper shreds the Lieberal Green Shaft.

maryT said...

Perhaps this fund is/was to be used to pay for the damages etc they will be made to pay from the lawsuits. Who heard of this fund before, and did Jennings let the cat out of the bag.

Babylonian777 said...

Lol, I wonder how the Liberals feel being on the other end of the stick eh? When people are laughing at them, or fear them, or worse, acccuse them of having a hidden agenda. Man do I want to run with this.

I really would like to hear Harper use that word in the same sentence with the liberals "liberals+hidden+agenda"...........boy, that would make things interesting.

Anonymous said...

Dion and Danny Williams have a side deal.
The green shaft would take billions out of the Nfld economy.
There is no way in the world Danny would be quiet about that for this long and now is back to his ABC rants.
Sounds like a hidden agenda to me.

Babylonian777 said...

That's it!!! Lets start running with this, it is a Hiddern Agenda!

Anonymous said...

Okay let's lose the making fun of the way Dion speaks. I am pretty darn bilingual but I still have an accent when I speak French. You don't think the French think the way we mangle French is cute?

Now if you want to jump all over his Green Mush Plan, go for it.

Anonymous said...

I just can not help it. This fellow wants to be the leader of this country, he is a buffoon. Only a buffoon would dream up a policy like the Green Shaft. No factual numbers, no facts to back it up, no targets or goals to reach, revenue neutral for the last 8 weeks and now they has a special contingency fund. Everything he and his gang of morons say about this "tax on everything" seems to be plucked out of thin air.

Duh yoos tink itz izzy noot ta mikez funniez oof himez?

Ardvark said...

I find it interesting that the Libs set up a fund to help out with "unavoidable costs associated with the new price on carbon for the most vulnerable in society", but claim that we are all going to be better off financially with the GS tax cuts.

It can't be both. (unless you are a Liberal and then you can indeed have it both ways)