BC Budget 2019

[butcher99]

^^ educate yourself. The MSP charade has driven up property taxes from municipalities, and I fail to see how you can not consider the bs "speculation" taxes and all that associated garbage as not being property taxes, plus the extra school taxes on high value property etc.

The BC NDP do NOT believe in property rights or the rights of the prudent. They pander to the imprudent.

The speculation tax I am not enamored of. I think Vancouver had a better plan than the provincial plan.
The MSP has not driven up property taxes. Period end of story. Property taxes are set by the municipalities, not by the government. The municipal taxes to go the municipalities but yes, school tax portion goes into general revenue.
The extra school tax does not kick in until your property is assessed at 3,000,000 dollars. And it is only the amount over $3,000,000. Making it a progressive tax. Are you trying to say that that affects you?

What the NDP is doing is almost a text book example of what one would do if they are prudent. They are planing for the future by taking care of the present. They are keeping taxes low for low income people and raising them on those who can afford to pay a bit more.
Yes, my gas tax has gone up a bit. My gasoline bill has gone down. I don't drive as much. Eliminate one trip a week and you will more than pay off the little bit extra your gasoline bill went up.

The speculation tax is setup so that only a house left empty pays it. Rent the house out if you don't like it. If you are a resident of BC however and have a second house that sits empty more than half the year you will receive a BC tax credit that comes right off your BC income taxes. This tax is aimed directly at those who have a house in a low vacancy area and leave it empty.

Sorry, but your hatred of all things NDP has clouded your judgement.

[butcher99]

Discussions are ongoing and I suspect that Carole James will backtrack on her decision, but for now search and rescue groups have been cut out of the BC budget. Strange place to make a cut!

looking back at it has it been in the budget before or was it a donation by the Provincial government? They have not had guaranteed funding but have relied on government grants. So, it is not a cutback at all. For all we know they may get another 5 million grant this year as they did last year.

[Urbane]

looking back at it has it been in the budget before or was it a donation by the Provincial government? They have not had guaranteed funding but have relied on government grants. So, it is not a cutback at all. For all we know they may get another 5 million grant this year as they did last year.

Call it what you will, what had been there wasn't included in the budget but now it's back. That's good news.

[Glacier]

OOOOPS!!!! What's a couple billion among friends.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/ ... ing-errors

[butcher99]

OOOOPS!!!! What's a couple billion among friends.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/ ... ing-errors

Whats 2 billion compared to a 54 billion dollar Tory deficit_

[Urbane]

Whats 2 billion compared to a 54 billion dollar Tory deficit_

You left out one little detail. The substantial deficits were a response to the global financial meltdown but they were necessary to get the economy moving again.

[butcher99]

Whats 2 billion compared to a 54 billion dollar Tory deficit_

You left out one little detail. The substantial deficits were a response to the global financial meltdown but they were necessary to get the economy moving again.

Yes and you left out one little detail, the conservatives were forced to actually deal with the financial crisis by the other parties. Without the liberals and NDP forcing the Cons into actually dealing with the crisis who knows what would have happened to the economy.

[Urbane]

Yes and you left out one little detail, the conservatives were forced to actually deal with the financial crisis by the other parties. Without the liberals and NDP forcing the Cons into actually dealing with the crisis who knows what would have happened to the economy.

You blasted the Conservatives for those deficits and then when I reminded you WHY those deficits existed you turned around and said that it wasn't the Conservatives who were responsible for the deficits but the opposition parties!! Okay . . . got it.

[rustled]

OOOOPS!!!! What's a couple billion among friends.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/ ... ing-errors

This seems to be in the wrong thread, Glacier. It pertains to the federal budget.

[butcher99]

You blasted the Conservatives for those deficits and then when I reminded you WHY those deficits existed you turned around and said that it wasn't the Conservatives who were responsible for the deficits but the opposition parties!! Okay . . . got it.

If you go back over time it is the conservative parties in both canada and the US that have had by far the largest deficits.

but, this is federal not provincial but the same thing applies.

[Glacier]

This seems to be in the wrong thread, Glacier. It pertains to the federal budget.

My bad. You're right, wrong thread.

