Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Andrew Scheer's Disastrous Day In The Commons



It should have been a crowning moment for Andrew Scheer. His first day in the returning House of Commons, as the new leader of the Harper Party.

His first chance to face Justin Trudeau, deploy his creepy grin, and claim he's trying to save small businesses from his greedy clutches...



But sadly for Scheer it just didn't work. 

He lost his grin, he lost his argument. 

Although he did gain a new nose.



For lying like a thief, or a Con artist.

Scheer kicked off the first question period of the fall sitting by accusing Trudeau of hiking taxes on hard-working, middle-class small business owners.

"As Conservatives, we believe in raising people up, not tearing people down," Scheer said. "Conservatives wake up every day trying to think of new ways to lower taxes. Liberals wake up every day trying to find new ways to raise taxes."


Trying to portray himself as a champion of the little people, instead of the sinister stooge of the rich.

Only to look like a clown, and give Justin Trudeau the opening he needed to portray himself as the champion of all those Canadians who want tax fairness...



"(Conservatives) have been going around the country telling every doctor they meet that they stand with them, that they will defend their right to pay lower taxes than the nurses who work alongside them," the prime minister said. 

 "We don't think that's fair."

Which sent the hapless Scheer flying in the general direction of the canvas, as even the old Con Mark Bonokowski knew he would. 

Scheer needs to show he has balls of brass, and he needs to show that he has them now. 

As he enters the autumn fray, however, Scheer would be best not count on Trudeau’s proposed tax on small business, as in removing the loophole that allows “income sprinkling” to family members in order to reduce the tax load, as his way of hurting the Liberals’ popularity. 


If polls can be believed, it would appear most Canadians are jealous of having no such loophole to be exploited, have no private corporation to hide behind, and are therefore siding with the Liberals.


Sad.

Especially since Trudeau has the facts on his side, as the distinguished expert Michael Wolfson points out here. 

Finance Minister Bill Morneau's proposals for tightening tax breaks associated with private companies is generating several kinds of response on social media and in mainstream media. The most evident is an impressive deluge of evidence-free rhetoric claiming that the proposals are an attack on everything from the middle class to maternity leave for female doctors to farmers and even mom-and-pop corner stores.

Requiring millionaires who use their CCPCs for aggressive tax planning to pay more tax is certainly not an attack on the middle class or mom-and-pop corner stores.

As well as the support of a new and mighty alliance called the Canadian Coalition for Tax Fairness.

Organizations from different sectors across the country representing over 4 million Canadians have come together to form the new Canadian Coalition for Tax Fairness — in support of the federal government’s efforts to close unfair tax loopholes that allow some wealthy Canadians to reduce their taxes using private corporations 

Unfair tax loopholes exacerbate inequality, undermine the integrity of our tax system and diminish the ability of government to fund the social and physical infrastructure needed to ensure a healthy and growing economy.


Who along with many nurses and doctors will stand up for our values.

Doctors across Canada who support Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s proposed tax reforms say they want their voices to be heard above the din of criticism from colleagues and medical societies.

And will almost certainly make the grubby Scheer look like a sweaty capitalist pig serving the interests of the One Percent...



Which is not exactly what a politician wants to look like in these troubled times eh?

And the even better news?

Yet another poll is suggesting that Scheer and his ghastly Cons are going NOWHERE.

And so soon after this one...



You know, I don't know who is advising Scheer these days, whether it's a cabal of religious fanatics

Or the same old gang of Con losers...



But if I was Scheer I would fire them tomorrow, because they clearly don't know what they are doing.

And one thing is for sure.

He doesn't either.

He's a liar, a fraud, and a Con artist.

And we're going to destroy him long before the next election...

23 comments:

Steve said...

A Bad day at insane rock, is a good day for Canada

Anonymous said...

