Budget 2007

The 2007 federal budget is about to be announced in the House of Commons by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, if not already underway.

Before I see what's in it, as a single earner middle class taxpayer, here's what I want, and I think these are feasible:

- Raise the personal exemption to $20,000 - really, can anyone earning below this amount afford to pay?
- Lower the bottom income tax rate from 15.5% to 10%
- Lower the middle income tax rate from (34%??) to 25%
- Move the trigger income for the highest rate bracket to $150,000, not what $67,000 as it is now?
- Lowered capital gains taxes (I have stocks)
- Any debt payment interest savings go to tax cuts (which I hear is what's going to happen).

The federal government takes in a huge amount of cake from taxpayers already and it needs to control its own spending BEFORE we should have to control ours on things like food, clothing, and shelter. People's income taxes dwarf the amount spent on these basic necessities and that tragedy all started occuring during the 90's under the Chretien/Martin Liberal government where over 70 taxes in some form or another were introduced or raised.

I love it when analysts, journalists, economists and pundits say, "lowering income taxes will COST the government $2.5 billion". "COST"? Um, but bowing down and taking those high rates up the shlocka is COSTING taxpayers and families first and my lengthy walk to trying to pay down my student loans or families paying down a mortgage or trying to save for their kids' education.

You simply have to ask if you are getting the value from the thousands of dollars you send to the federal government, which, by the way, collects the most taxes from you and delivers the fewest tangible services. Health care and education you ask? Well, that's provided and paid for by your province.

What if you had a few extra hundred dollars to spend, save, and invest each month?

The middle class is getting screwed and has been getting screwed for years as the government gets bigger. What do I mean by screwed? It's harder for us to become rich with an hourly rate job.

I'm all for lowered tuition and graduation incentives, but a lowered tuition will never happen as long as bloated bureaucracies and inefficiencies occur in our universities and colleges. Teachers will continue to get the shaft, not from government, but by crappy school boards and their unions. Nurses, doctors, and ultimately, patients themselves are screwed even when we pour more money down the funnel. Aboriginals have been getting screwed for a long time, as billions are given, but the end result never changes as the money is syphoned off.

The way to cut them off at the trough is to lower taxes first and have these organizations find ways to improve and deliver the goods before individuals and families are asked to.

I'm all for trickle down economics, but I think we need to boost the lower and middle income earners and give them a break and an opportunity to not just wait a couple years for the money to run through the economy and get to them.

Does anyone remember when current health minister, Tony Clement, ran for the Conservative leadership? I always liked his idea of the first $200,000 a person earns is income tax free. Wow, that would really give young graduates a head start in life. I'd have paid off my student loan and owned a house by now.

Or is giving money to the government to spend more important to you?