[timun]

Originally Posted by Slava

This is kind of a strange take to me (about the spending). Are you suggesting that if the NDP was in power they would've spent less? I can't see that at all. They would've spent on different things, but it's not like they're preaching austerity and instead we have the free-spending UCP.

Originally Posted by timun

The sheer ####ing hypocrisy is why I'm mocking it. Slava simultaneous absolutely cannot forgive the NDP for their "cardinal sin", yet nary a peep about the financial mismanagement of the UCP government other than a sheepish "well, I'm not planning to vote for them either...".

Yes, the provincial debt did go up a lot under the NDP. They racked up $32B in budget deficits over four years.

The UCP racked up another $29.1B in their first two years. And they were forecasting another $18.2B deficit in fiscal year 2021-22, which they only managed to avoid because revenues ended up being $25B more than forecast through essentially no creditable action on their part whatsoever! And now this year they're forecasting an almost $12.3B surplus because—surprise!—resource revenue is forecast $22.7B higher than it ever was in any given year 2015-2019.

Just so we're all clear on what actually happened (all figures in millions of $):




Can we finally put this bull####-####ing-narrative that "the NDP are fiscally incompetent" to rest? 2019-2020 was self-inflicted stupidity on a scale far worse than the NDP EVER did.

Originally Posted by Slava

First, I couldn’t possibly care less about your mocking. Fill your boots. It’s childish and lame, but whatever floats your boat.

Why are so keen for me to criticize the UCP? I don’t have to prove anything to you or anyone else on that front. I think they’re stunningly incompetent, and I don’t see anyone arguing otherwise. What I do see is a bunch of people trying to claim fiscal prudence for the NDP though, and I completely disagree, which is where my conundrum is.

And not to defend the current government, but there was a little extenuating circumstance in the midst of this term. I think that for a chunk of their financial situation you have to give them a pass? Let’s not kid ourselves about whether the NDP would’ve matched or exceeded that spending. I guess we’ll never know with any certainty, but I’d be taking the over.

Originally Posted by timun

Why am I so keen for you to criticize the UCP? Because you get so close to doing it and then you skew off onto some bogus tangent about the NDP, and it reminds me of so many people I know in real life.

Case in point the post above. You just can't help yourself from making excuses for the UCP's financial mismanagement, and throwing shade at the NDP. The UCP cut taxes, increased spending, "borrowed for operations" and ran a bigger deficit than the NDP ever did in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Why in the hell does that deserve a pass? Covid hadn't happened yet.

The reason you absolutely cannot abide the NDP is "borrowing for operations", and yet the UCP borrowed more in that one year than the NDP did over the course of their entire time in government, and you say "I think we have to give the UCP a pass". WHY?!?! "Let’s not kid ourselves about whether the NDP would’ve matched or exceeded that spending. I guess we’ll never know with any certainty, but I’d be taking the over." WHY?!?! Again: you're running cover for a bunch of idiots who by your own criteria were WORSE! Why in the hell should any of us believe the NDP would've been worse? The UCP are worse, demonstrably so.

You say you think the UCP are stunningly incompetent? Then quit making excuses for them. Quit repeating Conservative propaganda about how they're better financial stewards. Quit being a hypocrite. Quit acting like a brainwashed rube trying to gaslight the rest of us into believing this stupid crap.

No, we do in fact "have the free-spending UCP". They have blown billions and billions and billions more than the NDP ever did. As I wrote before, you're running cover for a bunch of idiots who by your own criteria were worse. There is no reason to believe that the NDP would have been worse, other than your own inherent bias against them. Facts show it's demonstrably false.