Harper meets with NDP on budget

[Topaz]

Harper has met with the leader of the NDP but nothing will come of it because as it was said on TV, the budget has already gone to the printers, so this was just for PR reasons. One thing that is confusing is, Harper is cutting, and in the US, they are spending and the US is getting better economy and it was also said on US TV, one doesn't want to cut right now because that will make one's economy worse. Which one is right?? The swell of unemployment is happening in Canada, Ontario's started in the deep south of the province and is heading north and if it keeping, the Tories will lose members in the next election. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Politics/20120204/new-democratic-party-budget-meeting-120204/

[greyman]

Harper has met with the leader of the NDP but nothing will come of it because as it was said on TV, the budget has already gone to the printers, so this was just for PR reasons. One thing that is confusing is, Harper is cutting, and in the US, they are spending and the US is getting better economy and it was also said on US TV, one doesn't want to cut right now because that will make one's economy worse. Which one is right?? The swell of unemployment is happening in Canada, Ontario's started in the deep south of the province and is heading north and if it keeping, the Tories will lose members in the next election. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Politics/20120204/new-democratic-party-budget-meeting-120204/

Cutting is the right move. However, the Conservative party is a neo-conservative party, meaning they will cut spending on social programs, and continue spending hand-over-fist for policing, prisons, and militarism.

So basically, they will pander to their neo-con base, and the across-the-board cutting we need won't happen, and we will continue the slow-motion car-crash, just on a smaller scale than the gigantic train-wreck unfolding south of the border.

[bush_cheney2004]

....So basically, they will pander to their neo-con base, and the across-the-board cutting we need won't happen, and we will continue the slow-motion car-crash, just on a smaller scale than the gigantic train-wreck unfolding south of the border.

But it was OK for the Liberals to cut social programs and health care during Canada's "train-wreck" in the 1990's. I think I still have some Canadian pesos.

[Shady]

Cutting spending is the right thing to do. It's short-term pain for long-term gain. Just like when it was done by Chretien and Martin in the mid-1990s. Except that their cuts were much larger and even more necessary.

And if the American economy gets better, it only helps us resolve our budget issues more quickly, as our economy can only grow significantly when theirs does.

[greyman]

But it was OK for the Liberals to cut social programs and health care during Canada's "train-wreck" in the 1990's. I think I still have some Canadian pesos.

It was more than ok for the Liberals to cut social programs and health care, they just didn't do enough of it.

[scribblet]

Sheez, how soon people forget the huge cuts to health care and education transfers - imagine the uproar if the conservatives did that..

[Topaz]

Sheez, how soon people forget the huge cuts to health care and education transfers - imagine the uproar if the conservatives did that..

The difference though is that Harper wants to only give the provinces 3% of the GDP in the future, but first he has to win the election in 2015 and there's two things you don't mess with, health care funding and pensions. So if he doesn't want Ottawa to fund health care for Alberta more than 3% that could be arrange.

[greyman]

Sheez, how soon people forget the huge cuts to health care and education transfers - imagine the uproar if the conservatives did that..

If they did that, AND cut spending across the board, we might have a shot at building a real economy in this country.

[Newfoundlander]

What can we nationalize?

[William Ashley]

Public funds should only be spent on public needs. Let the economy manage the economy. Only essential needs should be managed in control economy like fashion, leave private industry alone.

Cut the beaurocratic red tape and redeploy people to profit generating revenues like planting apple trees, and making water systems that separate drinking water from toxic runoff and fetal wastes.

Government can be skimmed down a whole lot, and people moved from non economically stimulating waste occupations to stimulating capacitation occupations. Its not about cutting it is about paying down the debt (not deficit) and putting funds into generative activities like public infrastructure, resource development, and innovation.

We need to decrease loss on trade by regionalizing needs that are imported be they services or goods. Not only do we need to do it, but we need to do it by drawing on the unemployed to do it. How much does an unemployed person make, probably more than a factory worker in China, but hell they arn't in a factory, things need to change. neck prisoners have free room and board, Nicaragua has a better prison system in terms of cost than us and they are socialist we need more prison work programs.

it is startling that the US has more prisoners than China, and that the total prisoners in the US is the size of a large city in Canada.

Edited February 6, 2012 by William Ashley