I have a better solution

84 Replies to “I have a better solution”

1. TOTALLY!

2. Scum? Idiot?
   You’re an asshole, lance. Grow up.

3. Apparently Canada is isolated from the whole world. I have little concern about the federal deficit – but I have huge concerns about provincial deficits particularly in Ontario, BC and Quebec – if they don’t get their acts together, the rest of Canada will pay.

4. While what he is saying makes sense, I wonder how much that kind of cut will make to my mother and other seniors on fixed incomes, and to those in huge line ups at the emergency ward? And Yukon Gold is right too, he is using the language one expects from anarchists, or at least, socialists.

5. So what’s new? Typical politician, they’ll (he) slither out of anything except their place at the trough.

6. I called it here: http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/016448.html#c590494

7. And? You think this is something new? Harper campaigned in 2008 that we weren’t going to run a deficit at all. At one point he lobbed a torpedo at Dion for failing to rule a deficit out.
   We still have Human Rights Commissions.
   We have a government who still talks publicly about trying to fix climate change.
   That $276.6B figure you quote above was $220B when Harper took power in 2006. That’s 25% growth. Has inflation caused a 25% increase in cost of living since 2006?
   I won’t even mention the fiasco in the last Ontario election.
   Coyne is mostly right. Conservatism is pretty much dead in Canada. There is no conservative option. There never was. There is Liberal and Liberal-lite.

8. I remember I used to be a member of Blogging Tories. They kicked me off because I was always right, Craig was a party lackey (and usually wrong) and it really pissed him off. I remember a posting, it must have been a year or two ago, I told them that there was no way the budget was ever going to be balanced in just a few years; it would be decades if ever (like the 70s all over again). Of course, as usual, turns out I was right. I always get a big kick when I think if that old Blogging Tories forum, and whipping Craig in ever single argument we ever had; electric cars was another one, he actually thinks they work and people want to buy them!

9. They are running up the debt to maintain the exchange rate close to par. Devaluing our currency at the same rate as the “greenback”.
   Liberals would have done the same…oh that’s right…lieberals is what we got.

10. Except Kevin Page (and quite obviously this blogs author) is and always has been, nothing but a liberal hack obstructionist masquerading as conservative.
    News flash for all Kanadians ‘sea to shining sea’:
    SOCIALISTS ARE NOT CONSERVATIVES!

11. I agree that we need to pressure our MPs to stay on pace; but, there’s no alternative at the ballot box, they’ll get our votes regardless. At least we can starve them financially.
    All of that said, it’s good politics to lower expectations, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get it done.

12. I have debated and argued with Liberal acquaintances (I cannot call any LIberal a friend) about the Harper Conservatives and how they will use good sense and good fiscal management to get and keep Canada in better shape.
    What can I tell them now? …. they are gloating …. we have been sold out by what was our only hope for deliverance from the hell that is socialism.
    I have no one to vote for. I may consider Anarchism as the only other route to political satisfaction.

13. They are taking a page from Mike Harris history.
    If leftist governments cut,they’re just doing what they have to. If conservative governments cut it’s because they’re evil…and then they lose elections.
    With Harper it’s all politics all the time. Remember how Global Warming was “the biggest threat we face”? Then he got the Senate to kill the opposition Climate bill last year? Games.
    Stockwell Day got 25% of the popular vote. 1 in 4 Canadians have no problem with “rightwing”. The Tories need to always play to the other 13% who vote for or else we end up with Stephan Dion or Jack Layton and then we’re brutally molested. We’d be running deficits for daycare and green subsidies instead of tax cuts and kick ass fighter jets.
    Everyone calm down. The deficit will be gone in time for the next election. (Probably a couple of months before the next election)
    In the meantime write a letter of concern to your MP. Write a paper letter and send it. Ask questions they’ll be forced to respond to. I did this with Flaherty and got two responses…the second of which was a three page explaination!
    We employee these people….start acting like it people!

14. Flaherty being wrong most definitely does NOT make Kevin Page right. Never, ever conflate the two.
    So what has changed from the forecast? I suspect the expected growth rate has changed, and those growth rates are a consensus of private forecasters.
    Now where I agree with the complaint is there is that spending could be better controlled and more controlled.
    Do I care as much about the revenue side?, given that they arent raising as much from payroll taxes (agree with that one) and that there is likely a cut in growth which may lower than expected tax revenues….not really.
    The discretionary spending number is the one I have the biggest complaint about. They could have been harder on that one and they need to be harder on that one.
    The deficit will work out to be what it is. But the focus needs to be on discretionary spending.
    If we are going to make a dent in it the first two years of the mandate are the time to do it.

