The Obama administration and its economic czars have flailed about for years, baffled about how to get the U.S. economy growing.
In reality, the president need look no further than our neighbor, Canada, whose solid growth is the product of tax cuts, fiscal discipline, free trade, and energy development. That’s made Canada a roaring puma nation, while its supposedly more powerful southern neighbor stands on the outside looking in.
It would require Obama to admit that he is wrong.
Narcissists never do that. Besides it’s fun destroying a world power.
mike
Meanwhile in British Columbia our Medical Services Plan tax is going up $7/month for couples, the carbon tax on motor fuels is increasing from 5.56 cents per liter to 6.67 cents per liter. Hydro rates are going up around 7% per year for the next three years, ICBC the mandatory gov’t auto insurance corp is raising its rate by 11% in February. BC Ferries is looking to both raise rates and cut services. I know these are provincial and don’t reflect on the present gov’t of PMSH in Ottawa. BC claims it has the lowest provincial tax rate in the country, which it does, but it has resorted to fee increases to make up the difference.
mike
@mike
Tough to watch our competitive advantage get redistributed away like that. BC enjoys so many natural advantages that it seems that any party that controls the budget – even a marginally conservative one like BCLP – gets all feel-good and distributive. Must be something in the air down in Victoria; you sure can’t smell it in PG, Kamloops, or Penticton.
BC claims it has the lowest provincial tax rate in the country, which it does, but it has resorted to fee increases to make up the difference.
So, that puts BC on par with the other provinces. What’s the problem with equality? Is BC somehow entitled to special treatment?
Mike…user fees are taxes,no ifs,ands,or buts.Factor those increases in,and I know you’ll see the Lieberals/Ndpeers have been lying to you BC’ers about the lowest rate.
Canada’s economy is mediocre at best and downright horrible wherever there is no oil or gas, and the standard of living is still much, much lower than than the US.
Then move to the US…. See Ya!!!
The largest deficit in our history; tax cuts which only stimulate corporate profits; a rising unemployment rate, etc. And if Canada made all the bank reforms that Harper was pushing for when in opposition, we’d really be in the toilet.
http://www.canada.com/business/Economic+gloom+weighs+down+Harper+holiday+cheer/5909108/story.html
Canada is doing awesome lately!
Time to say….
Who’s yur Daddy? Own’n the podium!!!
Pssst.
You people wanna buy a few trillion in debt?
—
Will sell you the White House with all its occupants..
Maybe an oil pipeline?
What a nice note for all Canadians to ring in the New Year. Our PM has made me proud to be one of the people who voted and fought on his team from day 1. I love being correct about people I like.
Mike, I am sorry that B.C. has gone so bone headed stupid in the last few decades.
One of the saddest places, IMO, is Victoria. Victoria used to be such a lovely old town, it was Ultra Conservative at one time in a very dignified, decent way. I met many wonderful people in Victoria when I lived there in the late 60’s early 70’s – the rot set in right after Turdo was elected and got worse and worse as the hippies and their hangers on (bureaucratic pinkos) moved in when the Dippers won the 1974 election. It was downhill for Victoria after that as the ‘new’ crowd chopped down beautiful old trees, ripped down old houses, built ugly 3rd world condos and ticky tacky houses. The city ripped out it’s heart and soul: the charm is gone, a cheap flash replacement is sad indeed. Sorry for that Mike.
The Ferries used to be fun – they had a first class dining room with affordable first class meals, a person could find a quiet spot to have a smoke and read a book, the old ferries were slow but the trip cost $1 one way or $5 with a car.
I miss those magical voyages to the city that once had grace and charm. I used to call my lovely run down old house home – it was home; warm, comforting with friendly past residents: there were scratches on the old hardwood floors, the drawers were worn thin on the wooden hinges, the attic had relics of past owners gathering dust and the claw footed bathtub had taps that dated back to the 1800s and they screeched and growled like a wild cat when a person dared draw a bath. None of that remains…it is as gone as the surplus in the government coffers, the Parrot House, the Rockabella Guest House, the fine old trees and homes in the inner harbour, and the Men’s Club on St James St (no women allowed, it was for crib, chess a quite drink and a smoke; a place to escape from wifes, daughters and mothers). It is difficult to believe that that world once existed!
