OmniBUSTED?

[Guest Derek L]

you got that right. the liberals were no better. we need an ndp federal goverment so that every canadian citizen can have equal access to wealth. why should a silver spooner drive an escalade while i have to drive my cavalier. enough greed in this country. lets give everyone an equal opportunity, an equal chance to be prosperous.

What’s your educational background? And for the record, my Wife’s Escalade is white diamond, not silver…….Do you even know what Escalade means? It’s rather fitting for those (owners) that have climbed the social ladder…..

Edited May 26, 2012 by Derek L

[Rick]

This ought to be interesting. A poster that's further left than me. Welcome to the board.

Wtf am I? Chopped liver?

No respect I tell you...

[Signals.Cpl]

Wtf am I? Chopped liver?

No respect I tell you...

You have to EARN respect...

[Rick]

You have to EARN respect...

Neo-con opinions on this don't count.

[Claudius]

The majority of people don't back Harper.

Just as many backed this majority as backed every other Canadian majority since WWII.

For that matter 37-38% is a pretty good majority for most of the standing European governments too.

Wake us when you get tired of regurgitating a talking point based on total ignorance of all things related to the Canadian political system or its history.

[Claudius]

Do the HarperCons have no higher aspirations than to be as bad as the scandal-ridden Liberals?

We got rid of them, didn't we!

This is the typical childs game. First they claim "Harper is the worst this-or-that in Canadian history"

Someone comes along to point out that "the-liberals-did-it-too" only to show that no, the "worst" claim is false.

The child turns around and says: "Do the HarperCons have no higher aspirations than to be as bad as the scandal-ridden Liberals?"

....and that's why the Liberal party has 34 seats today, and the CPC won the first majority in Canadian history without a single seat from Quebec: because the face of the Liberal party is a smart-mouth brat that every adult knows can't hold their own or explain their claims.

Edited May 26, 2012 by Claudius

[Fletch 27]

Cuz the tories get it done... As by the mandate handed to them. The libs and ndp just can't figure out that results mean re election.

This is the typical childs game. First they claim "Harper is the worst this-or-that in Canadian history"

Someone comes along to point out that "the-liberals-did-it-too" only to show that no, the "worst" claim is false.

The child turns around and says: "Do the HarperCons have no higher aspirations than to be as bad as the scandal-ridden Liberals?"

....and that's why the Liberal party has 34 seats today, and the CPC won the first majority in Canadian history without a single seat from Quebec: because the face of the Liberal party is a smart-mouth brat that every adult knows can't hold their own or explain their claims.

[Claudius]

Childrens ramblings aside....

The really amature thing about the omnibill is that it is ham-fisted. Most of it won't survive the first supreme court challenge or even the first provincial supreme court challenge (Ontario already pre-emptively struck down the pot law) and a lot of it has already been diluted in the face of impressive attacks by a neutered NDP opposition. The bill won't survive in it's present state past the next 4 years.

[Jack Weber]

Childrens ramblings aside....

The really amature thing about the omnibill is that it is ham-fisted. Most of it won't survive the first supreme court challenge or even the first provincial supreme court challenge (Ontario already pre-emptively struck down the pot law) and a lot of it has already been diluted in the face of impressive attacks by a neutered NDP opposition. The bill won't survive in it's present state past the next 4 years.

Correctomundo...

[Signals.Cpl]

Neo-con opinions on this don't count.

Do you even know what a neoconservative is? I take it as a complement... You won't count my opinion, fine be wrong...

[Fletch 27]

Didn't you guys say the same thing about that long gun thingy....? Ohhhhh and those other little bits of legislation that passed even after tabled motions were squashed? It's funny how only the minority thinks it's ham-fisted..... I, kinda like the bill! The way things are going, Steve has more than the next 6 years in a majority spot... Pretty sure this bill will pass to the liking of the majority...

Childrens ramblings aside....

The really amature thing about the omnibill is that it is ham-fisted. Most of it won't survive the first supreme court challenge or even the first provincial supreme court challenge (Ontario already pre-emptively struck down the pot law) and a lot of it has already been diluted in the face of impressive attacks by a neutered NDP opposition. The bill won't survive in it's present state past the next 4 years.

