I don’t mind your dishonesty half as much as I mind your opinion of me – you must think I’m stupid.
– Charlie Brown, as Lucy tries to persuade him to kick the football again
Trust us.
Forget all the times we’ve broken our promises to you – this time it will be different.
You have our word on it.
That’s what the B.C. Liberal government is telling voters about the Harmonized Sales Tax.
Believe that they will introduce changes they pledged last week to bring in – trying to buy your vote with your own money – but only if you agree to keep the HST in the June binding referendum.
It’s like cartoon character Charlie Brown running full speed to once again try kicking the football – and having it pulled away as usual by his nemesis Lucy Van Pelt.
With the HST, Lucy’s character is played perfectly by Premier Christy Clark. Big smile, sweet words: “This time you can trust me – see, here’s a signed document testifying that I promise not to pull it away.”
British Columbians are Charlie Brown, who always gets tricked and ends up flat on his back, yelling “arrrgggh!” after believing Lucy once more.
That is, unless voters decide to not get fooled again.
In March Clark talked to Red FM 93.1 about the HST: "We aren't going to be talking about trying to reduce it by a point or two before the referendum. I mean, I think people will see that as buying them with their own money.”
Now she’s trying to buy us with our own money. She does think we’re stupid.
Can you believe the B.C. Liberals who said they wouldn’t introduce an HST, then did so after the election, will actually cut the HST in 2012 to 11 per cent?
Or cut HST in 2014 to 10 per cent?
The same B.C. Liberals who claimed in March 2010 that every HST dollar would go to health care, when it isn’t true.
Why believe a government that promised a 15 per cent income tax cut last October to sweeten the HST and then rescinded that cut just weeks later?
What credibility do B.C. Liberals have after attacking NDP leader Adrian Dix for pledging higher corporate taxes – and then hiking corporate taxes themselves?
Trust us. Kick the HST football.
What could go wrong?
Read more at www.TheTyee.ca and http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/ E-mail: weststar@telus.net