Thank you PMSH.
I’ve already noticed companies actively recruiting recruiting and offering world beating wages for hard working men.
I’m signing up mid Jan. hello 6 figures, eat our dust Obummer!!!
Tax cuts? I guess it depends on where you live. I have not seen a meaningful income tax cut in my lifetime. And the 2% federal GST cut was swallowed up by the Nova Scotia’s neo-socialist NDP govt.
In a democracy you get the government you vote for. There was more than enough information available about Obama’s disturbing past to set off alarm bells for the electorate. Add to that the fact that the media plainly wasn’t vetting him the way they did other candidates and you would think that the public would smell a rat, yet he beat out a war hero in a landslide victory. The American people were duped into voting for a Marxist and now their biggest growth industry is printing food stamps.
Do I feel sorry for them? Yes, the same way I feel sorry for the British.
Iberia said: “The largest deficit in our history; tax cuts which only stimulate corporate profits; a rising unemployment rate, etc.”
Lets take those one at a time, shall we?
1) “The largest deficit in our history;” which was 100% the result of Dionky and Jack! Layton threatening to form an alliance and defeat the CPC minority if Harper didn’t pass the “budget stimulus” they demanded.
2) “tax cuts which only stimulate corporate profits;” Since when are increasing corporate profits bad? Where are you going to get a job if not in a company that’s making a profit? Who’s going to pay taxes if not a company that’s making a profit from what they’re doing?
3) “a rising unemployment rate,” Yeah but corporate profits are -bad-, right?
From the article: “…solid growth is the product of tax cuts, fiscal discipline, free trade, and energy development.”
Let’s be clear. PART of Canada is growing. That would be the WEST, and the reason they are growing is that they defeated the Liberals and NDPee in their provincial governments. The unemployment rate is up in Ontario, Quebec, BC and the Maritimes because they have NOT defeated the Liberals and NDPeeheads who live here.
Why not? Because we are cursed with a population that contains many trolls like Iberia, is why. People who habitually talk out of both sides of their mouth in the same sentence. People who think money comes from banks, if they think at all.
Many Canadians take comfort as they are told endlessly that we are doing better than the Americans. Might I suggest that they have little base that assumption on.
Canadian per capita debt is higher than the USA. We have no basis to measure otherwise as our politicans and our citizens continue to allow deficit spending that far outstrips our ability to pay. Our politicans do not demand that the citizen’s make hard choices about funding by using balanced budgets. We do no less than the Americans by kicking the can further down the road. Until balanced budgeting becomes a reality I will have no confidence in our direction.
On the ethical side of the equation our society wanders from one titilation to another. Graft and corruption permeates our society as the bureacracy that rules us steals tax payers dollars through various means. People like to dwell on the politicans, we have had some scum like Trudeau, but the real rot is the civil service and their hangers on. A considerable segment of our society live off the ‘fat of the land’ by accessing taxpayer monies thru the civil service.
The serious issues that face the country are not discussed. While I would have no other than PMSH as leader he does have to inform the citizens about the actual status of the country.
What Jema 54 and Arty said.
PM Harper made a great start last fall in rebuilding Canada from the Marxist depths it had sunk to.
I expect that great changes will continue to occur starting in the spring session. Hopefully Monte Solberg has an inside track.
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/12/30/now-is-harpers-time-to-change-canada
Our fiscal discipline has been…ulm…lukewarm. Compared to the United States we are Scrooge. But the deficits are falling. If the got even nominal control over their budget it would make ahuges difference in the environment and we would see a boom in investment and hiring.
Lower corporate taxes. All good. There is an argument that corps shouldnt be taxed period and that all taxes belong at the end point, but the current balance works for me from a societal harmony point of view.
