Alberta Politics Thread

[Fuzz]

I assume that stat includes retirees?

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I assume that stat includes retirees?

It counts 2.9M people, so I assume that means working-age adults only. According to this page, there are ~2.9M Albertans aged 15-64 (2015 data), so the numbers line up.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Yeah, when they talk about this rebate back balancing out the carbon tax for middle income families. It balances out gas purchases if you only purchase about 400 liters of gas a year $200/(.45/litre tax) = 444.

So whatever you do, don't buy more then about 10 tanks of gas a year.

On top of it, this doesn't do anything for your power bill.

Oh and to really throw things in our face they're going to hire 247 bureaucrats this year.

The gas tax is 4.5 cents a litre, not 45 cents. So your 400 litres is $18 tax....not great but hardly a showstopper

[Regorium]

There is a serious revenue issue in this province along with spending issue.

It embarrasses me as an Albertan to see people whine about the carbon tax considering our tax burden is by FAR the lowest out of any province in Canada.

Christ, a 5% PST would still leave us by far the lowest tax burden out of any province, and we whine about a carbon tax that is probably gonna be 1% out of everyone's lifestyle.

Regardless, this is still a weak budget, because it accomplishes no goals. I'd have more respect if they spent a bit more political capital to implement PST along with the carbon tax, while also cutting public spending (on teachers and nurses etc.) at the same time.

[Fuzz]

I "wine" about the carbon tax because it is totally misguided. It shouldn't even be in the budget. If you are going to do it, you announce it as a esperate item, and direct funds to things that will make a difference, like an LRT for Calgary, and a research centre of excellence for energy efficiency in one of our Universities. Give a baseline allowance per household, so you are not punishing people for staying warm. Anything over that threshold gets taxed. There are hundreds of ways this could have been handled better. Make it meaningful, not a budgetary cash grab.

It should have been a PST, like all the economists have been saying for years.

[Weitz]

The carbon tax is just a redistribution of wealth.

[CaptainCrunch]

This news doesn't help as Alberta surgery wait times are the worst in the country.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2016/04/14...orst-in-canada

[Weitz]

Hard to have good surgery wait times when OR's close at 3 pm.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by username

For the first time in my life I'm actually embarrassed to be an Albertan. I'm ashamed that these clowns are in charge of running our province. It's disgusting that we are running a deficit that will be paid back by future generations (our children). It's not fair to them.

Really? This is hardly the most shameful thing in Alberta's political history.

[puckedoff]

This budget is so bad. They must know they are headed out the door in 2019 so they are spending it all in one shot. No government could have such a short sighted view if they actually expected to govern long term.

[PaperBagger'14]

As soon as it became apparent that the NDP were going to win, I hoped it was going to be in a minority. This budget is so stupid that a vote of non confidence seems incredibly likely.

[oilyfan]

Originally Posted by Locke

What makes you think Teachers know anything about basic Economics? Their entire compensation and pension structure is kept together by hope and prayers.



What the hell are you talking about? We already got one. They just slapped some lipstick on it and called it a Carbon Tax so we get to 'feel environmentally conscious' when we pay it.

Calm down bud, you are going to have an aneurism. If you think a 4.5c tax on gas has the same revenue generating power as Sask's 5% PST then you should check your calculator batteries. We have the lowest taxes in the country, we have had a revenue problem for a long time, and yes I agree we also have a spending problem. But Stelmach and Redford built this house, tearing it down means thousands more Albertans (yes public servants are also Albertans) on unemployment, right at the worst time for consumer spending.

[the_only_turek_fan]

You guys that voted for the NDP satisfied?

[LanceUppercut]

How do they justify adding more public sector jobs and increasing spending? Shouldn't the absolute minimum be a spending freeze on all departments? We're likely going to start seeing larger out migration from the province.

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

You guys that voted for the NDP satisfied?

No, they aren't satisfied, "rich" people are still not paying enough.

[cal_guy]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

Its not really a carbon tax if 60% of families are expected to get a refund.

Maybe cut the tax rate by 50% and have everyone pay for it? Not sure I need to subsidize someone's gas costs.

Here's what Andrew Leach who was on of the panelist of the Climate Change Panel had to say on twitter.

User Actions
Andrew Leach
‏@andrew_leach
Most frequently asked Q on #ableg carbon plan was why do the low- and mid-income credit and/or does it not offset the impacts. 1/n

Short answer on rebates is to guard against regressive impacts by reducing the "income effects" of the carbon tax. 2/n

Point of carbon price is to shift relative prices, not reduce purchasing power. Lump-sum rebates preserve GHG price substitution effect.3/n

With or w/out rebates, consumers will still face effective $30/t price at the margin, which provides reward/incentive to reduce GHGs. 4/n

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I "wine" about the carbon tax because it is totally misguided. It shouldn't even be in the budget.

It should have been a PST, like all the economists have been saying for years.

Well, get ready because it is going to be both before you know it.

[Jacks]

It's the NDP family!

Spouse #1: Hi honey, I survived the layoffs but I have to take a 20% pay cut.

Spouse #2: That's not good, I was laid off today, maybe I can get a part time job, what are we going to do?

Spouse #1: What are you worried about?

Spouse #2: Maybe we should look at a smaller house, sell off some assets, downsize, this is going to be a tough period for us.

Spouse #1: Meh, I'm thinking we just keep spending as usual, don't want to affect our lifestyle, I'm sure things will work themselves out soon.

Spouse #2: We are only bringing in half our pay, if we keep spending as usual we'll be drowning in debt in no time. We've already spent the college fund, we need to cut expenses desperately.

Spouse #1: I was thinking about that, interest rates are really low right now, we should borrow 50K, redo the roof, develop the basement, maybe a bit of landscaping? You know, invest in the future. Now is the time to borrow money don't you think? I was thinking too, if we hired someone to paint the house you could help them and maybe earn a wage, that would be a positive cash flow and offset the costs!

Spouse #2: Are you serious?

Spouse #1: [shrugs]

[the_only_turek_fan]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I "wine" about the carbon tax because it is totally misguided. It shouldn't even be in the budget. If you are going to do it, you announce it as a esperate item, and direct funds to things that will make a difference, like an LRT for Calgary, and a research centre of excellence for energy efficiency in one of our Universities. Give a baseline allowance per household, so you are not punishing people for staying warm. Anything over that threshold gets taxed. There are hundreds of ways this could have been handled better. Make it meaningful, not a budgetary cash grab.

It should have been a PST, like all the economists have been saying for years.

Those same economists that you speak of are also calling for income tax and corporate tax reductions or eliminating them all together.

[the_only_turek_fan]

The most infuriating thing about this budget is that folks in the private sector are taking pay cuts and reduced hours and on top of that pay more tax, while Notley has made to intention to reduce the pay for public sector workers in future negotiations.

Truly irresponsible and disrespectful to Albertans.

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

The most infuriating thing about this budget is that folks in the private sector are taking pay cuts and reduced hours and on top of that pay more tax, while Notley has made to intention to reduce the pay for public sector workers in future negotiations.

Truly irresponsible and disrespectful to Albertans.

Can't figure out if you are saying Notley has made it clear her intention to reduce pay for public sector, or hasn't made it clear.