This week, I continue to explore Prime Minister Stephen Harper's attempt to transform himself into an all-positive, all-decisive self-help guru, in the tradition of The Secret (check out this cartoon to see his argument for reducing carbon emissions through positive thinking, Feng Shui and mandatory oil worker meditation).

Why am I satirizing Harper's one percent cut to GST, when I and many others on the left were against the tax when brought in by Mulroney in the late 80s? True, sales tax is regressive, since it makes up a larger proportion of low income expenses (while the GST credit tends to alleviate this for the poorest). But in the context of deteriorating city services, with infrastructures decaying and user fees abounding, we desperately need a substantial reinvestment. Cities don't have the tax power to manage that. And user fees and poor municipal services affect the poor more than the rich. (For a left defense of Harper's GST cut, see The Star's Thomas Walkom's take, Attacks on GST Cut Baffling.

Of course, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty should have used the golden opportunity to do just what he had often criticized Harper for not doing: Add a one percent sales tax to go directly to cities. Not doing is hypocritical. But the Tories so successfully painted him as a promise-breaker and tax-hiker, he must have felt he'd be digging his political grave to do so.

What irks me on about Harper's tax cuts as a whole -- and especially the corporate tax cuts -- is that he's using them as Mike Harris did in Ontario: To reduce government. Once in place, they will tend to stay, since being a tax-hiker is like being a pedophile these days. Say goodbye to any hopes or dreams of expanded health care programs (like pharmacare) or aggressive funding of anti-global warming initiatives. The time will come when times get tough, and governments will be powerless to step in, having been gutted by the likes of Harris and Harper.

I changed the last panel at the last minute. Below are my pencils for the punchline that would have appeared. While that would have been more logical, I just didn't think it was as funny. And the new one felt more ideologically correct, more in line with where Harper is from and where the country is going. "The real money is in oil." That fact has caused wars, destroyed ecosystems, skewed economies, bolstered dictatorships. And, sadly, it will continue to do so in the future -- with $100-a-barrel impact.