Well, I'm sitting in my own home today, thumb up my butt. I would normally be going to work today but:
So, faced with the prospect of taking possibly 3 hours of stress to get to work, and since I do not like waking up at a time earlier than 7:00am, I'm staying home today. As well, I also am taking classes part time. And guess what? Exams start today. Fortunately, mine is during the afternoon this Friday, but I know a couple of people who have an exam tomorrow morning at 9:00am, and they rely on public transportation as much as I do. One of them however, does not have access to alternate transportation whatsoever. So he's trying to get a taxi at the earliest possible convenience, and is going to stay down there for the night, possibly at the student lounge.
There is a likelihood that this strike will be VERY long, the manager of the system says that they've basically run out of money, and the municipal and provincial governments aren't willing to contribute any since they want to keep their promise of tax cuts.
Toronto is royally screwed now.
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I can resist anything.......
Except Temptation
Over here if you don't drive you are in trouble =).
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I drink therefore I am.
-Descartes
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I can resist anything.......
Except Temptation
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Josh: I think they're getting to know each other a bit too well, if you catch my drift.
Me: Oh, I agree. I think they're spending too much time together, that is of course, if you catch my drift.
Asher: I think he's *ucking her, and he's cheating on his wife, and he's risking his marriage, and if his wife finds out about it she'll leave him and take their son, and his life will be ruined. If you catch my drift...
Mike Harris is a fucking moron (I am NOT censoring it because I hate him THAT much). Preston Manning is no better. Yes, I think the strike is a stupid thing (they're striking for a 3% pay increase, we can only give them 2%), and the Union is a moron for causing this, but Harris does not escape blame. In fact, I'd say he's the root of the problem.
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I can resist anything.......
Except Temptation
We need tax cuts. Canadians carry a personal debt, on average, of $20,000 per person. 20,000 goddamn dollars. With having to pay those debts off, and with taxes so fucking high, is it any wonder that our economy is heading towards another recession? People don't have money to spend anymore! I could go on forever with my right-wing views, but I'll give Tahna a chance to respond first.
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Josh: I think they're getting to know each other a bit too well, if you catch my drift.
Me: Oh, I agree. I think they're spending too much time together, that is of course, if you catch my drift.
Asher: I think he's *ucking her, and he's cheating on his wife, and he's risking his marriage, and if his wife finds out about it she'll leave him and take their son, and his life will be ruined. If you catch my drift...
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"I have come to the conclusion that one man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three on the law become a congress! And by God I have had this Congress!"
--John Adams, "1776"
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Josh: I think they're getting to know each other a bit too well, if you catch my drift.
Me: Oh, I agree. I think they're spending too much time together, that is of course, if you catch my drift.
Asher: I think he's *ucking her, and he's cheating on his wife, and he's risking his marriage, and if his wife finds out about it she'll leave him and take their son, and his life will be ruined. If you catch my drift...
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"Some people call me the Space Cowboy. Yeah! Some call me the Gangster of Love. Some people call me Maurice. Whoo hoo! 'Cause I speak of the Pompatus of Love!" - Steve Miller Band's The Joker
The root of the problem is decades of irresponsible social spending that has literally bankrupted us. I'd love to throw money at everyone, but it doesn't work that way.
Well, I'll agree that the New Democrat Party blew everything when they went to power. Sure, Harris is supposed to fix the damage, but he has done too much, too fast, and gone too far. There is such thing as prudence and moderation.
We can't afford anything any more. My father kills himself to support us. I hardly see him. And, when he's done, he takes his income and hands 52% to the Federal Government in income tax. INCOME. That doesn't include sales tax, property tax, or any of the other dozens of taxes.
What does your dad do for a living? And 52% is awfully high. How much per year does he make before taxes? If it is low, then it's not supposed to happen. I don't think the feds have the right to take THAT MUCH of your dad's rightfully earned money.
And that do we have to show for it? A National network that is the definition of a money drain, some idiot who blew 26 million of your money on flags,
I wonder who this idiot is. And the incident in question, my memory is short.
a province that wants out,
A province which is spending our tax dollars to form a rebellion.
crumbling roads,
Harris has downloaded this responsibility, along with others, to municipal governments. Without the adequate money needed to do so too.
a piss-poor dollar,
That is not our fault. Blame it on overseas markets. We just have to cope.
a military that is one by name only, and a population that spends more on tax than anything else. ANYTHING. That money is being fucking wasted in the endless levels of pencil pushers. We have such a massive government, and we don't need it.
I agree. The amalgamation of Toronto was a good idea. Only problem now is that we got Mel Lastman to deal with. I think Barbara Hall would have been the better choice for Toronto Mayor. Prudent, not brash.
I live in Richmond Hill. We have our own hydro, animal control, public works, transit, and endless other bullshit. So does Markham, five minutes away from my house. Also Vaughn, Aurora, Oak Ridges. Massive duplication of basic services. We need to collapse all of the above mention towns into one city NOW before we blow all that money on little kingdoms for all the mayors.
Uh-huh, uh-huh. I know, I've heard it, I support it too. But right now, if it were to happen today, it would be the amalgamation of only Markham, Richmond Hill, and Vaughan.
We need tax cuts.
Yes we do. But there are other things.......
Canadians carry a personal debt, on average, of $20,000 per person. 20,000 goddamn dollars. With having to pay those debts off, and with taxes so fucking high, is it any wonder that our economy is heading towards another recession? People don't have money to spend anymore!
I keep hearing otherwise, that the economy is ok, and consumer confidence is high. That depends on how much money you're making.
I could go on forever with my right-wing views, but I'll give Tahna a chance to respond first.
