Recently I was talking to a friend who said he was glad that his vote for the NDP didn’t get them elected in the last federal election. Similarly, with zero critical thought many Canadians automatically think that the Conservatives are fiscally conservative, while the opposition spend like drunken sailors. Reality seems not to matter in this debate.  

Conservatives are loaded with cash. They don’t just sit on it either. They spend it on propaganda to manipulate you into thinking they are good with money. It seems to be working quite well even though they spend your money to do it.

I will focus on the federal Conservatives, but my argument can easily be applied to the Alberta Conservatives too. Despite saying that they would never run a deficit, the federal Conservatives are projecting a $50 billion deficit this fiscal year.

The federal deficit is being spent pandering to middle and high income voters mostly with tax credits and tax cuts, some that haven’t even been made law yet.

Whether or not your house or yard needs renovating, the Conservatives have promised you a $1,350 tax credit. How many times do you need to renovate the kitchen or the bathroom? For those who hawk renovation goods and services, they need to convince you to renovate - and often. The easiest way to do this is to make things trendy. Trends constantly change which keeps the cash register ringing. These mostly unnecessary renovations are not only physically wasteful (imagine the amount of perfectly functioning items thrown away), but a gross misallocation of resources.

Another Conservative tax shelter is the $5,000 non-refundable income tax credit. This is a tax cut in disguise to the rich. This shelter is mostly for those who have already topped out their RRSPs and will result in an estimated $355 million government shortfall in the next two years. Very few max out their RRSPs. Of note, Canadians only contribute 7% of the total amount allowed into their RRSPs. Very few will max out this new tax credit either.

Another popular way to pander to Conservative voters is to pass tax cuts. Most voters probably don’t even notice the tax cut that will cost the government almost $2 billion this year. Everyone benefits from this tax cut, even the super wealthy.

There is much evidence that tax cuts are not very effective in stimulating the economy. This goes for businesses too. They don’t invest more in research and development to increase productivity and they definitely are not hiring, for it is called a jobless recovery for a reason. The only thing that seems to be stimulated is their bottom lines.

My friend elaborated saying that if the NDP were in power the deficit would be much larger. I beg to differ. It is not the size of the deficit that matters, but who the deficit is spent on that does. The deficit, $50 billion, could have been spent to benefit the poor, our economy, and the earth.

Barely any of the deficit is being spent raising the incomes of the poor, those who need help the most. A pittance is being spent on affordable housing, on making public transit more efficient and affordable, or on creating more affordable daycare spaces.

Poverty is the biggest culprit of many of our social problems. Poverty is also the biggest drain on finances and our productivity. This doesn’t seem to matter though to the Conservatives.

The deficit is not being spent to make Canada an eco world leader. According to the Pembina Institute, the United States is spending almost 14 times more per capita on renewable energy in their stimulus package. We should instead be focusing on energy that is renewable and that will last forever. Investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency create twice as many jobs as compared to investments in fossil fuels. Did I mention the economic recovery is jobless?

A paltry amount is going towards wind, solar, geothermal, or energy conservation. Instead it is going towards coal and oil companies in the form of carbon capture subsidies. The federal Conservatives have earmarked $650 million for carbon capture, while the Alberta Conservatives are putting $800 million over the next three years towards it.

Carbon capture just entices precious energy packed non-renewable resources to be used up even quicker. They are called non-renewable for a reason, once they are used up they are gone forever. This lack of vision pervades Conservative thought and action. Conservatives don't seem to be interested in conserving anything.

None of the Conservative deficit is being spent on what will get the most bang for the buck, or what will create the most jobs. The deficit is being spent on what will keep them in power. This is the retail politics driven purely by ideology instead of reality, something the Conservatives pretend to despise.

The Conservatives have turned into Liberals who will say or do anything to keep in power. Heck the Liberals don’t even have a platform. No one has any idea where Ignatieff stands on any issue. That is the whole point, and the Conservatives are borrowing from that playbook. Does anyone even remember what Harper stands for? Staying on auto pilot seems to be a popular strategy these days.

Imagine if Jack Layton’s NDP were in power and they ran up a one year deficit of $50 billion. The headlines would be screaming until the electorate was worked into a frenzy to vote their sorry asses out of office. The NDP would be tarred and feathered for life as incapable of running a government on budget - guaranteed. We all forget that Tommy Douglas in Saskatchewan never ran a deficit ever. We all remember Rae’s NDP fiasco in Ontario and the mismanagement of finances in BC. Will we remember Harper’s Conservatives in the same light?

Of course not. It just matters that the deficit is spent on the ‘right’ people and the ‘right’ things. The Conservatives have the resources to convince us. More importantly the corporate press is owned by the ‘right’ people. The CBC is afraid of losing more funding, so their mouth stays mostly shut. We take the bate. So the fiscally conservative myth lingers on.

Harper ain't no kitten. The free ride the Conservatives are being given needs to end now. 

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