However, the way out of the US deficit mess is to unleash the natural wealth of the place. Drilling for oil off shore and fracking, mining for rare earths etc. Just reigniting these primary industries would change a number of things for the US. Ideally though they need to get the spending under control first then unlshackle those industries and then you would see the deficit picture change dramatically.
Sadly the US has been unable to muster a socital committmet to cutting the deficit. Canada got there so there is a general consensus to keep finances in order. That consensus may exist in the US, it has yet to fully manifest itself politically. We may we well see it in 2012. But the GOP needs a complete and utter rout of the Dems. Then both parties will learn. Tea Party Congress with a GOP president is a strong mandate and a stong rebuke of the previous 4 years….Obama becomes the item in the curio cabinet he deserves to be.
Let’s be clear. PART of Canada is growing. That would be the WEST, and the reason they are growing is that they defeated the Liberals and NDPee in their provincial governments. The unemployment rate is up in Ontario
Er, actually, no, the unemployment rate in Ontario is down: December 2011 Labour Report
And, although the final figures aren’t in, December isn’t likely to change the tallies much. In the first 11 months of 2011, decrepit old Ontario added almost as many jobs (97k) as the rest of Canada put together (115k). Meanwhile, plucky SK, despite re-electing Brad Wall, actually lost jobs in November, leaving unemployment little changed over the last year.
I agree that Stalin’s little buddy lives in a fantasy world where his “facts”, like a stopped clock, are only coincidentally correct. But let’s not replicate his style…
A province of 13,000,000 might be expected to create more jobs than a province of 1,000,000.
Caw, caw, caw!
Cue jeopardy theme song…
I haven’t done the research, but I’m guessing Saskatchewan’s November job losses are largely related to agricultural/seasonal factors. Employers are still having difficulty finding workers.
If our leaders here in the west lay out a business friendly climate, not freebies, just level headed business along with reasonable taxation systems, western Canada will be the recipient of many large companies that want out of Colifornia and any other state where regulations have stifled growth. We have to tell our leaders to get out of the way of business, lay out the frameworks, but make sure they are fair without onerous expensive costs for the users. We should also be allowed to have health clinics that someone with the money could access for certain procedures, there is Cambie in Van, Shouldice in To but oh no don’t you Albertans open any kind of pay for service clinics. Albertaa could have a Mayo type health centre right here and keep the current money that is flowing south and elsewhere for hips knees shoulder procedures, but oh wait for the wail from the “friends of medicare” , We All Must Suffer Together, that is what our Saint Peeair wanted, well time to completely grow up Canada, this is a great start.
It is like the ND-PQ and the taxes on heating fuel. They beg the Government to lower taxes on it … they already lowered it from 7% to 5% … and complain it is not enough; while at the same time does NOT ask the proviances to lower their taxes on the same fuel.
What one government[Frderal] takes away, the other [Provincial] increases by the same amnount or more. It is very taxing on the tax payers … the lower and middle class.
“The World Needs More Canada”
Let me fix that headline for ya, Kate.
“ONTARIO Needs More Canada”
KevinB said: “In the first 11 months of 2011, decrepit old Ontario added almost as many jobs (97k) as the rest of Canada put together (115k).”
Thanks for the correction, I didn’t google before I made the statement. Good to hear that things are better than I think.
However, I do wonder how many of those jobs are private sector. Hopefully most of them. Important to distinguish between jobs that grow the economy and jobs that -shrink- it.
North of 60: My point is that the liberal gov’t under Gordon Campbell reduced BC Provincial taxes to the lowest prov. rate in Canada and made a big deal bout it in the press. He then set up all the fee (tax) increases to make up for it, thereby being deceitful. We may have the lowest Provincial income tax rate but we do not have the lowest overall Provincial tax rates when you factor in the msp premiums and all the other fees brought in by the gov’t. I’m not looking for a free ride, I’m looking for honesty.
