Spring is finally in the air. The flowers are blooming and so is spring spending by governments.
The federal government is promising years of deficits to pay for programs demanded by their NDP partners in exchange for continued support.
New Brunswick is projecting a small surplus, “lowballing it,” say the critics, who would like to see more spending … as Nova Scotia is doing.
The leader of the Nova Scotia NDP says there is $1.5 billion in unexpected revenue, all of it spent without ever having even a moment to burn a hole in Tim Houston’s pocket. A lot of it went to health care.
Claudia Chender says she would have spent some of it on some different things. But never mind.
The issue here is the spending.
Politicians talk about deficits and surpluses and unexpected revenue as if money falls from the sky. It’s not manna from heaven, it’s money from our pockets.
Every penny comes from a tax or fee on some individual, business or corporation.
Even people who win the lottery don’t usually rush out to spend all of it.
Governments are not only in a hurry to spend it all but often to do so before the end of the fiscal year, so they can justify similar spending next year. Untold millions get spent by cabinet decree without debate.
It’s all our money. We should know how exactly how and where and why it’s being spent, not spent or overspent. And with interest rates increasing, is it not a wise idea to use at least some of it to pay down the debt?