[Claudius]

Didn't you guys say the same thing about that long gun thingy....? Ohhhhh and those other little bits of legislation that passed even after tabled motions were squashed? It's funny how only the minority thinks it's ham-fisted..... I, kinda like the bill! The way things are going, Steve has more than the next 6 years in a majority spot... Pretty sure this bill will pass to the liking of the majority...

A: What "guys' do you think I belong to?

B: No it isnt the same thing I said about the long gun registry.

C: I never said the bill wouldn't pass, I said most of it won't survive a supreme court challenge. Considering how much it's already been diluted in the face of...well, no real opposition since they have a majority (remember how everyone liked to think that majority = king?), it's already changed much more than the LGR ever did.

D: The Ontario supreme court already struck part of it down so I'm already partially "right" to a degree.

Say what you want about the Liberal party, (I know I do) they were at least experienced enough to run most of their proposals through a gambit of constitutional lawyers before presenting them. The CPC didn't do anything like that at all.

Edited May 26, 2012 by Claudius

[cybercoma]

Wtf am I? Chopped liver?

No respect I tell you...

Sorry, my friend. I didn't realize I needed to re-welcome you to the forum.

[cybercoma]

Just as many backed this majority as backed every other Canadian majority since WWII.

For that matter 37-38% is a pretty good majority for most of the standing European governments too.

Wake us when you get tired of regurgitating a talking point based on total ignorance of all things related to the Canadian political system or its history.

I'm not regurgitating any talking point. I'm simply pointing out the wrong statement that the majority of people back Harper.

[Claudius]

I'm not regurgitating any talking point. I'm simply pointing out the wrong statement that the majority of people back Harper.

Fair enough, I misunderstood or misread. In my defence that point is made a lot.

However a (popular) majority of the people haven't backed any government I can remember since WWII (as per election results, not talking a momentary opinion poll here or there).

Edited May 28, 2012 by Claudius

[Evening Star]

Fair enough, I misunderstood or misread. In my defence that point is made a lot.

However a (popular) majority of the people haven't backed any government I can remember since WWII (as per election results, not talking a momentary opinion poll here or there).

Mulroney's PCs won over 50% of the popular vote in 1984.

[Evening Star]

Um Yes, and ALL of those with proportional representation are FAILING and DEFAULTING! You really should read the news.. Try to stay away from those Blogs that your keep refering everyone too..

This is false, surely? Germany and the Nordic countries are easily the most stable European countries.

[Claudius]

Mulroney's PCs won over 50% of the popular vote in 1984.

Opps! You're right.

[bleeding heart]

Do you even know what a neoconservative is?

It's a much overused and overwrought word, but in essence it derives from the philosophy of American political scientist and philosophical theorist Leo Strauss (he said he wasn't quite a "philosopher," so I take him at his word). Strauss was a Platonic scholar, but was deeply interested in the machinations of contemporary political power. He believed, among other things, that the "wise" leaders must engage in lies; the Straussians, you see, are essentially nihilists...but they don't believe the public can handle the harsh glare of the abyss. Not like themselves, who are tough and wise. So we should all be religious, patrioitc, work hard, raise our children, and cheer on the numerous wars that they are lying to us about.

That's not my analysis, by the way. That's Strauss, father of the neocons.

I'd find another label, if I were you.....

[jacee]

The Harper Conservatives prove to be as good at Liberal sleight-of-hand as Liberals themselves.

The omnibudget bill does nothing for most Canadians except take away jobs, take away benefits, take away power and put it in the hands of international megacorporations that leave us a legacy of environmental destruction.

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/03/29/andrew-coyne-on-budget-2012-this-is-the-terminus-of-tory-radicalism

But a 12% reduction from what? From the all-time, never-before-seen, not-even- close record the Tories set in 2010, when they jacked up spending by $37-billion in a single year. Be under no illusion about this: the five years of “austerity” on which we are now embarked will be, after inflation, adjusting for population growth, the five biggest spending years in the history of the country — other than the last three.

All that the Tories are proposing to do is to roll back some of the increased spending that they themselves introduced. The public service from which the Tories pledge to trim 19,000 employees is the same one to which they added more than 30,000.

But there will be no real change in the size and role of government.

...

Given the opportunity to do more, it did less.

