Wednesday digest

- With Canadians paying nearly 50% of their income to the taxman, isn't it time for Canadians to demand a more broadly-based tax cut than a simple 1% reduction in the GST?

Unless you have a kid under 6 or in sports/ride the bus/are a student or an apprentice, the Tory platform basically has nothing for you. This is very disappointing and I'm not holding my breath for anything that isn't essentially managerial in tone (read: gas tax reductions).

I predict this budget is going to be basically indistinguishable from what we saw under the Liberals. A few sops here and there (continuing the well-established Canadian tradition of government picking winning and losers), but nothing of substance.

- From the "great philosphers of our time" file, I bring you Gordon Gekko. (Here's the problem with the contrasting point of view.)

- Did the West really lose the cartoon wars? (You know if the boys from South Park are backing down, there's a chill in the air.)

- A fair bit of over-reacting from the usual sources on Iran. No, I'm not talking about the threat, I'm talking about how many are jumping to conclusions that the Administration is considering using nukes when it was simply presented to them as one in a series of options. Fulsome briefings involve looking at any and all possibilities. It doesn't mean that W. is about to push the button, caricatures aside.

- Next time someone tries to tell you that the US economy is going down the toilet, cite some of these figures. The alarmists are dead wrong.