I actually tend to agree with this, in principle.
Spending needs to be cut.....radically.
Unfortunately, the alternatives to the Conservatives are just soooo much worse......dammit.
Conservatives Are Six Seats Away From A Majority
- Thread starter Liberalman
- Start date
I actually tend to agree with this, in principle.
Spending needs to be cut.....radically.
Unfortunately, the alternatives to the Conservatives are just soooo much worse......dammit.
There is just one tiny little flaw with what you say, Gov't should NOT be financing itself by burdening the people with taxes, as it was before G.S.T. ever got started (thanks to Lyin' Brian & Pierre for putting us there in the first place) we were already taxed to death. So it's not altogether Harper's fault. Like you mention 157 people in one department is criminal, so are 308 snouts in the trough- it wouldn't be so bad if it was just the 308 but each of those 308 has an office and office staff and chauffers and gardeners and manicurists and hairstylists and for all we know there could even be a few hookers on the payroll, ooops I meant to say "therapists".
The few staff members that each member of our representative democracy receives are absolutely vital to the functions of the Honourable the Senate of Canada, and the House of Commons. Ministers of the Crown rarely have enough time, for example, to personally read and respond to the several e-mails that they receive from Canadians on a day-to-day basis; this makes their private secretaries and assistants, who screen through and forward Canadians’s concerns to the ministers, essential (but behind-the-scenes) players on the federal scene. The expenses of our representative democracy are well worth the effectiveness that it provides.
Well maybe they should just suck it up and go back to the old days where they'd do that sort of stuff during the evening and on Sundays.
Well said FiveP! I alwayz got a kick out of those you kids who stand by the speaker and wait to be summoned by a MP to transfer notes around, sometimes insults.
Well - we have to pay for government somehow. I want bang for my tax $ - under Harper, it's just being wasted.
At least under Paul and Jean - they paid off some of the debt (before Paul started going all "lefty")
@ Colpy - A vote for a Conservative is a vote supporting what Harper does. I do not support payroll tax increases, or EI premium increases (poor tax policy) I do not support cutting the GST (income tax cuts are more effective). I do not support his non-professional, childish like antics in the HoC. I do not support his hyprocitical stance on the senate. I do not support his stance on Afganistan or the enviroment. I did not and do no support deficit financing to pay for ill thought out stimulus that will provide no future benefit. I do not support multi billion dollar cash bail outs to banks, car companies, etc... I do not support enriching enriching the equalization program, or transfers to provinces. I do not support wasting tax $s on 10%ers. I do not support muzzling MPs. I do not support the increased control, power and secrecy that he has given the PMO.
I do not approve of his refusal to speak with Canadian media. I do not approve of his tendancy to blame all problems on either the Liberals or public servants. I do not approve of his politicizing of the courts. I do not approve of his "book" to disrupt government committees. I do not approve cutting the $1.95 per vote without cutting the generous tax refund for political donations. I do not approve of the hyper-partisan enviroment he has created in the HoC.
The one of the things that I actually DID approve of was his establishing PBO - which he is now trying to shut down because the guy is actually doing his job.
He is, in my opinion, the worst PM this country has ever had. (By the way, the best RECENT PM in my opinion is Brian Mulroney - his policies had the longest lasting positive impact of any PM since (and including) Trudeau.) This country is worse off now than it was 4 years ago. I can not think of one program, peice of legislation or idea that he has had that will have a long lasting benefit for this country or it's people.
And don't give me the standard "well, it's cause it's a minority" BS - because the opposition has been worse than useless the past four years. He has a "defacto" majority because either the Liberals or the NDP will side with him, as both know they will be decimated if we go to the polls.
You make some valid points Pegger, but Harper being the worst P.M. isn't one of them, the worst was Trudeau, and second worst was Mulroney. I think about 90% of our current woes got started when Martin got dumped. He did a good job of paying down debt, but people thought that was overshadowed by the sponsorship scandal which they chose to hang on Martin. Martin had bigger fish to fry than monitoring bureaucrats who had their fingers in the cookie jar. The bureaucrats should have been sent to jail and Martin should have remained. But that's all water under the bridge now. Regardless of all that this recession is a far bigger albatross than either Martin or Harper could have any control over. I think however had Martin have stayed he probably could have handled it a little better than Harper. Martin knew and understood money, Harper is quickly learning.
