Connect with us

Business

Why should Liberal MPs defend the carbon tax now?

Published

5 minute read

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax should be tucked under his arm while he doesn’t let the door hit them on the way out.

And Liberal caucus members need to make sure that happens.

Those in doubt need to ask themselves two questions.

Practically, why should Canadians keep paying the carbon tax for another few months before the next election?

Politically, why should government MPs keep paying a price with voters because of the carbon tax?

The carbon tax can be slayed on Wednesday during the Liberal party’s emergency caucus meeting.

Caucus finally rose up and finally forced the prime minister to face the reality that he can’t get re-elected.

But that’s only half of the job.

The problem isn’t just one person. It’s the policies. And Trudeau’s trademark carbon tax is one of his biggest failures. Replacing the PM while keeping the carbon tax is like switching the blackjack dealer while still facing a stacked deck.

And the Liberal caucus knows this.

Those Liberal MPs have been yelled at by their constituents about the carbon tax for years.

Hardworking people have been telling these MPs they can’t afford the carbon tax and it’s unfair to be punished for driving to work, heating their homes and buying food.

Those MPs have seen their constituents’ heating bills, the costs of their commutes and the invoices for their businesses.

They know the carbon tax adds about $13 to the cost of filling a minivan and about $20 extra to fill a pickup. They know the carbon tax is costing long haul truckers about $2 billion this year and they know it will cost farmers $1 billion in the next five years.

They know Canada misses its emissions targets, even with the carbon tax.

And here’s the big one: these MPs know the carbon tax is getting hiked on April 1.

The timeline has to be terrifying for Liberals seeking re-election.

March 24, the House of Commons reconvenes.

The government presents its Throne speech and immediately starts facing confidence votes with all opposition parties promising to vote against the government.

Then, on April 1, the government raises the carbon tax again.

Imagine door knocking after losing a confidence vote and raising the carbon tax.

Imagine being an MP from southern Ontario and a greenhouse tomato grower walks into your office with a chart showing his carbon tax costs.

Imagine trying to tell that farmer that he “gets more back” than he pays in the carbon tax.

Picture being an MP from Halifax and telling your constituents they need to buy an electric heat pump as their sole source of winter warmth before the carbon tax slaps them again.

Nova Scotia has charming weather events such as ice fog which seeps into a house like a ghost from a Dickens novel. So, most Maritime folks still need a furnace and Trudeau’s carbon tax punishes them.

These MPs have all been hollered at by their constituents who have been wounded by the carbon tax.

No matter how much the MPs may have pleaded with Trudeau behind closed doors, he kept the carbon tax and forced his MPs to defend it.

Trudeau tied this millstone to the necks of his MPs and didn’t care how much it ground them down.

But he’s leaving now.

And these Liberal MPs have the opportunity to cut the rope and free themselves from Trudeau’s carbon tax.

The Liberal caucus is holding an emergency meeting on Parliament Hill on Wednesday, and those members of Parliament need to demand an end to carbon tax then and there.

Why should they force Canadians to keep muttering profanities when they fill up their cars or pay the carbon tax charges on their heating bills?

Why should Liberal MPs face day after day of berating phone calls from constituents who don’t buy PMO talking points about the carbon tax?

The least they can do is spare Canadians the cost of the carbon tax right now and try to do the right thing in the end.

On Wednesday, Liberal MPs have to demand an end to the carbon tax.

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Business

Scott Bessent Says Trump’s Goal Was Always To Get Trading Partners To Table After Major Pause Announcement

Published on

 

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent told reporters Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s goal was to have major trading partners agree to negotiate after Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for many countries after dozens reached out to the administration.

Trump announced the pause via a Wednesday post on Truth Social that also announced substantial increases in tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States, saying 75 countries had asked to talk. Bessent said during a press event held alongside White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt that Trump had obtained “maximum leverage” to get trading partners to negotiate with the April 2 announcement of reciprocal tariffs.

