The end of the HST

Beginning this past June 13 our Provincial Government began mailing out the much ballyhooed HST referendum voting packages. I’m one of those annoying taxpayers that hates paying for an inefficient and ineffective government, especially when it’s run by a group of bumbling idiots. I especially resent the fact that we’re presently being subjected to the failed Vancouver Mayoral candidate, family-centric and unelected twit Christy Clark. She’s doing us all a huge favour by pushing the date of this referendum forward from the fall (as ‘promised’ by the previous bumbling idiot) to June. Gee…thanks Christy. You’re a peach.

It’s always nice to have a referendum within a reasonable amount of time so we don’t forget our frustration and rage when the HST was initiated by Gordon Campbell. And trying to soft-soap the HST by promising to reduce it by 1 percent in 2012 and another 1 percent in 2014 while offering seniors a staggering $230 bribe to help them with the increase cost is laughable. Did anyone mention the plan to pay seniors their $230 quarterly with cheques of $57.50 every 3 months? And you wonder why I think our government is run by a group of morons?

I’ve had a few conversations over the past months with friends and acquaintances regarding the HST vs. PST/GST debate and I’m amazed by the lack of understanding and ‘roll over and die’ attitude I’ve encountered. One person, who shall remain nameless, told me that “…one way or the other the Provincial government will get the tax revenue so I may as well pay now rather than later”. Nice attitude. Perhaps we should all give our entire income to the Provincial government and live in cardboard boxes in Stanley Park. I mean, they’re gonna take it anyway. Just a thought.

The bottom line is that stuff costs more since the HST was implemented. Period. End of discussion. All the bullshit we’re being fed about protecting jobs, creating jobs, and better paying jobs is just that. Bullshit. The only truth is that it helps small business but those very same small business owners and employees will see their incomes eaten away by increased taxation. The HST has resulted in an increase in unemployment and the price of consumer goods. Period. And my restaurant meals, cable and telephone service, home repairs and renovations, airline tickets, concert/sports tickets, haircuts, gym membership, vitamins, massage therapy, health food store products, taxi rides, parking fees, newspapers, magazines, accountant fees, vet bills and financial services and consultant fees are more expensive with the HST. According to a B.C. government independent panel on the HST (May 2011), we pay an average of $350 to $1000 more a year because of the HST. That comes right out of your pocket and into the unapologetic and inefficient hands of our idiotic government. That pisses me off. It should piss you off too.

The Government is whining that it will lose the $1.6 billion it was paid by Ottawa to offset the cost of transition. Too fucking bad. Perhaps you should have consulted British Columbia taxpayers before implementing the change. They also claim that they will need to hire 300 PST tax collectors at a cost of $35 million a year to bring back the PST/GST. Where the hell were these 300 overpaid bureaucrats before the HST was implemented? Why do we suddenly need them now and why weren’t they needed when during the GST/PST to HST conversion? It’s all so complicated when our government reduces tax revenue. It’s always much easier when they increase the flow of money into governmental coffers. Funny, huh?

So do us all a favour and vote YES in the upcoming referendum. Remember…an election is coming and we’ll be getting rid of the Liberals anyway so why not give them a solid kick in the nuts before they leave?