Globe and Mail's disappointing bias

Yesterday's G+M carried a piece by Heather Scoffield which, though touted as an "analysis", betrays at best lack of thought and at worst outright bias and intent to mislead. Presenting Tory and Liberal stances, Scoffield ends each section with statements "who benefits" and "who loses". Scoffield's comparisons may be factual (I hope) but are so biased a toddler would spot it. For instance on Government spending the stances are compared as follows:

Liberal:

Poverty reduction, families and seniors would receive more income supplements, funded by new revenue flowing through carbon taxes. The Liberals' record shows the party eliminated the $42-billion deficit in the late 1990s, but allowed spending to gradually creep up as a share of GDP.

Tory:

Mr. Flaherty argues it should be tightly controlled, though his own budgets have contained spending increases at least as large as those in many Liberal budgets. Spending is budgeted to be above 13 per cent of GDP, a higher ratio than in most years of Liberal government. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates the Tories' pre-election spending promises total $19.2-billion, announced between June 2 and Sept. 6.

As for the evaluations of impact on Canadians' lives, the bias is clear:

Liberal:

Who benefits: Lower-income Canadians, through cuts to income tax and enhanced income supplements.

Who pays: The 700 large polluters who would pay the carbon tax.

Tory:

WHO BENEFITS: The middle class, because of cuts to consumption taxes and income taxes.

WHO PAYS: People who have lost their jobs at factories that have closed, because funding is for struggling firms that remain open.

If the carbon tax revenue is used to reduce poverty and pump money to certain segments of the populace it means the tax isn't revenue neutral because the same money isn't going back to businesses through tax cuts (as Scoffield purports) or consumers. Unless, of course, the Liberals cut social programs and create a "Fairness Fund" where the Green Shift money will trickle. Low-income Canadians will be treated to a cut in their benefits but an equivalent replacement by the "Fairness Fund", while paying higher grocery and fuel prices.

Same old Liberal baloney; same old media.