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RNG

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Everything posted by RNG

  1. Since either you don't know how to follow a link, or you refuse to in fear of having your worldview destroyed let me quote from the CBC story. And from post #14 by bush_cheney2004 (I haven't explored how to multiple quote yet). Seems pretty clear.
  2. But with the exception of the US, most right parties have moved towards the center and most left parties have also.
  3. One of the problems the Conservatives have is I don't see any rising stars in the wings. One problem with Harper's complete control.
  4. Admittedly I am looking at it from a western perspective, but I can't see that. It appears that it has always been a Liberal/NDP splitting. And that sure was the battle cry of the Liberals to explain their pounding in Quebec and Ontario in the last fed election. How do you come to your conclusion that there is now a Conervative/Liberal splitting?
  5. So, whose job is it in the US congress to present a budget and when is the last time a budget has been presented? Oh, yes, it's the Democrat controlled Senate. And you didn't comment on the CBC story or that the Republicans compromised and allowed $1T of new taxation. BTW, the "budget" referred to in the CBC story isn't a real budget, it is a funding bill, a different beast. What compromises have the Democrats made?
  6. A friend of mine is knowledgeable in economics. He strongly feels that thus far the US has escaped a lot of the pain the PIGS and such have suffered largely because of the reserve currency status resulting in helping keep inflation and interest rates low. Loss of the reserve currency status would cause them to suddenly "catch up to Europe" which would be a great shock to their economic system. If they could even show some intent to actually decrease their debt, rather than just trying to slow the rate of increase of debt, they might continue getting a pass. But given the current state of affairs and the fact that the Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot with their possitions on rape/evolution/science and environment I don't see the Democrats losing. The Republicans only hope is to get a charismatic candidate for president that can muzzle some of the old white men.
  7. As I said, Whittle only presents one side of the argument, but he offers some interesting numbers. Show me how his numbers, and therefore the conclusions he draws from those numbers are wrong. The sequester was arrived at by a bipartisan committee. So how can you totally blame it on the Republicans? And the Republicans have compromised way more than the Democrats on a variety of related issues. Do you not believe the somewhat pink CBC story healined U.S. Senate approves budget giving Democrats a win? Many observers, and not just right wing nuts are seeing that Obama et al are going out of their way to make the cuts as visible and painful as possible for political gain. Hopefully this strategy backfires.
  8. Interesting point, punked. I have noticed that in some countries also, but then when I look at many European countries, Israel, India and on and on where there are sometimes more than 10 parties I have to wonder. Even in the UK it is currently a coalition government.
  9. A news story with this headline was reported by CNBC and reprinted in the Vancouver Sun this morning. And this worries me personally. My retirement income is dependent on the performance of Canadian businesses and our economy is still very dependent on the US as they are our largest trading partner in both imports and exports. My fear is that the USD may lose it's reserve currency status which would then lead to the inevitable consequences of their massive quantitative easing including rampant inflation and skyrocketing interest rates. Iran is currently accepting yuan for their oil and there have been some oil trading in Euros. China itself has significant debt and there is some fear of a similar bubble there, but given their success in artificially depressing the value of their currency any such fallout would be far less drastic than that which the US faces. It must be trending. When I went back to google to find the CNBC link, it was now fifth down with Discuss.'>this link first.
  10. I would suggest you watch the Afterburner video on the sequester. Bill Whittle may only offer one side of the story, but I have never seen anyone successfully show his numbers to be wrong. Whittle Link
  11. What, you mean supreme court judges aren't supposed to be social activists above the wishes of the population and the laws as passed by parliament? How radical of you [/sarcasm]
  12. Mr. Harper was the most fiscally conservative of the choices we had in the last federal election. I haven't a good handle on Trudeau Jr's economic slant, but given that he is a Liberal I currently assume that my first statement is still true. Could he be more fiscally conservative. Oh, yes. Would he loose many votes? Oh, yes. It is a fine balancing act in this great and diverse land. My biggest bitch about Mr. Harper et al is the stupid "tough on crime" agenda. It is expensive and experts from around the world agree that it doesn't work. But it sure sells to the uninformed. Is he cynical or does he really feel he is helping our quality of life? I don't know. But he should look at the US where over 1% of the population is incarcerated and it still doesn't seem to be making the streets any safer. And the war on drugs is about as successful as prohibition was.