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/03/29/scott-stinson-breaking-down-canadas-2012-budget-into-bite-size-pieces

Much has been said in recent months about how the lavish pensions of MPs — who qualify for generous annual payouts after only six years in office — would be trimmed to show that Parliamentarians would be expected to contribute to austerity plans.

Says the budget: “Adjustments to the pension plan of Parliamentarians will take effect in the next Parliament.” So, sometime after 2015. Excellent news for MPs presently approaching the six- year mark, which includes a pile of Tories first elected in 2006. A happy coincidence, surely.

A pork barrel budget of smoke and mirrors but no substantive change ... a budget that could as easily belong to the Liberals as Conservatives.

Jack up spending and then decrease it (a bit), while keeping perks for MP's and corporate party 'sponsors'.

Yup ... it's the Libs alll over again.

Just goes to show ... Harper has no real vision, no creativity. He's limited to what has been in existence in the past and has no ability to see any new possibilities whatsoever, and we hear the constant refrain, "Butbutbut ... that's what the Liberals did!!"

If we wanted corrupt pork barrelling high spending deceitful and manipulative government, Canadians would have re-elected Liberals.

I look forward to a complete change, a new government not in the pockets of megabusiness (banker/merchant Liberals) or megaindustry (oil/resources Conservatives).

We need a government that stands for the 99% of Canadians who are not wealthy business/industry leaders instead?

Workers, seniors, children, students, the small-medium businesses that employ the vast majority of Canadians.

And I believe there are at least 13 Harper Conservative MP's who will agree.

Afterall ... what possible good can corporate subsidies to the oil sands do for rural Ontario constituencies? Nada ... except take resources better invested in small-medium business job creation.

Ontario Conservative MP's helping Harper shovel unneeded money to the oil sands should be ashamed of abandoning the needs of their own constituents.

And it will only take 13 of them to turn this ship around.

Edited May 29, 2012 by jacee

[jacee]

Yup, it's happening.

200 amendments, each to be debated and voted on individually. That should slow Harper down a bit!

And the PROGRESSIVE Conservatives are rallying to defeat the omnivorous (eats everything and everybody ... except tar sands) Harper 'budget' bill.

Because we all know it isn't really a 'budget' bill, but an sociopath's wet dream of control.

By Susan Riley, Times Colonist June 9, 2012 Anew front is opening as opposition to Stephen Harper's budget - and his broader agenda - gathers strength. Increasingly, criticism is coming from dismayed conservatives offended by Harper's hostility, or indifference, to the environment. And to democratic tradition The dissidents are mostly Progressive Conservatives, but not exclusively. This week for instance, former Alberta Reform MP Bob Mills joined Green Party leader Elizabeth May n decrying the elimination of the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (a Mulroney-era initiative.)

...

Perhaps Mills can be dismissed as a secondary figure, but Alberta Premier Alison Redford is anything but. She has been correct in her dealings with Harper, but the two leaders both nominally conservative, differ on the environment and the conduct of politics.

In an insightful analysis of the relationship Don Lenihan of the Public Policy Forum argues that Redford "is showing an impressive ability to speak to where the public is going to be, rather than where it was."

Harper, busy defending the dinosaurs, risks being eclipsed by newly visible conservative moderates like Redford. While the prime minister remains determined to remove any obstacle to development of Canada's resources, environment be damned, Redford insists on sustainability.

While Harper is quick to exploit divisions - portraying Alberta as a potential victim of mythic eastern bastards - Redford is promoting a pan-Canadian energy strategy. promoting a pan-Canadian energy strategy In tone, Harper is tough, impatient and secretive - note the many surprises buried in his omnibus budget bill - while Redford preaches inclusiveness and transparency. She will be the first Alberta premier ever to launch Edmonton's pride festivities.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/touch/news/Harper+opposition+conservatives/6757097/story.html

'Driving' a country, like driving a car, involves accelerating, braking, turning etc as needed. Harper's got a lead foot on the gas pedal plowing through in a straight line regardless of circumstances, never braking, never turning, never yielding to pedestrians. He's a one trick pony and simply doesn't have what it takes to lead a democracy, to deal with the complexities of people and circumstances and environments. He's heavily indebted to the oil lobby and oil sands development is his one trick, people and the ecosystems that sustain us be damned.

And I believe he's going down!

