Is anyone else sick of Rick Bell?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Meh, its funny to watch little Ricky cry and complain and act like a petulant child. Opinion writers are great because either you agree with them or find their opinions so ridiculous you just laugh at then. Win-win in my opinion.

[Stay Golden]

The questions Calgarians should be asking from day 1 about this 52million.
What was the initial purpose of the 52 million given to the City?
The Provincial government gave this 52 million to be a tax break did they not?
Nenshi was suppose to use this as a tax break as he asked the provincial government for it for what basically a year.

Why has City hall under Nenshi's direction refused from day 1 to comply with that?
Why is it so vital to Nenshi and his particular alderman that this money be not given as a tax break or directly to the people?
How much is the Provincial and Federal government giving to the city for flood relief moving forward 1/2 a billion and Nenshi wants a meager amount in comparison given to also flood relief 52 million.
That doesn't make sense to me why the 52 million seems like an oxy moron when the Province, Federal government and Insurance is going to end up footing the bill anyways. It is not going to be Nenshi's government paying the damages. Of course he will play the hero role.
What EXACTLY is this 52 million going to be spent on and to whom regarding flood relief?

Why has Nenshi acted so smug about this whole process?

As for Bell is he annoying and redundant and whine about topics yes, is he doing what he is employed to as a political columnist yes.
It doesn't matter if the Mayor is Nenshi, Sven Bartchi, Buck Shot, or Jon Cornish he is employed to stir the pot with City Hall and put a burr under their saddle.

[Bunk]

The real victim of Rick Bell's exploits is our receptionist. Rick Bell article comes out - and dozens of angry people call the office. I bring her cookies.

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The real victim of Rick Bell's exploits is our receptionist. Rick Bell article comes out - and dozens of angry people call the office. I bring her cookies.

So freedom of speech is not allowed unless it is pro Nenshi, interesting. Every Mayor in every city across North America receive their share of good and bad press. But Nenshi and his staff only feel or would prefer good press should be printed that is quite interesting.
I wonder how Nenshi feels about freedom of expression i think that is rather high on his personal priorities but expression by print media?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

So freedom of speech is not allowed unless it is pro Nenshi, interesting. Every Mayor in every city across North America receive their share of good and bad press. But Nenshi and his staff only feel or would prefer good press should be printed that is quite interesting.
I wonder how Nenshi feels about freedom of expression i think that is rather high on his personal priorities but expression by print media?

I'm pretty sure his comment couldn't have flown any more over your head if it were possible. He makes a joke, you go full on defense mode.

[_Q_]

Giving that $52 Million back to tax payers would be such a massively stupid way of spending that money. I can't believe that people deemed fit to function in normal society would argue for a tax break.

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

So freedom of speech is not allowed unless it is pro Nenshi, interesting. Every Mayor in every city across North America receive their share of good and bad press. But Nenshi and his staff only feel or would prefer good press should be printed that is quite interesting.
I wonder how Nenshi feels about freedom of expression i think that is rather high on his personal priorities but expression by print media?

Oh but you can't criticize Nenshi or he heads straight for some media/photo opportunity where he can whine and bitch because not everybody has drank the purple Kool-aid. I really don’t like his tactics so it makes it very difficult to trust him.


Bell is paid to act like a raving lunatic...kind of along the lines of Rutherford.

[darklord700]

If you overpaid CRA $50 or $500 and CRA says there's a national crisis like the Leman Brothers debacle so not there's no refund this year, how would you feel?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The real victim of Rick Bell's exploits is our receptionist. Rick Bell article comes out - and dozens of angry people call the office. I bring her cookies.

Rick Bell: Hurting the lives of the innocent people he claims he is fighting for.

Take the bait Stay Golden

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by rotten42

... really don’t like his tactics so it makes it very difficult to trust him...

