Ricki Bobbi

Corruption. Mismanagment. Overly strong unions.

So you are upset because he is doing what he said he would do and not what you thought he *secretly* planned to do? Uhhh, strange interpretation. They passed what they could given the limits of a minority government. Superior status is your term. The Liberals recognized Quebec as a distinct society with exactly the same kind of motion. Both were gestures without legal force. You knew was an election promise. The legislation has been tabled. Delaying the election till the fall, or later will give them time to pass it. Again there is no realism in your complaint. Pretty weak that you are pre-judging an environmental plan that hasn't been presented yet. A five-word objection. What's that? You whine and whine about wanting to leave. Just do it. F*ck it isn't that tough to work in another country. Finish undergrad and do a working holiday somewhere. If you really want to make it work you can stay in that country. You mean where is the Stephen Harper of your wet dreams? He doesn't exist anymore. He realizes the necessity of compromise. That is why he is Prime Minister today. Your idealized Stephen Harper would have lost last January and probably have resigned by now. So you are whinging because the party that represents your views the best doesn't represent you 100%? If that's what you want start your own party. You talk about pressuring the party. Do you volunteer? Do you commit any of your time to trying to change things?

So the Yukon should have as many Senators as Ontario? Nunavut as many as Alberta? Interesting. Can't see it ever happening, but I sorta see your logic. Won't happen because the Territories have no official role in Constitutional reform.

What is *Liberal ideologically*? Did you pay attention to the campaign? The five priorities weren't all about a "small-government" ideology. With the one exception of income trust (please let's not go there AGAIN) he has done everything he campaigned on. Why didn't you read their platform? I am concerned about actions, not motivation. So far the Conservatives have performed well. . That is a surefire recipe for another decade or so of Liberal rule.

gc1765's list is pretty vague but I would agree with most of them in general. More an issue of how to accomplish those goals and which is the most important. For me democratic reform means a reformed senate. Equality means no special status for any province or group. No distinct society. Affirmative action in very limited circumstances and it should not be part of the charter of rights. I get a chuckle out of people saying they like the old PCs. The CPC is far closer to the old PCs than anything else out there now. Remember who brought us the FTA and NAFTA. Completely agreed on the war, and yes Afghanistan is justified. I agree with legalizing marijuana and am pro-choice. Everybody thinks education is a good thing.

You missed it. Montreal just finished paying off Olympic Stadium. It's a disgrace it took them 30 years to do it, but they are finally done... Here is the link. I love this quote from the story. The original forecast was for $120 Million. Cost overrun? It was $1.38 Billion or about 1200% worth of cost overrun.

I think you are just pulling our chains. You can't really be that innumerate...

What majority are you talking about?

Why wouldn't it be nice? They promised the second one-point cut to the GST by the end of 2010. They will get more political traction out of cutting the lowest tax bracket. You really don't want the Conservatives to be in power, do you? Put some pressure on the party? wtf is that Maybe the ideology represents tax cuts to you, but that isn't every party member. Harper has been doing a good job as Prime Minister. Turning to the right only helps the Liberals win the next election. You gotta decide what's more important to you. The Conservatives truly representing the ideology you think they will or keeping the Liberals out of power. I prefer to keep the Liberals out of power.

Ahhh the old Liberal strategy automatically equate anything and everything a Canadian Conservative dows with the Republican party. Is this the new Liberal strategy since *scary* *scary* *scary*quit working?

15.25 is the correct effective rate for the 2006 tax year. Which is what my calculations are based on. You two are correct *if* the Conservatives don't change the rate again in the coming budget. qc did say he was nitpicking, so it should be ok for me to do the same

I already said that in post #35.

Margin of Error Face it, they are tied at best! Why would you post something that proves you are wrong? I will use the example in the definition of Margin of Error you quoted to explain why you are wrong. A margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 means there is a 95% chance that the response of the Canadian public as a whole would fall somehwere between a 0.1 % Liberal lead and a 6.1% Conservative lead (a 6.2% spread). It is equally as likely the Liberals have a 0.1% lead as it is that the Conservatives have a 6.1% lead. Do explain how that means they are tied?

