For weeks I've been warning that there was something funny or fishy about the way Andrew Scheer and his Cons were attacking the Liberal government's plans to reform our tax system.
Warning that nobody should believe Scheer when he claimed he was trying to defend the poor rather than the rich.
And sure enough, Vice News has obtained copies of the Con's secret documents detailing how their MPs are to go after the government,
And they couldn't be more shocking.
For they are the work of shameless Con artists.
The Conservative Party is doubling down on its bombastic rhetoric around the Trudeau Liberals’ proposed tax changes, but a fact-check on their actual claims show that few of the opposition’s talking points are based in reality.
Included in the documents are slides from a powerpoint presentation prepared by finance critic Pierre Poilievre to Conservative MPs, detailing the changes and outlining the party’s tactics.
They would have to come from the grubby Con Pierre Poilievre.
The one who tried to poison our electoral system...
Who can't be trusted as far as you can spit, or in his case slobber.
And those talking points couldn't be more fraudulent.
The talking points encourage MPs to tailor their message to working-class voters, and to avoid getting bogged down in discussions about “wealthy family doctors.” But details in the powerpoint suggest that the Conservatives know these changes will primarily affect the rich, not the middle-class farmers they plan on courting.
They are stuffed like a turkey with one lie after the other, including this whopper.
The Conservatives have publicly contended, as their website puts it, that the changes amount to “a massive new tax hike that would hurt every single local business in the country.”
This might be the largest mistruth of all.
As the Conservatives seem to admit in their own internal documents, these changes impact on the most profitable companies that withdraw company profits back into their own personal bank accounts.
And they could only come from someone educated at the Harper School of the Big Lie.
And what makes it even worse, is that so many in our hapless MSM not only swallowed those lies hook, line, and sinker.
They allowed Poilievre to promote them hysterically as only that dickhead could...
And by failing to challenge their lies allowed the Cons to confuse and fool Canadians.
But at least now, some in the media are finally starting to see the light, and are acknowledging that the Liberals are right to close those gaping tax loopholes.
It’s time for the T4 taxpayers of the nation to rise up. With professionals rolling out sob stories of proposed changes cramping their ability to hide taxes through incorporation, the most influential group remains silent on the sidelines.
I’m referring to the vast majority of us: Millions of Canadians trapped by a single T4 remuneration slip that invites the Canada Revenue Agency to inflict maximum damage on our take home pay.
And recognizing that Justin Trudeau and his government are not just right but smart.
Let the Conservatives bleed their hearts out for the upper income class pocketing tax advantages. There are definitely small business votes swinging their way as a result.
But the Liberals have done the better electoral calculation. And they know there are a lot more votes to be won from the disadvantaged T4 nation.
By hyping this tax scam, just like he hyped the Khadr deal in all the wrong places and for all the wrong reasons, Andrew Scheer has made a big mistake.
And done his Cons great damage by poisoning his own brand...
And if we are smart we can help make that damage fatal, by giving the Cons a taste of their own
And bury Scheer and his shabby Harper Party once and for all.
Long before the next election...
21 comments:
Isn't this just so typical of the connies these days, though? Looking out for the rich while pretending to stand up for durr real peoples! They have convinced morons who benefit from a progressive tax system that taxes are bad. They risk our entire way of life and their goal is to have us living in squalor.
I get paid on commission only it would be all too easy to incorp myself and make a numbered company. I have not done it but the loophole needs to be closed.
Greenthumb
Let us hope the MSM does more. That bit by Martin was good.
And why would we be surprised that the Cons especially Pierre Poilievre would lie?
GOP North indeed. They'll reach peak singularity with the Ayn Rand crowd of the Americans when they declare that "now is not a good time" to talk about climate change/guns/mental health/etc. (some major contributing factor to a tragedy or disaster) because "the voters want us to get back to work on what really matters: tax cuts."
Trump's EPA secretary was the one who said "now is not a good time" to discuss climate change when it came to Harvey and Irma. I think it was Paul Ryan who said after the congressional shooting that "now is not a good time" to discuss guns or mental health because it would be "unnecessarily politicizing" the tragedy. Ryan in turn is the one who 99% of the time will turn any serious discussion back to his favorite obsession of tax cuts. The entire party is wholly owned by unscrupulous oligarchs -- with two in particular at the top of the pyramid: the ruthless Reaganite Randroids, Charles and David Koch.
