madmax

AND THEY SUCK!!!

McDonalds or Guns ?

Did you read the article??? It is the person who wants the Anthem Played that is screaming "Taliban Death Threats", for which he was convicted in the court of law.. He claims he won, however, and his point was made. A point that you agree with.

The End.

I feel your pain....Totally agree with you.

There is no party that has that as part of their platform

DP

This is the biggest difference between Public and Private sector Unions. Public Sector Unions have also had the benefit of a hyper public who cannot handle being inconvienced on the government services provided. A strike/lockout (IMHO) is a failure. That failure should result in pressures to resolve the deadlock. In a public sector strike, those pressures should be "An agitated and pissed off public who want services back" and then they lash out at the parties involved to resolve the issue. That negative factor is applied to the government, they rarely look good in these circumstances, and upon the union. This creates the lose lose situations we often see in these disputes. Eventually they get resolved and the public moves on and forgets. However, many people even on MLW and Babble suggest that there should be no strikes allowed, like many "essential" services like the Police have. Yes the Police are Unionized and they cannot strike. The process without a strike and without public backlash, leads to a situation where Wages and Benefits can only go up, and there is little cost or worry to these civil servants are the bargaining process is under little pressure from outside, no one is watching, and the resolutions come from the Province and they don't pay. It is often the municipality that has to foot the Bill, and find out how to pay for the latest package. What the Garbage strike has highlighted is that these public servants receive what all public servants receive. I wouldn't be surprised if Argus , in his comfy government job, doesn't have bankable sick days. Same for Police, Firefighters, and various office staff. Many of the personal benefits that a private sector workforce can only dream of. Many of the benefits received in the public sector are the result of rulings during labour contracts, without having to strike to obtain them. Who said these packages were out of line??? So, now, with a service that is only "Essential" when the pope is coming to town, we, the public see what this dispute is about, or we get a small snippet of a singular issue. McGuinty could have chosen to end this at anytime, however, he probably like seeing Miller and the Unions getting a black eye. Back to Work legislation can work in the Unions favour. I laughed when a cop said, he wished they had the right to strike, while showing up to arrest a striker on his 11month of turning down 35% wage cuts, and getting charged for "leering" at the tinted windows of the Scab bus (Scabs who make 11% MORE then the wages they paid the Union Workers). The Union has offered 16% cuts up from 12% (which any company I am aware of would be happy to take today if offered). Infact I am certain if the Union came in offering the whole 35% cut, the company would still refuse, because their monetary goal, appears to be focused on removing the Union. The back to work Legislation would force the Cop back to work under the current contract until a deal is reach. I am certain that the workers on Strike and would be happy to be legislated back to work at the regular wage until a contract is reached. On the monetary side of things, companies rarely offer more then they can afford, or care to provide in wage increases. Companies rarely if ever succeed by cutting wages, because often their problems are structural, and the wage cut may only delay the inevitable by a month or two. That is why companies that are non unionized sometimes force wage concessions then close and others don't bother because the fundamentals no longer exists to be competitive. Wages are just one small variable. Often the fluctuating dollar can eat up anysavings in a heartbeat, or provide a treasure troff of easy money. Regardless, rarely are these economic factors involved in Public Sector Negotiations unlike Private Sector Unions.

What emperical data do you have to support the statement the economy is starting to stablize?

People on MLW hide their real age. I am still in my terrible twos.... M. Dancer is definitely 12 years of age.. he is the oldest. Guyser is 13, but I think he moved away Argus, is 5 and treats me like his little brother. He's going to school soon, Skipped Kindergarden. Jerry Fortin is 14 Moonbox is 17, and could get a drivers license soon, becareful... don't get caught stunting... Jdobbin is 21 and is a great grandfather of 12 young Liberals. FellowTraveller keeps his age a secret... I think he's 100 Keepitsimple, lost his birth certificate, but when its found, well let you know. Mr. Canada turned 142 on July 1st. Riverman is older then the grand canyon Tango... is WANGO TANGO Topaz is 17 years old with 212,000 km, power windows and doesn't cost alot to purchase. August 1991 is either 19 or 91.. I think. Cut... this is silly.....

