Bush puts the "Lame" in Lame Duck

Sorry, but years of So. Cal living have spoiled me. Anything below 68 f is cold and anything above 72 f is hot. And I think all would agree I have enough character as it is.

I considered Canada when Bush won a third term. Had McCain won and then died leaving "President Palin" I'd probably be applying. But I was thinking more....Vancouver. With any luck Climate Change would make it almost as pleasant as So. Cal in a few decades.

 

Thems fighten words Jayman,,,

At the risk of broadening the thread,, I don't think that Steven Harper has the respect of the entire world. To the contrary, some consider him "Bush lite" The fact that Canadians Pay MORE for fuel than the Americans do, (on average) even though Canada is the US's largest supplier of oil. Free trade is not always fair trade.

No,, I think that Harper suffers from the same delusion that Ronald Reagan, GHW Bush, and GW Bush suffer from,,,that government in general is a bad thing,,,unless it benefits your friends!

Icarus

PS That is not to say that the liberals or the NDP or the Block have any lock on good government either,, just as the Dems in the states don't have a lock,,but one thing is true for sure,,,,The last 8 years have been such a disaster in the states from soup to nuts than ANYTHING has to be an improvement!

 

I'll drink to that. That last eight years has been a pretty impressive "Charlie Foxtrot", to put it mildly.

 

True enough, China and Russia appear to hate our guts. Perhaps because Harper has been very vocal and critical of what is happening in Tibet, to the Chechens, and the Georgians. Previous leaders, such as Chretien, appeared to almost kiss the butts of Chinese leaders

Harper is unremarkable in many ways, but appears to get along well with Europeans and Americans. Even The Economist offers him support - grudgingly of course

Canada's credit-crunch election | The fear factor | The Economist

Editorial: America's other election | Comment is free | The Guardian

So he hasn't won the hearts and minds the way Obama has, but he's reasonably competent. He has even made token payments to the national debt. I guess that's all we can hope for

The fact is, Canadians pay more for fuel due to the need to fund a large, complex social welfare state. The Universal Health Care, generous welfare and unemployment benefits, all come at a price

If Obama intends to really pursue some of the things he has hinted at, what do you think will happen to your fuel prices? At least Dion didn't get in, his Green Shift was so unpopular in rural areas that Liberal contenders refused to mention it

Obama hinted during the campaign at a protectionist change to NAFTA. That wouldn't be very wise, Canada is among the largest suppliers of oil to the United States. Unless Obama intends to fly B2 bombers north of the border and drop Mk 77 incendiary bomb's on Toronto and Ottawa, it's likely any pissing match with NAFTA could punish the United States more than Canada

Name one politician who doesn't suffer some sort of grand delusion. Trudeau would flip people off with a smirk on his face. Mulrooney was a creepy control freak. Chretien was a sneaky little s***. Martin was a rich, tycoon money-grabbing nut

At least Harper saw change in the wind, and backed off things like overturning gay marriage. He even offered an apology to natives who were forced into institutional schools. He recognized the loss of revenue from allowing REIT's and broke a campaign promise, to start taxing them. Many large companies here were hiding behind REIT's, like Bell Canada, Imperial Oil, etc

 

My argument wasn't that Harper had delusions of grandeur, but rather the delusion that government was inherently bad, and that they would do what it takes to drive a stake through the heart. Look at Ontario under Harris, or BC under the So.Creds!

I agree that Canadians "pay" for the social safety net, but that is not the real reason for high gas prices. The fact is Canada's oil is sold on the world market forcing Canadians to pay top price. Couple that with an under refining capacity, marginally higher fuel taxes and Canadians pay more.

The fact is, Harper tried to buy back the election by reducing the GST, but almost every economist of not thinks it is (was) a bad idea. Dion's green shift may not have been popular, but the reality is we are going to have to go there,,,sooner or later!

While the "Economist" magazine is a great magazine, and in fact I read it myself, an endorsement from them is no measure of liberal values.

The reality is the reason Harper called the election when he did is that he could see the economic train wreck coming. If he had waited until next fall there is no chance he could win even a minority with the economic collapse all around him. Canadians have been living on high commodity prices for the last several years. $140 oil and a $1.10 CDN help a lot. A lot harder to sell tar sands oil at ~$60 with the CDN$ at $.80.

