2% More is Easy money...

I admit, I did not make it to the budget consultation session held by our new government last night in Fredericton. I will further admit that I am not up to date on the latest deficit and debt numbers for NB. 

BUT, the plan I blogged about 2 years ago (Feb 9, 2013) after attending one of the last governments budget consultations still holds true today.

Here's an excerpt:

"Here's what I am talking about....Higgs and others have said that NB has a revenue problem, and from what I can see that is true; but based on the numbers presented, I don't see why this is the case. From the 3rd last slide of my Higgs presentation, we could rescind the personal income tax cuts ($320M) and corporate income tax  cuts ($25M) put in place by the previous government and that would raise $345M in revenue. If we went a step further and raised the HST by 2% we would see $270M in revenue. If I do my math right, that adds up to $615M in new revenue. There has been calls from many sources, including the NB Business Council, to rescind the tax cuts; so there is support there. The HST increase would be harder to swallow and would be resisted more, but it is do-able; especially if you put programs in place to protect low income earners."

So the Gallant government has announced that they want to find ways to save $500 million per year; so an HST hike would get you half way there. I think if you explained to citizens that the 2% increase in consumption tax would be going directly to pay off the deficit, the "social license" would exist to make this happen. If you further explained that this would help limit the program cuts and job cuts needed to fix the fiscal mess, the support would be there.

And to the retailers that say this will keep customers away; I don't buy it. Paying $1 more for a $50 meal out with my wife is not going to keep me home. Paying $600 more for a $30,000 car is not going to effect my decision to buy. If $40 extra on a $2000 TV is going to sway your decision, you probably can't afford the TV in the first place.

Lets keep things in perspective here folks.