All Hail King Ralph!!

[Incinerator]

Originally posted by Lanny_MacDonald+Oct 26 2004, 07:41 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Lanny_MacDonald @ Oct 26 2004, 07:41 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-arsenal@Oct 26 2004, 06:21 AM
There are no wait times in the US, but you pay through the teeh. Conversely, you don't pay anything in Canada, but you deal with long wait times.

No wait times in the US? Where the hell is that? I pay $12K a year for health insurance and I get to have my service provider dictated to me AND wait in line for an appointment. That fallacy of not having to wait for service in the US is so much BS. You have just as long a wait in the US as you do in Canada, especially at facilities that take the public. Unless you are JD Moneybags you do NOT have access to quick medical attention. God forbid you actually need to see a specialist where the demand is high and the supply minimal. You can die waiting as people with more money or better insurance get bumped past you. Healtcare is a business down here and being paid is the number one priority. Damn the hippocratic oath! [/b][/quote]
Well what you said just confirmed what arsenal pointed out--you gotta pay through the teeth/nose/whathaveyou if you don't wanna wait in the US. Looking at your measely $12K annual health-spending budget (by US standards), that would hardly qualifies as "paying through the nose" in the American health care system, I'll bet you anything that the guy paying $120K has a shorter waiting time than you, and the guy paying $1.2M definitely has the shortest to non-existent waiting time out of everyone.

It is no myth that in America anything could be done given that you have deep enough pockets, or else Jean Chretien wouldn't fly to Minnesota to see the doctor.

[Sylvanfan]

Well there is no doubt that Klein has had an impressive political career.

Check it out http://www.gov.ab.ca/premier/biography.cfm now granted this is some biased political rhetoric.

Has anyone read the book about Ralph Klein (or are you old enough to remember)? My boss was telling me about it and how he came from no where to win the mayors chair in Calgary on a something like a $30,000 campaign budget against the incumbant mayor, and a couple of other high profile candidates. Strangely enough he's been able to parlay the whole thing into one impressive political career.

I think Klein could win this election without saying a damn thing because the current opposition parties will eventually talk themselves into being too stupid to appeal to the voting public in this province. Once Ralph is gone the PC's are going to have to look hard to find another person to provide similar leadership. Funny for all the complaining that the opposition do they fail to provide facts like energy costs are up everywhere else in North America. Auto Insurance is cheaper in Alberta for most drivers than it is in other jurisdictions that do not have no fault insurance. Health Care in Alberta is as good or better than anywhere else in Canada (I moved from B.C. 3 and a half years ago and find that Alberta's system is far better than what it was where I was living in B.C.), and the system can't be fixed by simply putting more money into it without a proper plan (it's also damn near impossible to make more doctors and nurses magically appear out of nowhere). College and University students don't complain about the ample employment oppurtunities, and higher wages paid by the bussiness sector to them when they do graduate and want to join the work force (not to mention that I think high tuition costs act as a motivation to ensure that students only take the course one time).

[kermitology]

I just hope that when Ralph is done they don't pick some asshat like Gary Marr as his replacement. Even still.. I highly doubt that anyone other than the PC's would win. It's just like the federal election, Rob Anders could be Rob Anders, or a baby-killing rapist, and he'd still get elected..

[kipperfan]

Originally posted by Snakeeye@Oct 26 2004, 06:28 PM
Change for the sake of change is never a good thing.

Exactly.

That should be the end of this thread.

That one line by snake completly sums up the election this year. Even if you dont like or support Ralph the fact is the are NO alternatives this election. Kevin Taft is an absolute joke, to have him as the leader of the official oppisition is sad. Hes already been proven to be a lier, beyond that he has about as much charisma as Preston Manning(still lovd him though). The NDP and the Ab Alliance are far to extreme for 90% of Alberta voters, and that leaves Ralph.

Like him or not, he is clearly the only viable candidate in this race.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally posted by kipperfan@Oct 26 2004, 02:28 AM
I know "ralph bashing" has become fairly popular over the last few years in this province.

Really? All I ever hear are the good things about him. Weird.

I actually like Klein and think he has done a pretty good job. He is in a position where it would be hard to fail, but at the same time, has done well. Alberta is blessed with valuable resources, and the major population centres have avoided the gathering of destitute people (unlike Toronto and Vancouver), and resource depletion (like in the east) - making social spending not a huge priority for the province. A conservative government can succeed in these situations easier. At the same time, Klein has spent a lot in infrastructure.

So what are Kleins negative points? Like I said, since I moved here from BC, I have not heard anything really bad about the guy. There must be something. The only thing I can think of is when he was drunk and threw money at the homeless (which was stupid).

[kipperfan]

Originally posted by FlamesAddiction@Oct 28 2004, 03:57 AM
I have not heard anything really bad about the guy.

Go to Edmonton...

You can find some bleeding heart liberals up there that hate his guts..

[peter12]

Well looks like Ralph decided to add a bit of excitement to the election today. Ralph probably felt a little grouchy.

[kipperfan]

If by excitment you mean controversy...............yes

if by excitment you mean votes for other parties..............no, its going to take more than a stupid comment to take credence from Ralph.

Bush has said a lot of pretty moronic things during his reign too, but is still very supported despite.