[OnTheIce]

andyt andyt:

Focus all of that money, and more, on low income families. What you probably don't think about is that you are already paying taxes (assuming you are not very low income) that go toward dealing with the fallout of child poverty. Unnecessary health costs, policing costs, justice system costs, prisons, lost productivity (ie people not working who had the potential to do so and pay taxes themselves instead of living off the govt), welfare, the list goes on and on. If we invested in poor children at the earliest stages of their lives, we would get a huge return on that investment in not creating so many damaged people later on in their lives. We'd all get a nice tax cut out of it. And have a safer, more harmonious society.

As a Country, we do a lot for those that need income assistance. This program just ads to that.

Families, poor or not, can use the money which will spur the economy and reduce consumer debt.

[andyt]

We do better than some, worse than others. The thing is that we could all be paying lower taxes, or buying the navy ships, or what have you, if we invested more money up front, then reaped the benefits off the back end. But voters don't have the discipline and patience for that, so neither do the pols we elect.

[uwish]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

uwish uwish:

still better than the No Down Payment team, but I get tired of all the breaks going to someone else yet I get to pay for it all...

You also pay for the chronic smoker or drinker than needs an extraordinary amount of extra medical care.

You also pay for projects, roads and other infrastructure in remote areas of the Country.

As taxpayers, we pay for a lot of things we don't directly benefit from.

I disagree partially with that, smokers and drinkers pay a significant tax on the products they buy. I could argue it's self funded...100% tax on smokes! I shouldn't be funding their illness!

[DrCaleb]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

$3bn for a social program while the navy loses its last destroyer.

And it was revealed today that the federal budget $3B in the black so far this year. So not only do we have a third world Navy and even worse in terms of scientific research, we are being over charged taxes!

[herbie]

On the bright side, gov't policies that let the dollar turn to shit mean the deficit's really only 2/3 as bad as it seems...

[andyt]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

$3bn for a social program while the navy loses its last destroyer.

And it was revealed today that the federal budget $3B in the black so far this year. So not only do we have a third world Navy and even worse in terms of scientific research, we are being over charged taxes!

Funny, the PBO says the budget is 1 bil in the red.

Also, are we being overcharged taxes with a budget in the black when we still have a large national debt?

[OnTheIce]

herbie herbie:

On the bright side, gov't policies that let the dollar turn to shit mean the deficit's really only 2/3 as bad as it seems...

Explain the specific government policies that have let the dollar turn to shit.

[Jabberwalker]

Just got our cheque today for over $800!

I'll take it!

... and anything else like it!

One of them need braces!

It's like buying another car!

[Jabberwalker]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

herbie herbie:

On the bright side, gov't policies that let the dollar turn to shit mean the deficit's really only 2/3 as bad as it seems...

Explain the specific government policies that have let the dollar turn to shit.

Our dollar didn't go to shit. The American dollar first went way, way down when their banking system collapsed and we all thought:"Man, we must be good! Look at our dollar!"

The Americans graually recover, their currency returns to its former worth and so does ours and we say: "Man! Someone did something to us! Why doesn't the government DO something about it!"

The truth is that the Canadian dollar is sitting quietly on the same boring old plateau that it has occupied for nearly a third of a century. We are back to normal, now. Maybe, some of the very profitable economic activities that go along with making goods produced a low dollar environment and selling them to customers who have a much higher valued currency will return to the ountry's heartland.

[herbie]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

herbie herbie:

On the bright side, gov't policies that let the dollar turn to shit mean the deficit's really only 2/3 as bad as it seems...

Explain the specific government policies that have let the dollar turn to shit.

SPECIFIC?
How about YOU tell us a single gov't policy in the last 40 years that propped the dollar up?
Don't matter what kind of gov't they all like the dollar down. Only you and I get fucked over by it, not gov't and business. Fuck even I enjoyed cashing those Google cheques last time it tanked and my websites were popular.

[JaredMilne]

Here's Brent Rathgeber's take on the issue, which is arguably the last word on the subject:

$1:

Christmas in July or just the end of Principled Conservatism?

It was actually painful to watch Minister of Employment, the Honourable Pierre Poilievre yesterday standing in front of a Government of Canada back screen and behind a Government of Canada podium, but wearing a Conservative branded golf shirt, as he announced the largest one time payout in Canadian history.

In case you missed it [and that barely seems possible, given how much time and energy the Government has dedicated towards promoting it], the Government increased the Universal Child Care Benefit for children under six from $100 to $160 and created a new $60 stipend for children between the ages of six and seventeen.

To add to the hype around the announcement, the program commenced January 1, but the government claims it was incapable of processing cheques, so lump-sum, backdated cheques are arriving in parents’ mailboxes this week. I generally do not dismiss the bureaucracy’s general incompetence, but the fact that we are less than 100 days away from a general election may be a better explanation for the large, lump-sum, backdated payments.

There was a time when Conservatives would scoff at, or at least be embarrassed by, a huge expenditure, especially those considered to be an aggregate of the welfare state. However, I truthfully cannot remember when that might have been. After seven consecutive deficit budgets, adding over $200 billion to the national debt, including the single largest deficit in Canadian history, this Conservative Government is clearly not embarrassed by spending taxpayers’ dollars in large quantities.

