When Obama decided to give back 5% of his salary to the Treasury, he made a political move not done since Herbert Hoover. In so doing, he undoubtedly aims to reclaim the momentum and the narrative on the Sequester that has been lost over the last month.Before the Sequester was implemented, public opinion was largely on Obama’s side with enormous attention being given to the threat. Now that it is in place, however, that attention has waned, and there is little public pressure being put on either party to end the Sequester as soon as possible; Obama’s poll numbers have sharply . . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: Obama tries to regain the narrative on the Sequester
|
By: Canadian Auto Workers Union | Press Release TORONTO – The CAW is calling on federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to focus on job creation, not more spending cutbacks in his 2013 budget, to be unveiled tomorrow. “Canada’s public debt is small, relative to past history and to the debt problems faced in other [...] The post Federal Budget 2013 Must Focus on Job Creation, Not Cutbacks, CAW Says appeared first on The Canadian Progressive. Press Release | Posted Mar 18, 2013 Ontario’s experiment with austerity in 2012 is contributing to an economic slowdown that demands a different course of action in 2013, says a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Ontario office (CCPA-Ontario). The report, by CCPA-Ontario Director Trish Hennessy and CAW economist Jim [...] By: Council of Canadians (Press Release) With the next federal budget fast approaching, the 2013 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB), Doing Better Together, released today, warns that the “Harper government’s cuts to the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) and other critical environmental programs will hinder the ability to develop freshwater policies and respond to threats to [...] Canada’s economy is set to grow less than the government thought, but it’s not our Prime Minister’s fault. True under Stephen Harper the World Bank has downgraded Canada from being the 4th most Business Friendly country in 2006 to 17th in 2013, but, as most Conservatives know, businesses have nothing to do with the Canadian economy. Yes, Stephen Harper was Prime Minister when the World Economic Forum said Canada is becoming less competitive, dropping in global ranking from 9th place in 2009 to 14th place in 2013, but our government can’t be responsible for federal regulations, . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: How A Bad Economy Is Not Harper’s Fault Five months ago, I predicted that the Liberal government of British Columbia would fail in its effort to balance the 2013 budget. Notwithstanding this week’s boastful headlines to the contrary, the jury is still out. I will not assert, as many others have done, that the surplus is purely fictional, but rather that, for the time being, we just don’t know. So many variables are at play, and the projected surplus is so razor-thin — $197 million in a $44 billion operational budget — that we will have to wait until well after the May election before we can be (Read more…) No surprise that on the day after natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy talked about looming deficits of pre-1934 proportions that the ruling Conservatives did two things. First, backbencher Paul Lane reinterpreted Kennedy’s comments on VOCM Open Line with Randy Simms. There will only be big deficits, says Lane, if we don’t do anything about it. Second, Jerome Kennedy didn’t tell the people at his first pre-budget “consultation” anything of what he planned to do over the next few years. . . . → Read More: The Sir Robert Bond Papers: If the next two years are bad… #nlpoli In December, it was predicted that outgoing finance minister Dwight Duncan would reduce his deficit forecast just before his departure (for Bay Street). Duncan had somehow estimated in his fall economic statement that the 2012-3 deficit would be $14.4 billion, i.e. higher than the 2011-12 deficit – and even higher than the 2010-11 deficit! Sure enough, Duncan lopped another $2.5 billion off the deficit in January. In 2010, the McGuinty / Duncan government started its campaign for a wage freeze in the provincial public sector, citing the state of the public books. At that time they had estimated . . . → Read More: Defending Public Healthcare: Attack on free collective bargaining political, not fiscal “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin The fiscal cliff in the United States did not just endanger its own country’s economy but the world’s, including Canada’s heavily dependent one. But in the American problem lies, at least partially, a Canadian solution: an estate tax. The inability for Democrats and Republicans to prevent the fiscal cliff and the current uncertainty relating to the world’s largest economy is threatening the fledgling global recovery. Canada, a country whose economy is always extremely vulnerable to external crises, is now only more so. . