April 23 2012: Alberta Provincial Election

[flamesaresmokin]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Um if you're the PC party you do and you have for the past 5 years. That's part of why they have a problem this time around.

Where's the Fireman tax credit? Where's the ERCB worker tax Credit? Where's the nurse tax credit? At the end of the day do these things really need to be in the Tax code as opposed to negotiations with their respective unions? This is more of a "Hey ATA look at this, get all your teachers to vote for us!"

There are plenty of other instances where there are tax credits for people like that. Simply throwing out a few here and there makes no difference.

Again - Tossing out "free tuition or tuition reduction" isn't a vote buy to all students in the province? I guess the ralph bucks part 2 isn't a vote buy to every tax payer either?

Funny how that works when a perk doesn't concern you its suddenly deemed insane.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by First Lady

https://twitter.com/#!/AlbertaTweets/status/192708000660733952

Pretty cool Connor.

Can someone who speaks twitter translate this for me?

[Cowboy89]

Another PC platform clarification for those who might be swayed by the PC's "No New taxes, No Service Cuts" banner ads that have appeared:

Well if you actually look in the platform they're only really pledging that until 2013. This is how it reads in their official platform:

"A new PC government will deliver a balanced budget by 2013 with no new taxes and no service cuts."

That really just means that they don't plan on cutting services or increasing taxes until 2013. Anything after that is fair game according to that bullet.
http://www.votepc.ca/public/data/documents/ACFA9AB.pdf

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by flamesaresmokin

There are plenty of other instances where there are tax credits for people like that. Simply throwing out a few here and there makes no difference.

Again - Tossing out "free tuition or tuition reduction" isn't a vote buy to all students in the province? I guess the ralph bucks part 2 isn't a vote buy to every tax payer either?

Funny how that works when a perk doesn't concern you its suddenly deemed insane.

Its insane for many reasons, but I'll keep it simple...1) WE CANT AFFORD IT 2) Lots of people go above the call of their job 3) Lots of people (despite your premise otherwise) bring stuff into that office that they dont get compensated for.

At least a tuition reduction scheme benefits the province by keeping the brain power here and maintaining the tax base.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Can someone who speaks twitter translate this for me?

I believe CP's own c.t.ner will be involved in CBC's election night coverage through his pet project @AlbertaTweets covering twitter reaction/discussion on election night.

How that will play out I don't know, but I suspect if you're watching CBC coverage on election night you'll hear/see something to the effect of "Twitter Stats provided by @AlbertaTweets", whether this is Connor on air or just a line on the screen I have no idea.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by flamesaresmokin

There are plenty of other instances where there are tax credits for people like that. Simply throwing out a few here and there makes no difference.

Again - Tossing out "free tuition or tuition reduction" isn't a vote buy to all students in the province? I guess the ralph bucks part 2 isn't a vote buy to every tax payer either?

Funny how that works when a perk doesn't concern you its suddenly deemed insane.

There's a difference between a perk that everyone gets and one that only some people get. It's a bit ironic when the PCs are running attack ads about how Wildrose will open the door to special interests hijacking the government.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Loads of people buy / bring their own stuff into their office (plants / art / utensils / tools + equipment / etc.). No one obvioulsy has to bring in a desk or chairs, but neither do teachers.

Lots of people go above and beyond for their job. Its a pure vote buy by the PC's.

They're not bringing in potted plants to decorate the classroom, they're bringing in supplies to help teach the kids. They are enriching the education system at their own expense and I applaud them for it.

The issue I have is that in any other business these would be normal business expenses and the company (in this case the school board) would re-imburse them for it. Making it a personal tax credit for the teachers seems like an odd way to handle this.

[flamesaresmokin]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Its insane for many reasons, but I'll keep it simple...1) WE CANT AFFORD IT 2) Lots of people go above the call of their job 3) Lots of people (despite your premise otherwise) bring stuff into that office that they dont get compensated for.

At least a tuition reduction scheme benefits the province by keeping the brain power here and maintaining the tax base.

The cost of removing or reducing tuition will cost the province millions of dollars per year (bordering on hundreds of million eventually when enrollment goes through the roof)? The ralph bucks will also cost the province millions of dollars when you're giving every tax payer a couple hundred dollars.

There are 30 thousand active teachers in AB. If all of them somehow claimed the max on this break (would more likely be a very small percentage as is the case with all tax breaks) it wouldn't even amount to anything close to the cost of these other perks.

I really don't see why anyone is getting bent out of shape for this when these other proposals are completely ludicrous and unaffordable - Especially when you are most concerned with the province not being able to afford a small tax break in comparison to hundreds of millions of dollars of free money/tuition breaks.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by flamesaresmokin

The cost of removing or reducing tuition will cost the province millions of dollars per year (bordering on hundreds of million eventually when enrollment goes through the roof)? The ralph bucks will also cost the province millions of dollars when you're giving every tax payer a couple hundred dollars.

There are 30 thousand active teachers in AB. If all of them somehow claimed the max on this break (would more likely be a very small percentage as is the case with all tax breaks) it wouldn't even amount to anything close to the cost of these other perks.

I really don't see why anyone is getting bent out of shape for this when these other proposals are completely ludicrous. Especially when you are most concerned with the province not being able to afford a small tax break in comparison to hundreds of millions of dollars of free money/tuition breaks.