Why thank you Jaresh. Now, ahem
First and foremost: Mike Harris has made many false promises in his election platform. What happened to his promises of no cuts to education? What happened to his promises of no cuts to health care? He lied on both of them. No excuse. Many of us should have seen it coming. If we had known how he was actually going to obtain that money.
Secondly, he has cut too much, too fast. Had he done it at a slower pace, then people will have had time to absorb the changes without less problems. In other words, things wouldn't be as chaotic as they are now. You don't pull the rug from under them all of the sudden and expect them to land on their feet. Hell, if that happened, he'd get my vote in the next election.
Thirdly, we are now suffering problems in education and health care. Now we have schools that may shut down, teachers that are horribly demoralized and battered by the government. That funding formula that he implemented may be fair, but not to the Toronto District School Board, which has many older schools that cost a lot more to maintain. As well, he has also cut University funding, and allowed the Universities to charge higher tuition fees. And no safety net for the less fortunate who are talented enough to go to University, but alas, cannot.
As well, we have hospitals that can't meet the needs of emergency patients. To my knowledge, 2 people have died due to these problems created by the government. That's two people too many. And don't bullshit about saying that it could have been worse, or it may have helped health care on the whole. In other words, this shouldn't have happened in the first place. Now the government is on a PR campaign giving money to hospitals like they are Robin Hood and his gang. Basically a carrot-and-stick situation there. Sorry, but I don't buy it.
Yes, Tax Cuts are neccessary. But once we see what chaos they bring, it's time to look back and ask "Did we want this stuff to happen"? My answer will be no. On a related side note, I won't be voting in the next provincial election. I don't like the Tories or the NDP. The Liberals are ok, but that Dalton McGuinty chap lacks the charisma needed to be Premier of Ontario.
On a related note to this thread: I am a public Transit advocate, and I hereby blame Mike Harris for causing this mess. The removal of provincial funding for the TTC has left this transit system in a very unfortunate position. Proposed subway extensions have been threatened, one much needed extension has now been cancelled. The TTC simply has no more money. Perhaps the new government-to-be-elected-soon may be nice to spare some change.
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I can resist anything.......
Except Temptation
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To make an apple pie from scratch, we must first invent the universe.
~Carl Sagan
In order to be elected into office, one needs to be popular (but be neither intelligent nor have a clue as to what your doing). In order to be popular, Mike Harris and his Tories needed to promise something that would be popular, and that happened to be tax cuts. As Jaresh Inyo says, Canadians are overtaxed. A major reason for this is the irresponsibility of past governments, who overspent and accumulated debt. The federal government alone pays 40 billion dollars a year on interest. So Mike Harris promises big tax cuts, and a balanced budget too. Any voter in Ontario who did not realize that this would mean enormous cuts to social services should have had their right to vote revoked in my opinion. People just can't seem to understand the effect that some of the promises made will have. But they see TAX CUTS and vote tory without thinking. The best way to go in my opinion is the Paul Martin strategy, very gradual tax cuts, restoring cuts to social services and paying down the debt (Martin, by the way, has to "cook" his financial books to hide budget surpluses from those who want more spending or tax cuts so he can pay down some of the debt).
Of course, if you want to see what happens when a government doesn't get its spending under control, look west. My home province of B.C. is heading full steam ahead towards bankruptcy, thanks to the NDP government and a myriad of morons among the voting public who believed their promises and forgot the past.
As for the Ontario conservatives going to fast, well again, welcome to the democracy. Long term, moderate plans don't work in democracies, because they take longer than a single term, and if people don't see immediate, tangible results, they'll kick on party out and vote in another, who will undo all the work that's begun and start something else. *sigh* Sometimes democracy really stinks.
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"Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you."
-Commander Riker, USS Enterprise
[This message was edited by Chimaera on April 20, 1999.]
GECK!
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There are people who one loves immediatly and forever. Just to know that you exist in the same world together is sufficient. Till I loved, I never lived - enough.
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I drink therefore I am.
-Descartes
Tahna has given an excellent summary of the evils of Mike Harris, but I have a couple to add.
He is spending millions of dollars of our tax money to broadcast blatantly political adds.
His politics have been completly unscrupulous. He and his party tried to rush through a very important and drastic bill while the legislature was almost empty.
The worst thing, however, is that he has shunned the democratic process he knows he has a majority and can do anything. Thus he ignores all the voters except the 40% or so that voted for him. As long as he can keep the support of the suburban middle class he will stay in power. The poor, the city center, and the rural residents be dammed.
Re: Moderation. Ok, it depends on which service you are cutting back. If it is small and won't affect the people of Ontario that much, we can tolerate its reduction. But if you are talking about very important services such as Education and Health care, you can't simply say: "Ok, we're cutting half your budget. Now survive....." Sure, we DO need health care and education reform, to trim away excess fat existing in the system. But for vital services like these, you must do it so that they can ADJUST.
Re: BC. I do not support Mike Harris for doing too much in one direction. On the other hand, I do not support Glen Clark because he is doing too much in the other.
Re: Advertising. That's what I meant when I said PR campaign. Whenever I see a Tory commercial, I immediately switch to another channel to block out that crap in my TV set. Even watching an episode of Barney is better than watching a single f*cking lying piece of crap advertising.
Re: TTC. They're back on track, a settlement (not a contract, mind you) has been reached, with the help of the NDP. Sure, give the NDP credit for stopping the strike, but it won't be enough to gain significant votes.
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I can resist anything.......
Except Temptation
[This message was edited by Tahna Los on April 22, 1999.]
*exits quietly before he's noticed*
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"I AM THE SPIDER!!!!"
- Vic Reeves