Welcome to the board. Please provide sources when you attribute information or a given belief to somebody. Otherwise the board just ends up being a bunch of innuendo and the debate is pretty weak.

Do you have any clue how polling works? In your own words explain what the term "margin of error" means. I assure you it doesn't mean what you wrote below...

If it is truly funny I will say so. Doubt that it will be though...

I sure hope you get to work as the Liberal's pollster with such sophisticated knowledge of polling techniques. Nice analysis.

Preston suffered from Joe Clark disease. He didn't have the killer instinct necessary for plitics. He could have held the Liberals to a minority in 1997 over the flooding in Manitoba in that election. Had he done that he wouldn't have been forced out before the next election, Chretien probably would have and Preston may have become Prime Minister as a result. If Martin was as bad a Prime Minister in the late 90s as he was in the 2000s the Liberals probably would have lost the next election after he took power.

Your taxes payable are a percentage your taxable income. So if taxable income goes down your taxes payable go down. I don't understand this step. Where is the -69.78 coming from? The $27,910 is the full amount of the lowest tax bracket. The Conservatives raised the lowest tax bracket by 1/4%. $69.78 is 1/4% of $27,910. Uh yeah. Now you are just being obstinate. What do you mean even if it proves correct? You have the link to the revenue Canada page. There is no denying my numbers are correct. The claim is that somebody who works is better of with the Conservatives 1/4 point increase to the lowest tax bracket and the employment tax credit than they would have been under the Liberals by $82.72. Never mind the transit credit, textbook credit. On and on and on.

Not funny, a miracle! Do they have miracles in Islam?

You are wrong sir. Here is a link from the Canada Revenue Agency Web site. 2006 tax brackets

It's a valid question. Why didn't Graham say no to Khan being a special advisor?

Oh yeah. How so? You don't understand how income tax works? wtf? Introduction to taxes 101. Here are how Federal tax brackets work. Everybody who pays taxes pays the rate on the first certain amount of their taxable income. (That is the lowest tax bracket.) For those who make above the bracket maximum they pay a higher percentage on their taxable income above the taxable income. Until they reach the bracket maximum for the second bracket. Then they pay an even higher perecentage of their taxable income above the second bracket maximum. For 2006 the basic personal exemption is $8,468, so if you make less than that amount you pay zero taxes, then; you pay 15.25% on taxable income between $8,468 and $36,378 (which was *raised* from 15%); then you pay 22% on taxable income between $36,378 and $72,756; then you pay 26% on taxable income between $72, 756 and $118,285 ; and you pay 29% on taxable income over $118,285. Easy to say, harder to demonstrate. I'll keep it simple. The working tax credit (i.e. the Canada Employment Credit is worth $1,000). That means it reduces your taxable income by $1,000. Which means it reduces taxes payable by $152.50 for people in the lowest tax bracket. For somebody who makes the full amount of the lowest bracket they pay an extra $27,910 * .0025 = $69.78, so after the employment credit they are (152.50 - 69.78) = $82.72 better off. That wasn't very hard to demonstrate at all... "Mistake"??? The Minister made a typo, I suppose? No. A political miscalculation. This would be termed a *criticism* of the Conservatives. The 1/4 point change brings in f**k all for extra revenue and all the lefties out there don't really understand they are better off. So it just allows the Libs and NDPers to get mileage out of the Conservatives *raising* taxes when they really haven't done so. As long as a taxpayer works and/or buys a transit pass and/or goes to school. They are better off under the Conservatives than they would have been under the Liberals.

Sounds halalarious!

The Conservatives are up three points. You do understand how margin of error works, don't you? It means that it is just as likely the Conservatives are up 6 points as the Liberals and Conservatives are exactly tied.