15. And what are the libdippers proposing? MORE SPENDING AND HIGHER TAXES. Yeah that’ll do it. I agree we need to cut the budget and there’s money to cut.
    Why the hell do we need export development Canada for example? Sounds like corporate welfare and I’m betting it’s all dolled out to Quebec scum suckers. What about Health Canada, sounds like something that should be handled provincially. It’s time to pull out the 10% plan and put the 5% plan on the shelf guys.

16. Mao Stlong’s nephew knows where the ploblem is.
    Nephew Bob says the ploblem is the PMO where the Mohammedans are nesting.
    First step is “blasts” the Mohammedans in the PMO.
    “Bob Rae blasts Harper ‘jihadis'”
    http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2011/02/24/17396346.html

17. Don’t be basful Lance. Tell us what you really think.

18. I have a hard time taking any advice from a political observer who still refers to the party as “PC’s”.

19. Stephen
    I think you nail it.
    Ijust e-mailed my MP with suggestions for savings:
    UN
    CBC
    immediate rather than phased cuts to the per vote political subsidy…

20. And like I have said before, if the Cons keep this sort of thing up they will end up like the Liberals in BC. Screw your base once and they will forgive you. Screw them multiple times and they don’t forget.
    And if you think your base won’t desert you because the alternatives are so awful, think again.
    Income splitting was promised by the Cons after the budget was balanced. It will be a cold day in hell before we see either, I am sure of it. So for me that’s two *major* broken promises.

21. Meanwhile in BC teachers are not even working full day due to “job action” and yet are getting paid a full salary.
    We are truly living in la la land in Canada.

22. SINCE WHEN IS A FORECAST A PROMISE? LIFE HAPPENS SO GET OVER IT.

23. Stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it and FIRE HIS ASS if he refuses.
    If you’re going to channel Rick Santelli —
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOJpF9aS1zo
    — you need to do the whole line in all caps:
    STOP IT. STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT AND FIRE HIS ASS!
    That’s actually kinda catchy. I bet it could trend and go viral!

24. Good morning, fledgling dictators.
    No matter how much you stomp and hold your breath, it takes time to unravel a marxist utopia.
    Patience!

25. The CPC is CINO. I’ve been saying this since 2008, the year I cancelled my membership.

26. Remember too that Flaherty is a lawyer by training (ambulance chaser in fact). He has zero training in the area of finance.
    Only in politics could the Minister of Finance for a major western country have “ambulance chaser” for his education credentials.
    Flaherty, was, is and always will be overrated.

27. Garbage post.
    I run a business – We try to project what our profit/loss is in the coming year(s) based on assumptions about the economy. If those assumptions change, so too does the P/L. Flaherty is and has done the same. He didn’t lie to anybody.
    As for the simplistic – dare i say moronic – solution to just cut 10% of the budget – unless you are saying we cut all pensions (including veterans) and employment benefits by 10% and healthcare transfers by 10% – the entities that make up what i would guess is 60% of all federal spending – a 10% global cut would mean a 25 to 30 percent cut of discretionary spending – immediately, including military spending.
    The CPC is in the process of making cuts in a sound and rational manner, and likely in time will make massive changes to spending on things like the CBC, ACOA et al, Health Canada, and the CHA.
    By Lance’s metric, had the economy made a turn for the better putting us in a surplus he would be recommending increased federal spending so as to meet the ‘promise’ that flaherty and the CPC made.
    In sum, Changes and cuts are coming – they will be substantial and well-placed. The CPC is ever-cognisant of the need to build canadians trust in their ability to govern in a sound and moderate manner – implementing change in an evolutionary manner rather than a revolutionary one. The vast majority of canadians who voted for the CPC voted for that form of governance.

28. set you free
    You nailed it!

29. A. Cooper: “I have a hard time taking any advice from a political observer who still refers to the party as “PC’s”.”
    Likewise, even though there is some truth behind lance’s foolishness.
    Calling the CPC the “PCs” is an indication of someone who is too lazy to get details right — except that in this case the “P” is more than a mere detail.

