Showing posts with label common sense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label common sense. Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 August 2011

Just What is Going On In The World?

We have riots in the streets of London, Al Shabaab fighting to keep western aid from reaching millions of starving people in Africa, stock markets around the world on a roller coaster ride from hell, mass killing going on in Syria and an American president who has failed his people on the economy, just to name a few.

It is a world in turmoil, the likes we probably have not seen since the second world war and it doesn't look like it will get better any time soon.  Which begs the question, what can we do to fix things?  My common sense solutions below.

Our world for the most part has been living life like socialists for far too long. Even the right side of the political spectrum has been giving free hand outs far too often.  We need to get back to our roots, where people were not afraid to put in an honest days work, raise a family, and expect nothing from government unless it is an unforeseen circumstance such as drought, hurricanes, earthquakes and the like.  Far too often we look to government to step in when times are tough, instead of rolling up our sleeves and getting to work like our forefathers did.  If we truly want change we have to look inside ourselves and decide that change has to start from within.  We are the ones who need to change, we need to stop with the handouts, dig deep and get things done!

Solution for anarchy in London and everywhere else.  Make the people pay for their actions!  Too long have we allowed this kind of stuff to go on without serious consequences.  Sure, have your peaceful demonstrations but if you get out of line you are going to jail, it is that simple.  How many of these people would be out doing what they do if they knew that they would get much, much more than a slap on the wrist?  If the justice system actually enforced the law these people would be looking at years in jail.  It is time to make the justice system work the way it is supposed too and stop pandering to the far left.  This will bring people back down to earth and make them accountable for their actions.  The use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and other methods should be allowed as soon as the police see actions like this ongoing.  These anarchists will soon fall in line, or at least learn how to have a peaceful demonstration.

Starvation in Africa.  This can be called a man made disaster, yes the drought is out of our hands but the price of food has also played a very large roll in this.  The price of food is being driven by the countries such as China and India as well as others.  But also adding to this is the use of food products being used to produce fuels.  This action, especially in the U.S. and Canada has made grains much more expensive which in turn boosts costs of feeding livestock and other meats.  What needs to be done, especially in the States is a move to a more efficient product such as switchgrass.  This stuff can be grown anywhere and does not consume as much energy to produce biofuels.  The energy needs of the U.S. can also be alleviated by drilling for fuels at home.  There has been too much of this "not in my backyard" B.S. and for generations the U.S. has not allowed energy companies to drill some very large economical areas that would dramatically decrease the country's dependence on Middle Eastern oil.  This would mean jobs, taxes and much much more for the U.S. economy, something they dearly need.  But first the left need to get the hell out of the way and let the people who actually want to help the country do their job!  There is enough natural gas in the U.S. to last generations, which will buy them enough time to develop other means of energy that are currently under development.  It is a band aid on the problem but one that could tie them over until these new energy strategies come to fruition.

The U.S. economy and it's affect on the world as a whole.  The powers that be in Washington need to start working for the people and not for their own political agendas.  There needs to be serious cuts to spending, not this piece of junk that they tabled last week which does nothing to cut their debt.  It in fact allows the debt to grow to 20 trillion dollars by the year 2020.  20 Trillion Bucks!!!  You think things are bad now, just think what their debt rating will be like by 2020!  Everything needs to be cut, the people just need to wake up and realize that they will have to do with less.  Less government handouts, less entitlement spending, less government employment opportunities and yes, less unions and their constant drag on a nations ability to compete on the international stage.  But this goes back to the change we need to find within ourselves, it starts at home and then you can hold your politicians accountable.  The Nancy Pelosi's of the world need to be run out of politics and vote in someone who will make the tough decisions, not the easy ones that will garner a lot of votes.  It is this way of thinking that has gotten us into this mess and it needs to change or the mess will just keep piling up.  The people in the U.S. need to also get over the "I don't pay tax" way of thinking.  In order to get this debt paid down a national tax on consumption is a must.  Everyone pays it on goods and services, not just the rich, and middle class.  The nice thing about a consumption tax is that it is a fair system that will tax the rich way more because they obviously would consume much more than the lower classes.  The national consumption tax would bring in un-foretold amounts of income to the federal government and help them get their great country back on track.  Tea Party, GOP, DEMS, it doesn't matter who you are, get your act together and do what is right for the country!

The Middle East uprising has been a missed opportunity for the west to show that we are behind our fellow brothers and sisters.  Our politicians are too slow to react and typically the reaction is not strong enough to prove solidarity.  We need actions, not just words.  Add in the U.N. which is being run like a kangaroo court and needs to make wholesale changes in order for it to be legit once again.  The security council laws need to change to make it majority rule instead of giving the permanent members the ability to quash anything that they disagree with.  It is either that or do away with the security council and let the vote happen between all member nations of the U.N. where 50% plus one means action.  This ability by Russia and China to hand tie the security council from recommending action is ridiculous and has made the U.N. the laughing stock of the world.  It no longer is legitimate and unless changes happen it will remain this way.  For far too long the U.S. and it's allies have had to police the world at it's expense.  If any action is needed in the world it should be international law that all expenses are shared by those who are part of the U.N. and then all money recouped by the country that has needed the help.  Then the trillions of dollars the U.S. spends in taking action would come back the the U.S. people, sounds fair doesn't it?  It has cost the U.S. a trillion dollars or more going into Iraq and Iran to liberate them, should this money not be paid back over time?

