One of the reasons I won't be voting for Harper: Economic record

[cybercoma]

Another 39% of Canadians were happy enough with the job he was doing that they didn't feel the need to vote against him either.

25% of eligible voters. 39% of people who voted.

[Smallc]

People who don't vote are virtually meaningless.

[cybercoma]

People who don't vote are virtually meaningless.

They're Canadians aren't they?

[PIK]

IMO If one of the other 2 were running this country thru these tough economic times, the economic situation would be a lot worse off. But I find it funny how harper gets blamed for things he cant control. And reading today ,exports are rising and the future is looking a lot better. So if the numbers change by OCT..............And topaz I hope your girl Wynne keeps campaigning for trudeau. She will sink him in ONT. I wonder how she says some of the things she says with a straight face.

Edited August 6, 2015 by PIK

[Shady]

No it actually grew by around 2% and has been for awhile.

Facts are stubborn things.

U.S. Economy Contracted 0.7% In First Quarter 2015

http://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2015/05/29/u-s-economy-contracted-0-7-in-first-quarter-2015-down-from-first-estimate/

[Smallc]

Facts are stubborn things.

U.S. Economy Contracted 0.7% In First Quarter 2015

http://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2015/05/29/u-s-economy-contracted-0-7-in-first-quarter-2015-down-from-first-estimate/

Yes, it's performance was worse than that of the Canadian economy.

[PrimeNumber]

Harpers invented netflix tax is giving the country a good laugh at his expense. It's all over social media. There are some fun ones going around search up #nonetflixtax and #harperanetflixshow

My favourites are:

The lyin' king

Orange is the new majority

Breaking Baird

Silence of the Scientists

Must be hard having almost an entire generation dislike everything you stand for.

[bush_cheney2004]

The US economy shrank in the first quarter of this year. How did that help us?

The U.S. economy grew 0.6% for 1Q2015. The BEA revised numbers upwards from earlier -0.2% estimates.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2015/07/30/u-s-gdp-gained-2-3-in-second-quarter-2015/

http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm

[Spiderfish]

Must be hard having almost an entire generation dislike everything you stand for.

Yeah, this generation is so full of hate, I'm sure Harper loses sleep over it.

I guess why even bother even making an effort to understand anything, easier to reject it outright and go post a joke about it on social media...it's easier and it feels good so it must be the right thing to do. I'm sure this self-centred, dysfunctional, "Snooki and JWOWW" generation we currently have to endure is somehow Harper's fault as well, so I guess he deserves it.

[Argus]

What did the Harper Government offer us when an at par Cdn Dollar was finishing off the job done to Canadian manufacturing that NAFTA started?

Again, you don't understand how the dollar works. The dollar went up because we were selling so much STUFF abroad. It didn't matter a damn what we were selling. It goes up because we produce a lot of stuff, and we export a lot of stuff. If we'd had a big mining boom, it would have gone up. If we'd have a big manufacturing boom, it would have gone up. The dollar is a measure of the health of our production and exports. You want a low dollar? The way to get it is to produce less goods and services, and export less stuff. Which doesn't exactly give us a healthy economy.

[PrimeNumber]

Yeah, this generation is so full of hate, I'm sure Harper loses sleep over it.

I guess why even bother even making an effort to understand anything, easier to reject it outright and go post a joke about it on social media...it's easier and it feels good so it must be the right thing to do. I'm sure this self-centred, dysfunctional, "Snooki and JWOWW" generation we currently have to endure is somehow Harper's fault as well, so I guess he deserves it.

It's what you get when you invent a tax to save everyone from. No generation likes a fibber.

[On Guard for Thee]

Facts are stubborn things.

U.S. Economy Contracted 0.7% In First Quarter 2015

http://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2015/05/29/u-s-economy-contracted-0-7-in-first-quarter-2015-down-from-first-estimate/

Yes facts are stubborn things, aren't they?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/u-s-economy-picked-up-in-second-quarter-after-better-2015-start

[Shady]

Yes facts are stubborn things, aren't they?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/u-s-economy-picked-up-in-second-quarter-after-better-2015-start

I see you've conceded the first quarter's no growth and have moved on to the second quarter.

[On Guard for Thee]

I see you've conceded the first quarter's no growth and have moved on to the second quarter.

Read the link first Shady.

[Shady]

Read the link first Shady.

Perhaps you need to read your own posts.

[On Guard for Thee]

Perhaps you need to read your own posts.

Perhaps you don't get numbers very well. Both Q's show expansion.

[Shady]

Perhaps you don't get numbers very well. Both Q's show expansion.

You insisted that the American economy grew at 2% in the first quarter. It did not. Data first suggested that it contracted. Then revised to almost zero growth. You then moved on to the second quarter. Stop moving the goal posts.

[On Guard for Thee]

You insisted that the American economy grew at 2% in the first quarter. It did not. Data first suggested that it contracted. Then revised to almost zero growth. You then moved on to the second quarter. Stop moving the goal posts.

