Harper Government Stays the Course

Well, Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Layton aren't happy with the Federal Budget delivered by Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty March 4th, 2010. Ok, so please tell me if anyone is surprised? Of course they aren't happy with it, Mr. Ignatieff isn't happy because its a budget that has little wiggle room away from staying the course, so its really not exciting and invigorating, thus, he struggles with the "no vision" concept. Mr. Layton, well, he won't be happy till we all aren't happy, and that means jacking up taxes, increasing government spending, and providing a whole sector of new government jobs, yup, increase the size of government so they can all take care of us. Business is the big winner in this budget, it speaks to continuing efforts to help rebuild our manufacturing sector, the most hard hit and most important sector to look after. Our global competitiveness depends on new advanced manufacturing techniques and its a must to continue these programs, support business investment, which will create the jobs we need to fully recover. Oddly, some people don't care about business, however, business is what creates all wealth, all government does is spend it, and wow can they spend it. Is there a negative issue in this budget, YES (caps are appropriate). Relying on growth to pay down the huge deficit and debt created through this recent economic turmoil, is very bold (better word might be dumb) thinking. With government expenditure increases averaging around or more than the annual anticipated growth, I unfortunately believe, the government has to cut deep into its own self to keep the pace of promise to balance the books in the medium to short term period. While I believe that the government probably missed the mark on other initiatives it could/should have included in the budget, like moving the GST/HST tax off the excise tax on a litre of gas which would certainly help Ontarians with the new HST coming in July. Taxing tax is probably illegal unless your the government, but if it isn't illegal, then it is definitely immoral. This budget is probably close to the best that could be done given the times. It holds the line on new spending, finishes out the proposed stimulus spending allocations and continues to provide an advantage for business so it can invest in the new knowledge-based economy, surge out of recession with more jobs, a higher standard of living for every Canadian and creating an innovative and entrepreneurial business climate. Yes, as Mr. Ingnatieff says, it lacks vision, that may well be because the focus has got to be on bringing things back to affordability, sustainability and manageability. We also have to ask, what were your ideas Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Layton? I missed that part, all I heard was the budget lacks vision, it leaves Canadians behind and its not what we out here in taxpayer land have been saying we want. So help me, your ideas were?