November 27, 2006

[SPECIAL NOTE: You can now submit your letters from our site. Click here, compose your letter in the box provided, choose a newspaper to send it to, and send the letter!
PLEASE use the site if you can - it allows us to track how many letters-to-the-editor have been sent.]

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We must oppose more tax cuts and radically paying down the debt - and demand reinvestment in the nation.

Ever since 1995 with Paul Martin’s massive $23 billion cuts to social programs, and his practice of using over 90% of repeated surpluses to pay down the debt (instead of reinvesting in those social programs) governments in Ottawa have been deliberately committing what appears to be a slow motion suicide: they are committed to gutting the social role of government while building up its security role. They do this by constantly lowering taxes for corporations and the rich, while devoting all surpluses to paying down the debt. But they do not let this interfere with massive increases in military spending. This is creation of what is known as the “security state.” The parallel process is the transfer of enormous amounts of wealth to the highest income Canadians.

If you massively increase the wealth of the wealthy and suppress the incomes and standard of living of both the working class and the middle class, it necessitates the strengthening of the security aspects of government - from police, to CSIS to the military.

These trends represent an unprecedented remaking of the country in the image of the United States. It is the fiscal side of deep integration with the US: Harper and Martin before him are committed to remaking Canada in the image of the US. A major part of this plan is to dramatically reduce the social function of government to the level prevailing in the US. That means reducing the revenue available for social programs, education, infrastructure and income redistribution.

In my view there is no more important issue today in Canada than opposing tax cuts and radical debt reduction. If we do not we hand Harper the rationale he needs to freeze and eventually cut all social spending.

IF YOU HAVE NOT WRITTEN A LETTER IN THE PAST 3 WEEKS... WRITE A LETTER OPPOSING TAX CUTS AND RADICAL DEBT REDUCTION.

FRAMING: Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society - we need to declare ourselves against tax cuts and for rebuilding the nation. We need to declare ourselves willing to pay more taxes if it means a stronger country - robust social programs, affordable education, revitalizing our infrastructure and playing a positive - not a military - role in the world.

THE LETTERS DO NOT HAVE TO BE LONG. IF YOU’RE SHORT OF TIME JUST WRITE A PARAGRAPH SAYING YOU DON’T WANT TAX CUTS - YOU WANT A CHILD CARE PROGRAM, PHARMACARE AND LOWER TUITION FEES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE - AND ARE PREPARED TO PAY MORE, NOT LESS.

FACTS AND ARGUMENTS FOR YOUR LETTERS:

• As a citizen of Canada who cares about the health of our communities I reject more tax cuts - I am prepared to pay more in taxes to pay for the things Canadians say they need and want.

• Canada is twice as wealthy in GDP per capita as it was in 1967 when Medicare was brought in - but we are told we can’t afford it today and can’t afford new social programs. This is nonsense - where did the money go? We know where it went - tax cuts to the wealthy and large corporations.

• Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says we need more tax cuts to increase our global corporate competitiveness - but we have been cutting taxes for ten years and our competitiveness is getting steadily worse.
  
  According to the World Economic Forum’s yearly assessment we were #5 in the world in 1999 (the year before Martin’s massive corporate tax cuts) and after almost yearly corporate tax cuts we are now #13. Will Harper’s tax cuts make us #16 next year?

• There is no need to take such a radical approach to paying down the debt - economists measure debt based on a country’s ability to pay. We are already number one in the G7 in terms of our debt-to-GDP ratio - and it goes down every year as the economy grows.
  
  A family doesn’t radically increase its mortgage payments if it means it can’t send the kids to university or fix the leak in the roof or put good food on the table. Canada - like families - needs to take a balanced approach with its surpluses - paying some on the debt but spending on needs.

• The government seems to have forgotten that spending also stimulate the economy - salaries for nurses, teachers, road construction workers, child care workers and money spent on revitalizing roads and bridges stimulates growth and also results in higher tax revenue from those additional public employees.

• The theory is that if you give rich people more money through tax cuts they will invest. But very few invest in new production - most just gamble on the stock market, buying and selling existing shares from other rich people. In reality, there is very little new growth resulting from tax cuts to the wealthy.

• Every time we cut taxes, we cut revenue for social programs and we become more and more like the United States where Medicare and education are starved for funds. I like Canada the way it is - I don’t want our country to have all the problems that the US has.
  

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