Jesus, people, be reasonable, why do you need to trust an opinion columnist at a tabloid? He is just a name behind an opinion, he is not a news reporter. You can like it, hate it, agree with it or disagree with it. Where does trust enter the equation here?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Giving that $52 Million back to tax payers would be such a massively stupid way of spending that money. I can't believe that people deemed fit to function in normal society would argue for a tax break.

That's probably the dumbest thing that I've ever read.

I'm hoping that I'm color blind against Green.

BTW, its not a tax break, its the result of an overtax.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Giving that $52 Million back to tax payers would be such a massively stupid way of spending that money. I can't believe that people deemed fit to function in normal society would argue for a tax break.

Its not a tax break though, and that's where the misconception starts. Consider it like buying a pop (maybe even at the Superstore liquor store!) and instead of getting your change back they tell you that they have now found a better place to allocate those funds. That's more akin to what happened here.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Slava

Its not a tax break though, and that's where the misconception starts. Consider it like buying a pop (maybe even at the Superstore liquor store!) and instead of getting your change back they tell you that they have now found a better place to allocate those funds. That's more akin to what happened here.

To be fair if you're buying your pop at Superstore liquor store you probably won't be getting any change with their outrageous liquor store inflated prices. Of course next door there's always....

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

The questions Calgarians should be asking from day 1 about this 52million.
What was the initial purpose of the 52 million given to the City?
The Provincial government gave this 52 million to be a tax break did they not?
Nenshi was suppose to use this as a tax break as he asked the provincial government for it for what basically a year.

Why has City hall under Nenshi's direction refused from day 1 to comply with that?
Why is it so vital to Nenshi and his particular alderman that this money be not given as a tax break or directly to the people?
How much is the Provincial and Federal government giving to the city for flood relief moving forward 1/2 a billion and Nenshi wants a meager amount in comparison given to also flood relief 52 million.
That doesn't make sense to me why the 52 million seems like an oxy moron when the Province, Federal government and Insurance is going to end up footing the bill anyways. It is not going to be Nenshi's government paying the damages. Of course he will play the hero role.
What EXACTLY is this 52 million going to be spent on and to whom regarding flood relief?

Why has Nenshi acted so smug about this whole process?

As for Bell is he annoying and redundant and whine about topics yes, is he doing what he is employed to as a political columnist yes.
It doesn't matter if the Mayor is Nenshi, Sven Bartchi, Buck Shot, or Jon Cornish he is employed to stir the pot with City Hall and put a burr under their saddle.

This was not money "given" to the city. The city collects property tax for the province, then gives the province's share to them.

Several months ago, the province told the city that they didn't need $52 million of the property tax that the city had collected on their behalf.

The city then started trying to figure out what to do with the money (and are still trying to figure it out). There are options that involve spending it, and options that involve giving it back to taxpayers in various ways.

The city will get the majority of its costs covered by insurance, or other levels of government, ys. However, it knows that there will be some costs that will not be reimbursed. Things where it makes no sense to rebuild exactly as it was - where an upgrade was needed. The city will only be reimbursed for the replacement cost. Other new infrastructure to help prevent future floods may not be covered at all. The other option to cover the shortfall is to take the money out of reserve - which is what the reserve is for, however, money taken out of there would have to be replenished by taxpayer dollars anyway.

Sending out cheques to every property taxpayer would cost over $1 million. Also, there are other problems with that plan. Renters, who indirectly pay property tax, wouldn't get anything back. People with expensive properties would get the majority of the refund. The media like to talk about "every household getting $126 back", but in reality it wouldn't be anywhere near that. Businesses would get a large portion of the funds, and people owning expensive properties would get more back than people with less expensive properties. People that need the money most, would be people who would get very little or zero money back. Giving money back, really, is a total waste of time and money. Thankfully, council sees this.

Giving 2013's portion to flood relief, really is a no brainer, in November, when this is discussed again at 2014 budget time, the city will have a clearer picture of exactly how much money it is out due to the flood.

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

That's probably the dumbest thing that I've ever read.

I'm hoping that I'm color blind against Green.

BTW, its not a tax break, its the result of an overtax.