A single person with $30,000 net income in BC pays $60.50 per month for msp premiums. That same person with only the basic personal income tax deductions would pay $80 per month in provincial income tax. So by the time you add the msp premium to the tax it almost doubles. So much for having the lowest tax. Plus you cannot voluntarily opt out of msp and pay your was.
Net incomes of under $330,000 are eligible for reduced msp premiums.
I guess it all comes down to honesty which is a bit much to expect from some politicians.
mike
Not to take anything away from Canada, but it is hardly a utopia, tax rates are much higher. Citizens have never seen a government program they didn’t like….the wheat board, egg board, chicken, beer, GST, fuel taxes, mediocre health care, multicuturalism, etc. All together I would Canada a C+.
If PMSH policies are continued and deepened for 20 years, my forecast is that a very prosperous Canada will look back and conclude in near unanimity that years of stagnation and frustration were caused exclusively by socialism.
The sky’s the limit, if Canada wants it.
well as far canada being in better shape that the us…..perhaps….at what cost though? i pay about $600 every two weeks in income tax alone…. It is said that in canada 50% of our income tax goes to the health care system. American friends of mine claim to pay up to $700/ month on paying for medicare in the us. So. ?. I raise the question..what is the diffeence? Pay it out of your pocket, or have the govenment take it out of your pocket. Wehave to look afterall of the hypocondriacs and becausemof imigrationmlawsbeing so lax that we also get tonlook after every immigrant and their 80 year old ailing grandmother from india to suck our system dry.
Our banksare doingbetter….????? i think yes!!! ONLY because they are screwing the customers….we get nickle and dimed on every stupid thing we do at the bank. I was in los angeles recently and saw the banks down there and saw what they offer their customers. Way better.
Why is it that canada is the “same country just ten years behind.”? why does a car in montana cost $15,000 less than the exact same car in calgary when the dollar is almost par? we hear some cheesy car salesman giving us a line of BS on the news about why its higher. BS!
What it comes down to is the REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CANADIANS AND AMERICANS which is the spine.
Americans have spine and we DO NOT!
They rally against violators wheather it is a government or a local business or whatever……we just stand back and smile and take it up the a** dry. Yeah we have jobs in Alberta and saskatchewan….only because the world needs food and oil. apart from that….ontario and quebec (our big provinces are sucking right now. So to say “canada is doing better than the US i think is incorrect. i think ALBERTA is doing better.
As far as the attitude about consumerism…. The Americans have become victim to their own “american dream” they dont understand that they CANNOT have the $800,000 house and the $50,000 boat sitting in the driveway, the $50,000 truck and $80,000 RV when they make $40,000 a year. And we are no better in canada, make no mistake.
well as far canada being in better shape that the us…..perhaps….at what cost though? i pay about $600 every two weeks in income tax alone…. It is said that in canada 50% of our income tax goes to the health care system. American friends of mine claim to pay up to $700/ month on paying for medicare in the us. So. ?. I raise the question..what is the diffeence? Pay it out of your pocket, or have the govenment take it out of your pocket. Wehave to look afterall of the hypocondriacs and becausemof imigrationmlawsbeing so lax that we also get tonlook after every immigrant and their 80 year old ailing grandmother from india to suck our system dry.
Our banksare doingbetter….????? i think yes!!! ONLY because they are screwing the customers….we get nickle and dimed on every stupid thing we do at the bank. I was in los angeles recently and saw the banks down there and saw what they offer their customers. Way better.
Why is it that canada is the “same country just ten years behind.”? why does a car in montana cost $15,000 less than the exact same car in calgary when the dollar is almost par? we hear some cheesy car salesman giving us a line of BS on the news about why its higher. BS!
What it comes down to is the REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CANADIANS AND AMERICANS which is the spine.
Americans have spine and we DO NOT!
They rally against violators wheather it is a government or a local business or whatever……we just stand back and smile and take it up the a** dry. Yeah we have jobs in Alberta and saskatchewan….only because the world needs food and oil. apart from that….ontario and quebec (our big provinces are sucking right now. So to say “canada is doing better than the US i think is incorrect. i think ALBERTA is doing better.
