King Ralph
You know things are bad in Ottawa when Ralph Goodale looks to Ralph Klein for inspiration. Yes, the federal government saw Ralph Klein's "prosperity bonus", saw the lackluster reaction of Albertans to it, saw it get criticized as an uninspiring policy and said: "gosh, maybe we should do that."
From now on, Canadians will get money from Ottawa whenever the surplus turns out to be larger than expected (no word yet on whether or not this kick back will be delivered in cash, in brown envelopes).
Even though I trashed Klein for this, at least he's in the position of having money to burn. Paul Martin has made a 25% Debt-to-GDP ratio his grand ambition (yawn) so refusing to pay down the debt seems like an odd course of action. It also seems like a rather haphazard way to shill out money for a guy who:
a) Was a good Finance Minister
b) Has been accused of lacking vision
From now on, Canadians will get money from Ottawa whenever the surplus turns out to be larger than expected (no word yet on whether or not this kick back will be delivered in cash, in brown envelopes).
Even though I trashed Klein for this, at least he's in the position of having money to burn. Paul Martin has made a 25% Debt-to-GDP ratio his grand ambition (yawn) so refusing to pay down the debt seems like an odd course of action. It also seems like a rather haphazard way to shill out money for a guy who:
a) Was a good Finance Minister
b) Has been accused of lacking vision
posted by calgarygrit at
11:11 p.m.
21 Comments:
Now step back and look at the whole plan. This is brilliant legislation that works to serve the interests of all Canadians.
By
Robert McClelland, at 12:45 a.m.
Hi everyone.
A question. How should I most effectively make my point to the government? Should I refuse the money upfront, or accept the money and then mail them back a cheque.
If I wanted the government to buy me CDs I'd elect the guy from my local HMV. I want the government to properly fund universities and research, to give our military the best training and equipment on the planet, to keep the planet from falling apart at the seems.
Keep the damn money and govern.
Idiots.
By
Lord Kitchener's Own, at 1:51 a.m.
It seems stupid to give me money that should be used to pay down debt.
I know I'm paying for bad decisions made by Brian Mulroney's and previous governments.
I'd rather take the some of the debt monkey off the backs of my children than get a couple hundred bucks from the government. Maybe I'm not selfish enough.
By
Anonymous, at 9:01 a.m.
QuebecHarpermaniac says:
Interesting to see how the grit-bloggers play this one, given they were all so hopping mad with Klein.
Anyway, its a stupid idea. Reduce my taxes Ralph StaleBeer.
By
Anonymous, at 9:11 a.m.
Ralph really should just pave the streets in gold... that would make winter driving more entertaining! Actually, maybe spending money on education, and particularly post-secondary would be a worthwhile endeavor. Speaking from personal experience, they desperately need the funds.
By
Keegan, at 9:13 a.m.
Instead of giving a small bit of money (what $250.00) to folks to spend on VLT's, beer and cigarettes, maybe they could look at fixing the god-damn highways, getting some doctors into rural Canada and getting rid of scum suckers like David Dingwall. Is everybody in Ottawa on crack?
By
Anonymous, at 10:28 a.m.
Don Mitchell,
From what's been said on CBC Montreal, apparently, many people in the PMO are on cocaine.
By
Anonymous, at 10:32 a.m.
Couldn't our armed forces use that money?
I'd rather have our guys in Afghanistan safe and well-equiped than get a $100 bucks.
Bet you never thought you'd hear a Dipper say that?
I'm curious how the CPC guys who thought King Ralphs plan was brialliant will react?
By
Mike, at 10:47 a.m.
My my, a leftwing government that actually is going to be responsible and give some surplus back? I will now go a look out the window and look for flying pigs. Give people money back? Don't they know the common people are too stupid and will just waste it? The government always spends wisely.
By
Anonymous, at 11:35 a.m.
This refund idea is stupid. Not only are they raising administrative costs by sending it back after collecting it, but the money would be much better used in increased social, infrastructure, or military spending and/or on debt reduction.