Scheer is a very unappealing man and an untalented politician. He also appears to be quite dim. However, there isn't really anywhere for him to go. Right wing parties in North America are not really for the 1% anymore, rather they are for the 0.1%. They are just using upper middle class and wealthy people as a weapon to wield against taxes and public spending. They would like nothing more than to turn Canada (and the USA) into a disgusting and lawless kleptocracy like Russia. They appeal to the meanest and dumbest people in our societies.

Anonymous said...

Hi Simon,
Agreed with you that Scheer is fighting a losing battle with this.
With that said I'll chime in as one of 'them'. I own a CCPC and work as a consulting engineer. The main 'loophole' for me is paying my wife a salary from the corporation. This saves us more than 15k$ a year in income tax. By the way I did not incorporate to save cash. It was a requirement from my clients.
Now, we don't know exactly which tax breaks the Liberals will close or curtail, and it seems they wilfully left it unclear. For example income sprinkling has been conflated with income splitting. One thing I know for sure, there is no way an astute politician like Justin Trudeau would alienate a whole class of Canadians (and an influential one to boot) for the sake of a measly 250$ million. They must be after a much bigger haul, perhaps by closing income splitting altogether (it would simply require a redefinition of the CRA attribution rules). With 1,2 million CCPCs to go after this could bring in well over 10$ billion - not bad for a government desperate for more revenue.
In a way I am surprised that Trudeau and Morneau chose to pit Canadians against each other in such a manner. It may be a good electoral calculation, but there is nothing 'sunny' about it.
The problem with this is, you never do just one thing. Remember that a full 50% of the total workforce in Canada, 9 million out of 18, receives a paycheck and a T4 from that same 1,2 million CCPC owners. Fair or not, the money businesses will lose in this grab will be compensated in multiple ways. Some will leave for more hospitable places, some will shut down, and some will lay off staff. All to say, be careful what you wish for.
BW

Anonymous said...

Wasn't it the Peter Principle that people fail upwards?

That's what Scheer has done!
------

David Toronto

Anonymous said...

"Four legs good, two legs bad."
George Orwell knew that complex ideas needed to be simplified to gain political traction, something that Scheer's missing.

Corporations are artificial "persons" that receive tax advantages not available to ordinary people. One person may own one, or many corporations, but with ownership comes responsibility. Here is the link to an article which may provide more insight on this proposed tax reform.
Proposed tax changes will shake the small business world.
Except that the title writer didn't read the article. A CCPC owner still have the first $800k+ in capital gains completely tax free. That's right. Almost the first million in capital gains is still tax free. If there are two owners for example your spouse here, BW, then the second person can also use their $800k+ capital gains exemption. In that family you would have the effect of not paying any tax on $1.6+million. That's a tax incentive! In the future a child up to age 24 (up from age 18) would have to prove they had made monetary and/or activity contributions to participate in the tax advantages. Seems reasonable to me. However, some are going to miss distributing, or sprinkling, benefits to children to reduce taxation. Even the author, Tim Cestnick, doesn't object to tightening the rules regarding the conversion of income to capital gains.
https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/taxes/proposed-tax-changes-will-shake-the-small-business-world/article35754872/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&

But wait, there's more!
Active income, such as that earned by professionals like doctors, is eligible for the Small Business deduction on the first $500k if they are incorporated.

There are very substantial tax advantages given to small businesses that are not being taken away. With the right tax planning that high earning doctor or lawyer may have substantially lower tax rates on the first $1.3 million earned. Sure... there are many, including business owners, conservative party supporters, and ordinary people who are unaware of these advantages.

Trudeau's clear: That's not fair. Close the loopholes.
Scheer, well he's too caught up in selling a world view of how the liberals want to raise taxes... and getting bogged down in the details.

Nobody wants to dive into the tax laws because that murky pool is deep enough to drown in.

p2p

Anonymous said...

I'm not as optimistic as Simon. I'm afraid that the Harper years made this country incredibly greedy, and since the subject of taxes is very complicated, Scheer might be able to fool a lot of people into thinking they're going to lose money even if they won't. The Trudeau government needs to do more to reassure those Canadians before it's too late, and the fear gets out of control.

