Liberals say "Trust Us, We Lie" Conservatives Need to Say Something in Return

Bill Graham wants the public to trust the liberals again and right after saying so he added three new lies for good measure. The government must counter them and expose him and his party for the frauds they are.

Graham claims that the new budget gives targeted breaks to the rich while raising taxes on middle and lower income brackets. Although this is the canard liberals have used for 40 years (some for 70) it has little to do with the truth and is nothing short of pandering and demagoguery. In effect, what Graham was saying was, "trust us, we lie through our teeth."

That said, the unfortunate truth is that some people, mostly those who trust what is presented to them by the media and don't do any fact checking on their own, believe whatever quote of Graham receives prominent coverage. Some of this is due to clear media bias, hyping Graham's quotes and giving the Liberal voice more coverage than the views of the Conservative Party. However, constantly hammering the truth at the media to counter some of these lies is essential and should result in at least some increase in coverage for our side and for the true hard facts.

To begin with the budget lowers taxes, both the income tax and the GST, the consumption tax, across the board. In anticipation of a possible Tory victory, the Liberals proposed to reduce the lowest tax rate from 16% to 15%, removing certain widely used tax credits to do so. The Conservative budget lowers the 16% to 15.5% while keeping some of the tax credits in tact. The Tories did not raise taxes as Graham so brazenly claims. They ignored a Liberal promise that would benefit no one (benefiting no one is the hallmark of Liberal promises) in favor of true tax cuts. The lower and middle brackets receive the most benefit from the new budget but all you hear and read from the press are Graham's comments. Graham's spin somehow takes precedence over the truth.

Graham then went on to criticize the government for removing the Grit's Day Care incentive. But the Liberal transfers to the provinces had no guarantee that they would be used for day care and some provinces had already developed plans to use them for other things. The Conservative plan provides direct relief to each and every family in Canada. There is another issue that bears mention. When asked why the Liberals don't trust families with direct child reimbursements one prominent Grit opined that Canadian parents may use these funds on "popcorn and beer." Liberals have constantly demeaned families and the average taxpayer. The Tory plan helps parents who stay at home with their children as well as those who work. The Liberals believe that parents are incapable of caring for their children without the assistance of government day care programs and outside intervention (while this may be true of staunchly liberal parents, who after decades of being fed self-centered emotional, feel good "crepes" are too self-absorbed to provide proper parenting without training, this is not the case for the overwhelming majority of parents).

There is another issue which needs to be raised. The budget includes tax incentives for businesses. But unlike the Liberals who provided many incentives to businesses and just didn't publicize them (so that they could demagogue when Conservatives do so), Conservatives need to explain to the public the simple facts. Businesses provide jobs. When businesses receive incentives to do so the Canadian worker benefits. If one needs proof of this one need only compare the state of Ontario's workforce under Bob Rae to what it was under Mike Harris. Yes, Mike Harris, not Bob Rae, advocated policies that benefit average workers.

Most of all, Conservatives need to take the offense and start explaining their positions to the media while exposing Liberal lies and distortions for what they are. As a side note, anyone who wants to know about Bill Graham's idea of ethics need do no more than perform a google search on him. Surprisingly, the picture that comes up is not one that fits with the media portrayal of him as that of statesman extraordinaire. But most importantly, Tories need to start explaining their positions and need to begin now.