When right-wing types tell you that the NDP are fiscally irresponsible “socialists,” you can remind them that many NDP provincial governments across Canada over the years have balanced their budgets.
In B.C., for the second time this year, the Liberal government has increased its deficit forecast. The B.C. deficit will now increase to $1.47 billion by the end of March 2013.
Yet, Liberal finance minister Mike de Jong claims that in less than five weeks earlier, he will forecast a balanced budget for 2013.
This is “voodoo economics” in the least and massive misrepresentation in the worst. As Carole James has pointed out, this balanced budget assumption is based on coming up with “magical monies.” How is this possible? Carole referred to the concept of “selling the farm”- which means that monies will be raised by selling of assets that are already owned by the people of British Columbia.
This is one of the oldest tricks in the book for self-styled “capitalists” who find it so easy to preach against so-called “socialists.” You simply take the taxpayer owned property, sell it off and then you can claim that you balanced the budget. You are not creating wealth through your free enterprise system – you are selling off the farm to pay your debts.
This emphasizes what many clear-thinkers have been saying for years, that the B.C. Liberals are much less fiscally responsible than they claim to be. If an NDP government were doing this, the media would be screaming bloody murder; yet, when the Liberals do it, you hear barely a whimper from the media outlets in this province.
So, come March, when the B.C. Liberals claim to be balancing the budget, please keep this in mind.
Dick Harrington,
Chilliwack, B.C.