Anonymous said...

No wonder the Liberals introduced (although later withdrew) a proposal to have the PM only have QP on Fridays. Why should he face heckling and grandstanding from fact-averse carnival barkers like Scheer and the rest of the cons' jeering bread-and-circus spectators at the Roman Colosseum? One only need imagine Obama in a similar scenario if the U.S. model had a system where the president took questions from Congress. (Or Hillary's Hester Prynne-style witch-trial inquisition at the Benghazi hearings. The GOP is still calling for further investigations to see if she'll float.) The Republicans would do nothing but grill him with the same tired, Joe McCarthy talking points about "redistributing the wealth" and "punishing job creators" and whether or not he is now or was ever a member of the Communist Party. They have no solutions for everyday Americans just like the Crappers have no solutions for everyday Canadians. Just bluster, intimidation, and stylish lies to hide their own reverse-redistributionist schemes for the fractional upper percentile behind Orwellian newspeak. Your cons are the party of "no" and the party of moving backwards. Just like the elephant downstairs.

After Pennywise (or should I say, Poundfoolish?) and his clown car get run off the road and into a political ditch in 2019, the Liberals should reintroduce the Friday PMQs proposal. That's apparently how Mother England does it and a far better idea than this. Trudeau could spend the rest of the week working on policies in his office, going to events to meet constituents, or performing much-needed global engagement with foreign leaders and diplomats, during the rest of the week. Heck, he could do nothing but bake cookies for mom, take the kids camping, or write a "Han Loves Leia" fanfic saga for the missus, and he'd still be far more productive than he would having tomatoes thrown at him five days a week by the cons.

Scheer is just putting on a show, "riling up the base" as it's called when his demented hero Trump does his WWE-style rallies for the rubes. They clap like trained seals every time he throws them a rotten fish. It's about time Canadian voters pulled out their Vaudeville cane and dragged him off the stage. Not to get all science fictiony on you, but Harper Jr. and his party of failed comedians are a waste of space and time. The circus tent is closed. Send the sideshow acts into retirement and Make Canada Even Greater Again.

Anonymous said...

Hi BW

Although the tax reform appears somewhat sketchy it seems they want to close some of the obvious loopholes such as distributing income to those totally unrelated to the business enterprise such as the in laws, grands and underage kids. Perhaps the business will have to declare the spouse a share holding partner or employee but its unlikely they will request qualifications or where the money to purchase the shares came from. To venture further would be a very murky swamp .... just imagine future personal ads ... romantic relationship wanted with person who Taxation Canada approves as qualified to allow splitting my small business income. Stranger things have happened but I think the Liberals are smart enough to close the obvious loopholes and move on as there are far bigger games to play. For example Japan borrowed and issued trillions in government debt for years only to recently turn around and print enough money to buy most of it back. In the good old days this would have lead to rampant inflation as the money base is diluted but not today. All that to say the modern game is far more complex than trying to nickle and dime the small business owner beyond the obvious. This is something the Cons would wail about to stir emotion as they are totally devoid of any progressive vision for the future other than a narrow minded interpretation of the past that puts the people that have already made it in total control... with 100% freedom and 0% equality.
RT

David said...

Watch the Sept. 18 Power & Politics interview with Andrew Scheer, beginning at the 2 minute mark.

(3 short ads play first)

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1049329731981

By the 12 minute mark, the sweat is quite evident on his upper lip, especially when viewing on a large Hi-Def TV. 8-)

Marmalade said...

I agree......Lots of GREED around these days!

Marmalade said...

I noticed this and wondered why he didn't pull out a tissue!

Simon said...

hi Steve...I don't know if Scheer is insane, although that creepy grin might suggest that. But what I do know is that the way he is harnessing greed with the support of our Con media, makes him very very dangerous...

Simon said...

hi anon...I hope you're right. It's true that Scheer and his Cons are only really working for the interests of the wealthy. But unfortunately, thanks to the support of our wretched Con media, he has been able to convince a lot of poorer people that they could be screwed as well. Their ideology is foul, but ignorance will kill us...

