Forget waiting for the budget. Balance it now!

[mentalfloss]

Fed budget to cut discretionary spending by $7B | CTV News

That high number will surprise many, including some economists, who had expected that Ottawa's improving fiscal position would allow the government to keep cutbacks at the low end of the $4-$8 billion range it had previously set.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has spent weeks insisting that it would be wrong to view his document as an "austerity budget."

Flaherty will not detail how the cuts will be implemented in the budget, but the sources say most of the reductions will be front-loaded to realize the biggest savings.

Some have estimated the cuts could result in upwards of 60,000 public service jobs being eliminated, although government ministers say most of the losses will be through attrition.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Politics/...-eye-on-balance-by-2015-120328/#ixzz1qPdAaty1



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[Colpy]

Fed budget to cut discretionary spending by $7B | CTV News

That high number will surprise many, including some economists, who had expected that Ottawa's improving fiscal position would allow the government to keep cutbacks at the low end of the $4-$8 billion range it had previously set.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has spent weeks insisting that it would be wrong to view his document as an "austerity budget."

Flaherty will not detail how the cuts will be implemented in the budget, but the sources say most of the reductions will be front-loaded to realize the biggest savings.

Some have estimated the cuts could result in upwards of 60,000 public service jobs being eliminated, although government ministers say most of the losses will be through attrition.

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Very good news.

You simply can't spend money you don't have.

Vanni's 10 Step Balanced Budget:

1. Extend the GST to food and increase GST rebate to compensate low-income households
2. Restore the 2-point GST cut that was made by the Harper government
3. Increase the federal-corporate-income tax rate by one percentage point
4. Increase the small-business-tax rate by one percentage point
5. Increase the tax rate on incomes above $250,000 by 1 percentage point
6. Make an across-the-board 10-per-cent cut to all federal ministries and crown corporations
7. Eliminate tax deduction for union and professional dues
8. Eliminate partial deduction of meals and entertainment expenses for corporations
9. Eliminate deduction for clergy residence
10. 1 Billion dollar surplus to give myself a big fat ****in' raise! Fuccian Economics Baby! You know I earned it!

ALMOST identical to my plan....it ain't that hard...

 

[taxslave]

I was almost 4bil to the good without stressing any group. That does not include eliminating waste created by incompetence and overlapping jurisdictions. Granted a few thousand bureaucraps will find a new career flipping burgers

 

[petros]

You can't balance a budget without knowing the contents of the cookie jar. My food "budget" could be $2K a month if I wanted but it's not, it's more around $300. What do we really have to spend? What's in the cookie jar?

 

[mentalfloss]

Thomas Mulcair warns of 'fight' if budget fails middle class

OTTAWA — Newly elected NDP leader Thomas Mulcair kicked off his first caucus meeting on Parliament Hill with a warning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a day before his government is set to table its budget.

"If Canada sees no action to boost job creation, if pensions and health care are cut and Canadians are left footing the bill then, Mr. Harper, you will have a fight on your hands," he told a large group of cheering MPs and staffers.

As a provincial Quebec Liberal legislator and cabinet minister, and more recently as Jack Layton's Quebec lieutenant, Mulcair said he's always fought for the public interest.

Creating a budget, he said, is about priorities. He said Harper has a choice between pandering to his rich friends or defending the middle class.

He called on the Conservatives to "invest in jobs" and "protect essential services that Canadians count on."

But given the government's track record of scrapping the wheat board, speculating about raising the retirement age by two years and "dismantling" the environmental assessment process, Mulcair suggested he had little faith the Conservatives would do the right thing.

"What we're seeing is not what Canadians want to see in their budget," he said.

"We're not going to let them get away with it without a fight."

Although Harper is back from Asia, he's not expected to be in Wednesday's question period, which means Mulcair will have to wait for his first chance to square off with the prime minister as leader of the official Opposition.

Thomas Mulcair warns of 'fight' if budget fails middle class

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