Not to mention all the other commodities that have tanked,,, grain, softwood lumber, potash. The long and short of it is the Harper government hasn't done a very good job of looking over the horizon and making plans for tougher time. I think that Canada is going to have a much tougher time going forward than the US IMHO.


Icarus

 

How about Federally under Chretien? Remember his "red book" of promises? How about all those mysterious EI surpluses, that the Auditor General really couldn't account for, while the national debt grew?

Please carefully read this official Canadian government data

Oil and Gas Prices, Taxes and Consumers (Tax Bulletin)

"Marginally" higher? Almost three times higher tax, is way the hell more than "marginally" higher. As you can see, the crude cost is relatively the same for Western Europe, the US, and Canada

I partially agree with that statement. Politicians always offer way more than they can deliver during a campaign. As a taxpayer, I'm only interested in one thing: how much is this s*** going to cost me?

Still think it would have been "revenue neutral?"

I partially agree. It's debatable how much our glorious leader(s) foresaw the train wreck. It was opportunistic and based on current polls, which is almost always a bad idea. Look what happened to Shipping Tycoon Paul Martin (Canada Steamship Lines, famous for dodging Canadian corporate tax rules)

Actually, Canada has been living on an artificially low currency for a long time. When the dollar was 0.68-0.77 to the US Dollar, it was pretty easy to entice American companies to build plants here. Since the generous Canadian taxpayer also offered the teat to suck on (Health care, training incentives, tax breaks, etc), that only further enticed these companies

Grain: A well organized American farmers lobby took care of that, along with the Canadian dollar returning to more "normal" levels

Trade-Pact Battle Lines: Wheat vs. Corn - New York Times

Softwood Lumber: The US lumber lobby group was able to successfully punish the Canadian softwood industry.

United States ? Canada softwood lumber dispute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Potash: Again, another successful pissing match. This is a long but interesting read on the topic of US-Canada trade disputes

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/fe/fe38100.pdf

Compared to whom? Chretien? Martin? Dion?

One thing about Obama, is that he will be no friend of Canada. He is remarkably ignorant of Canadian politics and culture, eg referring to the "president of Canada"

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp9KpbWjT-o]YouTube - obama president of canada[/ame]

Obama also calls for renegotiating NAFTA, the agreement that has ensured the success of the automobile industry in Ontario. Why Canadians love the man so much is beyond me, his trade policies alone will ruin Canada

Shockingly, most Canadians are unaware of a very simple and harsh fact. Depending on mix and season, about 75-80% of Canadian exports are sent to one country: The United States.

http://dataweb.usitc.gov/scripts/cy_m3_run.asp

China is Canada's second largest export market, a dim second at that

 

Well, if you change your mind, give a shout

 

Jayman,

Were getting a bit far from the topic,,, but I'll give it one last go.

I suffer from living on both sides of the border, but my politics are a bit scattered.

As for softwood lumber, I agree that Canadians got screwed again and again with the softwood tariff dispute.

Free Trade? I believe that Brian Mulroony signed that if memory serves? (It may not)

As for revenue neutral, the bottom line is that things need to be paid for. The problem in too many places is that taxes have become a dirty word. We may complain about our tax burden, but my relatives US health care costs of ~$16000 per year for a family of 2 in their 50's in good health. Insurance, co-pays, glasses dental, etc. It aint a tax, but it costs more than my OHIP by far,,,for not that much poorer coverage.

You may complain about what it is "costing you" but many things we don't pay the real cost, on either side of the border.

"Nuff said,

Icarus

 

Environmentalists slam Bush's departing proposals as a fire sale for oil and gas industry.

 

This sounds like an attractive option. Is there any chance if we do this we can get Canada to return the favor by doing the same to Washington?

Tom

 

As I stated, Mulroony was a creepy control freak. The last thing Canada needs is another lawyer as a Prime Minister. Eg: Trudeau, Mulroony, Chretien.

I'm all for taxes and a full disclosure of where my taxes are going. There is actually very little transparency about revenue streams. Eg, depending on province, less than 10% of total gas tax collected is actually applied to infrastructure. The rest goes into the grinder to be used, who knows where

As you may be aware, I've been very strongly critical of Crown Corporations here in Canada. They are legally EXEMPT from audit and investigation. Consider the tens of billions of taxpayer dollars shoveled into IC, CIDA, EDC, etc. Not to mention the Hibernia Management and Trust Corporation - why the hell am I subsidizing Exxon Mobil??

