Liberals ‘Double Down’ on Deficit Spending Amid Improving Economy: Here’s What We’re Reading
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Here’s what we’re reading today.
1. Liberals ‘double down’ on deficit spending amid improving economic outlook
“The federal Liberal government has exceeded its own deficit projections by billions of dollars thanks to a roaring economy, but they’ve earmarked much of those savings for increases to the Canada Child Benefit and a more generous tax credit for low-income earners.
“In his spring budget, Finance Minister Bill Morneau expected to post a deficit of $28.5 billion for the current fiscal year. Thanks to rising revenues from an economy that leads the G7, that shortfall is now expected to be $19.9 billion. ”
– CBC News
2. Bribery charges dismissed by judge in Sudbury byelection trial
“The byelection bribery trial of two Liberals came to an abrupt end Tuesday as a judge took the rare step of dismissing Election Act charges against them for lack of evidence.
“The acquittal lifts a cloud of suspicion hanging over Patricia Sorbara — former deputy chief of staff to Premier Kathleen Wynne — and local Liberal organizer Gerry Lougheed for more than two years.”
3. ‘This myth about the great and horrible Putin’
“To read the U.S. coverage these days about the Russian president, you’d think he’s 10 feet tall, a puppet master who merely has to yank the strings of his hacker army in the Kremlin to make democracy-loving Americans quake over their iPhones, an unfettered colossus at home prepared to challenge the United States on many fronts abroad.
“There’s just one problem with this view: Virtually all of the smartest Russia hands I know and many Russians themselves disagree with it.”
– Politico
+1: In search of Russia’s lost gold: One hundred years ago, the Bolsheviks captured the entirety of Tsar Nicholas II’s family gold reserve – or so they thought. – BBC
4. Small firm with ties to Trump admin lands Puerto Rico’s biggest contract to get the power back on
“For the sprawling effort to restore Puerto Rico’s crippled electrical grid, the territory’s state-owned utility has turned to a two-year-old company from Montana that had just two full-time employees on the day Hurricane Maria made landfall.”
+1: ‘Like going back in time’: Puerto Ricans put survival skills to use – New York Times
5. Surviving R. Kelly
“Kitti Jones left her home and career for a relationship with the R&B idol. That’s when she says the abuse began. Now she’s speaking out”