I'm sick of governments trying to buy my vote with my own taxes. Do they really think we're this stupid?
By
Anonymous, at 11:57 a.m.
I'm not going to waste the money because I'm stupid...I'm going to waste the money because I don't need it.
Honestly, the only person interested in governing the country left in Ottawa seems to be the one guy who can't form a government.
I'm so sick of this.
By
Lord Kitchener's Own, at 11:58 a.m.
Now don't all you precious socialists fret. Uncle Pauly and him cohorts are in a teasing mood today. This is after all a Liberal fabrication to ward off any more talk of corruption.By the time Uncle Pauly pays off his friend Dingbat with OUR tax dollars and moves to the next set of weekly corruption scandals , there wont be a plug nickel left to hand out to all you schmucks who blindly digest this crap.
By
Dorionhawk, at 12:18 p.m.
Monkey see, monkey do.
By
Nastyboy, at 1:14 p.m.
I'm not a real fan of the government's one time payments for anything. A permanent tax cut would have a much more benificial effect on the economy as a whole, than kicking out a check on a one time only basis.
By
Chris, at 1:46 p.m.
lame lame lame lame lame.
By
daveberta, at 3:51 p.m.
Well after reading more of the plan than just the headline it isn't the worst idea. The surplus money is to be split between more spending, paying down the debt, and tax relief. The rebate is simply immediate tax relief and this figure is used to increase the basic tax exemption for the next year.
On another note why is the military the only government department where spending isn't questioned. I mean when you have a force that is over a quarter officers (Think Managers) and has more generals (Think executives)than armies three times its size there is a problem. Add on to that it likes to buy things that companies paint green call it "ruggedized" and jack up the price by several hundred percent. I mean the army spends $20,000 for a single battery charger.
By
Anonymous, at 4:35 p.m.
No one could have predicted the price of oil was going to climb to what it did. Thanks to this and tar sands development in Alberta we have an unexpected surplus. Its as if we all overpaid our taxes or as if the oil companies overpaid taxes. If the government said we are going to spend x number of dollars then they should stick by that number. If there is some extra, then we should get a refund. For the morons who say "I don't need any more money", you may be wealthy but not all of us are you know. This is why Ralphs plan is way better, everyone will get some much needed cash even those who didn't fill out income tax.
By
Anonymous, at 5:10 p.m.
Paul Martin has never had an original thought. The guy is a
M O R O N He is a very scary guy for what damage he is doing and will be allowed to continue to do from Ontarians who will re-elect this bunch of lying, cheating, stealing, idiots. No wonder the CPC don't want to talk about their platform too early. If they do, they will automatically be reported by the media as a liberal platform. When will the east open their eyes and save this country.
By
Anonymous, at 6:43 p.m.
It is time Martin earned the name Liberal and stopped poaching stupid Conservative policy proposals and slogans and presented Canadians with a bold liberal vision of Canada, a la, Trudeau.
By
Koby, at 2:23 a.m.
As a progressive Albertan profoundly disgusted at the waste of receiving a couple hundred bucks as a bribe ... er.. "prosperity bonus".. I am shocked and amazed the Martin is going down the same path ... anyone else think education, health, research, etc., is underfunded? C'mon, a couple hundred bucks will make little difference to most of us (for those for whom it will, let's fund a safety net that will actually help them). I'd rather see gov't across the board make some real commitments to shoring up infrastructure at all levels, refunding gutted education/health systems (in Alberta anyway reinvestment would be nice), or overhauling the tax code to simplify/reduce taxes ... or at least SOMETHING a little more long-term beneficial ... little cash backs here and there amounts to pissing the money away when it could be put to some legitimate purpose. And for the record, my "prosperity bonus" is gonna go to one of a few charities I currently support ... probably supporting SSM or HIV research :P
By
Anonymous, at 1:40 p.m.
As a life long Albertan and a part of a family of 4 that will be $1600 we will use for RESPs that we wouldn't afford otherwise.
By
Anonymous, at 11:56 a.m.
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