Hydraboss

Hell of a comment. Really go me thinking.

Klein got things in order. Sometimes in stupid, painful ways...but he did it. Good for him and good for us. I highly doubt the WRA would cut spending to healthcare, but I could see them reigning in the spending increases. Good for him and good for us. Would she bring in private health care? Doubt it, but I do believe we'll see more P3's in the near future. And just for the record...those that can afford better and faster care should get it. Don't really give a shit about the rest of you. Wait in line to die. (that's what I'm supposed to say, right?) Those with enough money already are in a position to go first (see Danny Williams), they just go to the States. As for the general political leaning in Alberta, open your eyes. This is probably the only province that could mount an assault of union busting and disband the teacher's union and that would actually get the party elected! There is very, very little socialist bent in Alberta. If there was such a great amount, the NDP would have more than two seats. That's right. 2. ALL politics (from the individual's standpoint) is self-serving. Self-protectionist. If it weren't, there wouldn't be a single "socialist" with a computer or a car because everything they have would have been shared with the less fortunate. Bunch of hypocrites.

Actually, I'm hearing quite the opposite. It would seem that there are a lot of people are pissed at Special Ed's inability to reign in spending. The health care spending issue has been put forth by opposition as currently at 20% increase year over year (completely unsustainable), and wiping out the $1 billion dollar shortfall in Alberta Health Services has raised the question of how did the "superboard" manage to get into such a mess in the first place and what guarantee is there that they will not simply go there again. Special Ed couldn't even get it right on the news tonight, claiming the 6% and 4.5% increases were stable (but got the number of years of each wrong). The man is nothing more than a bobblehead (watch him sometime). Even the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation came out both barrels blazing against Ed, and their opinion is rather well respected in a province that cut-cut-cut and went through the pain of paying down what they owed and balancing everything in the 90's. Ted Morton was brought in only to re-attract the right wing in this province, but I highly doubt it will have much effect since there is a better alternative for those voters in the WRA. I believe there will be a major shift in Alberta politics in the very near future that will see the PC's get hammered from both the left and right. This province is not known for being "centrist". The WRA will take the votes on the right, and the Lib's will take the left. The NDP has never been a threat to anything other than the phone booth on the corner where they hold their caucus meetings. And I strongly believe that there are more right-leaning voters in this province than left.

And don't forget the "body of Christ...blood of Christ" (Catholics will understand this) I guess we can start calling them Roman Cannibals. And incestuous ones at that.

Actually, you don't pay a red Canadian cent to "the equalization pot". Not a dime. Not a dollar. YOU RECEIVE AS A HAVE-NOT province. Some people in Kwebek pay federal taxes, but the province has always, and always will, stand with their tin cup in hand DEMANDING that the rest of Canada pay them for the honor of La Spoiled Province staying in Canada. Get your math right...use the "search" function for "equalization" threads and read the real numbers.

If you are going to make an accusation of this behavior of JTF2 against the Van Doos, and that this bullshit is fact, I expect you to post an article or evidence other than some "paratrooping forum" you frickin wingnut. Supply the evidence or get the hell off the board.

Are you, like, one of Oleg's kids? Seriously. Are you?

We can always move the "Good-bye from Alberta" talk here: Better Thread for This

True. Just look at the bang-up job Somolia is doing. Are you on drugs? How, exactly, does any government function without some kind of tax base? Who pays the President? Who pays the guy who cleans the President's office?

It would appear that I've moved considerably. Eco 8.38 Soc 3.13

Same as they felt before Harper. Stoned.

Right now, indians have reserves and for the most part they stay on them to maintain tax-free status and free housing/medical/drug plans/food/travel by ambulance/paycheques/etc/etc/etc. If Alberta were to separate, you may see some changes to that. And not in favor of the indians.

As soon as the recession turns the corner in the States, I'm being transferred down there. The unemployment numbers have put a hold on that for the moment. Really? How many laws have they written in Canada in the last thirty or so years? How many have they struck down? So is Charles going to come over again and spank Stephen? Maybe make him speak Queen's English instead of that boorish dialect he now uses? Is he going to command Canadian troops overseas? Why does Britain ask for help? Why not just have OUR FUTURE KING direct us hither and thither? Oh yeah, forgot, HE'S A VERY IMPOTENT PERSON!!!

