Ontario welcomes HST

HST is said to cost the average person $800-$1000 per year. As a student and a tax payer, I do not look forward to the extra charge. Every summer I save all of my money for tuition, rent, books and groceries – and I count on OSAP – this proposed HST will make my living situation even more difficult. I do not drink coffee, nor do I get a newspaper subscription, so these 'exemptions' don't really apply to me.
When I first heard of the new Harmonized Sales Tax, I supported the idea, because not only would it provide money to fund our deficit, but also because it will make us, as consumers, re-evaluate our consumption habits. Then I did some research and found out that businesses will be the big winners, as the combined tax reduces their costs by a total of $6.9-billion in Ontario per year. The tax burden will shift from businesses to consumers as we will now be paying levies on a broad range of goods and services - now it means tax on gasoline, haircuts, and restaurant meals. In case big business interests are secured, this seals the deal. Why is the shift onto consumers? Business can afford to take the hit. They do not need to pay their CEO and executives monstrous amounts of income, with their added yearly bonuses. But instead, the government decides to protect their interests (and 'their' as in the elite select FEW) and hurt the MANY.
This does not seem like a very democratic decision to me. Yes I understand that the government needs to make money to pay the deficit, but why consider business interests over the average person? Why is their vote worth more? I understand that the government is only as powerful as its capitalist economy, but then why is this tax put to the consumer, who funds the economy? In case it wasn’t hard enough its about to get tougher.

July 1, 2010 can't come soon enough.