The goalposts got moved while you weren't paying attention. That ain't my fault.

[marcus]

Funny, I seem to recall the economic situation being far, far worse under Trudeau, Mulroney and in the early years of Chretien's rule.

What evidence do you have?

[bush_cheney2004]

There is very little Canada can do about the U.S. economy....worry about the Canadian economy instead.

Maybe build a pipeline....or two.

[marcus]

Yeah, and? Do you think he hasn't given subsidies or money to other industries? What did we pay to keep GM from going bankrupt? Something like $10 billion wasn't it? There are billions of dollars in grans and tax refunds available to every kind of industry and business every year in Canada.

Good try, but the bailout to GM was an incentive given as a one time thing that happened in 2009. The oil tax breaks started as soon as Harper became the prime minister of oil companies and they have been getting them ever since. Something other sectors have not been receiving. Not at the same rate.

So a few people asked "how" he has been pushing oil? That's one of the ways he has been pushing oil.

[WIP]

Again, you don't understand how the dollar works. The dollar went up because we were selling so much STUFF abroad. It didn't matter a damn what we were selling. It goes up because we produce a lot of stuff, and we export a lot of stuff. If we'd had a big mining boom, it would have gone up. If we'd have a big manufacturing boom, it would have gone up. The dollar is a measure of the health of our production and exports. You want a low dollar? The way to get it is to produce less goods and services, and export less stuff. Which doesn't exactly give us a healthy economy.

The experts on this stuff always say the Canadian Dollar tends to be undervalued, compared to major currencies, so it should be expected that our Dollar is going to be lower than the US. When a currency rises too fast, that's the end of "selling so much STUFF abroad."

[Argus]

An excellent summary of Harper's economic performance in the Globe and Mail today, with which I substantially agree.

A couple of points:

Mr. Stanford and Mr. Brennan rank the Harper government second-last on income inequality, based on the average share of income held by the top 1 per cent of Canadians between 2006 and 2012. But Statistics Canada reported that the top 1 per cent’s share peaked at 12.1 per cent in 2006, the year Mr. Harper took office, and declined thereafter to reach 10.3 per cent in 2012.

And.

What’s more, as the Parliamentary Budget Officer noted last year, the tax changes introduced under the Tories since 2006 “have been progressive overall. Low and middle income earners have benefited more, in relative terms, than higher income earners.” Their income-splitting policy slightly shifts benefits up the income ladder, but it still benefits the middle class most.

I don't expect facts to get in the way of the ongoing Left wing theme that Harper is all for the rich, of course, but the truth needs to be said regardless.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/judge-harpers-economic-record-by-the-hand-he-was-dealt/article25867267/

[CITIZEN_2015]

Economy is not the reason to attack the Cons.

I don't think we can criticize this government on the economy. They managed the economy pretty well (some members may be shocked me saying this but I try to be fair in my assessments).

They avoided a depression in Canada in 2008 by their polities (and of course the rules already in place like having CHMC helped too) unlike US and the rest of the world which went into depression, Canada avoided that. They invested some 50 billion dollars in various projects and then almost balanced the budget less than a decade later.

The only reason they will likely broke their promise likely only by a billion on balancing budget is for factors beyond their control like drop in oil prices internationally.

We have had good growth and employment with very low inflation under this conservative government. Compare this with 80's and 90's when various governments of different parties completely failed to deliver what they promised. Low growth, higher inflation, persistent high employment. Also credits to Paul Martin, let not forget his big role in making Canada fiscally sound and this conservative government continued that path (though in 2008 they created a big hole to save Canada a depression and that too was out of their control.

Economy goes up and down but in my view democracy is very important that once we lose it then it is gone. The manner in which they operated ever since they got a majority was undemocratic. They manipulated and pushed debates on new bill in order to pass undemocratic unpopular bill (bills C36 and C51 are just two examples), their scandals are enormous and I can go on forever. The manner they distributed tax cuts when the wealthy got the biggest and the poor the least was appalling too.

Edited August 24, 2015 by CITIZEN_2015

[waldo]

... as the Parliamentary Budget Officer noted last year, the tax changes introduced under the Tories since 2006 “have been progressive overall.

I don't expect facts to get in the way of the ongoing Left wing theme that Harper is all for the rich, of course, but the truth needs to be said regardless.

that's quite the selective data mining effort there! Of course, when you see the actual complete statement that reads:

- "Cumulative tax changes since 2005 have been progressive overall and most greatly impact low-middle income earners (households earning between $12,200 and $23,300), effectively resulting in a 4.0 per cent increase in after-tax income"

- "The lowest and highest 10 per cent of income earners benefit least, with after-tax gains of 2.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively"

tell me member Argus, in the context of your "expressed facts", is 4% of a lil' pie any where near as much as 2.2% of a big pie? Hot damn... I trust those low income earners don't spend all that 4% in one place! After a decade of KingHarperRule... 4%. (/ArgusFacts)

.

Edited August 9, 2015 by waldo