A Ten Billion Dollar Orgy

Just flush with taxpayers cash via forgone tax revenue Canada's banks are about to engage in a $10.3 billion orgy of bonuses, a seven and a half percent increase over last year. So please tell me once more how corporate tax cuts help the economy because hard as I try I just don't seem to get it.

Here courtesy of the Toronto Star  is how this 10.3 billion dollars breaks down by bank:

• Royal Bank’s variable compensation rose nearly 11 per cent to $3.65 billion, reversing two years of declines.
 • National Bank’s rose just under 11 per cent to $690 million.
 • Bank of Nova Scotia rose 9.4 per cent to $1.48 billion.
 • Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 7.8 per cent to $1.56 billion.
 • BMO rose 5.2 per cent to $1.64 billion.
 • CIBC fell 2 per cent to $1.24 billion.

$10.3 billion would go a long way to balancing the  federal budget or better yet would make a nice investment in healthcare, education and infrastructure, things that would actually benefit all Canadians instead of a privileged few.

Any combination of a rollback of these corporate tax cuts coupled with the restoration of the two point GST cut, a transaction or Robin Hood tax and fully taxing capital gains would bring in more than enough to balance the budget and make the investments needed to end poverty and ensure a prosperous future for our children.

Alas, with the Conservatives and the Liberals firmly in the neo-liberal camp and the NDP trying hard to look pragmatic all we'll get is more austerity and many many more of these orgies of excess by the 1%