  13. Why is it that when any measure to decrease the amount of special treatment Quebec gets in proposed or passed, it is called Quebec bashing? I am not an expert, but with a fair amount of investment equity, I had never heard of these investment vehicles in Alberta and given the breadth of discussion I have had with my investment adviser, it amazes me I had never heard of it if it had been available to me.
  14. I guess I don't see what you consider the issue to be.
  15. Start a business, do whatever finagling you want to do but if you pay yourself a salary, or give yourself any money above real business related expenses and not deduct CPP as prescribed by law in the same manner as any other emloyee, plus contribute an equal amount from the corporation you are in violation of the law. I can not conceive of any way of legally arranging things to get a living wage out of a company without having to contribute CPP. The majority of my friends and associates were also self employed, one man private corporations or partnerships. Most of them worked out of their homes. Most of them paid highly trained tax consultants. And all paid CPP.
  16. Actually, what I found was best is that the type of consulting work I did it was feast or famine. During feast times I could retain earnings in the company, pay the relatively low small business corporate tax and pay myself a modest salary. Then during the famines I would continue paying myself from the retained earnings. Thus my corporation has a far larger investment portfolio than I do personally. It became effectively another RRSP, that is deferring paying income tax when my income was high and thus paying a lower rate by giving myself a lower income.
  17. I'm not sure if this is true for self employed, but I have been president of a private corporation and that has been my only source of income since 1996. Being in an arms-length relationship with the corporation, paying EI is at my discretion. But CPP is mandatory, and the corporation must contribute an equal amount. I'm not sure if the EI situation is the same with the self employed but one must pay a double CPP if self employed. As far as dividends go, again the amount the individual is taxed on dividends depends on the taxable income of the individual. With modest income dividends are effectively taxed at a very low rate which escalates at a far greater rate than income tax as taxable income increases. And keep in mind these dividends are paid with after tax money from the corporation's perspective. I'm not sure a self employed person can dividend themselves at all. (I may be president, but I'm also janitor. My corporation is totally a one man band.)
  18. If he pays into a private pension, doubtful for someone self employed or a one man corporation, the rules would be the same as for any employee, and I believe in those instances again the payment would be double. Capital aquisitions make no difference and the basic deduction works the same as for any employee. How much depends, as it does with you on how much salary or wages he gives himself. Of note here, one can't just write cheques to yourself from the company. The CRA deems that to be salary and it is taxes as such, including all relevant payroll taxes.
  19. Amen, brother. I would suggest all of you read up on FairTax at this link
  20. Not often you hear someone blatantly saying lowering taxes is bad. Very silly IMO.
  21. If he pays himself an income, he has to pay CPP X2. If he, on paper pays his child a salary, he has to deduct the CPP form the kids salary and pay the company portion. With the same deducteble and the same max as any other salaried worker. He could not pay it if he gets his money out as a dividend, assuming he is incorporated, but dividend expenses are not deductible for the corporation. Assuming he doesn't cheat, reasonable home office expenses is about the only break above what a "normal" employee gets. And keep in mind that capital aquisitions are not a deduction, they must be depreciated over time And things like a company car carries such a tax liability that very few companies have them any more as it is not a real benefit for the workers.
  22. If you don't pay both CPP contributions you are in violation of tax law. You don't have a choice, unless you consider fines and ultimately jail as a choice.
  23. My life experience suggests to me that if you are a fan of government "investing" in social housing you will be the first to demand the government bail out the banks and the individuals who overextend themselves for fear that they might actually have to live with the logical consequences of their actions.
  24. When I first started voting, more years ago than I like to think about, it seemed your MP was important. Through the years the power has been more and more centralized in the respective party leader's master's hands. Individual MP's are mere puppets voting as directed. A sad tale.
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