Empire Remixed

by Brian Walsh

The political rhetoric is all so predictable.

The Liberals or NDP announce some new policy initiative and the Conservatives cry that these initiatives will mean tax increases for “Ordinary Canadians.” The Conservatives announce some new policy and the Liberals and the NDP go on the attack because they can be traced, one way or another, back to corporate tax cuts.

You’ll remember that this election was called on the matter of contempt of Parliament and a key feature of that contempt charge was the government’s refusal to disclose the real cost of corporate tax cuts. But for a conservative, the question of the “cost” of a tax reduction simply has no meaning. The reply invariably is, “tax cuts don’t cost anything. They stimulate the economy, thereby making the nation economically strong.” The hidden assumption behind it all may just be that a stimulated economy results in an increase in other tax revenues for the government. People make more money and they buy more things, thereby leading to increased government revenue from increased sales and income taxes.

Now we’ll need to look at this whole tax thing a little more closely during this election, but we’re playing with the question of Jesus for Prime Minister. So we need to ask about Jesus and taxation.

Who would Jesus tax?

Would he tax anyone? Read the rest of this entry »