Explain to me why my taxes are used to reward companies like Bombardier? They appear to offer products the entire world buys (Light rail trains, biz jets, etc) so why are they sucking on the biggest teat at IC and EDC??

It sounds like you're a dual citizen like I am. So I suppose it makes me an evil s*** disturber for asking the simple question of *where* my tax money is being spent?

One of the best things I did was joing the Canadian Taxpayers Federation a couple of years ago. You look at the data they provide on how Federal, Provincial, and city governments piss away our tax money, it's enough to make you run monkeys***

Again, I'm not suggesting we ditch Public Health. I personally don't wait in lines here. If I feel I need a quick answer, I hop on a Northwest flight from Winnipeg to the Twin Cities, take the shuttle down to Rochester, and check in at Mayo Clinic.

I happily pay for this out of pocket, to get quick results. So does my Dad. You'd think Premier Gary Doer would french kiss me for saving the overburdened Manitoba taxpayer all that money. But no, not even a hint of a smooch

As far as complaining about taxes, I feel it's my right as a taxpayer to do so. It's also my right - again as a taxpayer - to question how and where the money is being spent.

My marbles get a little frosted when I hear of luxury spa treatments for "overworked" senior Crown Corp staff, or staffers using government issued credit cards to pay for personal items. Generally, 50% of tax revenue is just pissed away.

Imagine if that waste was instead applied to debt payments.

Yes, we should continue this discussion as a PM instead

 

Now Tom, I'm sure you're aware that Canada doesn't even have a fleet of bombers. Not even WW II surplus piston engine ones. So not too sure how we could return that favor

Matter of fact, up until very recently, Canada didn't even have any heavy lift transports. Kind of embarrassing how Canadians wanted to be a bunch of do-gooders after some international disaster, and had to lease Antonov heavy-lift aircraft. Off RUSSIA

When it was announced that Canada would purchase four Boeing C-17 Globemaster III's, in 2006, you'd think the NDP, Liberals, and Bloc would all have simultaneous strokes/heart attacks.

Well, if Canada truly intends to rush to the aid of disaster-stricken countries, it better have the hardware to do so. If you wanna play, you gotta pay. Or, STFU and look after your own country first

 

I'm crossing my fingers that the Obama administration, has the exact same opportunity...

 

More bad news.

"Just weeks before leaving office, the Interior Department's top lawyer has shifted half a dozen key deputies -- including two former political appointees who have been involved in controversial environmental decisions -- into senior civil service posts.

The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called "burrowing" by career officials, creates security for those employees, and at least initially will deprive the incoming Obama administration of the chance to install its preferred appointees in some key jobs."


"But environmental advocates, and some rank-and-file Interior officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of hurting their careers, said the reassignments represent the Bush administration's effort to leave a lasting imprint on environmental policy.


"What's clear is they could have done this during the eight years they were in office. Why are they doing it now?" said Robert Irvin, senior vice president for conservation programs at Defenders of Wildlife, an advocacy group. "It's pretty obvious they're trying to leave in place some of their loyal foot soldiers in their efforts to reduce environmental protection."

Seems the moron-in-chief wants to cement his scumbag legacy.

 

That would be nice, but I sure wouldn't count on it

 

A time honored tradition invented shortly after the invention of the civil service. Do you really believe Republicans and Bush in particular invented all that is corrupt and venal in government? Or are you 22 years old. I seem to remember that the reason Gonzales got in trouble for packing the Justice Dept with Republican toadies was that he was tired of all the Clinton holdovers who somehow became career civil servants in the intervening 6 years. A useful exercise would be to speculate how many civil servants drop their 10 year careers for more lucrative political appointments in the Obama administration.

 

Isn't that why they call it "Winterpeg" Jayman?

 

Um, yes

I have an Aunt and Uncle in Santa Rosa. They carefully keep track of the winter temps in January and February, it never fails I receive a phone call when it's -38 here, and they have a comment "wow, I even had to turn on the A/C in the car after leaving the mall"

Ha ha ha, they sure like to tease me

 

We would send pictures to the relatives in Connecticut and Germany of us standing in front of the orange tree in t-shirts and shorts on Christmas Day.

 

That would be good for a few laughs, but long-term may only serve to put a wedge in the family

Of course, if that is what you *want* to do, then it should work. I've done that to ditch embarrassing and/or creepy relatives