In what sense is it the dumbest thing you've ever read?

The city's infrastructure is severely lacking, but rather than spend that money to improve make much needed improvements, let's give every household an extra $8-$12 per month. That'll definitely improve quality of life in this city. Who doesn't want to be able to buy an extra timmies double double every week?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Sending out cheques to every property taxpayer would cost over $1 million. Also, there are other problems with that plan. Renters, who indirectly pay property tax, wouldn't get anything back. People with expensive properties would get the majority of the refund. The media like to talk about "every household getting $126 back", but in reality it wouldn't be anywhere near that. Businesses would get a large portion of the funds, and people owning expensive properties would get more back than people with less expensive properties. People that need the money most, would be people who would get very little or zero money back. Giving money back, really, is a total waste of time and money. Thankfully, council sees this.

Most of this is simply irrelevant though. Sure some people get nothing back....the people who didn't pay in the first place. Anything above and beyond that is between them and their landlord. Some people will get more back. They paid more to begin with, so that just makes sense.

The amounts aren't important here either. The fact is that we entrust our governments with our money. For them to arbitrarily decide that we overpaid, but they'll just find something to spend it on is actually appalling. Its not a question of whether I (or anyone else arguing this point) "needs" the money either. I really don't. Frankly though, that doesn't mean that the government at any level should get to keep it.

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by Slava

Its not a tax break though, and that's where the misconception starts. Consider it like buying a pop (maybe even at the Superstore liquor store!) and instead of getting your change back they tell you that they have now found a better place to allocate those funds. That's more akin to what happened here.

That doesn't make too much sense.

How does over taxing work? Aren't tax rates already set by the government? It's not like you were supposed to get taxed X amount but by mistake they took X+Y and now they're returning Y. No, they taxed you X amount, realized that they don't need the full amount and now are giving it to the city in order to find better use for it.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by _Q_

In what sense is it the dumbest thing you've ever read?

The city's infrastructure is severely lacking, but rather than spend that money to improve make much needed improvements, let's give every household an extra $8-$12 per month. That'll definitely improve quality of life in this city. Who doesn't want to be able to buy an extra timmies double double every week?

Then do this through the standard capital budget process. Why is this 52 million special? Why is this 52 million dollars any different then any other money that the city has collected. My main concern is that this money is going to pet projects rather than compete against all of the capital needs of the city. What really needs to happen is that the capital budget of the city needs to get made and we fund the highest priority items on the list that gives us a tax rate that is acceptable.

Forget about this being an Extra 52 million or Tax Payers money that the city is stealing because ALL OF THE MONEY IS TAX PAYERS MONEY. If the CPS budget comes in 1 million dollars less than anticipated should the city refund that money to the tax payer because it is over taxed? NO. The whole fight over who owns this 52 million is stupid. Set the capital budget, fund the capital budget. Nothing else to see here.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by _Q_

That doesn't make too much sense.

How does over taxing work? Aren't tax rates already set by the government? It's not like you were supposed to get taxed X amount but by mistake they took X+Y and now they're returning Y. No, they taxed you X amount, realized that they don't need the full amount and now are giving it to the city in order to find better use for it.

Well some people are going to try to tell you what happened in a different way here, but its exactly what happened. The budgets were all set, and the city was debating what to do with the windfall. We had TV stars and game shows all in one to debate which pet project should get this cash.

Fact is, I'm a Nenshi supporter and would gladly vote against DCU again. I can still see clearly that this was a mistake though. The money should've been returned to the taxpayers, regardless of the sum. If cutting a cheque is too much, then reduce the bills going forward. The idea that they had $52M fall in their lap and had to run around and debate where to spend it tells you everything you need to know.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Giving that $52 Million back to tax payers would be such a massively stupid way of spending that money. I can't believe that people deemed fit to function in normal society would argue for a tax break.

Originally Posted by _Q_

In what sense is it the dumbest thing you've ever read?

I think part of it may be the fact that returning the money back to taxpayers isn't "spending that money".