Martin had two things going for him, (contrary to the rest of the thugs) he was totally honest, and he was competent in money matters, but people saw him as dithering, thanks to his realization that he had to strike some rapport with the turkeys.
Well, I agree with much........he cut the GST, which was silly, but he had PROMISED to do so, and I don't approve of politicians lying either.
As for Afghanistan, all parties agree at this point.....we're out in 2011.
I don't like foolishness in the HoC.......I would rather Senators be elected, but that requires the provinces elect them.....and they haven't.....and one can not allow a Liberal dominated Senate to tie up the business of gov't forever. I see little choice for Harper.
I'm am completely with you on stimulus. It is BS from the word GO. Equalization is a quagmire every gov't wades into.....I would prefer the central gov't use their cash handouts to the provinces to enforce cross-country policies in such things as health care......I dislike the centralization of power in the PMO.........
But, in my humble opinion, the three worst PMs we have ever had were King, Trudeau and Chretien........Liberals all.
And I have no affection for Mr. Harper, but he is by far the best offered........especially in foreign affairs, our relationship to the USA, immigration policy, gun control, national unity, military policy, and yes, economic policy.......so far.
Offer me an alternative.....
2011 is the promise because he has a minority but come majority time he will throw that promise out as well
"I quess pegger will not be voting conservative in the next election."- I think Pegger is smart enough not to rule anything out.
Yeah Cretien what a dick eh?
Eliminated the deficit, lowered the debt, improved the economy, lowered interest rates, kept us out of Iraq, eliminated corporate and union funding for political parties, lowered taxes, increased spending on the military...etc etc etc.
Harper....? Well, he wanted to join the illegal fight in Iraq, increased the debt, created a 55 billion dollar deficit, presided over a recession, spends more more money than Cretien, practices politics of division that almost saw an unprecedented loss of power to a trio of morons, spends our money on political ads, pushed for the HST in Ontario...etc etc etc.
Both my children were pages in the Ontario legislature and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a great way for them to see how the system works form the inside.
Let's see how that spins the other way....
Chretien.......used the RCMP as his own personal Gestapo in the persecution of the president of the BDC over his refusal to get involved in Chretien's corrupt little business schemes....and that's not to mention the APEC summit.
Chretien....presided over the most corrupt government in our history, stealing tens of millions for the Quebec Liberal Party, revealed Liberal connections to the Mafia fer God's sake.........his greatest success being he made Lyin' Brian look like a comparatively honest man.
Chretien.....cancelled a good helicopter for the military....causing Canadian deaths.....then used 100 mill of the military budget to by a new luxury jet so he and his cronies could fly around in comfort.
Chretien.......presided over the introduction of the Firearms Act.....which is a multiple violation of the Charter, a massive waste of money, and a complete waste of time.
Chretien....who had a foreign policy soooo mushy one could sink in it without ever knowing which side we were on.
Yes, I will give him credit for the elimination of the deficit.......if you give credit where it was due as well.....not only to Chretien's (Martin's) program cutting, but to a healthy economy created by Mulroney's NAFTA deal, and healthy revenues granted by Mulroney's GST.
And I can't stand Mulroney either.
He also promised openness and accountability. He promised not to tax incoem trusts. He promised 200,000 (or some stupid number) for his "day care" plan. Most of all, he promised to be better than the Liberals. He hasn't kept any of these - and some he out-right reneged on.
I'll beleive it when I see it. Harper wants us to stay longer. I think he'll keep us there past 2011.
This is agood example of my "every thing is the Liberal's fault" BS. Senate reform can't happen without approval from the Provinces. As you point out - the Provinces HAVEN'T chosen to elect any senators - but somehow this (non-change of the senate) is blamed on the Liberals. Personally, I feel an elected senate, without addressing the problems of the GGs office, and the HoC will only make our political situation worse. I'd rather see it abolished than elected (without addressing HoC and the GG situation)
Prentice. I just wish the Conservative membership would wake up and toss him (Harper - not Prentice) - but so long as he wins elections, they will hold their noses and support him, in their quest of power.
"Chretien....presided over the most corrupt government in our history, stealing tens of millions for the Quebec Liberal Party, revealed Liberal connections to the Mafia fer God's sake.........his greatest success being he made Lyin' Brian look like a comparatively honest man."- THAT is very debatable, IMHO, Trudeau was the most corrupt leader in Canadian History and Lyin' Brian was just a nose behind.