Monday, September 11, 2017

Andrew Scheer's Shameful Flim-Flam Act



We know that Andrew Scheer is a sinister religious fanatic. We know that he is a crass misogynist, and an anti-gay and anti-Muslim bigot.

We know that he is a creepy demagogue, and a good friend of Ezra Levant.

We know that he believes that we should pay to have children home schooled, and that carbon taxes are the work of the devil.

But who knew that he is also a flim-flam man?



A shameless Con artist who would accuse the Liberal government of attacking the middle class with its proposed tax changes. 

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer rallied his MPs Thursday by taking aim at the Liberals' planned tax changes, saying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cares more about billionaires than middle-class Canadians. 

In public remarks before a meeting of his caucus in Winnipeg, Scheer said of Trudeau that people "believed he was going to be the great defender of the middle class — a message he sold so well — and yet he's hurting the very people he claimed to help."

When in fact the proposed tax changes are all about levelling the playing field. 

As more and more people set up corporations, there is a growing number of individuals who have access to tax advantages not available to other hard-working Canadians.

The average income in Canada is estimated to be about $49,000 this year. An incorporated professional earning $300,000 with a spouse and two adult children can save about $48,000 in taxes by using just one of these loopholes. What that means is an incorporated professional could be taxed at a lower rate than a salaried nurse practitioner or police officer making much less a year.


And despite what the ghastly Con propaganda machine is claiming...


All about making it harder for the rich to avoid paying taxes. 

It turns out that Canadian high earners are particularly adept at tax avoidance: estimates for the “elasticity of taxable income” (ETI) in Canada are typically higher than those found using U.S. data

As documented by the University of Ottawa’s Michael Wolfson and his co-authors, many high-earning Canadians have made use of CCPCs to shelter a significant share of their income from personal tax. A reasonable conjecture to make is that when the Liberals increased the top personal income tax rate, many high earners simply used their CCPCs to shelter more of their income. 

The goal of the Liberals’ proposals is to throw some sand in this particular mechanism of tax avoidance, in order to reduce the elasticity of taxable income.

So how is the flim-flam man Scheer reacting to all that criticism? 



Answer: by trying to smear the respected academic Michael Wolfson. 

"The key architect of this policy is now bragging about the fact that it will essentially kill the family farm," he said, "and he says that's a good thing. That's the key architect of this Liberal policy."

When in fact Wolfson is NOT the key architect of the Liberal tax changes, and did NOT brag about killing the family farm. 

Reached on Friday, Wolfson said Scheer's use of the term "architect" was "way overstated," that he'd only studied the issue of income sprinkling and that the inclusion of proposals related to capital gains and passive income were surprises to him. 


 "I am not the architect of anything beside the addition on our house," he added.

Scheer's claim that he did revolted even the Con friendly Andrew Coyne...



And what the shameless Scheer seems to be doing, is once again overplaying his hand. 

Amid this tax controversy, the greatest risk to Conservatives might be that they will overplay their hand. 

Think, for instance, of their forays into American media to complain about the Liberal government's settlement with Omar Khadr. As much as Canadians might not have liked settling with Khadr, one survey suggested they also took a dim view of such cross-border politicking.

Like he did when he stabbed Canada in the back...



Even if that might have cost our country tens of thousands of NAFTA jobs. 

And what Scheer isn't saying is that while the Liberal tax changes would recover about $250 million in tax dodger dollars.

Stephen Harper's decision to cut the GST, not once but twice for crass political reasons, has so far cost this country about $100 billion...



Money that could have been used for everything from improving medical services for the elderly, to hiring more inspectors to go after those who shelter their money in overseas tax havens.

But at least now we know that Scheer is just another Harper, who would play political games with OUR tax dollars.

A flim-flam man who cannot be trusted...



A Con artist who would destroy our values and our economy.

A sinister creeper who lies like a thief.

And one who must never under any circumstances be allowed to govern this country...

16 comments:

lagatta à montréal said...

This Guardian column is a good takedown on a similarly sex-and-religion obsessed politician over there.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/10/pope-jacob-rees-mogg-no-catholic-bruv-anti-abortion

Steve said...

Sheer thinks he can lie Trump like, ahh the folly of being a Canadian Republican, your talking to a different audience.

Anonymous said...

"Money that could have been used for everything from improving medical services for the elderly, to hiring more inspectors to go after those who shelter their money in overseas tax havens."

Yup because big daddy government needs the money more than we do. To quote the great Liberal thinker Scott Reid, we'd probably just spend our extra money on beer and popcorn.

Anonymous said...

Look for connie media to hype Singh or Angus. They want the vote split.

Anonymous said...

Kind of unrelated but... Jet fuel can't melt steel.

