Pursuing Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
Ben Eisen of the Frontier Centre of Public Policy reported on public administration wage growth over the past decade – comparing remuneration for bureaucrats with that received by private sector employees doing comparable jobs. The numbers came from Statistics Canada data and they showed: Across the economy, wages grew by 30 per cent….
Columnist Christina Blizzard calls a Big Government as she sees it. Here’s what she writes about Ontario’s McGuinty Government: The bald figures are these: 1.Your electricity bill will climb 46% over the next five years. 2.The government will give you a 10% rebate on the total bill — including the…
In the wake of decisive, anti-establishment mayoralty victories in Toronto and Calgary, there has been a great deal of commentary about the average Canadian’s disenchantment with the political status quo. With the common cry of “greater respect for the taxpayer” winning the day, it seems our collective conscious is saying “we’re mad as hell…
Today’s Globe and Mail column from Jeffrey Simpson is yet another siren cry about big government and the frightening costs that will need to be paid. Read The fiscal drag in Ontario is bad – why won’t our politicians say so? found at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/the-fiscal-drag-in-ontario-is-bad-why-wont-our-politicians-say-so/article1717028/ In the wake of the Ontario Government’s recent…
So, Canadians have been told that we’re the strongest economy in the world right now… that we have managed the best through the global meltdown. My response is summed up in the quip attributed to William Robson, president of the C.D. Howe Institute: “We’re the least ugly contestant in the beauty contest.” Here’s…
From today’s G&M, a tall of woe in the Province of Ontario. Financial columnist Neil Reynolds tells us that we’re ten times worse off than Californians!: Now, let’s see. According to the state treasurer, who should know, California (population 36.4 million) has sovereign debt of $60-billion (U.S.) – $1,650 per person. Investors…
In Angelo Persichilli’s Toronto Star column today, “No one bothers to watch the bureaucrats,” he rightly points out that our country’s bureaucrats have an easy way of it when it comes to doling out taxpayers’ money. The unknown (largely unaccountable) bureaucrats hiding away in their Ottawa and Toronto office towers, are a troubling piece…
Brace yourself (again) taxpayers. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty wants to sell the HST as “strong medicine” for an economy that needs fixing. Well, it appears he’s traded in his snake oil and fancies himself a medicine man now…. This new tax is designed to take even more money from Ontarians’ pockets to help pay for our…
Our Big Government comes with unthinkable costs. Take for example the $1.1 BILLION cost of hosting the world’s leaders for a few days in June. CBC Reports “Summit costs hit $1.1B”: The cost of hosting the G8 and G20 summits next month in Ontario now stands at $1.1 billion and further outlays…
Did the bags full of money the government threw around to help us from the world’s economic collapse last year help us? Did big government manage us through dire straits? A new study by The Fraser Institute suggests not. Here’s the lead from today’s CanWest news story: Canada‘s economic fortunes have seen a…
When considering the spot Canadians are in with out-of-control government spending, political columnist Angelo Persichilli has written a great article in today’s Toronto Star. It’s politics as usual as deficits mount up http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/782554–persichilli-it-s-politics-as-usual-as-deficits-mount-up He writes: “You want to cross a wide, deep river but keep going up and down the shore…
When our governments tell us (as they have these past few years) that they will right our economy by spending gobs of money and buy us out of our economic downturn, we must realize that it all comes at a cost. Bigger government and increased public sector activities have a direct impact on a…
Here are facts on our Canadian debt (caused by big government and un-controlled government spending): Between fiscal years 2003-04 and 2009-10, the combined rate of inflation and population growth averaged 2.5 per cent. During this period, Liberal and Conservative governments have grown program spending by an average of 7.03 per cent annually. Canada currently…
Here is a series of short videos that help place the U.S. national debt and that country’s fiscal challenges into perspective. 1) How do the current “Obama deficits” in the U.S. compare with its past presidents? And how did the U.S. national debt get so big anyway. The National Debt Road Trip is…
On the eve of Canada’s federal budget address, here is a message from the Canadian Taxpayer Federation: The 2009 federal budget represented the largest spending increase in Canadian history, and the largest deficit ever recorded. Last year, the feds borrowed $153-million a day! If taxpayers don’t make their voices heard, we can…
So, here’s Canadian federal minister Stockwell Day’s challenge as printed in a Canadian Press article today: Treasury Board President Stockwell Day told reporters the upcoming budget will begin laying out specific areas where the Conservatives will rein in public spending. “What we have to do is send the signal out that we…
Chris Hedges’ Empire of Illusion is a must-read for those who want to go into the impeding crises our country face with their eyes wide-open. In the last of the book’s chapters on today’s political leadership, Hedges holds out little hope for the actions of President Barack Obama. Here’s a rather pessimistic take on…
From January 21, 2010 The Economist, “The growth of the state – Leviathan stirs again” “The question that we ask today”, said Barack Obama in his inaugural address, “is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.” This is clearly naive: with deficits soaring, nobody can afford…
It all starts with big government encroaching on every area of our lives. As government over-reaches, it grows. Big brother gets bigger. Big government simply becomes obese. Former President Ronald Reagan once commented, “Man is not free unless government is limited…. As government expands, liberty contracts.” Just how true is this! For example, today…
Here’s what was said about government spending in the President’s State of the Union Address last evening. The President started by providing a little recent history: At the beginning of the last decade, the year 2000, America had a budget surplus of over $200 billion. By the time I took office, we…