30. larben at November 9, 2011 10:25 AM
    You see, this is why there is a deficit. Everyone has their story as to why it is their sandcastle that is more worthy of preservation then the other ones. That is also why the deficit will just grow and grow until there is nobody to pay for it.
    Being a senior (grossly dislike the terminology here, will allow for this purpose), a 10% cut to those in employment of government except the absolutely ground floor, front line worker.
    Works for me.
    Elimination of nepotism, useless positions.
    Works for me.
    Elimination of useless departments.
    Works for me.
    Here is an illustration from real life, your taxes at work. While this is from the US government, anybody who thinks it is different in Canada, would be qualified as naive.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zJ04AWn-5w&feature=player_embedded
    The lines at the health care sites are there not because of shortage of money. They are there precisely because of the gross amounts of money that are wasted in the said system.
    Cutting the fat off of health care.
    Works for me.
    Just so you understand. I don’t have a doctor to go to. Don’t find it critical at this time. So far so good, if it stays that way i don’t care to see one.
    Life is a struggle until the day you die.
    End of story.

31. Nice try Gord Tulk.
    The business I work for has regularly over the years cut 10% of expenses (or more) at the drop of a hat if the need warranted it.
    We generally spend in accordance with how much revenue is coming in. Why this concept is so damn hard for politicians to understand is because for them money is cheap.

32. @ Gord Tulk, in essense I agree with you. However it seemed apparent at the time to many economists that Flaherty was choosing number in the more “best case scenario” category. I this way in my estimation he was fudging or some would call it lying.
    The numbers didn’t turn out – anyone here suprised?
    The Conservatives cannot afford to be complacent, and real cuts need to be made. Certainly we are not in the situation like the US where the real cuts will be made whether anyone likes it or not when a grim Grecian form of reality sets in.
    However the last thing they can afford is a repeat 1980 Mulroney scenario where the Liberals were able to make due to the poltiics at the time, essential cuts to spending. If the Conservatives allow that to happen again so much for the prudent fiscal sterotype they seem to quite honestly not deserve IMHO.
    “The CPC is in the process of making cuts in a sound and rational manner, and likely in time will make massive changes to spending on things like the CBC, ACOA et al, Health Canada, and the CHA.” I would like to believe this but I don’t. Though some may say that Harper plays a mean game of say one thing and do another – his strategy regarding the joke of global warming.

33. The only reason to dump more debt into the economy is because these idiots believe it works.
    lance is right. But channeling William Jefferson Clinton, it depends on the meaning of the word “works”.
    Does it mean works for society or works for state.
    I suspect, that as much as I loathe them, most politicans aren’t stupid enough to actually believe that more debt can solve a debt-induced economic crisis. I don’t believe that even Krugman actually believes this, i.e., would attempt to run this racket in his own family or advise his son or daughter in a crisis to attempt same.
    As someone recently observed, “all governments are Fabian now”. And as I have often observed here, there’s no real conservative constituency in Canada … or anywhere else for that matter. Which makes lance’s anger misplaced and pointless.

34. Gord Tulk at November 9, 2011 12:30 PM
    Actually it’s not.
    Running a business and running government are two different worlds. Government run as a business would be the way to go. Right now it is not.
    A business, must, of necessity work within its means, as you can very well tell yourself, if not, it will take the bankruptcy route.
    Government on the other hand does not have to do a damned thing, a warm and fuzzy speech will.
    Works for most of the governed.
    Money is not a problem. Need more? Tell the plebeians that it is for their own good.
    Works for most of the governed.
    A 10% cut is a good start, it’s not simplistic or moronic only perhaps if you have contracts with the government.
    See above about the sandcastle.
    I understand that you don’t agree.

35. I agree with Gord Tulk.
    It is simplistic and moronic to say a 10% cut across the board would solve anything.
    I would prefer targeted cuts … like total elimination of various Departments of How We Know Better Than You How To Run Your Life.

36. Gordon is right.
    (P.S.- If you can’t be bothered to send a paper letter, then you don’t really care. It’s just easy and fun to bang off a rage comment on SDA)

37. “implementing change in an evolutionary manner rather than a revolutionary one”. Only in politics is a 10% cut in spending considered “revolutionary”.
    And that folks is exactly why we are in the mess we are in.

