Tax Cuts, Spending Limits Raised, We Still Poor

Call me stupid, call me old fashioned, call me politically incorrect, but after watching all the budget bullshit unfold across the border, after going shopping, there is nothing that says to me that we are anywhere on track to easing the cost of living, or in helping those who need help the most.

In fact, I’d say we are heading for an economic meltdown, thanks in large part, to the bullshit mantra of Conservatives, who think that if we give tax breaks to Big Business, tax cuts to the rich, that it will all trickle down and make us poor folk ( once called the Middle Class ) a bit better off.

Let us be honest for a frigging change.

• The more we owe, the more it costs us to pay it back.
• The more we borrow, the longer it will take to pay it off.
• The more we cut in social programs, the more civil unrest we’ll have.
• The more we give the rich, in tax cuts and benefits, the more our social programs will become watered down, and ineffective.
• The more we borrow, the higher debt load we carry, as a nation, the further erosion we do to our Freedom and basic civil rights.
• The less we save, the more we will depend on social programs like Canada Pension for our retirement.
• The less money we have, the less we can save.
• The less disposable income we have, the less taxes we pay, that in turn leads to less revenue for our social programs, like education, health, and welfare.
• The less effective our social programs, the greater the disparity we have between the poor and the rich.
• When the majority can no longer afford big ticket items, business will fail, and a revolution will happen.

Sounds a bit melodramatic, but look at history. The French Revolution happened not because France was poor, but because the gap between the common folk and the aristocrats was too wide. There was no MIDDLE CLASS that could act as a buffer.

Consider the Russian Revolution, where it was much the same. Hell, look at any real revolution ( not the American one, as that wasn’t about freedom, but about maintaining slavery ) and you’ll see it is due to the wide gap between the Elite and the Common Citizen.

Our system is driving people into desperate acts. When people can’t afford food and shelter, or are sold a dream of earning big money, but those dreams are constantly dashed, well, the result is usually violence. It is human nature I suppose, but honestly, we are failing ourselves, when we buy into the Conservative mantra of tax cuts and the trickle down theory.

People who can sustain our economy, are being gutted by the tax cuts for the elite. It is they who pay for those tax cuts, with having to work longer, harder, just to keep the same pay check. Yet income for the rich has risen dramatically, and the benefit to the nation?  NOTHING!

I Trust What Harper Says…

or so someone told me today.

I suppose that is what surprises me, more than the attack ads.  I mean, what is there to trust, when a man for the last five years has lied repeatidly  LIED to us.  Do people really not see the lies?

I mean okay, he says we can’t afford the Liberal Programs/Plan, and can’t even begin to consider the NDP program/plans.   Yet, can we afford his programs, his plans?

This is the man who told us in 2004, that he would give us an accountable, transparent government.   So where is his copy of the Auditor General’s report on the G8/G20 conference?   Hasn’t been released now, has it?

What about the deal to buy all those F-35 Fighter Jets.  He says it will be $75 Million a pop, yet won’t release the letter of intent.  Even the US Congress is investigating the cost of these jets, reviewing their own purchase agreement, based on how much EXTRA they are going to cost.  The Only One who isn’t reviewing the purchase, who isn’t worried about it, is Stephen Harper & His Conservatives.

Like how does that even make him a true Conservative?

He tells us that we need super sized prisons, and a three strike your out law, because of the high crime rates.  Yet even he can’t discount, that in reality CRIME IS DOWN.  So just why do we need those mega prisons?  Because he says we do?

How about in 2008, when he told us during an election, that our economy was bullet proof from a world recession.  Yet every single other economist in the world, said he was wrong. But hey, he knew better and in a few short weeks, we were getting a multi billion dollar deficit.  Yet, not even a few weeks had passed, from when he told us we’d have a surplus.  How does that make his word trustworthy?

Think about this. IF you lied to your boss, to his shareholders,  under oath too, would you expect jail time?  Least you could hope for would be to be fired, right? So how come his own Minister Oda is not only praised by him, but defended, and is still a candidate?  How is that worthy of trust?

Consider too, how his first major speech to Parliament, was spoken by someone else, but he didn’t know that.

Consider how he has taken credit for the health care increases, that were actually achieved by the Liberal Government before his.

Consider too, how he claimed that the Auditor General praised his government for its fiscal prudence in hosting the G8 Conference, that in truth, was praise for the Liberal Government, years earlier.  While his own management of the public purse, for a similar conference, is under investigation for MIS-USE of our money.

And the list isn’t even close to being finished.  How can he be trusted, I really would like to know?  Look at his own promises, of tax cuts, that have big strings attached to them. Things like cutting $11 Billion from the budget, but he won’t say where those cuts will come from?  Just trust him?

Consider his attack ads, about the Coalition between the NDP & the Bloc, about the ones about Ignatieff & the NDP, Bloc.   He himself tried to form a coalition in 2004, so how come it was okay for him, but not for Layton or Ignatieff?

Trust a man who has a double standard? Really? That isn’t worthy of my trust, nor my vote. How can it be worthy of your vote on Monday?

HONESTLY, HOW CAN YOU TRUST A MAN WHO HAS LIED SO MUCH?

