You know you've got a right-wing government when...

The federal 'Conservative' government tabled their new budget yesterday and it, unsurprisingly, favors the rich at the cost of the poor.

Of the three tax brackets, only the lowest-income group see a tax increase in this budget (from 15% to 15.5%). On the other hand, rich individuals and corporations see the elimination of the "federal capital tax" which only applied to "taxable capital in excess of $50 million". There's also a more than 9% reduction in the "general corporate income tax rate over the next four years (from 21% to 19%). Companies also will have access to new tax credits.

There's a bunch of new/expanded spending on military and border security, while some other government areas will see budget cuts (and, undoubtedly, layoffs of workers).

They're throwing money at the so-called "child-care benefit" with a flat amount ($1200) per child under the age of six. That includes for families that are rich and don't need support, and isn't enough for low-income families that don't have enough. Keep in mind the statistic from a couple years ago (I haven't heard the most recent numbers) that 20% of children in Calgary are living below the poverty line - that's about 1 in 5.

government, right-wing, taxes, poverty, wealth, regressive, class war.