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: If A Fiscal Cliff Kills, Canada Should Tax Death Canada’s debt is growing faster than our ability to pay for it. Since 2008 Canadian public debt has been growing faster than our GDP. Though there are many warning signs of economic trouble, there is no clearer caution of a potential crisis than when… . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: Canadian National Debt Growing Faster Than GDP Though many would say that fiscal deficits from this Conservative government are the most worrying, their lack of economic knowledge is far more dangerous. Before showing the economic ignorance of Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre a quick introduction… . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: Conservative Fiscal Deficits & Ignorant Surpluses Voters showed the Republican Party doesn’t represent America, but in losing the election and now facing hard choices, for America’s sake, perhaps Republicans should. For today, after losing the Presidency, again, and additional senate seats, Republica… . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: Now Americans Need To Follow Republican Lead There is no stronger conservative principle than personal responsibility, however this Conservative government has shown that when people are only responsible to themselves, social well-being suffers, eventually including the well-being of Conservatives. This apparent contradiction is obvious in that though Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, they also claim the largest government deficits in Canadian history are not their fault, but the world’s. Ignoring that this government has been in office for years, that it has cut billions of dollars in taxes which in turn were solely responsible for deficits in some years, this government has continued to spend beyond its . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: Conservatives Can’t Avoid Social Responsibility You don’t spread a message by only saying it once. This Conservative government has created Canada’s largest deficits, the largest government and has spent more money than any other Canadian government before it. On the most important things people don’t just speak up and than sit back down smug that they changed the world. No, when the Canadian economy is stagnating, when our productivity is in decline, when our own government is projecting to be in the red for years to come, after standing up, you don’t sit down, and you certainly don’t stop speaking. This Conservative government has created . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: Liberals, No One Forgets The Common Refrain The news is out. Due to declining natural gas prices, the BC Liberal government is projecting a budget deficit of $1.14 billion this year — $173 million more than expected. And while the government still insists that it plans on finding enough savings to balance next year’s (election year) budget, I think it’s a safe bet to predict it will fail in that endeavour too. A 2013 deficit means it will have to amend its own balanced budget law a third time since 2009 — a pattern we are achingly familiar with here in British Columbia. A little history. . . . → Read More: Song of the Watermelon: The Folly of Balanced Budget Laws in BC With declining productivity, higher unemployment, and deficit after deficit, it should be obvious the Canadian government would do anything to strengthen the economy, however it is not so obvious what that same government has done to weaken it. In a 2008 report it was predicted that the Conservative government in lowering the GST from 7% to 5% would increase the indebtedness of Canadians. Last week the repercussions of that decision six years ago became clearer; Moody’s warned that growing household debt could tip the Canadian economy back into recession. Shortly after the federal government reduced the Goods and Services Tax . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: How Reducing The GST Increased Your Debt 
 , 5%, Accountants, Canada, CGA, Conservative, debt, Deficit, democratic, economy, gst, Harper, household, Liberal, Moody's, new, party, Stephen, tax I’ve decided to add another part to my underlooked Harper series upon reflection with new information in mind. All of the Stephen Harper quotes, unless otherwise noted, are dug up from the leaked Harper database of controversial quotes. I’m covering them because these haven’t gotten the media or blogger attention I believe they deserve. You can (and should) read part one, two, three, four, five and six here. “Whether I agree with what he’s doing or not, Paul Martin is obviously in the top of his area,” Harper says. “He has good support within his party, (Read more…) One of Canada’s enduring mythologies is that during the NDP reign in Ontario from 1990 to 1995 a whole plethora of woe was inflicted as the result of Bob Rae and his mismanagement. Most people point to the fact that during that time the deficit of Ontario increased quite a bit – this is true. A common article for the Toronto Sun outlines this: Rae tripled Ontario’s deficit to $9.7 billion