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Originally Posted by Jacks
Such garbage. Conservative solutions are what got us out of debt and built up our savings. The rise of the Wildrose party shows that many people clearly wanted controlled spending and no deficit.
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Well look, this is easy, I just gave you my opinion, supported with context to establish a timeline.
If it's garbage, show me how. Calling it garbage doesn't explain to me how it is.
A political platitude like 'controlled spending and no deficit' doesn't tell me a whole lot. Showing how they achieved a reduction in oil royalties to the province, to the tune of $1.4 billion dollars, per year, since 2008, explains how they've made the province's finances worse.
Giving each Albertan $300 may have been a nifty way to buy votes, but it's bad economic policy, without a right or left bias. This is another concrete example we have of ways Wildrose does economic business and why, despite an empty partisan assertion to the contrary, things would have been handled worse by the opposition party.
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Rival parties accused Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith of trying to buy votes Monday with a new promise to return a portion of the province’s surplus oil and gas revenue to taxpayers.
The plan, which Smith estimated could provide every Albertan with a $300 cheque as early as 2015, is already being called “Danielle dollars” – harkening back to the controversial “Ralph bucks” scheme that former premier Ralph Klein pursued in 2006.
NDP Leader Brian Mason called it an “election stunt,” while Liberal counterpart Raj Sherman said the move shows the Wildorse has no real idea how to manage the province’s wealth.
“It is a repeat of an old trick of Ralph Klein’s to pass people’s money back to them,” Mason said. “It is giving this generation benefit of the oilsands rather than future generations. We would prefer to see that money invested.”
Klein’s initiative, which provided $400 was lauded by many, but also heavily-criticized by those who said it showed a lack of planning amid the resource boom. Critics suggested much of the money wound up being wasted on electronics and other trinkets, when it should have been put in a government savings account or spent on schools or health facilities.
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http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/201...ielle-dollars/
Aren't we all bemoaning in here about how the province isn't prepared to deal with a drop in oil prices? And Danielle Smith wants to give a portion of that oil royalty revenue (that they campaigned against and succeeded in reducing) directly to citizens now in a sum that is largely a pittance amount to the average family? For a game in the nosebleeds for a family of 4? This is a component of grand economic scheme that is going to help contribute to getting the books back in the black?
I mean, the economic strategy of the opposition was to lower royalty rates in a huge boom period. That about sums up the economics of it, I think.