As far as the attitude about consumerism…. The Americans have become victim to their own “american dream” they dont understand that they CANNOT have the $800,000 house and the $50,000 boat sitting in the driveway, the $50,000 truck and $80,000 RV when they make $40,000 a year. And we are no better in canada, make no mistake.
Canada is at least 10 years in advance of the US. Canada started the Reform party in the 1990s which has developed into the current Conservative party.
The US has only recently created its Tea Party.
It takes time to turn around the ship called libtared.
The Canadian advantage is we have finally stopped what eagle beak – P.E.T.- started and the U.S. is where Canada was in the sixties.
I whish them luck.
Ford-You just insulted eagles.
Phatom writes:
Lets take those one at a time, shall we?
1) “The largest deficit in our history;” which was 100% the result of Dionky and Jack! Layton threatening to form an alliance and defeat the CPC minority if Harper didn’t pass the “budget stimulus” they demanded.
2) “tax cuts which only stimulate corporate profits;” Since when are increasing corporate profits bad? Where are you going to get a job if not in a company that’s making a profit? Who’s going to pay taxes if not a company that’s making a profit from what they’re doing?
3) “a rising unemployment rate,” Yeah but corporate profits are -bad-, right?
………………….
1) The deficit was the result of a series of useless tiny tax cuts for people, the gst for example (save a couple hundred bucks a year–yipee!) and substantial corporate tax cuts. As a result, when we lost the several billion dollar annual surpluses we had for years under the previous government, the Harper goverment had no margin for dealing with an economic downturn (a downturn which he and Flaherty insisted did not exist). Now, the the HarperCons pat themselves on the back for initiating a stimulus program…when they’re not blaming the opposition for forcing them to do so, thus creating a deficit that likely wouldn’t have existed if they originally hadn’t cut the taxes that Harper said needed cutting in order for the economy to grow, which didn’t happen.
2) According to you, cutting corporate = more jobs. With the lowest corporate tax rate ever, we should have the lowest unemployment rate ever. Oh, I know…there is always some “valid” reason why this theory does not hold true.
3) See 2.
Seriously Phantom, do you actually think about what you are writing? Or is it all about regurgitating HarperCon talking points and attacking anyone who doesn’t buy the lies?
Iberia.
By your (reverse) logic then,
Higher taxes = Lower unemployment.
Do tell, do tell.
Tell me how individuals, and companies, are more prosperous when they have less money.
I love twisted, idiotic leftist logic, never makes sense.
interesting you don’t want to address the attempted junta by Dionky, Wacko Jacko, and the perfessor, which forced the government into deficit, or else a pointless election at the time.
But now the Canadian public, in case you forgot, gave PMSH a majority mandate, which approved of his past, and approved to carry on the conservative agenda.
Sucks to be you, eh wot?
What Obama and his administration have been so successful that what they need is more taxation on the middle class, after all, if all of the assets of the top 400 earners was confiscated, it would cover 1% of the total national debt, so logically extending tax increases to even more fantastic levels should increase economic activity to unprecedented levels/sarcasm off.
to be fair to the US, Canada does not bankroll several other nations, bribe several more to keep the peace and maintain enough military to keep Russia and China civil. (Not to mention keeping North Korea in it’s own pigsty.)
Thank-you for the Monte Solberg link Ken (kulak).
“To be fair to the US”, Canada does not run it’s government and military on loans from China so it can act as a mercenary force and play ‘world policeman’ for China’s benefit. Just who do you think bankrolled Dubya’s little excursions into Irak and Afghanistan.
Unlike the US, Canadians need 20% equity to get a mortgage, that’s not the case in the USofA and that’s why so many Americans got in way over their heads with mortgages they couldn’t afford.
Anyone who doesn’t like living in Canada is free to leave.
“To be fair to the US”, Canada does not run it’s government and military on loans from China so it can act as a mercenary force and play ‘world policeman’ for China’s benefit. Just who do you think bankrolled their little excursions into Irak and Afghanistan.