Billions to Defence, to Corporate Coffers but…

Not even a mention in his Health Care plan about money to improve the National Health Plan. Not a mention that it will continue with the Liberal 6% increase to Provinces, or that he even is willing to add to that. Instead he talks about ‘accountability’ while doling out Ten Million to Fantino Buddies, for PRIVATE HEALTH SERVICES.

The Opposition Leaders are right, when they say the numbers don’t add up.  I mean, if it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, looks like a duck, well odds are it is a duck.  Yet Stephen Harper tells us not true…

• Like his Jets will come in on Budget at $75 Million a piece
• That Guergis was involved in drugs and prostitution
• That Carson was the right man to be his Security Advisor
• That Ethnic Groups willing show up in traditional garb without prompting
• That no one is turned away from his rallies, if they have Opposition Photos on facebook
• That Veteran Advocates are welcome at his rallies, even though they don’t like his treatment of their services.

AND THE LIST KEEPS GROWING!

How can you trust someone like that?  Yet it seems some do, but then I guess maybe they are those fortunate few who earn big money, who enjoy his big tax cuts, that only impact people who earn over $75,000.00 a year.   Wish I could earn that much, but given how Harper keeps shipping high paying jobs overseas with his Free Trade deals, not much chance of that happening.

The Jets that need replacing, aren’t for another decade. Least that is what he said, that their usefullness is about at an end, at the end of this decade.  It is only 2011 in case anyone hasn’t noticed.  So what is so wrong with checking to see what is out there, before we commit Billions to something not even yet built?

Anyone But The Spend Spend Harper Conservatives

Voice of Conscience and Reason so say the Greens

At last, some news about the Green Party, other than the whole debate boondoggle.

On the surface, it’s a gutzy platform, that is maybe more realistic in its approach, than some might think. And yet, it frightens me too.  I mean the idea of something being ‘revenue neutral’ just makes me worried.  Course, so too does the concept of a plan being ‘fully costed’ when truth is, there are a ton of variables involved.

Conservative, Liberal, NDP, Bloc, or Green, all make their pitches but how realistic are they? I mean the Harper Conservatives offer big tax cuts to business, effective now, while tax cuts for you and me will only come when the budget is balanced.

An Ignatieff Government does offer money up front, like its student loan plan.  Layton’s rebate or credit for home heating oil is money in our pockets now, but how much will that actually help those of us who need to spend $300 a month for Electricity?  Will $50 be enough to offset that?  What if I am finished going to school, what benefits will an Ignateiff Government give me, that I can use now?

Everyone has been out telling us their programs, but how many are talking about today? Like which party is going to actually create new jobs, and make those jobs high paying?

Jack & Michael ( I think, not certain ) support a higher minimum wage. Not sure where Lizzy is on that.  Though her platform calls for lowering the CPP & EI payments.  Thing is folks, what good is a higher minimum wage gonna do for anyone?

It will only mean we pay more in taxes, and it also means, prices & other wages will have to go up, to pay for that added cost.  And let’s be honest, flipping burgers at A&W isn’t my idea of a job. 

People who have skills, need to get back into doing those jobs, which require those skills. That is how we turn our Economy around, how we bullet proof it.  Controling the fuel industry so it can’t speculate so much, causing hidden costs in everything in our society. High Gas prices fuels inflation, but more than that, it just makes things more expensive, without needing to adjust figures.

It is simple math.  Create more jobs that pay very well, and people can afford to save money, can afford to pay off their debts, but more importantly, can afford to actually live in some sort of comfort.  That also translates into lower health care costs, btw.  Yes, because if people are happy, are working, have money, they can afford to take their vitamins, can afford to brush their teeth, bandage an open wound.

When things are tough, costs for not only Health Care go up, but so does the cost for Police, Fire, & Courts. People need high paying jobs, not new MacDonald restaurants, or more strip malls with Dollar Stores.

Think about that, before you vote May 2nd

When Is A Loan Not A Loan

Listening to Stephen Harper lay out his Party Policies, like the one for helping trained Immigrants get skill training, upgrading, needs an accompanying disclaimer. 

That disclaimer should read:

May Not Be As Depicted.

Seems that the big reminder today, isn’t really a loan to Immigrants. In fact, the Harper Government won’t give Immigrants one red cent.  In order to get loans, to get skill upgrades for these foreign professionals, they will have to go to an agency, that specializes in helping them get loans, get financing.

Sort of what he is doing to those of us who are already citizens.

He creates lots of new jobs, at McDonalds and Wendys, while he ships all the big high paying jobs to India, Indonesia and naturally China.  He signs Free Trade deals with any nation that has something his Business Backers need, so we can have more jobs lost overseas, while he pushes up more minimum wage jobs. Or better yet, he counts us as having a job, when our EI Benefits run out.

After all, we must have found something by then, right?

This isn’t an election, but a punch & judy show. Harper is promising us tax cuts, but with strings on the strings. I mean first we need to earn big money, to qualify for the tax cuts, then we have to wait until the Budget is balanced, before we can claim them.

Oh let’s not forget the Fitness Credits. It doesn’t even exist and that too, will depend on having a balanced budget. Like just what is Harper really promising us? 

NOTHING !

Harper should have a new campaign slogan:

Why Do It Today When We Can Put It Off Till Tomorrow…    that never comes

ANYONE BUT CONSERVATIVE DO NOTHING NOW