i just want to be clear.

it's not going to be the thing that determines my vote.

but, i'm certainly not opposed to raising corporate tax rates to eliminate the deficit. it's better than cutting services to do it, anyways.

a provincial level of government is different than a federal level of government, because it can't print money. so, ontario will in fact have to pay it's debt off, eventually.

but, the thing is that the only actual consequence of running a large public debt is in investors ratings, and these are political, anyways. i guess, in that sense, it makes sense for the ndp to try and avoid giving moody's anything to play with...

but, i need to reiterate that i'm more likely to get skittish about the ndp if they make the debt the focus of their campaign than applaud them for "being responsible". despite the public misperception, the ndp has a history of cutting services to pay off the debt - they are the party with the most fiscally conservative track record. corporate tax rates don't raise very often. if horwath insists on broadcasting an obsession with lowering public debt, i'm going to interpret it as broadcasting an intent to cut services, regardless of the platform. at the end of the day, that's the most likely thing that happens.

we live in a reality where politicians campaign on one thing and do another. this is one of those scenarios where you need to look in between the lines. the ontario liberals have a good track record on this - and that's what i think they should be running on, their record. the ndp, less so. frankly.

those are the empirical facts.

so, horwath needs to be careful.

if we're going to elect new democrats and get conservatives anyways, i'd rather split the vote.