[hobbyguy]

You blasted the Conservatives for those deficits and then when I reminded you WHY those deficits existed you turned around and said that it wasn't the Conservatives who were responsible for the deficits but the opposition parties!! Okay . . . got it.

If you go back over time it is the conservative parties in both canada and the US that have had by far the largest deficits.

but, this is federal not provincial but the same thing applies.

Actually, if you look at the data for BC, the worst record for deficits is owned by the BC NDP clown car. http://www.rbc.com/economics/economic-reports/pdf/canadian-fiscal/prov_fiscal.pdf

The BC NDP clown car is also organized to increase the provincial net debt by 24% in just 4 years of fluff up. The BC Liberals averaged and increase in provincial net debt of only 3.5% per year, so the BC NDP are adding provincial net debt at almost double the rate.

Your problem is that you are comparing apples and oranges. The BC Liberals are more akin to "red tory" classification than they are to the right wing federal Conservatives, or the or the lackey pretend conservatives - the Republicans - in the US.

The BC NDP are just a bunch of ex union hacks and snollygosters that actually know nothing. Their hypocrisy and ideological over reach are a toxic mess.

https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/columnists/les-leyne-on-ndp-menu-slow-roasted-lng-spiced-crow-1.23770349

"On NDP menu: Slow-roasted LNG-spiced crow"

LNG and site C are the only two economic engines that are really firing in BC right now - and which party was it that obstructed and obfuscated about both? Why it was the BC NDP of course. But of course, having stolen the votes of the anti-LNG and anti-site C nimbys, the BC NDP have to coopt the ideas of the BC Liberals because they have none of their own.

[rustled]

If you go back over time it is the conservative parties in both canada and the US that have had by far the largest deficits.

but, this is federal not provincial but the same thing applies.

I'm not sure that's true, but even if it is you can't look only at one element of the balance sheet or one element of the income statement.

Spending to replace your roof, to upgrade your skills, to take a vacation, to purchase an economy vehicle, to place a downpayment on a 4x4. Each has its context in terms of investment, with a case made for each depending on circumstance. Even a vacation can have its value.

What many of us feel the NDP are particularly good at is racking up our debt by spending our money wastefully. Similar to us shopping for groceries at the most expensive store in town, not stocking while necessaries are on sale, and buying more perishables than we can use. Because they appeal primarily to idealists, they are also extremely good at buying votes with our money.

Here in BC, thanks to the current government we now pay political parties to do the best job of buying our votes.

[burnedatstake]

What many of us feel the NDP are particularly good at is racking up our debt by spending our money wastefully. Similar to us shopping for groceries at the most expensive store in town, not stocking while necessaries are on sale, and buying more perishables than we can use. Because they appeal primarily to idealists, they are also extremely good at buying votes with our money.

Here in BC, thanks to the current government we now pay political parties to do the best job of buying our votes.

i especially like that bc liberals and conservatives have no problem cutting to the bone services while hiring top heavy millionaire salaries and bonuses for executive staff. no waste at all.
or when bc liberals hire infrastructure contractors with cost plus tenders so that we can pay double what a bridge was supposed to cost in the first place. no waste to see here at all.

[hobbyguy]

^^ the difference is that on balance, the BC Liberals move the province forward. Yes, sometimes the BC Liberals make mistakes, but overall about a 75% score.

Let's consider one the key issues for people, income inequality. With the BC NDP in government real median incomes fell, while under the BC Liberals, that trend was reversed and rising.

The net effect of BC NDP outlook is to drag folks down to the lowest common denominator rather than push up the median.

That really shows in the BC NDP dumping "wet" facilities into what were decent or good neighborhoods. IF you build ready made slums in decent neighborhoods, you drag them down. You also destroy part of the net wealth of those families living there who have worked hard and often struggled to afford to live in a decent neighborhood. Thus creating more problems than you "fix".

One only needs to realize that the housing issues in Vancouver and Burnaby only grew out of control under BC NDP management outlook - which was entirely counterproductive. It isn't like those problems suddenly appeared. But the BC NDP outlook just accelerated the problems with BC NDP stalwarts Gregor Robinson and Derek Corrigan running the housing gong show with BC NDP outlook.

Would I prefer that the BC Liberals move a little to the left - yes. But going to the polar opposite of the ideologically constipated BC NDP who never learn? Nope.