Makes me wonder if the old skinflint brothers (who are so similar to the rich "social engineers" in the movie Trading Places, that I wonder if Randolph and Mortimer weren't based on them) have their grubby paws in Canada too. It certainly wouldn't surprise me. We've already seen the cons cozying up to Murdoch media. Where there's blood, there's money. Or something like that.
It's taken weeks for the media to start deflating the Con hype, and start portraying them as the fraud artists they are. The CBC has been particularly bad, running one hysterical statement after the other from alleged "victims" who clearly did not know what they were talking about. When did dodging taxes become something we should sympathize with?
Few small business will be affected ; your corner store owner will not be affected. Doctors ' skatter' income to get out of paying taxes. If I tried that, I would be guilty of tax fraud.
I'm waiting for the Crappers to start spewing the "redistributionist" tag.
...
A low-level CRA career guy once explained to me what Martin hit on with his "T4 Nation" characterization. It's the old "possession is nine-tenths" principle. Wage and salary earners never see what's withheld in potential tax liability and there's more often than not some "interpretation bulletin" that the agency can throw at them when they try to recover some amount of what they've paid but shouldn't have. Ask any construction worker who's had to travel to get a paycheque and then gets faced with the "personal choice" or "you live where you work" rationalization when he's billed for taxes on earnings that in reality he never received.
At the same time, I've no doubt that many powerless small business owners get jacked around in much the same way. Of course, many of them whose businesses involve the collection of retail and "harmonized" sales taxes often make up for it to some extent by stealing from the taxes their customers have paid on purchases. There was once a very senior member of government in one of our provinces who responded to opposition criticism of a measure that would reduce the government's auditing capability in this area by saying, "Well, maybe they've paid enough taxes." That member, whose background was in small business, in his absolute misunderstanding of who actually owned the money in question, was demonstrating the pervasiveness of the "possession is nine-tenths" principle.
In any case, I think Justin has picked a winner. By going after the loophole industry but still doing nothing to address more obvious entrenched unfairness, he may convince some members of that enslaved T4 Nation that he's giving them one of the only shots they've ever had at justice, when all he will achieve might be to send more slugs to join them in the ranks of the powerless-loser brigade.
The Con's should adopt a new motto befitting of the Harper years and now the Howdy Doody era, "Lest ye facts never get in the way". And a new logo, "DDD", Distort, Deceive, Delude.
Nothing has changed with these Con Clowns and as long as we have the irresponsible Con media repeating their lies and causing undue stress on people who wont be affected by these changes, the bullshit will carry on.
Until the lingering stench of the Harper reign is finally over(hopefully 2019), this is what we'll get from these opportunistic assholes so keep fighting the fight Simon because I guarantee you I will be.
JD
Hi anon...there is one thing that characterizes all Cons. Their desire to cut taxes until government is so small they can drown it in a bath tub. And the poor are at the mercy of the rich. And you're right, they risk our entire way of life and they will have most of us, especially the most vulnerable, living in squalor. The day I filled out my first tax form was not a sad day, it was a proud one...
Hi Greenthumb...good for you. It's easy to be tempted by ways to reduce our taxes in a society where greed is considered smart and good. But if enough people do that, we'll all end up living in a jungle. All I've heard for the last ten years is that taxes are bad. But as long as the tax system is fair, I believe they are necessary and good...
Hi jrk...I was pleasantly surprised by Martin's piece, and it does help make up a bit for the torrent of shallow coverage over the last two weeks. I was especially disappointed by the CBC that helped whip up a wave of anti-tax hysteria, without ever taking a serious look what the government was really doing. In the grand scheme of things the $250 million the government hopes to recover is chicken feed, but closing those loopholes can lead to closing bigger ones, and our country will be better off for it...
Oh yeah, as for Poilievre criticizing anybody over anything to do with money, that's a really bad joke...
Hi anon...our Cons have been heavily influenced by the Republicans in the U.S. It didn't used to be that way, but ever since the Progressive Conservatives were replaced by the Reform Cons we've been heading in that direction. Stephen Harper kept himself in power for ten years by essentially bribing many Canadians with tax cuts. And sadly so successful was his anti-tax mantra, that even the Liberals don't dare raise the GST which has cost Canada billions. It reminds me of that old saying, everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die...