38. Well outlined, Gord Tulk. Measured, targeted cuts preferred over “slashing” indiscriminately.
    Did anybody hear Minister Flaherty recommend work sharing and reduced hours until companies recover profitability? Markets are sinking in blowback fashion due to the eurozone crisis…contagion is happening.
    Patience was also recommended above.

39. Lance can go off and sulk and refuse to ever vote for the Conservatives again, but at least he will have maintained his purity. All while the rest of us suffer another 20 years in the wilderness. Lance gives the opposition parties the weapons they need to call all conservatives intolerant, insensitive, heartless assholes that don’t give a shit about people and should never be allowed to govern an entire nation. Go take your meds and leave governing the country to the adults.

40. Tj and lev:
    Govt or business or nonprofit – when they do financial forecasts they rely on economic estimates. When thirds estimates are revised p/l estimates have to be changed.
    And ten percent may not sound big, but as I noted above only 40% of the fed budget is discretionary so 25% to 30 % would have to be cut from that 40% and I know of no enterprise that would consider that to be gentle or evolutionary. Would you have us cut customs and border security 30%? How about the navy and other armed forces procurement? And federal jails. And on and on.

41. Obviously you can’t cut entitlements by 10% that goes without saying. Only a Liberal could do that and get away with it (even be praised for it).
    There’s some work being done here with the 5% cut plan. Take IT spending for instance. Go and read Clement’s interview about his plan for Shared Services Canada. As someone who works in IT I can’t agree more with what he’s doing and it won’t impact government operations at all.

42. What Yukon Gold said in the first comment.

43. I’m with you Lance. You can tell from the comments that there is a lot of people that really don’t want a government to keep their word. They just want their party in -as if it were some kind of game.

44. MJ at 12:33PM
    Agreed. I too find this Conservative incarnation not (c)onservative enough for my liking, but as others have noted, a generation of Trudopia is not erased overnight.
    I too would love to live in an ideologically pure world, but unfortunately reality gets in the way.

45. $30 billion is not going to keep us out of recession if it comes. Just balance the damn budget. What is it with these Conservatives? They make Paul Martin look like a genius.

46. I think many posters are missing the main point (sure, lance could have been a little more “diplomatic” in this post, but that’s entirely irrelevant). At issue is that Western governments have an *enormous* out-of-control spending problem, and are spending far more money than they have, or deserve to have.
    This massive over-spending over a long period has lead to a large class of people within Western society that produce little to no useful value, yet expect to get paid. This class has gained so much control that cutting 10% of a government’s spending is now considered “revolutionary”. Yeah baby! Bring on the revolution.
    To satisfy this growing class of government dependants the ruling parties (1) are afraid to cut budgets (2) are willing to raise taxes through devious means (witness the evil carbon tax in BC, or McGuinty’s reckless green spending).
    – Free health care for all baby!
    – Gobs of money to universities even though a large chunk of the students should not even be there, and even though entire departments (feminist studies anyone?) should not exist
    – Gobs of money to the private sector (Long Live Bombardier baby!)
    – Long Live CBC!
    – Gobs of money the huge big “green energy” hole
    – R&D tax credits for every Tom, Dick and Harry who knows how to screw the system
    – A Human Rights Tribunal in every town
    – Aboriginal land claims – money, money, money!
    Spend, spend, spend. Our governments should be *ashamed* of themselves, and if the Cons don’t have the guts to balance the budget who will?
    One surefire way to solve the problem is economic collapse (Greece, Spain or Zimbabwe anyone?), where you devalue your currency and screw your creditors. That is usually what happens if things go really bad. Next worse is to keep pushing the debt down to the next generation – how dishonest is that? Would you die leaving your kids to have to pay *your* debts?

47. “payroll revenue is down” … “good to lower expectations”
    Excuses used to be big over at the old Blogging Tories forum too. People over there always got pissed off too when I would say that I voted for solutions, not excuses. What can I say? Lots of CINO’s I guess.

48. WahWahWah…shoulda voted Liberal…lol

49. WahWahWah…shoulda voted Liberal…lol
    20 years ago I abandoned the Conservatives for the Reform Party and would do it again in a heartbeat. Don’t worry about me voting Liberal.

50. Seems Ol’ Lance had a three martini lunch.