Big government hurts the little guy

[Anonymous]

Big-spending politicians often insist that more government spending is needed to help the poor. The cost of living is going up, therefore government must increase its spending and run bigger deficits to ensure the poor don't get left behind, or so the profligate politicians like to claim.



But there are a few problems with this claim. Firstly, [size=150]making government bigger to reduce poverty is problematic because big government and existing bad policy are largely to blame for driving up the cost of living and reducing economic opportunity for people at the bottom of the economic ladder.

[/size]

For example, the high price of electricity in Ontario is responsible both for making life more expensive and killing jobs and causing businesses to shut their doors or move out of the province.



Another problem with politicians saying more government spending is needed to tackle poverty is that overwhelmingly, increasing the size of government makes the poor worse off. People often imagine that the government takes money from the rich and uses it to help the poor, but this is a myth.





In reality, when politicians make government bigger, the poorest citizens usually pay the cost while others benefit. [size=150]Since poor people tend to have little political influence and few political connections, they're the ones who get shafted when politicians hand out favours to politically powerful special interest groups — such as government employee unions.[/size]



Many studies show that government workers get paid far more than comparable private-sector workers. So w[size=150]hen politicians increase government employee wages to please the unions, they are giving special benefits to a relatively higher-paid and more privileged class of workers, at the expense of the taxpaying public.[/size]



Crony capitalism — in the form of subsidies, regulations, tariffs, and other arrangements that benefit certain businesses or segments of the population to the detriment of the public at large — is another way people are hurt as politicians rush to provide special privileges to the rich and politically connected. (Hello Bombardier!)



In Ontario, the recent ramp-up in cronyism is largely due to the Liberal government's environmental zeal, according to a report last year from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "The new frontier in corporate welfare," wrote author Mark Milke, "is a bonanza for companies producing green products and services."



A prime example of special-interest spending that benefits the rich at the expense of the poor is the $47-million spent so far on electric vehicle subsidies in Ontario (plus tens of millions more for electric vehicle "education" and infrastructure). Much of this money has gone to subsidizing luxury cars that retail for over $70,000.



Another example is the $150,000 per year subsidy that the Ontario government gives companies to hire "Multi-Site Customer Energy Managers." It's a program that benefits energy managers who get paid six figures, and the businesses that hire them. But it's bad for the rest of us who pay the bill.



Yet more special subsidies and corporate welfare programs are funded by the Ontario government's cap-and-trade system, which costs Ontario residents billions of dollars annually with minimal environmental benefits. If government wants to help poorer Canadians, cutting this wasteful spending and keeping energy costs down would be a good start.



— Matthew Lau is an economics writer in Toronto and a contributor to Canadians for Affordable Energy.

http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/guest-column-big-government-is-no-help-to-the-little-guy">http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnist ... little-guy">http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/guest-column-big-government-is-no-help-to-the-little-guy



Justifying big government in the name of tackling climate change, the crony capitalism that flows from that rot and appeasing powerful public sector unions are having a deleterious affect on average Ontarians.

[Anonymous]

Seoul, I don't pay much attention to JOE's silly trolling, but he was right about you being the most conservative poster here.

[Anonymous]

No provincial government nor the feds can cut a single dollar in spending without being labelled draconian by powerful public sector unions. They use their largesse that people will be dying in the streets and schools will burst at the seams if spending is cut to  balance budgets.



The truth is most provinces and the feds could easily trim spending 5% and the only affect it would have is  cutting some unnecessary jobs in the provincial snivil service. Alberta's nurses spend less than half their time at work on patient care. Ralph Klein slashed spending 18% without significantly affecting delivery of services. We  need to get out of the false mindset snivil service unions feeds us that more money spent equals better outcomes. We know from BC that is not the case.

[Anonymous]

No provincial government nor the feds can cut a single dollar in spending without being labelled draconian by powerful public sector unions. They use their largesse that people will be dying in the streets and schools will burst at the seams if spending is cut to  balance budgets.



The truth is most provinces and the feds could easily trim spending 5% and the only affect it would have is  cutting some unnecessary jobs in the provincial snivil service. Alberta's nurses spend less than half their time at work on patient care. Ralph Klein slashed spending 18% without significantly affecting delivery of services. We  need to get out of the false mindset snivil service unions feeds us that more money spent equals better outcomes. We know from BC that is not the case.

I read that the Notley government will be spending more money for debt servicing charges than they will for roads and schools combined in the near future.

[Bricktop]

Winston Churchill said trying to tax yourself to prosperity is like standing in a bucket whilst trying to lift yourself.

[Anonymous]

Winston Churchill said trying to tax yourself to prosperity is like standing in a bucket whilst trying to lift yourself.

It just doesn't work.

[Xlam]

Big-spending politicians often insist that more government spending is needed to help the poor. The cost of living is going up, therefore government must increase its spending and run bigger deficits to ensure the poor don't get left behind, or so the profligate politicians like to claim.



But there are a few problems with this claim. Firstly,



The way we can eliminate big government is if we go out into a lightning storm with jars and catch the lightning bolts, using gloves of course; gotta be safe. When we've caught our fill of lightning bolts, we will store the jars in a dark place for one year, that way the lightning bolts cure properly.



After a year, we take our bottled lightning bolts out of hiding and march to our province government offices and offer them a trade. Our cured bottled lightning for a smaller government.

[Anonymous]

That's quite an entrance. Following in the footsteps of Freud(Dinky Dianna).

[Xlam]

That's quite an entrance. Following in the footsteps of Freud(Dinky Dianna).

Who or what is a Freud(Dinky Dianna)? Look, did I stumble upon some kind of cult that has an Asian fetish? I mean that's neat and all, just a little weird.

[cc]

Hello. Nice to meet you



May I respectfully  ask, since when are fetishes weird?

[Xlam]

Hello. Nice to meet you



May I respectfully  ask, since when are fetishes weird?

Anytime you have to ask that question.

[Anonymous]

Hello. Nice to meet you



May I respectfully  ask, since when are fetishes weird?

Anytime you have to ask that question.

This is some rapid fire posting dude.

[Xlam]

Hello. Nice to meet you



May I respectfully  ask, since when are fetishes weird?

Anytime you have to ask that question.

This is some rapid fire posting dude.

I have 3 monitors and 98 open windows, so if you're saying I'm good at multitasking, then you're right. Plus, I'm breeding ducks and making a pizza.

[Anonymous]

Hello. Nice to meet you



May I respectfully  ask, since when are fetishes weird?

Anytime you have to ask that question.

This is some rapid fire posting dude.

I'm using windows 98 and I'm breeding with ducks.

Congrats old timer.

[Xlam]

Hello. Nice to meet you



May I respectfully  ask, since when are fetishes weird?

Anytime you have to ask that question.

This is some rapid fire posting dude.

I'm using windows 98 and I'm breeding with ducks.

Congrats old timer.

Because one is making a pizza does not make one an "old timer". Besides, if I were old I could never kneed the dough, as all old people have arthritis.