Having been in the Military... it becomes apparent very quickly that you are on your own. This does not surprise me, this is the way it has been and the way people are treated. Nothing has changed with the Harper Government, regardless of their "pro military" stance. It is pro military spending, but the buck stops there. The time frame things were different then... we have this process today. But don't hold your breathe for a different result. Some of this shit defies common sense.

The 3rd quarter results haven't come in yet, and I am tired of all this speculation that somehow we are out of the wods. I have just followed another plant closure in which the #1 client with 85% of the business wanted to maintain production in Ontario, but was forced to move to the United States in a takeover bid. That doesn't help Ontario. Also, a major corporation that Harper made a stop at has just announced a significant layoff last week, and Ironically another company that Dion visited closed its doors for good. These people will not be rushing out to purchase. Nor will those people laid off at Nanticoke, and Tony Clements dithering hasn't helped the situation. Leaving US STEEL in the position of strength when he should have acted immediately, US Steel sees our government as weak, and is not in fear of the threatened $10,000 per day fine. Business is booming so much, that not only does Ontario not need to build a nuclear reactor, Bruce Power has voluntarily shut down 2 more because of a lack of demand for power because of industrial slowdown. There won't be an upcoming boom... but a leveling off. The future as I see it will be all financing and insurance procedures can be done more affordably offshore. We don't need these higher paid people and the office overhead, when everything can be done offshore and through the internet... Then we will become internationally competitive...

You might be right......There's Gay Cowboys/Girls... competeting at the stampede. Of course I think there are enough of them to have their own Gay Stampedes/Rodeos http://www.argra.org/

You guys are cracking me up

It's time the US catch up with the rest of the developed world.

Polls on MLW have are different. It is the opinions of us pundits and know it alls, that have alot of fun voting on polls. Take seriously.. hell no.. pat ourselves on the back when the real results come in and the MLW poll is similar.... hell yes. MLW punters have been surprisingly accurate in their predictions. That said, I pass the poll over to you, to even out the odds as your opinion is opposite of mine. Nice of me eh LOL.... now you have me thinking to join in on the forcing of people to vote thread... yup, force people to vote on MLW polls .... nah...there just for fun and discussion. 2,000 to 3,000 votes in a general riding is anywhere from 4% to 6% of the vote. Certainly no party should receive $6,000 for 3,000 votes. Meanwhile the other parties are raking in 20,000 votes in a riding and Getting $40,000..... This is crazy. Its what brought the Liberals crawling on their knees over to the NDP for a handup. I certainly understand the Liberals interest in collecting $40,000 from the tax payer in a riding, whereas the NDP are in that 2,000 to 3,000 margin in most ridings across Canada. The CPC have built a huge war chest. The fact that the Liberals weren't prepared to have the rug pulled out from under them, is no reason for the tax payer to prop up the Liberal Party or any other party. At least we both hate those damn taxpayer funded CPC propoganda flyers. SCUMBAGS!!! The poor have a history of not showing up at the polls. The poorer the riding, particularly in the inner cities, the lower turnout. As for representation in the House of Commons, the NDP and its predecessors the CCF have represented and stood up for the poor for over 70 years, regardless of whether or not the poor make it to the polls. That representation has created the safety nets in this country. However, the NDP/CCF did not do this alone, these policies were implemented by all parties and all Provinces. The fact is, many wealthier people vote, because if they can get their taxes lowered, or moved onto the backs of the poor through a Carbon Tax or Harmony Tax, virtually any type of tax cut for them, then they are going to lobby and vote and back, tweedle dee and tweedle dum. In the meantime, all parties, including the NDP offer free rides to the polls during an election, and there are many stories of various candidates/helpers etc........... in many parties, baby sitting while the parent goes to vote. Giving $2 to the political parties which in which the voting public is disproportionately middleclass homeowners and then movers and shakers in business, finance, lobbiests, doesn't help the poor one bit. Make no mistake, political party financing isn't about helping the poor, its about helping the Party. As anyone knows, joining a political party entitles the new card holder to never ending phonecalls and emails asking for money. Even from parties without a single seat in the house, their first call is "GIVE" . Considering the NDP is one of the poorer and working class parties, they do a pretty good job of fundraising. There isn't a party more in tune to the needs of those in poverty as most of the activists in the NDP appear to come from volunteer and social services network dealing directly with those in poverty. That said, there are some "poor" parties out there and alot of their problem is that they aren't worth giving to, and happen to have very wealthy people supporting them, and they want others to prop up there vision and that is the tax payer. I have no reason to subsidize the wealthy or their political party of choice. I have no reason to subsidize the NDP. Its there job to make people care enough to give money to the party, and if they have no money... they can give their time, which in this day and age is far more valuable then money during an election.

