The 2009 Canadian Budget Thread

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by peter12

Really? Not that Harper is anything special, but you really think an academic with little political savvy who only a few years ago identified himself as American (bad word for Liberals) and never gained the leadership through the democratic will of the party is the magic bullet for Liberal victory?

Well when it comes to who people vote for....do you actually believe that they look that far back or at the experience of a "possible" leader before they mark an X? If that was the case dont you think Harper would be a shoe in for a majority?
First thing most look at is charisma. Does the leader have that twinkle in his eye. <Pierre Trudeau had this in spades regardless what anyone in the west thinks>.
Second thing is how well they handle themselves in public discourse. Everyone here hates Layton...I wonder if this has something to do with it.
Thirdly is...most people simply find right wing conservative politics distasteful. <See the past 50 years of Canadian politics for reference.>

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

Agreed. Somewhere along the way, Klein, Stelmach and co. demonstrated a clear lack of understanding, boosted by lack-witted rural masses conned into believing any government debt is bad. Only they are incompetent enough to suggest cutting programs at this stage. That is most definitely the way to a prolonged recession.

However back to the other side of the coin, I do think Canada's inferiority complex is showing a bit. Are we in a bad situation? Sure. Is it in the same ballpark as the US, or the UK, or much of the rest of the world? No... but spending and cuts to this magnitude suggest we're on the verge of nationalizing banks, or bailing out mortgage companies like other countries forced into multibillion dollar spending sprees.

Agreed...outlawing a government deficit? s-m-r-t Klien. Farmer Ed may have to adjust this legislation.

I haven't heard anything about Canada's banks being anywhere close to being nationalized...relatively speaking Canada's banks are in better shape than most. What pisses me off is hearing that the majority of money given to US banks was kept for M&A or improving their balance sheets (to ensure that they can ride out the recession)...not much made its way into improving access to credit.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Well when it comes to who people vote for....do you actually believe that they look that far back or at the experience of a "possible" leader before they mark an X? If that was the case dont you think Harper would be a shoe in for a majority?
First thing most look at is charisma. Does the leader have that twinkle in his eye. <Pierre Trudeau had this in spades regardless what anyone in the west thinks>.
Second thing is how well they handle themselves in public discourse. Everyone here hates Layton...I wonder if this has something to do with it.
Thirdly is...most people simply find right wing conservative politics distasteful. <See the past 50 years of Canadian politics for reference.>

One would hope the average Canadian voter is smart enough to look beyond basic charisma in making their decision. Of course, that's probably giving the average voter a little too much credit... especially in the "heartland."

Lots of Dippers love the way Layton speaks. Lots of undecideds do too. How he handles himself in public (notwithstanding his power grab) probably improved his chances.

There's no disputing MANY Canadians find right wing conservative politics distasteful (yet adore Obama for what would be hard right conservative politics in Canada), but MANY Canadians also find left wing politics equally distasteful. Its a classic struggle of which side of the coin will do less damage. Right now, its the centre-right, seeing as the Liberals of the last 40 years have done tremendous damage to national unity, corruption perception, foreign affairs/national defense and regional economic health (and no, not just Alberta). Yes, especially everyone's pal, Trudeau.

Not to mention there are three lefty flavors out there (and four if one is in Quebec). There's no Liberal majority coming. Best they can do is a coalition of the witless with the political whores, the NDP.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

Agreed...outlawing a government deficit? s-m-r-t Klien. Farmer Ed may have to adjust this legislation.

I haven't heard anything about Canada's banks being anywhere close to being nationalized...relatively speaking Canada's banks are in better shape than most. What pisses me off is hearing that the majority of money given to US banks was kept for M&A or improving their balance sheets (to ensure that they can ride out the recession)...not much made its way into improving access to credit.

No they aren't, they're quite healthy apparently. I just meant that spending that much suggests that we are pooched like some of these countries that do have to do that.

Farmer Ed probably voted to outlaw deficits. He thinks it was a good idea. He also thinks pooching the oilpatch and slashing healthcare workers and other high education government jobs are smooth moves too.

Of course Fozzie, easy access to credit is what got the US into the situation its in now. Maybe the banks there should be a little tighter with their money, like the Canadian banks are.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

One would hope the average Canadian voter is smart enough to look beyond basic charisma in making their decision. Of course, that's probably giving the average voter a little too much credit... especially in the "heartland."
.

Honestly, I think most voters are obvlivious. This is why practically all politcal campaigns are run like marketing campaigns. Stockwell Day shown on the news water skiing in Kelowna probably won more votes than what his actually political beliefs did. People are also easily duped by buzzwords. They hear "tax break", and they automatically think; "I like money and don't like paying out money, therefore tax breaks are good". I have zero faith that most people actually think about the reasons or repurcussions of campaign promises.

[albertGQ]

Its past noon. When do we get to see the official budget?

[ken0042]

2:00 mst

[Superflyer]

Here is the throne speech

http://www.sft-ddt.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1384

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

Here is the throne speech

http://www.sft-ddt.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1384

Is it wrong to think that I would totally hammer our GG while she was reading the throne speech? I mean really, does that make me sick, or is she just a total GGILF?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Is it wrong to think that I would totally hammer our GG while she was reading the throne speech? I mean really, does that make me sick, or is she just a total GGILF?

Did you feel this way about Clarkson too?

[JohnnyFlame]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I think calling him Iggy should be a bannable offence.

Edit:



Is even worse.

Couldn't he just be labelled as "Ignorant" as a moniker?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by troutman

Did you feel this way about Clarkson too?

Would it be bad if I did, maybe I have a monarchistic fetish.

Oh god I need help

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Is it wrong to think that I would totally hammer our GG while she was reading the throne speech? I mean really, does that make me sick, or is she just a total GGILF?

She is totally hot. I was in Ottawa yesterday for the Throne Speech and I was thinking the exact same thing. You're not alone.

[ikaris]

Originally Posted by ken0042

2:00 mst

Is there somewhere to see it now?

EDIT:

At least one news source is talking about it:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

seems weird to blame our current situation on tax cuts, even a bit.

I would have preferred the gst stay and income tax were cut, but i'll spend the money better than the government 10 times out of 10.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Is it wrong to think that I would totally hammer our GG while she was reading the throne speech? I mean really, does that make me sick, or is she just a total GGILF?

Last throne speech you were imagining her on the can. Guess this is a bit of an improvement...

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by ikaris

Is there somewhere to see it now?

EDIT:

At least one news source is talking about it:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

Live webcast: http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Parlvu/Cont...tEntityId=3855

CPAC: cpac.ca

[albertGQ]

This is what I care about the most

Personal tax reductions: $20 billion in personal income tax reductions, including an increase in the basic personal exemption to $10,320 from $9,600. As well, you would stay in the lowest tax bracket (15 per cent) if you make $40,726 this year. It used to take $37,885 to trigger a jump into the next (22 per cent) tax bracket. The upper limit of that bracket would be increased by 7.5 per cent to $81,452. A single person earning $40,000 would save $115 from measures announced in this budget. A one-income family with two children earning $40,000 would save $148.

[metallicat]

So what are we supposed to do as Canadians? Do they want us spending all of our excess money on cars? Is having funds sit in a savings account a bad thing?

[metallicat]

What a waste watching this coverage has been. All I care about at this point is if the Liberals are voting for or against the budget. When does the vote happen?