However, you would think that there would remain some principled elements within the Conservative Party, who would see through the blatant and shameless self-promotion of having the minister wear a partisan branded shirt, having other ministers fan out all across the country to make comparable announcements, all on the eve of a national election, in which the polls, although tight, show the Conservatives trailing. Apparently, not.

The cheques might appear large [$520 for children under six and $420 for children under 18]. However, it really is not Christmas in July for parents. In the last Omnibus Budget Bill, the Government eliminated the Child Tax Credit. Moreover, the new Universal Child Care Benefit is taxable income. So although you get to cash the cheque before the election, when next April arrives, parents will be taxed on much of that so-called Christmas present. With the elimination of the Child Tax Credit, a family earning $90,000 per year will only be able to keep an extra $7.50 per month after the tax claw back.

Of course, from a political and electoral perspective, it matters not. The cheques get cashed before the election. The tax liability is not incurred until 6 ½ months after the Government hopes to be re-elected.

Both Treasury Board Guidelines and the Ethics Commission state it is inappropriate for a government official to blur the lines between a government and a partisan announcement. However, Minister Pierre Poilievre felt no apparent shame. He was quick to point out that neither the Liberals nor the New Democrats support the UCCB [a half-truth at best]. Accordingly, he was not so subtly attempting to persuade an apparently gullible public that only the Conservatives could be trusted to protect families.

It’s not new for governments to attempt to play politics with taxpayer money; but vote buying has rarely felt more shameless.

Conservatives used to stand for something, for small, limited government, for low taxes, for individual choice and individual responsibility for choices made. However, yesterday’s spectacle has shown that the Conservatives are no better guardians of public money than any other party and worse, have taken electioneering and electoral bribery to new and dangerous levels.

In its nine years in office, the Government has added over 120 boutique tax credits, designed specifically to garner votes from certain demographics. A true conservative would develop a simplified tax code and a lower base tax for all Canadians.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in asking his MPs to shill for the event, called Monday an “historic day,”; yes, the Conservative Government handing out cheques totalling $3 billion is I suppose historic, as would any attempt to bribe taxpayers with $3 billion of their own money; although I can think of several other more appropriate adjectives.

It is time to stop pretending the Universal Child Care Benefit is about child care; it is about the election.

True conservatives are outraged (or at least embarrassed). Partisan Conservatives appear to be thrilled and self-satisfied. And poor Pierre Poilievre, he appears to be oblivious to the fact that he has been reduced to the role of infomercial pitchman in a corporate golf shirt, albeit a stylish on.

[OnTheIce]

herbie herbie:

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

herbie herbie:

On the bright side, gov't policies that let the dollar turn to shit mean the deficit's really only 2/3 as bad as it seems...

Explain the specific government policies that have let the dollar turn to shit.

SPECIFIC?
How about YOU tell us a single gov't policy in the last 40 years that propped the dollar up?
Don't matter what kind of gov't they all like the dollar down. Only you and I get fucked over by it, not gov't and business. Fuck even I enjoyed cashing those Google cheques last time it tanked and my websites were popular.

Yes, specific.

I didn't make a claim. You did. I'd like you to specifically note a policy that has turned the dollar to shit.

[herbie]

Shouldn't have to. Your already in a thread about one.
Look at what Bart posted. The optics of heavily promoting a $3 billion social program.
Can't explain it's not really a $3 billion dollar anything, more a tax adjustment to foreign investors without exposing how you're trying to trick the voters in an election campaign.
But if I picked one it's the 'stay the course message' that clearly implies they're not intending to DO anything about it.

[OnTheIce]

herbie herbie:

Shouldn't have to. Your already in a thread about one.
Look at what Bart posted. The optics of heavily promoting a $3 billion social program.
Can't explain it's not really a $3 billion dollar anything, more a tax adjustment to foreign investors without exposing how you're trying to trick the voters in an election campaign.
But if I picked one it's the 'stay the course message' that clearly implies they're not intending to DO anything about it.

Then you'd be wrong. This type of program didn't have any effect on the dollar. Zero. Did Harper make policy to affect the price of gold? How about the price of oil on the global market?

You've bitten off more than you can chew and you have no basis for your point beyond your political bias. Next time, stick to things you know about and can offer some backup when you make ridiculous statements.

[DrCaleb]

andyt andyt:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

$3bn for a social program while the navy loses its last destroyer.

And it was revealed today that the federal budget $3B in the black so far this year. So not only do we have a third world Navy and even worse in terms of scientific research, we are being over charged taxes!

Funny, the PBO says the budget is 1 bil in the red.

Also, are we being overcharged taxes with a budget in the black when we still have a large national debt?

Minister Oliver is saying one thing, the Parliamentary Budget Officer is saying another. If the PBO is right, it'll just mean that this 'fiscally responsible' government had 8 straight deficit budgets, instead of 7.

And anytime the government has a surplus, I see it as they collected too much tax. They got me to loan them money interest free.