HST referendum in BC on June 24th

[PoliticalNick]

I can well understand and agree with the sentiment, but IF I vote it will be for the way that I think will cost me the least money. You DON'T want to "cut off your nose to spite your face" :lol:

We all know the difference between a political promise and a bucket of horsesh*t is the bucket. So if the budget will allow for a 2% reduction in sales tax then just reduce it. Using it to try to force me to agree with you is extortion and Clark should be treated as one who is extorting votes. Also it is not an immediate reduction, it is not going to be in effect till 2013 & 2014 when this govt will not likely be in power and I doubt the new govt will keep promises of the old. The other thing to keep in mind is in the 18 months before it starts to drop they will have plenty of time to figure out how to transfer the burden elsewhere, like gas, or find an excuse to not implement it at all for 'budgetary' reasons. Keep in mind they can and do break their promises all the time but once you vote for it you can't go back. I don't believe for a minute that I will pay more by voting it down as with the HST you get to pay another 7% on services and labour and restaurants etc, that will all disappear if you vote against it

I see this as an opportunity to let the current and all future govts know that if you lie to us and f*ck us over we will vote your plans down and vote you out of office.

 

[JLM]

I'm strictly going by the numbers here. We could end up paying less tax than we do now. But the first step would be to vote to keep the HST.

On the supposition of course that Clark isn't lying. We also have to look at another real likely possibility, they get tossed in the next election- do you honestly think the N.D.P. would abide by HER promises? :lol:

We all know the difference between a political promise and a bucket of horsesh*t is the bucket. So if the budget will allow for a 2% reduction in sales tax then just reduce it. Using it to try to force me to agree with you is extortion and Clark should be treated as one who is extorting votes. Also it is not an immediate reduction, it is not going to be in effect till 2013 & 2014 when this govt will not likely be in power and I doubt the new govt will keep promises of the old. The other thing to keep in mind is in the 18 months before it starts to drop they will have plenty of time to figure out how to transfer the burden elsewhere, like gas, or find an excuse to not implement it at all for 'budgetary' reasons. Keep in mind they can and do break their promises all the time but once you vote for it you can't go back. I don't believe for a minute that I will pay more by voting it down as with the HST you get to pay another 7% on services and labour and restaurants etc, that will all disappear if you vote against it

I see this as an opportunity to let the current and all future govts know that if you lie to us and f*ck us over we will vote your plans down and vote you out of office.

That's if everyone feels as you do. :smile:

 

[Cliffy]

The HST is a scam. Everything costs more to the consumer.

What people need to really look at is, do we get our moneys worth out of our tax dollars. In other words, is our present governmental system worth what we pay for it, or are we being screwed ten ways from Sunday? This little HST tempest in a tea pot is just another slap in the face by the right hand while the left picks your pocket. They could have just as easily tacked this referendum onto the next election ballot and it would have cost almost nothing. Now we have to pay to say yea or ney to whether or not we enjoy being bung holed. We don't need the HST, we need to redesign government. If Bill Vanderscam is such a good sh*t disturber, put him back on the road to accomplish something worth while.

 

[JLM]

The HST is a scam. Everything costs more to the consumer.

What people need to really look at is, do we get our moneys worth out of our tax dollars. In other words, is our present governmental system worth what we pay for it, or are we being screwed ten ways from Sunday? This little HST tempest in a tea pot is just another slap in the face by the right hand while the left picks your pocket. They could have just as easily tacked this referendum onto the next election ballot and it would have cost almost nothing. Now we have to pay to say yea or ney to whether or not we enjoy being bung holed. We don't need the HST, we need to redesign government. If Bill Vanderscam is such a good sh*t disturber, put him back on the road to accomplish something worth while.

I'd take Bill with a grain of salt, he has an agenda, part of which is to improve his reputation.

 

[Cliffy]

I'd take Bill with a grain of salt, he has an agenda, part of which is to improve his reputation.

He is too long in the tooth to have the time to repair that much damage. But he did seem to do a good job getting the HST to referendum. Maybe he has a few good months left in him to get a referendum on whether or not proportional representation has a chance at revival. After all, we came within a percentage or two of getting it past the last time. We would probably have it if Gordo had not sat on it until he wore out his welcome.

 

[talloola]

this household will vote against the HST

 

[JLM]

this household will vote against the HST

I'm still on the fence about this thing. Apparently if we scrap it we have to return a bunch of money to Ottawa, so probably won't vote and let whatever will be will be. :smile:

 

[Cliffy]

I'm still on the fence about this thing. Apparently if we scrap it we have to return a bunch of money to Ottawa, so probably won't vote and let whatever will be will be. :smile:

And I say, if money is to be returned it should be the Socred/BC Reform/Liberals who should repay it for shoving it down our throats. Take it out of their pockets for using it to try and sell the HST to us after the fact.

