The Liberals' inaugural budget contains a $29.4-billion deficit for 2016 which is 10.2% of government spending. Proponents of spending argue that it is a great time for the government is going to borrow money, since interest rates are at 50 year lows. Opponents argue that the spending could get out of control and the debt could easily reach $100 billion a year by 2020.
Narrow down which types of responses you would like to see.
Narrow down the conversation to these participants:
Discussions from these authors are shown:
@9W28H5TNew Democratic6mos6MO
Reduce salary and benefits for high ranking government officials. Increase taxes on large corporations
@9GPTJ2D1yr1Y
No, instead increase taxes on items / behaviours that do not align with federal policies and national social values.
@B295PQCConservative3mos3MO
No. Introduce corporation laws around the need to provide a minimum living wage to all employees while capping CEO annual salaries to a ? proportion of their employee base annual wages/salaries with the legislative goal of decreasing the gap between the extreme rich and poor and recreating the middle class. Tax base would increase = $ to reduce the national debt.
@95DH7PG3yrs3Y
I would say to be very cautious when cutting things, because it could have a ripple effect which spreads and effects programs and services that society needs. It's easy to say as an example to cut the CBC, but then what about all of the artists/cultural services, as well as segments of society that benefit from having accessible news, and an avenue to show arts and culture? It often goes wrong, and that makes me skeptical. We have to nurture our government and democracy, and make sure that we have sustainable ways to pay for all of the services that we want, and that can include running deficits if it help keeps people afloat, as well as other things such as creating more opportunity with short-term spending.
@945C4M23yrs3Y
Depends. Debt is complicated, and so are deficits. Things can go wrong.
@92NSVSP3yrs3Y
It depends. A lot of things could go wrong by slashing different programs and implementing austerity measures, as there could be programs needed that in the long run, could reduce the national debt.
@8VHGFG5New Democratic4yrs4Y
I believe there could be some public spending cut but there are many other avenues that can be taken as well. It would have to be informed of what public spending we are talking about cutting because Health Care and Education are important to bring our Country forward. We could increase taxes on the wealthy as they are able to afford the tax increase, as well as reducing the number of Government officials.
@8PNCCBW4yrs4Y
How can they just stop spending?
@8NWSVZZ4yrs4Y
Reduce waste spending on ridiculous items like city sculptures and other types of frivolous spending. Drop foreign aid completely and take bank our central bank so there is no interest on our debt.
@8KK2SX94yrs4Y
No, but reduce government spending for a while and increase taxes on the rich
I would say be cautious. Often times, those who want austerity measures to be in place don't think things through, and can cause a lot of unintended damage to the greater federal budget, leaving a massive mess for future generations, but also erodes faith in our democratic system. Overall, I would say be pragmatic and methodical, and have wise investments with lots of consultation rather than just blanket cutting of programs or adding of programs.
Loading the political themes of users that engaged with this discussion
Loading data...
Join in on more popular conversations.