Simon said...

hi BW....I must admit that I am no tax expert. I started having my humble taxes done by professionals years ago, because I was afraid I might make a mistake and be audited by Harper and his minions. So I'm not sure what exactly the Liberals are trying to do, or for that matter what the final tax reform legislation is likely to look like. But as you point out, saving $250 million is peanuts relatively speaking, so they must have a bigger target in mind. I also doubt that they are going to get rid of income splitting, since that as far as I know would mostly hurt seniors. But what I do think is important is making our tax system fairer. For when the wealthier in our society can do what others can't, it doesn't just deprive the country of money it needs to create and maintain a modern society, it can destabilize that society and lead to huge social problems. So although I'm not happy to see how the rich are trying to make others believe that they could also be victimized, I'm glad we are having this argument for it's way overdue...

Simon said...

hi RT...thanks for helping us understand this complex story a little better. I don't believe the Liberals would try to nickel and dime small business owners, and what enrages me is the way the Cons are trying to suggest that. Or trying to suggest it's a new tax, when if I remember correctly they did promise to close some loopholes, and that is what they are doing. As I told BW, for me the important thing is making our tax system fairer, and if we can have a good debate about the importance of taxes in the building of a modern progressive society, that would be a bonus...

Simon said...

hi David...I used to think I couldn't hate any Canadian politician more than I hated Stephen Harper, but I must admit that every time I hear Scheer speak I think he might soon take over that "honour." The man is supposed to be an observant Christian and yet, as I said in my post, he lies like a thief. Mark my words, the guy is dangerous...

Simon said...

hi p2p...wow, I'm really impressed by the comments I'm reading today, even though you're all making me feel really dumb. ;) I'm going to have to do a lot more research before I can get a handle on what our tax system allows or doesn't allow. But then that's the challenge for the Liberals. They need to be able to explain what they want to do, and why in very simple terms, because as long as many Canadians don't properly understand what's at stake, or who will be affected, the Cons will get away with murder...

Simon said...

hi anon...I understand what you are saying, I too think that the Harper years helped make this country greedier than I remember wit before. And I have to admit that when I see how the Cons are playing on base emotions I'm not THAT optimistic. So I agree with you that the Liberals need to better explain the issue, if they want to avoid trouble down the road...

Simon said...

hi Kathleen...yes, there are a lot of greedy people around, but then our economic system not only encourages greed, it depends on it for its very survival. And of course Harper and his Cons played to that greed by making taxes sound satanic, instead of the foundations of a civilized society. It's going to take a while, and a lot of hard work, before we can escape that deadly legacy...

Simon said...

hi anon...I completely agree with you. I am the only person I know who tries to watch Question Period almost every day, but even I wonder how much longer I am going to be able to do that, because it's already clear that the Scheer Cons are as bad as the Harper Cons. They twist the truth, they lie like thieves, and they heckle and howl like animals. I'm usually having my lunch when I watch QP live, and Scheer and his gang are starting to give me indigestion. One thing the Liberals should be doing, is reminding Canadians that the reason the Cons are always demonizing taxes is because they want to kill government. If they did more of that, the Cons would be exposed as the shabby clones of the Republicans, and wouldn't be crowing so loudly...

Simon said...

Hi David...why do you think I called Scheer a "sweaty capitalist pig?" I noticed that too, and the picture I used to turn Scheer into a pig is taken from that interview. In fact I think when I first saw that wetness under his nose, I let our a whoop and shouted "Oh goody, he's sweating like Nixon !!!!"

Simon said...

hi Kathleen...A tissue would be good, especially if parts of it stick to him like a dangling mustache. And of course, if the Cons plaster enough make up under his nose to try to soak up up that sweat, dare I dream of it running over his lips and into his mouth?

Anonymous said...

Original thoughts and hopefully with enough push the truth on these issues will float to the surface! Not the products of George Soros or a Russian troll farm.
RT