Unlike the US, Canadians need 20% equity to get a mortgage, that’s not the case in the USofA and that’s why so many Americans got in way over their heads with mortgages they couldn’t afford.
Anyone who doesn’t like living in Canada is free to leave.
So, danbc, when confronted with the fact that lower corporate taxes haven’t decreased unemployment, your response is to argue about made up things which I didn’t write? Twisted logic indeed.
Hope you enjoyed the last six months of Harper Government majority rule…the next 3 1/2 years will see the Cons tied up in the courts defending much of their illegal/unconstitutional legislation.
lberia: Get out much?
I’ve totally enjoyed the last six months of Conservative majority government in Canada. It’s been like a breath of fresh air after decades of lieberal corruption, pandering to radical left wing special interest groups, and systematic erosion of civil liberties. I look forward to an ongoing future of peace, order and good government in Canada.
Those who don’t like it are free to leave.
I fully understand mike’s dissatisfaction with lieberal propaganda in BC. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise should it, given their track record of dishonesty and deception. I find it easier to just assume up-front that anything the lieberals say is self serving propaganda. I’m rarely surprised if it’s anything else.
We’re just getting started Ibby.
May I suggest you move to Obamaville, where you can get your socialism at all costs. Where increased taxes have had no positive effect on the economy.
Again, if you are arguing that tax cuts don’t reduce unemployment, then you are arguing that raising taxes will reduce unemployment.
Look at Christy! in BC. She raised taxes by employing the HST, taxing many items not subject to GST previously. The BC economy has been in the tank ever since, unemployment is rising, and the economy is stagnant. Textbook example, my socialist dearie.
If not, explain yourself, or, are you arguing just to argue, with no real point at all, other than your socialist heroes are on the outside looking in. (and deservedly so)
The first six months of Tory majority has gone well.
Next up, CBC cut in half, and then, and only then, may I make contributions to the Conservatives (as I told them on the phone the other day. If they want my financial support, gut the CBC!)
Poor Ibby, the Fiberals are disorganized, the NDPQ is failing badly in Quebec, and Canada is happy with PMSH.
North, you can still get a 0% down mortgage, btu you have to be well qualified.
The 20% down only applies to investment (rental) property.
And Canadian banks are, and always have been relatively conservative when mortaging funds, hence the lack of a meltdown. They became much more lenient for personal loans, but you are talking much smaller sums compared to a mortgage for several hundred thousand
At the height of the US mortgage frenzy, not only was 0% down common, but, you may have heard of the NINJA mortgage.
No Income, No Job. (No proof of either was required, other than your non-documented verbal submission)
No wonder the bubble burst.
trollberia can’t get over the fact that his boys LOST. Horribly. Now he’s reduced to making sh1t up on the fly to even stay in the argument.
Tax cuts -increase- government revenue, moron. Laffer curve, look it up. Its not a theory, its a description of observed fact.
There is of course a level of tax cut which will reduce government income, something on the order of 20% or more. That’s what I advocate, because our government has entirely too much money to burn. Needs a good starving.
Of course Lberia doesn’t get out much. He walks down the street, sees a “Help Wanted” sign, and goes into psychic shock.
All I know is if America can get rid of its socialist government, particularly the Muslim Marxist & his cronies. They may get back on track.
Its painful watching them self destruct like we did in the late 60s, by voting in our own Marxist maniac.
Both Nations need to stop Muslim colonization for thats what it is.
If America starts to do well than Both Canada With the US may yet bring some stability to the World. Not banking on it though.
Yes we have to learn to live in our means again. Stop with the credit by paying for what we can actually afford. Stop buying from Monstrous regimes. Harper has made a good start getting us back to wanting to have Individual rights again, not collectivist crony monopolies, special interest groups or protected “social groups”.Its up to all of us Americans & Canadians to care more about doing things as Individuals while stop relying on Governments. Bring back the rule of equal law for ALL. Thats what Makes North Americans special, its what made us rich.
That & taking chances, not stopping development by regulation.