You really, really don't know what the hell you're talking about do you? We rely entirely upon TWO non-renewable resources. Do some research. Just wander down to one of the nine Starbucks on your block, ask the gay guy if you can use the computer next to his non-gender-specific life partner, order a non-fat, decaf, iced mixed carmel macchiato and turn on the iMac. Google "neanderthal civilizations", click on the link that lists "Alberta" and do some reading while listening to Atif Aslam on your ipod. You too can learn. Learning is fun.

True. I know of no one that is opposed to all taxes. Just the ones that allow lazy-ass, useless twits to live off of my hard work. Agreed. There are lots like that. It's a remarkably easy number to figure out. Go back two years to when the economy was smoking hot. The number of people on EI at that time = the number of people who are leaches on society (there were jobs, just nobody willing to take them). Add probably 50% of the scum collecting welfare and you have your number. Take that number and total the amount of dollars in benefits we pay to keep those life forms from having to work and divide that number into the number of people who actually pay taxes (above the tax free line). Bam! Reduce income taxes by that amount. Now, about those other government expenditures........

Blue, HOW DARE YOU ask such questions about the Middle East? They are above reproach because they are multicultural, and they have Yonge Street, and the HoC, and easy access to poutine....

The last time we had this conversation you were a student. Congratulations on the job. If you're paying taxes, welcome to the debate. (You're still wrong, but you're now entitled to be wrong Captain Canada).

And this is why they would drool at either buying directly from Alberta (sans federal involvement) or accepting us as another state. They also use less soap. And buy less Dom Perignon. And drive less Ferraris. I'm sure that makes the enviro wingnuts happy too.

We've talked about this before. It's easy for you to say that because you don't contribute financially to others. When you've worked for a while and had lots of extra money taken from your neighborhood to send to people in other places (like welfare or foreign aid), then you can comment. Feds Alberta's input So let's get this straight...we send $21 billion PLUS $3.6 billion and get back...wait for it...$3.6 billion. Great fucking deal for us!!!!

Oh please! We can have the debate about whether Alberta could separate by peaceful or military means, but WOULD YOU DROP THE CRAP ABOUT BRITAIN??? Nobody here cares about what Charles may or may not think, nor could he do a damn thing. When it comes to affairs in Canada, he is completely impotent. The monarchy has absolutely SHIT to say about affairs here and are, for all intents and purposes, of no meaning worldwide. Canadians are not slaves, servants or subjects of the British crown and if some wannabe king tried to stick his nose in with force, he'd find it getting shot off. Take all of the oilsands away? You're joking right? Under what authority is he going to do that? He can't even TRAVEL to Canada without the permission of the Canadian government. The man is going to be another figurehead that only matters to the British (if at all) and is there to make 60 year old spinsters swoon. Other than the awarding of the odd medal, he can't make policy, break policy, or fart without permission in Canada, let alone Alberta. Get over your little rants about Britain. Edit to add: Eyeball - nobody in this province would give a good god damn about the "claims" of a bunch of indians. That's a Canadian Liberal thing, not an Albertan one. Nice try.

First of all, we don't need to sell to California. Other states can sell to California and we can sell to them. Solved. As for your second link, there is absolutely nothing in there preventing Alberta from shipping directly into the States. The whole "dirty oil" thing went bye-bye when Hussein's advisor went to Ft Mac. So I guess your "realizing concessions from the ROC" crap goes right out the window. Have you looked at a map lately? Ontario is not south of Alberta. Montana is.

That might be a little tougher to accomplish than we think because it starts to poke at the constitution. However, if the "enviro wingnuts" get their way and some kind of "per tonne" charge on CO2 comes in, Alberta would be well within it's rights to add that additional charge to the barrel of oil or mcf of natural gas we export out of the province. Nothing saying we can't charge an inflated amount to the ROC to make up for what we wouldn't charge the US (provided they didn't sign on to the IGGG-BS). We'd have to wait and see how much the ROC enjoys paying $1.95/liter for gas when Albertans pay $0.85.

C'mon Michael, the US invading Alberta would be like me invading my buddies basement to have a beer. Except Washington state. They're kinda weird. And I can barely understand the Governor of California. I keep getting the feeling he's some kind of predator, ready to crack bad jokes and go commando on us. Spooky.

Maybe I should have been more clear. If John Smith joins the WRA, he can step down as an MLA without having to leave the party. That automatically forces a by-election. Sorry about that.

Ha! Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do. - Dale Carnegie