2 weeks till the spending spree !

From tomorrow, we can begin counting down to the release of the 2007-08 federal budget. It will be posted online here, at 7:30pm Tuesday 8th of May.

In many respects, it will be very tiring and predictable to go through. I will eat my shorts if these predictions do not come true:

• The budget will spend more than any previous federal budget.
• Spending on Centrelink will reach record levels.
• Spending on education will reach record levels.
• Spending on "the environment" will reach record levels.
  
• No substantial income tax cuts. (maybe the brackets will adjust a few percentage points for inflation, but the rates won't drop)
  
• No change to GST
• No change to Pay As You Earn payroll taxes
  

The Liberal party will continue to ignore their manifesto and principles, which state that trade and enterprise are best left to free and unregulated markets, and that the scope of government activity should be kept to a minimum to maximize liberty and property rights.

It will then set out on a vote buying budget that wlll throw billions at massive segments of the population, including mothers, families, the elderly, university students, the unemployed, not to mention a range of influential lobby groups, first and foremost, the environmental alarmists.

The Liberals are foolish to go down this road of tax and spend with an election coming up. Nobody is better at that game than the ALP, who can outspend and grow government faster than any other party at present. The Liberals could commit to massive widespread tax cuts, and presenting themselves as a real difference to the ALP at the coming elections.

Imagine being able to choose between a party that offers to reduce the size of government down to 10% of the economy, that would tax and spend only 10% of your wealth and allow individuals to maintain a much larger chunk of their property, and then seeing the ALP offer to increase the size of government to well over 1/3 of our wealth, and proposing to control massive areas of industry and enterprise.

All that hot air and election rhetoric would be seen as just that - shallow vote buying.