“This was his strategy all along,” Bessent told reporters during an impromptu press conference at the White House. “And that, you know, you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position. They, they responded. They have shown themselves to the world to be the bad actors. And, and we are willing to cooperate with our allies and with our trading partners who did not retaliate. It wasn’t a hard message: Don’t retaliate, things will turn out well.”

Dear Readers:

As a nonprofit, we are dependent on the generosity of our readers.

Please consider making a small donation of any amount here.

Thank you!

WATCH:

China imposed retaliatory tariffs on American exports to the communist country Wednesday, imposing an 84% tariff on U.S. goods after Trump responded to a 34% tariff by taking American tariffs to 104%.

“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” Trump said. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”

“They kept escalating and escalating, and now they have 125% tariffs that will be effective immediately,” Bessent said during the press conference.

Bessent said that China’s actions would not harm the United States as much as it would their own economy.

“We will see what China does,” Bessent said. “But what I am certain of, what I’m certain of, is that what China is doing will affect their economy much more than it will ours, because they have an export-driven, flood the world with cheap export model, and the rest of the world now understands.”

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed up 2,962.86 points Wednesday, with the NASDAQ climbing by 1,755.84 points and the S&P 500 rising 446.05 points, according to FoxBusiness.

Continue Reading

Business

Stocks soar after Trump suspends tariffs

Published on

From The Center Square

By 

One gets the feeling this isn’t over yet…

President Donald Trump continued ahead Wednesday with his on-again, off-again tariffs, with his latest tariff suspension sending U.S. markets soaring.

Trump announced Wednesday afternoon on his Truth Social app that he would pause the majority of the reciprocal tariffs he announced last week on “Liberation Day,” the April 2 start of the implementation of the tariffs only to reverse course and put everything on pause.

Stocks jumped on the news with the Dow Jones gaining nearly 6% Wednesday after sharp losses during the previous week.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was all part of the plan.

“We saw the successful negotiating strategy that President Trump implemented a week ago today. It has brought more than 75 countries forward to negotiate,” Bessent said Wednesday. “It took great courage for him to stay the course until this moment.”

Trump’s pause includes all the tariffs that went into effect at midnight, except the additional levies on China. Trump has targeted the world’s second-largest economy in a tariff war that China has said it will “fight to the end.”

While many other nations called Trump’s trade team seeking deals to avoid reciprocal tariffs, China showed no signs of backing down.

“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs is doubly erroneous, once again exposing its extortionist nature. China firmly rejects such actions,” China’s commerce ministry said Tuesday. “Should the U.S. persist in this reckless course, China will respond resolutely until the end.”

Trump’s decision to suspend tariffs came after tough questions from Republicans, including U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

“I just don’t know what his goal is right now,” Kennedy said earlier in the day after comparing Trump to a dog chasing a car and catching it.

“President Trump has been a Rottweiler here, but now he’s the Rottweiler who has caught the car,” Kennedy said. “That’s the moment we are in now. My question is: What is he going to do with the car?”

Trump has made big, bold promises about his tariffs. He has said tariffs will make the U.S. “rich as hell,” bring back manufacturing jobs lost to lower-wage countries in decades past and shift the tax burden away from U.S. families. He’s also promised to help working Americans with his tariffs.

On Tuesday, Trump wrote “I’m proud to be the President for the workers, not the outsourcers; the President who stands up for Main Street, not Wall Street; who protects the middle class, not the political class; and who defends America, not trade cheaters all over the globe.”

Public Citizen, a progressive consumer rights advocacy group, said Trump’s latest suspension of tariffs showed he doesn’t support the workers who elected him.

“Who’s left out of his megalomaniacal game? The workers he claimed to support,” said Melinda St. Louis, global trade watch director at Public Citizen. “All he has shown is that he’ll cave to Wall Street’s handwringing and prioritize his own power over real people’s plight.”

Continue Reading

Trending

X