Starving the Beast

Anyone who thinks that Harper's deficit is a result of incompetence is sorely mistaken. The deficit is a deliberate creation designed to foster the conditions for selling austerity to the public, something we would never agree to unless forced into believing there is no alternative.

The game plan is to starve the beast by decreasing government revenues through tax cuts to the corporations and the rich. Add in deregulation which leads to higher unemployment and depressed earning power resulting in further reduced revenues and greater outlays. Voila, you now have your deficit.

 Creating a large deficit is but step one. Now it's time for the end game, they now will say that we have a debt crisis and have no alternative but to slash social spending to the bone lest we end up in a similar situation to the PIIGS. This con game has been perpetrated many times over in nation after nation. The only surprising element is that it still works. Don't think it can happen here, think again it already has and is poised to do so yet again

The year was 1994 and we were told that Canada had hit the " Debt Wall " and was on the verge of default. This was used as justification for the huge cuts to Canada's social safety net, cuts that we have never recovered from.The problem with the whole debt wall contention was that it was pure fiction, like today we had one of the best debt ratios in the industrialized world.

In her book,Shooting The Hippo,Linda McQuaig tells of interviewing Vincent Truglia the Moodys bond rater responsible for nations such as Canada who instead of lecturing her on our debt problem, railed against"members of Canada's investment community for over blowing Canada's debt problems". Much the same is happening today.