Anonymous said...

"[Scheer is] trying to smear the respected academic Michael Wolfson"

Another page out of the GOP's playbook, which they in turn dusted off from other totalitarian states: demonize "intellectuals" as being part of some "elite" cabalistic conspiracy against the "common man," the "true patriot." This being September 11, remember Bush with his "you're either with us or agin' us" idiotic cowboy talk? Which led to Trump with "I alone can fix it" and his dog-whistlers railing against the "experts" and "cosmopolitans"? They weren't talking about cocktails, that's for sure.

Also, "Wolfson" sounds like one of those names the Deplorebel Media exiles comprising Scheer's base (and Trump's, by extension) would love to spell in (((parentheses))). The Internet equivalent of the "yellow badge of courage" from 1930s Berlin. Taxes are an extortion scheme from "bankers" and "globalists" according to these types. Wait for the worst fringes of wingnut media to accuse Trudeau of funneling the taxes into "jizya" for his "Muslim paymasters." Or a leftist-Marxist-Maoist "redistribution of wealth" from "Justin Castreau" to the "undeserving proles."

Conservatism and its adherents have become morally bankrupt and mentally deranged. As an American I would like to say sorry for the degenerative brain disease that started with Nixon and culminated into terminal stages with Trump infecting our friendly neighbo(u)rs north of the border. Basic humanity and decency -- as in: paying your fair share, doing right by your fellow human being, giving a hand up to those who struggle on a day-to-day basis if you can afford to level the playing field -- none of this should be a partisan fight, but unfortunately it is.

For your sake, with the whole world falling down around you, the frightening specter of hate, lies and #FakeNews propaganda nipping at your heels, and the need for an idealistic beacon of hope to still flicker somewhere on this (as Carl Sagan described our shared home planet seen from afar) "pale blue dot," I hope Justin Trudeau remains prime minister until he's 80. Or passes the torch to one of his kids.

Anonymous said...

Better that than multinationals hoarding it and not spending at all, or billionaires wasting it on buying off politicians so they can accrue more money that they'll never use, but just want to have so that nobody else does. At least beer and popcorn stimulate the economy and are used by everyone. How many fuddle-duddling yachts or empty mansions bigger than Buckingham Palace does some CEO or Saudi oil monarch need???

Anonymous said...

Its too bad that Scheer is a self serving Fin Flan man rather than someone trying to help Canadian small businesses. The danger with the Liberal tax revision plan is that by going after the 20% who are avoiding taxes they will make an already burdensome system even worse for the other 80%. The irony is that the 20% who can afford the tax consultants will come up with another scheme ( incorporate off shore anyone?) to shelter their surplus income leaving everyone else worse off. Although I am no expert as an ex small business owner the system is already burdensome for anyone who cant afford the CA's, payroll support and tax advisors. Well intentioned perhaps but the Liberals seem to have their heads up their butts on this one.
RT

Simon said...

hi lagatta...yes, as I mentioned the other day Rees -Mogg is another example of the new kind of Cons, the smiling bigots. It's a disturbing development, but it's also a symptom of decay, and more evidence that the right has no future...

Simon said...

hi Steve...well he's getting a lot of help from big business and groups like the Canadian Medical Association who are blowing up a minor tax adjustment into something huge. It's not and their hype is disgraceful...

Simon said...

hi anon 9:37 am...we need taxes to keep a country running, and if we don't have that money we become a grubby little place slowly dying in its own squalor. Cons don't understand that because they are greedy grasping people, but that doesn't make it any less true....

Simon said...

hi anon...they already are cheering for the NDP to split the vote so the Cons can win the next election. They know that if the NDP remains at about 15% that will never happen. But luckily so do many progressives....

Simon said...

hi anon...please don't try to convince me that 9/11 was some kind of demolition job. I have a scientific background so I can't be fooled...

Simon said...

hi anon...I completely agree with you, conservatism and it's zombie-like followers have become morally bankrupt and mentally deranged. And you're right, that disease is slowly infecting Canada, like blood seeping under a door. Our corporate media is determined to bring down Justin Trudeau, and the next two years will determine whether Canada remain a beacon of hope, or slides back into darkness...

Simon said...

hi RT...I agree the Liberals have handled the PR aspects of this badly. But it is a question of tax fairness. Any society that allows people earning $300,000 to pay less taxes than those earning $500,000 will not long survive. It's interesting to me that while wealthy older doctors are kicking up an almighty fuss, young doctors are not and neither are nurses. Canadians used to understand that taxes were the price of having a civilized country, but they have been corrupted by greed, and I fear for their future...

Anonymous said...

I think you have your numbers backwards mr scientific background.