[eyeball]

'Driving' a country, like driving a car, involves accelerating, braking, turning etc as needed. Harper's got a lead foot on the gas pedal plowing through in a straight line regardless of circumstances, never braking, never turning, never yielding to pedestrians.

Excellent analogy, and by a similar token of his own making, he's running out of runway.

[capricorn]

'Driving' a country, like driving a car, involves accelerating, braking, turning etc as needed. Harper's got a lead foot on the gas pedal plowing through in a straight line regardless of circumstances, never braking, never turning, never yielding to pedestrians.

Imagine how worse it would be if he was also looking in the rear view mirror.

And I believe he's going down!

Eventually, all politicians do.

[eyeball]

Imagine how worse it would be if he was also looking in the rear view mirror.

Given the Dickensian future he seems to be leading us towards you can bet he does spend an inordinate amount of time yearning for and being informed by the old days and ways of the world.

[jacee]

Where did all of our taxpayer money go?

The MYTH of "We just can't afford more for that (postsecondary education, child care, health care, dental care, social assistance, seniors pensions, environment protection, etc)

The umbrella group of labour organizations says the massive corporate tax cuts that have been put into place since 2000 have allowed Canadian companies to amass some $477 billion in cash reserves, up from $157 billion in 2001.

The Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin began dropping the corporate tax rate incrementally in 2000. It fell from 28 per cent that year, to 21 per cent in 2006, when the Conservatives came into power. They further chopped the tax rate to the current 15 per cent, which went into effect at the start of the year.

The CLC's report argues that, far from translating into new jobs, the money corporations saved ended up fattening the country's one-percenters, through higher executive salaries and bigger payouts to investors.

“The argument for corporate income tax cuts has been that increased after-tax corporate profits would be re-invested in company operations, boosting economic growth, productivity, and jobs,” the CLC wrote on its website.

“However, studies have shown that rising corporate after- tax profits have not resulted in increased real investment.” What money isn’t kept in the bank is increasingly ending up in the hands of shareholders and executives, the CLC said.“Dividends as a percentage of after-tax profits have risen from 30% in 2000 to over 50% in recent years,” the report states.

Each percentage point decrease in corporate taxes costs the federal government $2 billion in foregone revenue, the study notes, indicating that the total decrease in corporate taxes has reduced government revenue by about $26 billion. The federal government posted a deficit of $33.4 billion in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

“The government has been borrowing money to pay for its corporate tax giveaways. Now, to pay for tax breaks, the government is planning to make massive cuts to public services, such as meat inspection, that are essential to Canadians,” the CLC stated.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/mobileweb/2012/01/25/canada-corporate-tax-rate-canadian-labour-congress_n_1231089.html

It's just a corporate ripoff. There is no desperate need for public subsidy - welfare - for corporations. They are not suffering from recession. They're HOARDING cash and paying obscene amounts to executives and increasing payouts to shareholders not because of their performance, but only because they have been given billions of OUR TAX MONEY to increase the incomes of the low tax 1%r's.

There is no legitimate reason for the current round of 'austerity' for Canadians.

If the economy was being managed properly we'd be able to take care of the needs of ALL Canadians.

But the economy is being badly mismanaged. Corporate tax cuts are not creating jobs or other benefits for all Canadians. They are simply free public money, no strings attached, being funneled into the pockets of the wealthy.

And that's why this omni-budget, gutting social and environmental programs and implementing harsh punishments for dissent, is totally unnecessary.

It's just an attack on ordinary Canadians who have already taken the brunt of successive governments' mismanagement of the economy.

This time the richest can take the hit.They can afford it: They have billions of our money that they never used the way it was intended to be used - to create jobs, ameliorate environmental impacts, provide benefits for ALL Canadians - but instead just disappears into their deep pockets.

If a Canadian cries 'poor' and gets social assistance to cover basic needs, relocation funds for job search, etc, and it turns out he had his own money for those things and the government money is accumulating in his savings account ... we call it fraud and he pays it all back with interest.

Corporations and their executives and shareholders should pay it all back.

It's public money acquired under false pretenses and never used for it's intended purposes.

That $477b payback of public money could go a long way to solving the deficit/debt problem in Canada, the social service deficit and preparations for the huge increase in the senior population.

That would be good economic management.