Looks like we are back to Socialism vs Social Credit again ... LOL... Regardless, good points in regards that you pay for Employment Insurance....

Let me know when your ready to present.

Thats excellent advice.. particularly since a factory moved to china or mexico isn't re opening its doors....

This is politics... This is Federal Politics.... and the Topic is EI Interesting... You logo looks like a Cut and Paste Job with half from the Conservative Party and the other half from the NDP. Blue/Orange. The Webpage with its blue colours and orangeblue logo, goes to Liberal Red when you scroll it. I like anything new, just for the sake of looking....and if you have been at this 5 years.... you've missed 3 important elections.. I hear there is another one around the corner... might be triggered by EI.... oh back on topic.. that was easy....

You can thank the Liberals and Conservatives for reducing how much you receive on EI. You personally receive less then people laid off 13 years ago. Without the Socialist movement taking root in all parties during the depression and following the war... we wouldn't even have EI. It is a little trite to blame a self employed or small businessman for wanting what is available to you. The self employed and small businessman must take bigger risks and their isn't a net their to pick them up. Its painful to watch as failed business owners with no income, have to resort to liquidation and welfare, before jumping back up with another enterprise effort. There is no reason why EI can't be used like a draw to the self employed. Fact is... you start making money, and EI claws back. In the meantime, while you are scraping by on EI, I can assure you that one of the handful of changes that I lobbied for came forward this year. Including the ability to keep a larger percentage of weekly earnings if you find work while on EI. Its 40% now.. thats pretty good, if there is work out there to do and you can do it.

you should follow this link to an MLW poll on party funding.... http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index....showtopic=12604 in the meantime, when 20,000 people vote for major party A and 17,000 for major party B... I don't consider 2,000 or 3,000 votes to be in the running or worthy of anything, especially tax payers monies. Nor should the other two parties receive 10X the amount in funding because they receive votes. This scam gives the CPC money to fund these year round campaigns, they can't spend it all, let alone deal with their donations. On top of that the CPC have a Disgracefull habit of using the Taxpayer to fund their propoganda in targeted ridings. The monies to be used for EI, Transfer payments, etc.... needs to get to the people, not to the parties.. that said...it didn't take rocket science to figure out if you run 300 candidates the odds are not bad that 2 out of a hundred might vote for this party. Its to clever by half. and can end up giving parties MILLIONS of Dollars that could actually be used constructively. If someone supporting their party, can't give $2 of their own money... they shouldn't be taking mine.

We Disagree...We live in a democracy. It costs nothing to cast a ballot. Political Parties should not be financially rewarded when someone casts a ballot for them. Running paper candidates for money is not democracy, and quite frankly independants get in with virtually no tax payer monies.. from any of the schemes including public funding per vote received. No reason to create slush funds for lame parties that don't have the proper support to run a campaign. If the United Farmers, Social Credit, Independants, CCF, Progressives, and REFORM were able to scratch out grass roots campaigns then virtually any party worth their salt can get along without the taxpayers money. As for having an effect on Democracy.. while not winning a single seat.... one of the ideas of the National Party 1993 was the funding of political parties......and it was adopted by the Liberals..... We agree on this one