 

[JLM]

And I say, if money is to be returned it should be the Socred/BC Reform/Liberals who should repay it for shoving iy down our throats. Take it out of their pockets for using it to try and sell the HST to us after the fact.

Excellent idea...............................................and fat chance! :lol:

 

[PoliticalNick]

He is too long in the tooth to have the time to repair that much damage. But he did seem to do a good job getting the HST to referendum. Maybe he has a few good months left in him to get a referendum on whether or not proportional representation has a chance at revival. After all, we came within a percentage or two of getting it past the last time. We would probably have it if Gordo had not sat on it until he wore out his welcome.

I don't know where you get the idea we were going to get PR. It was a STV system to avoid a plurality. Representation would have been the same.

 

[PoliticalNick]

Well it would seem that I am right about the lies. Finance minister Kevin Falcon told the press today that the reduction in the HST will reduce revenues by $800 million a year but they would be made up by increasing corporate tax by 2% and removing proposed tax cuts to small businesses. These extra costs to businesses will be passed on to the consumer through price increases and job cuts so we will be paying in the end anyway. I would urge all to vote against keeping the HST and vote against the lying liberals in the fall. It is time we the people set the standards our politicians acted on and this is a great place to start.

 

[JLM]

Well it would seem that I am right about the lies. Finance minister Kevin Falcon told the press today that the reduction in the HST will reduce revenues by $800 million a year but they would be made up by increasing corporate tax by 2% and removing proposed tax cuts to small businesses. These extra costs to businesses will be passed on to the consumer through price increases and job cuts so we will be paying in the end anyway. I would urge all to vote against keeping the HST and vote against the lying liberals in the fall. It is time we the people set the standards our politicians acted on and this is a great place to start.

Nick- The bottom line is the Gov't needs X amount of $ a year to operate and if they can't operate then the electorate is screaming- we can't have it both ways- right now in my town of Vernon, the hospital is in crisis- they are short about 50 beds on a daily basis and people here are signing petitions to get the extra funding, to alleviate the suffering of people who are stacked up in hallways and broom closets, instead of on a ward. Or perhaps the patients could sell a few hot dogs outside the door to fund the beds, but one way or another the money has to materialize. You tell me how this should happen. I've gotten so I don't give a rat's ass about the H.S.T. (it's just the name of another tax) If people put as much effort into looking after their health as they do whining we wouldn't be having a lot of these problems in the first place.

 

[PoliticalNick]

Nick- The bottom line is the Gov't needs X amount of $ a year to operate and if they can't operate then the electorate is screaming- we can't have it both ways- right now in my town of Vernon, the hospital is in crisis- they are short about 50 beds on a daily basis and people here are signing petitions to get the extra funding, to alleviate the suffering of people who are stacked up in hallways and broom closets, instead of on a ward. Or perhaps the patients could sell a few hot dogs outside the door to fund the beds, but one way or another the money has to materialize. You tell me how this should happen. I've gotten so I don't give a rat's ass about the H.S.T. (it's just the name of another tax) If people put as much effort into looking after their health as they do whining we wouldn't be having a lot of these problems in the first place.

There are many places to cut govt costs and programs that don't require us paying extra. It is about time we made our govt more fiscally responsible and stopped giving them free reign to just up our bill every year. Lets be real, our govt overspends in so many areas because they feel they can just up our taxes to cover the cost. I see this as a good place to start making them more responsible with our money.

 

[JLM]

There are many places to cut govt costs and programs that don't require us paying extra. It is about time we made our govt more fiscally responsible and stopped giving them free reign to just up our bill every year. Lets be real, our govt overspends in so many areas because they feel they can just up our taxes to cover the cost. I see this as a good place to start making them more responsible with our money.

That's fine and dandy Nick, but everyone has diffferent ideas about what Gov't could cut and what they should keep. Some want arts and crafts, some want sports, some want health, some want education, some want police protection, so it's not practical to say they should just cut. I personally think they should cut back on health, too f'n bad if a guy wants to lay on the couch and drink beer and eat potato chips, but don't come crying to me for a $10,000 bypass. But we can't be like that in a civilized country- I'm sure there's five pages in the Charter covering drinking beer, smoking cigarettes, eating chips and getting bypasses. I would personally like to see a questionaire mailed to each voter, where he/she could rank their priorties along with a percentage of provincial spending devoted to each, then they could add it all up and divide by the electorate and have their answer and then if anyone doesn't like it he/she can shove it where the sun don't shine. :lol: