Another round of Ralph bucks??? - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

JackJack · 03-22-2006, 12:37 AM

Personally, being a University student and always having to deal with % increases in tuition and the cost of textbooks, why doesnt King Ralph give a one time infusion of these oil % gas royalties to Universities and Colleges? Imagine what that amount of money would do for the overall sustainability and improvement of faculties across the board.

How does that sound for an investment for the future? I know this post is totally biased to support University students. However, when your paying top dollar for an education your eventually going to use to contribute back to the upliftment of society, cant you get a helping hand at least? Or freeze tuition?

Its not as if money is an issue here...

Quirky Fact: As a percentage of total expenditures, the richest province in Canada (Alberta) only invests 5.2% on post secondary-education, ranking the province second lowest in the country.

So whats 5.2% percent of billions of dollars?

ken0042 · 03-22-2006, 07:17 AM

I suppose our last 3 posts exemplifies why the Ralph bucks exist. I want transportation, another wants public schools and hospitals, and yet another wants post secondary education. All of a sudden the $350M that Calgarians get is dilluted and there isn't enough to make a huge dent in any area.

mbrown · 03-22-2006, 07:37 AM

They set up a 3 billion endowment fund for education. We already spend a ton on heathcare. We are already maxed out on construction in Calgary. There is more to building infrastructure than money, there are simply not enough people to build another line of an LRT right now, not at least until some other projects are completed. I'll take the refund and reduce some debt of mine like i did last time, but I'd rather see the cancelleation of the health care premium even though my company pays for mine. It is inefficiently run and costs over 100 million to administer each year. Heck, I'd rather the get rid of provisincial income tax altogether and just have a small sales tax to off set it.

DementedReality · 03-22-2006, 07:38 AM

whats so wrong with giving us our OWN money back. If you people want to donate it, thats your business. I will take my $1600.00 and spend/save it on my family.

stop being so idealistic. its not his money to spend, he is just returning it to the rightful owners.

mbrown · 03-22-2006, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

whats so wrong with giving us our OWN money back. If you people want to donate it, thats your business. I will take my $1600.00 and spend/save it on my family.

stop being so idealistic. its not his money to spend, he is just returning it to the rightful owners.

Agreed, I'd just like to see some sort of a long term plan. Look at Alaska. they save for the long term and give 'dividend cheques' to residents. ie: The more they save, the bigger the dividend cheques. now that is smart.
I like Ralph, but his best-before-date was in 2002 I'm afraid.

I-Hate-Hulse · 03-22-2006, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

whats so wrong with giving us our OWN money back. If you people want to donate it, thats your business. I will take my $1600.00 and spend/save it on my family.

stop being so idealistic. its not his money to spend, he is just returning it to the rightful owners.

A good chunk of that came from resource royalties, not your own personal income tax.

What's better for Alberta - money for things like a twinned highway to Ft McMurray, or getting everyone iPods or a new vacation? I'd prefer a government that enourages a healthy economic environment so I can go out and earn more money than $400, rather than just have a small sum handed back to me.

Ditto on the thought we need someone with more long term vision than Ralph. You done good Ralph, time to exit stage right though....

flamingchina · 03-22-2006, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

** Blanket generalization upcoming**
The one part of this- most people who have their company pay for their health care generally make enough money; and may be in a position where $400 won't make a difference.

And, most people whose companies don't pay for it can apply for it to be subsidized, or even paid for. I don't pay my premiums because I don't make enough money in a year.

What to do with the extra cash? stick it away for the bad times. (the problem is, how to do that without Canada doing a cash grab on us...)

Bobblehead · 03-22-2006, 08:29 AM

Those whose companies pay their Alberta Health Premiums, that is a taxable benefit on your T4. Just FYI.

I think they should use the money to pay for the upkeep of the infrastructure we have now. Things got cut to the bone when Ralph first came in (as they needed to be) but now that the economy is hot we should shore up maintenance of things like schools. Just because school boards got by with minimal funding for the last 10 years doesn't mean that hasn't had a negative effect on the schools themselves. There are some repairs that should have been done, but were put off due to the budget crunch, and now the funding needs to allow a short catch-up on these projects or school may need to be evacuated because of a dangerous roof.

Radically Red · 03-22-2006, 09:50 AM

Cut taxes. Thats what I would prefer...
I dont think just spending it like crazy is the answer. Tax breaks. Save some of it first. then cut my taxes....

MrMastodonFarm · 03-22-2006, 09:54 AM

Keep the 400 Ralph, I already have an Ipod.

mbrown · 03-22-2006, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radically Red

Cut taxes. Thats what I would prefer...
I dont think just spending it like crazy is the answer. Tax breaks. Save some of it first. then cut my taxes....

what he said.

RyZ · 03-22-2006, 02:23 PM

I suprised so many are against the idea. Maybe you are all just better off than I am. That $400 last time was absolutly huge for me and allowed me to take care of a few medical problems. It would be huge for me again to get another $400 at my door.

Calgary Flames · 03-22-2006, 03:10 PM

I'm still waiting on the first one... They said March so...

Azure · 03-22-2006, 07:42 PM

I think that many of those that didn't want the 400 and were complaining about it, were those whose salary was large enough to allow them to live comfortably. Some people were actually glad that our government would give us back some money, rather then complain about it, then turn around and blow it anyways.

I actually wonder who many of those who complained, donated their money to charity?