and raised taxes in his first budget in 1991, saying he was proud to fight the recession rather than the deficit. But, to be fair, Rae was facing (Read more…) It would be ludicrous to suggest Stephen Harper is a socialist, because he’s not, he is however similar to one. Creating the biggest government in Canadian history, running the largest deficit, using government programs to dictate where people live and work, increasing spending while reducing taxes, government intervention in labour disputes, and centralizing power in one man, may all seem like the actions of a socialist, and they are, but they are also the actions of Stephen Harper. Unlike many of our southern neighbours, the association made between the leader of the so-called Conservative Party of Canada and . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: Stephen Harper Isn’t Socialist But Don’t Tell Him That Apparently, the Official Opposition will not allow Stephen Harper‘s appetite for character-assassinating attack ads and propaganda to go unchallenged. The NDP has responded to the Conservatives’ recent attack ad targeting its leader, Thomas Mulcair. The ad, dubbed “Stephen Harper’s Solutions,” focuses on the prime minister’s economic record. It lambasts the Conservative government’s recent draconian cuts to essential services such as Old Age Security (OAS) and Emplyment Insurance (EI). RELATED: With new NDP shadow cabinet, Mulcair plots Harper’s 2015 defeat Please note: below the video, I’ve published a couple of Twitter responses to the ad. Enjoy! The video is available . . . → Read More: CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: NDP: Harper Created Worst Deficit in Canadian History (VIDEO) While supply management is bad for our economy, the discussion around it has at least managed to supply how the majority who oppose it are intellectually dishonest. For the Conservatives, libertarians, Liberals, and the like who are now so vocal in their opposition to supply management, a relatively minor economic program, one must wonder where were these defenders of economic principles when this government made a far more substantial and far worse economic decision, when it reduced the GST. With artificially inflating the prices of milk and eggs it’s easy to agree with the loud and rancorous crowd who are . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: Opposing Supply Management & Economic Principles According to the independent committee for responsible federal budget most Republican candidates aren’t at all fiscally responsible. In fact 3 out of the 4 Republicans would increase the debt over the next ten years. The worst on the budget is Newt Gingrich according to the report he would increase the debt by 7 trillion in nine years and make the Debt to GDP ratio 114%. Rick Santorum wins second place on the worst fiscal conservative by adding 4 trillion to the debt in nine years bringing the Debt to GDP to 104%. Mitt Romney had some credibility, because his old . . . → Read More: The Happy Wanderer: Republicans No Fiscal Conservatives #cpc #gop #lpc #ndp #cdnpoli #politics In the news; the appeals court in California overturned a ban on same sex marriage. This ban was a citizen inspired law triggered by the then legalized gay marriage laws in California. The court found essentially that rights, once given, cannot be taken away. I’m not sure the political impact on Obama, but I’m almost certain that it might galvanize supporters on the right who oppose such ideas. Or will it? Church going voters are poor too. They need a paycheque like everyone else…and many of them were put out work by the . . . → Read More: Conservatives create problems, not solutions To hear Steve Harper tell it, Canada’s finances are a mess. He ought to know, he created the mess. Yes, the federal government has a “structural deficit” that won’t simply go away once the recession ends (whenever that might be). Underlying that isn’t excessive government spending but, as The Globe’s Stephen Gordon points out, the decision by econo-genius SHarper to gut revenues by slashing the GST. With a hapless Opposition, Steve has Parliament well under control. As Gordon points out, no party is willing to talk about raising taxes to restore the government Steve defunded which leaves . . . → Read More: The Disaffected Lib: Canada’s Made-by-Harper Structural Deficit The U.S again goes for the easy way out of a problem by extending tax cuts for two months. Just like the super committee it seems that this congress is going to delay and then delay again. Nothing this year has even seriously touched the deficit. The U.S is running out of time. The interest on the debt that is accumulating every minute will soon become more expensive then medicare. The U.S has just wasted another year arguing about how bad the current congress is at getting the deficit under control. Maybe next year they will talk about how terrible . . . → Read More: The Happy Wanderer: Another Deficit Year in Washington DC! |
||
|
Copyright © 2013 Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes - All Rights Reserved |
||