Hi anon....yes, the media allowed that anti-tax hysteria to spread without checking the facts, and as a result a lot of people were made to worry when they didn't have to. And as for the CBC, considering that they depend on taxes to exist, their coverage couldn't have been more pathetic. They let people go on and on about losing their small business or the family farm etc etc without ever challenging what they were saying...
Hi rumleyfips...you're absolutely right, but the anti-tax mentality is now so enshrined in this country that it's easy to make some people believe anything. As for the doctors I want to make one thing absolutely clear. The Canadian Medical Association has disgraced itself by financing a big anti-tax campaign including the production of how to cut your taxes videos. But while that campaign is supported by many older, richer doctors, it is NOT supported by many young doctors who just want a fair salary and better working conditions. And the nurses, the ones who keep our hospitals running, are strongly against these tax dodging schemes...
Hi John...I'm all for helping small businesses in any way we can, but dodging taxes is not the way to go. It only contributes to economic inequality which can lead to a loss of faith in government, and leave us helpless in the grip of the so-called One Percent. And I agree with you, this could be our last chance to stand up for tax fairness and then prepare to go after the big fish and their cozy tax shelters, who are cheating us all out of a better more equitable future...
Hi JD...I am struck by how unoriginal Howdy Doody Scheer is, and how he really is Harper with a smile. And you're right, nothing has changed with those Con clowns. As for the Con media they only act the way they do because their corporate bosses want governments that cut their taxes, and they want another Harper. The good news is that so far Scheer is making the same mistakes the last Con Fuhrer did. And you can be sure that I intend to keepi fighting until him and his Con clowns no longer threaten this country...
Simon: I don't doubt what you report about intergenerational differences in attitude on this question among members of the medical profession. It puts me in mind of a similar but opposite generational distinction that was brought to my attention by two older doctors within a few years of the introduction of the socialized system. Both of these guys thought the system was better for all for the most part and advised younger complaining colleagues to desist, lest all of them be forced to return to the days when they felt compelled to complement their patient lists with charity cases and were sometimes paid in chickens or hickory nuts, and often not at all. One of them would lecture constantly on how he feared the greed of practitioners who billed the system too eagerly and loosely, and in his opinion often fraudulently, would eventually wreck it. Of course, that might have been a time when billing caps were more equitable and it was certainly before the advent of extreme specialization.
Talk to your elders who slugged through the depression and ask them what family services and bills were likely to be accessed and paid for last. I'll bet that the guys complaining loudest now are the same ones that pissed off the two older doctors who had experience that caused them to appreciate the value of the system.
Hi Simon
"that even the Liberals don't dare raise the GST which has cost Canada billions. It reminds me of that old saying, everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die..."
Heaven on earth awaits you in Montreal where the average tax rate is 5 to 10% higher and the provincial government clawed back the Federal GST tax cut. I support closing obvious tax loop holes but honest discussion is required on the subject of optimum tax fairness. Its a grey area where no taxes equals no society but when taxes reach the level that the government might just as well take our pay checks and provide us with services and some pocket change doesn't seem to work very well either. Unfortunately the Reform a Cons are not interested in honestly discussing anything.
Montreal is a great city and the extra taxes are worth it for some but its not for everyone. Diversity is good, that's one one of the great things about Canada. We have some choice.
RT
OF COURSE the Cons are going to lie. Its what they do best. O.K. its not lying, its telling their version of the truth. I'm just fine with the impending changes to the tax system. After those tax changes I'd like to see more, ones which close the loop holes which permit coproations to hide their money off shore. Its time to level the playing field when it comes to taxes and how much we all pay. if every one paid their fair share we might not have a deficit.
hi RT.. I hear what you're saying, but all I am saying is that we do need an honest discussion on taxes. For years all I have heard is that taxes are bad, but they are the price of civilization. And when I hear small businesses complain about taxes, even though we have the lowest small business taxes in the G7, it makes me think that our anti-tax mantra has gone too far. Still, and on this we agree, those taxes have to be fair, and the biggest problem in Canada is that the rich aren't paying their share. If they did there would be more money to modernize this country, and those with less money would be able to get a break. I've been away from Quebec for so long now, I have forgotten how surprised I was to see how much less taxes I had to pay in Ontario. Thanks for reminding me... ;)
Post a Comment