While I agree that free tuition is a bad move, enrolment woudln't go through the roof because admissions would be capped.

Again, the problem with this is that it's a special interest tax break, and one that was not collectively-bargained for. If that's okay, then I want a SebC tax break. I don't know why you'd have a problem with this, there's only one SebC, so it's not like it would cost a lot of money compared to a tax break for everyone.

[crazy_eoj]

Originally Posted by flamesaresmokin

The cost of removing or reducing tuition will cost the province millions of dollars per year (bordering on hundreds of million eventually when enrollment goes through the roof)? The ralph bucks will also cost the province millions of dollars when you're giving every tax payer a couple hundred dollars.

There are 30 thousand active teachers in AB. If all of them somehow claimed the max on this break (would more likely be a very small percentage as is the case with all tax breaks) it wouldn't even amount to anything close to the cost of these other perks.

I really don't see why anyone is getting bent out of shape for this when these other proposals are completely ludicrous and unaffordable - Especially when you are most concerned with the province not being able to afford a small tax break in comparison to hundreds of millions of dollars of free money/tuition breaks.

With all the handouts to the ATA lately, it's starting to get a little too cozy?

http://m.calgarysun.com/2012/04/17/a...-bash-wildrose

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by crazy_eoj

With all the handouts to the ATA lately, it's starting to get a little too cozy?

http://m.calgarysun.com/2012/04/17/a...-bash-wildrose

That principal should be fired.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

That principal should be fired.

Yes he should.....and I would like to be able to tell you that this is an isolated incident but it is not.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Union job = no shot. Unions, ugh.

[Jacks]

I get home and what is in my mailbox?

Yet another full color multi page brochure from the PC Party, I now have 4. If anyone would like one let me know ... maybe to line a birdcage?

[edslunch]

I asked my 12 year old who I should vote for. Why? Last year in grade six they reviewed all the platforms in detail and he was the first to tell me that Nenshi was the one to vote for and why. When we started hearing it from other parents of school age terms we knew something was up.

This year what's his opinion? They all suck and each one has major wholes in their platform. I can't say I disagree.

He slightly prefers the Liberals because their leader is cool.

[Senator Clay Davis]

So having now seen I can't believe I'm voting PC, its actually so bad I wonder if this isn't actually a Wildrose plant. I mean not seriously obviously. I think the group that comes out looking the worst is young people. Is that really the best we can do?

[Jacks]

Just for giggles I thought I would look up what was happening in 1971.

Top 10 songs of the year:
01. Joy To The World » Three Dog Night
02. Maggie May / (Find A) Reason To Believe » Rod Stewart
03. It's Too Late / I Feel The Earth Move » Carole King
04. One Bad Apple » Osmonds
05. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart » Bee Gees
06. Indian Reservation » Paul Revere & The Raiders
07. Go Away Little Girl » Donny Osmond
08. Take Me Home, Country Roads » John Denver
09. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) » Temptations
10. Knock Three Times » Tony Orlando & Dawn

Top 10 TV shows (1971-1972):
01. All in the Family (debut season)
02. The Flip Wilson Show
03. Marcus Welby, M.D.
04. Gunsmoke
05. ABC Movie of the Week
06. Sanford and Son
07. Mannix
08. Funny Face
09. Adam-12
10. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Top movies:
The French Connection
The Last Picture Show
A Clockwork Orange
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Murmur of the Heart
Dirty Harry

Sports:
- Montreal wins the cup, Phil Esposito won the scoring title and Bobby Orr won the MVP.
- The Colts beat the Cowboys in Superbowl V.
- NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Balitmore Bullets in 4 straight games.
- Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden.

News:
- Apollo 14 & 15 land on the moon (so they say )
- Disco is starting to become popular
- The Nasdaq stock market debuts
- Five hundred thousand people in Washington, DC and 125,000 in San Francisco march in protest against the Vietnam War.
- Evel Knievel sets a world record and jumps 19 cars in Ontario, California
- Charles Manson is sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment.
- Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors is found dead in his bathtub in Paris, France
- The Progressive Conservatives under Peter Lougheed defeat the Social Credit government under Harry E. Strom in a general election, ending 36 years of uninterrupted power for Social Credit in Alberta.
- The Montreux Casino burns down during a Frank Zappa concert. The event is memorialized in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water."

Disclaimer: Yes I know I'm a massive hypocrite because I voted PC last election.

[CaptainCrunch]

Why in the blue hell am I getting phone calls from unions telling me about the evils of Danielle Smith and the Wild rose party. It basically alluded to the fact that we might be pissed off at the Conservative Party, but the Wild Rose Booga Booga Booga.


As much as I was probably going to vote for my Conservative MLA because I actually like the guy and I've talked to him a few times over the years. I have to say that any party that has a union that pissed off and scared is good enough for me.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Why in the blue hell am I getting phone calls from unions telling me about the evils of Danielle Smith and the Wild rose party.

Not even sure if that is legal, report them to the do not call list, they aren't exempt.

Edit: Better yet, report them to Elections Alberta.

[CaptainCrunch]

Yeah I submitted a email to Alberta Elections. Maybe I'm being overly suspicious but the call mentioned the Conservatives 4 times, didn't mention the Libs or the NDP (That's weird in itself) and encouraged me to vote for anyone but the Wild Rose, then mentioned the conservatives in the end with the you might be mad at the Conservatives but don't vote Wild Rose.