The 2013 budget highlights strangely brag, “From 2006 to 2008, the Government paid down over $37 billion in debt.”
But this was just a continuation of Paul Martin’s nine years of paying down debt and the very least of what you would expect from a Conservative government ousting Liberals on the promise of doing better.
All of Flaherty’s recent moves have been smart politics. But the budget is not a plaything for the Conservative’s electoral prospects.
To spend more than you need to on debt-servicing costs — currently at $30 billion a year and projected to grow — just wastes tax dollars.
It’s cynical to promise to balance the books before the next election as if it’s a last-minute gift to bestow upon the taxpayer. Voters should stop accepting this style of politics as normal
They won't though. Sad.
