Trudeau: bigger, badder EI tax cut

When Stephen Harper recently announced an EI tax cut for small businesses, did Justin Trudeau demand that Harper reverse his draconian cuts to EI benefits instead?

Considering the Liberals have a petition called Stop Harper’s cuts to Employment Insurance, that’s what one would’ve expected.

Bigger, badder tax cut

But Trudeau actually criticized Harper for not going far enough and put forward his own bigger, badder EI tax cut that would let corporations in on the action (which aleady receive a $15-billion-a-year tax cut thanks to Harper.)

Not only is Trudeau blowing the small EI fund surplus on another trickle-down tax cut, he’s cementing in place Harper’s harsh cuts that destroy the social safety net.

Bad Math

As the Progressive Economics Forum points out, Trudeau’s plan rests on bad math. Trudeau says his tax cut will “create” 176,000 jobs and cost $225-million. But these jobs are expected to be created with or without any tax cut.

Trudeau says Harper's trickle-down tax cut doesn't go far enough.

Not only that, it’s difficult to determine what businesses create a "net new job." So the number of businesses trying to claim the tax cut could cause costs to spiral out of control.

Cheating workers

The Liberals and Conservatives have turned Canada’s unemployment insurance program into a tax on poor workers who are forced to pay for premiums on benefits they’re ineligible to receive.

The coverage rate has fallen to an appalling 36% of those who pay in!

Bad History

The EI benefit cuts began in the early 1990s when the Liberals came in power.

A massive recession in 1991 caused the unemployment rate to spike which caused a deficit in the "EI" fund (previously called UI.)

This “crisis” was turned into an opportunity to slash benefits based on the neoliberal principle that a strong safety net discourages people from looking for work.

By disqualifying workers and slashing benefits, the EI fund ballooned to $54-billion by 2008. Both the Liberals and Conservatives used the surplus to pay down government debt — essentially stealing over $50-billion from workers.

Conclusion

We need an alternative to Harper. Not a prettier version of Harper.

We need someone willing to stand up for Canadians and the social safety net. Not tear it down to award wealthy investors and businessmen more free-money tax cuts that never create jobs.