NDP spending

[maple leaf]

It still looks like Dix will prevail next May but I think that this election will be much closer than some of you think. The Liberals will have been in power for over a decade and they lost some voters permanently over the way the HST was introduced. However, if the economy continues to improve and if voters really think seriously about whether or not they want to take a chance on the NDP then the Liberals' fortunes may change. And the HST (unfortunately) will be gone by election time as well. And if Dix continues to play the game the same old way (i.e. not saying very much while way ahead in the polls), despite his comments about doing things differently, people will definitely have pause for thought. Yes, I think Dix is likely to become premier in May but the fat lady hasn't sung yet. And if Dix and the NDP do win I don't expect to see a 77-2 shellacking.

I think this might be the first time I agree with you Urban.I don't think it will be a shoe in for the NDP.Once Christy Clark spends the 11 million on advertising she has set aside and doesn't have to account for until after the election.If the last month is any indication , we will be bombarded with Liberal propaganda that will be sure to sway a lot of people.I don't think it will be a 77-2 shellacking ,as much as I despise this bunch and want everyone of them booted out ,I do think having an opposition is important though.


But the biggest ticket item is the second instalment of advertising promoting the jobs strategy. The Liberals set aside $11 million for that purpose from the contingency budget without saying anything about when, how and where it will be spent. Details to come when the public accounts are released next July, meaning after the election.
But even without any further details, Christy Clark's running total for spending on advertising tops out at $64 million and counting.
And for those needing a point of comparison, that is twice what the government spends on parks in a given year, three times what it spends on arts, culture and sports, and half again as much as the annual funding for crime prevention and the victims of crime.
vpalmer@vancouversun.com


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Ch ... z2DS8cCGyr

[Smurf]

How can they keep anyone in line when the Liberals just use their majority to force through whatever they want. And that's if they even call parliament to order which they are doing less and less. You can't blame the NDP when the Liberals cancel sittings because they are too scared they will make fools of themselves. Another good reason to throw the bums out. We are paying them to govern and they don't even go to the office. Liberals choice and no one elses.

I would actually like to see a strong opposition. It would be much better than the mess we have now. Way too much power and control.

[Rwede]

^^^ When parties are given majorities, they have a mandate to do what they please, when they please. That's how it works. I'm sure you would be happy as a pig in chit if Dixhead were ramming things through right now instead of CC.

[Smurf]

No I would not. I do not like anyone ramming things through just because they can. The liberals have proved what a disaster that can be. Perfect example HST. Had they ahd some opposition maybe it would have been thought out and brought in properly. Might have saved the HST and might even have saved the Liberals.

[Smurf]

You know Richard I'll bet if you look at your attitude here you can figure out a large part of the reason you couldn't reach agreements with unions in the past. Just because you have the power to doesn't mean you have the right to do something.

[NAB]

^^^ When parties are given majorities, they have a mandate to do what they please, when they please. That's how it works.

That is usually blatantly incorrect, or at least should be in a democracy if it has a government with integrity. But I guess it comes close to being so when the Liberals campaign for the last election was limited to "who do you trust to best run the economy" and no specific platform or agenda to speak of provided. It's been sorta like the electorate signing a blank cheque hasn't it? Now the question is, did we get good value for that cheque, and will we perhaps get better value for the one we sign for the NDP ....and with perhaps not so much of it ending up in the wrong hands?

[Fisher-Dude]

No I would not. I do not like anyone ramming things through just because they can. The liberals have proved what a disaster that can be. Perfect example HST. Had they ahd some opposition maybe it would have been thought out and brought in properly. Might have saved the HST and might even have saved the Liberals.

Did you like it when the NDP rammed through fast ferries and the highest personal income taxes in Canada? You must have, because you and Nab want it again.

[NAB]

I had no problem with the income tax rates or even sales tax rates I paid "back then" - or the value for the money I got in return via government services (including health and education), (but a lot of problems with the money the corporate sector doesn't contribute now and them still crying it should be zero),

... but I certainly had a problem with the "fast ferries" from the start - still, I could actually afford to tour this beautiful province (including visiting the Island frequently) rather than take my vacation time out of the province or stay at home as is increasingly the case now. On a percentage basis far more of my money goes into total provincial and municipal taxes and fees now than it did in the 90's. (And I don't expect that to stop just because they bring back the PST - they'll find a way to fill the hole and make it little different than the HST somehow anyway).

Still, I like on occasion to dream and compare the ferry rates we had "back then" to those we have now, even compare the amount of money the current ferry operation has been spending over the past ten years (and losing or stuffing into the pockets of highly overpaid and undertaxed high priced boards and their overpaid bureaucrats or paying out in interest on borrowed money) ...to that lost by the fast ferry fiasco.

[Fisher-Dude]

I'd like to see your math on that. I call bullchit all the way to the bank. Start with personal income tax rates and go from there. Yes, the math, not a bunch of unsubstantiated rhetoric. Looking forward to your calculations, if you have the balls to post them.

ETA - let's give you a helping hand with BC's historical tax freedom days:

1992 June 20 (latest in Canada)
1999 July 13 (2nd latest in Canada behind PQ)
2000 July 8 (latest in Canada)
2012 June 8 (5th earliest in Canada)

Hmm, we've paid all of our federal, provincial, and municipal taxes ONE MONTH EARLIER in 2012 compared to 2000.

Lie away Nab about the glory days under Adrian Dix in the 1990s.

[NAB]

I would never post such personal information, and you are an idiot to even ask.

[Fisher-Dude]

I would never post such personal information, and you are an idiot to even ask.

Smallest stones on Castanet. Confirmed. No one asked you for your tax return.

[NAB]

No, but you did ask me for my calculations. And that tax freedom day nonsense is just averages. Most of us are not "average". And surely you don't equate a week or three as anything meaningful in such comparisons. They don't include all the taxes and government fees increases we face anyway, nor the erosion in value of disposable income.

[Fisher-Dude]

You're laughable. You have no basis for your assertions about the taxes you paid in the 1990s versus those you pay now, and I've quickly proven them wrong. That 70¢ on your haircut sure as hell doesn't take another month of income to pay off. You're caught in BS up to your ears, and are drowning fast.

[NAB]

You've proven nothing except you are a joker. Never have and never will.

BTW, Adrian Dix was never the Premier of this province, or at the time even an elected MLA ...we were never governed "under him".

[flamingfingers]

FD - you and dickie blather on about personal income tax rates yet fail to take into consideration the fees, surcharges, tolls, HST, Carbon tax etc, etc. that have been foisted upon the citizens of BC.... all of which can be considered TAXES that are all taken off our INCOME!!

Unless you and dickie are so dense as not to comprehend this basic principle!

Even old Martyn Brown, the CHIEF OF STAFF to Gordo way back there admitted the fees, surcharges and the HST were major shifts in taxation policy to shift the tax burden away from big business onto the backs of BC taxpayers. Like to the tune of $2 billion!

Quit with the BS, ok?