These are just some common sense solutions to a few of the world's problems, there are many more problems of course but these are the major ones right now and if these changes are made the world's economy would have a chance at stabilizing and the markets would return to normal.  Again, it is time to hold our politicians accountable and right the ship before it gets consumed by the wave of socialism.

Thursday, 4 August 2011

U.S. Debt Reaches 100 Percent of Country's GDP


U.S. Debt Reaches 100 Percent of Country's GDP

Published August 04, 2011
| FoxNews.com
The U.S. debt surpassed 100 percent of gross domestic product after the government's debt ceiling was lifted, Treasury figures showed Wednesday, according to AFP. 
The debt, which had been in somewhat of a holding pattern over the past several weeks, rose $238 billion after President Obama signed the debt-ceiling deal into law Tuesday to avoid the country's first-ever default. 
The package is designed to carve $2.4 trillion from the deficit over the next decade. But in the near term, it granted Washington an increase in its borrowing authority worth the same amount. 
With that authority, the public debt has climbed to $14.58 trillion, putting it just over the $14.53 trillion size of the country's economy in 2010. 
As the country moves into a league with deep-in-the-red nations like Italy and Belgium, fiscal conservatives say the fight to cut spending is far from over. 
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Tuesday that Washington will have another fierce debate over spending the next time the debt ceiling is reached -- expected to be in early 2013. McConnell said Washington should welcome, not fear, that debate. 
Bipartisan lawmakers are also expected to get to work soon on a joint committee formed by the newly signed debt-ceiling deal. That committee is tasked with finding about $1.5 trillion in deficit savings, to complement the $900 billion in cuts enacted by the first phase of the bill. 
The last time the debt topped the size of its annual economy was in 1947 during World War II, according to AFP. But the deficit at the time was driven by war spending -- a degree of spending that ebbed once the war ended. The nation's current deficits were exacerbated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but are also driven in large part by entitlement programs that will not shrink without fundamental changes to their structure -- officials point as well to lost revenue from the recession, tax breaks and increased domestic spending as contributors to the current deficit hole. 
Raising the debt ceiling came hours before Treasury would face the risk of defaulting on the country's loans. 
The contentious debate on Capitol Hill rattled Wall Street for more than a week, as the Dow slid for eight straight days before finishing up 29 points Wednesday.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/04/us-debt-reaches-100-percent-countrys-gdp/#ixzz1U4dxex1Y

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Everything Rosy Now In Washington? Don't Bet On It!

With the debt ceiling raised for the next couple of years everyone who is voting for this legislation is saying it's not a perfect deal but the best one they could come up with at this point.  I agree that it is important to keep government running, but in the end at what cost?  Lost in all of this is the true national debt that the U.S. has which should scare the bejeezuz out of anyone.  Are you ready for this?  Figures brought out yesterday show that the U.S. has amounted an un-funded debt liability to the tune of $61 trillion dollars.  Yes, you read that right, $61 trillion dollars in un-funded liabilities like medicaid, medicare, pensions, ongoing contracts and more.  I am very nervous about our Canadian unfunded liabilities sitting at $200 billion.  To put it in perspective, we have 1/10th the population of the States, if we had the same amount of people our unfunded liabilities would be $2 trillion, which is $59 trillion short of what they sit at today.  WOW!


The problem is that everyone in Washington just wants to sweep this under the rug and forget about it.  Let our children and our children's children pay for it, as long as we live good today and keep the votes coming my way.  When is the insanity going to stop?  There has to be some common sense left in Washington?  Maybe not?  I watch the likes of Nancy Pelosi go on about how this new deal is going to hurt her constituents who have become used to government handouts.  It is the likes of Nancy Pelosi who have gotten things so bad in the U.S. ad at some point it will collapse under the weight of the debt.  Until they get serious about confronting their real debt I will not invest in the country and would not recommend anyone else to either.


The Tea Party has had a strong voice in this latest round of negotiations but even most of them don't truly know how bad the situation really is.



Tax reform to be next battle in U.S. fiscal war

 

US$1.5T must go

 
 
 
 
Round One in the U.S. debt debate ended up being all about spending cuts. Look for Round Two to be all about taxes.
 

Round One in the U.S. debt debate ended up being all about spending cuts. Look for Round Two to be all about taxes.

Photograph by: Getty Images, Getty Images

Round One in the U.S. debt debate ended up being all about spending cuts. Look for Round Two to be all about taxes.
If the deal to raise the U.S. borrowing limit and cut US$917-billion in spending is finally passed, the focus will switch to overhauling the tax system. The new debate may be even more acrimonious than the first go-round but could give the U.S. economy the desperate growth boost it needs.
As part of the deal, a 12member congressional committee of Republicans and Democrats from each chamber will be responsible for finding a further US$1.5-trillion in budget savings by Nov. 23 and could look to politically risky decisions not yet touched - including tax reform.
"Tax reform is the silver lining to all of this. It's really critical for the United States to change its current structure," said Andrew Busch, global currency and public policy strategist with BMO Capital Markets in Chicago.
"I thought tax reform wasn't going to happen until 2012, but I think the groundwork is going to get laid at that meeting," he said, adding that he expects the issue to be central to the next presidential campaign.
Much of the political focus has been on tax hikes for the richest Americans, with Republicans staunchly against new taxes as part of the solution to the debt crisis.
House Speaker John Boehner, the top U.S. Republican, sought to reassure conservatives that the deal is "all spending cuts."
Meanwhile, the White House has indicated if the new committee does not move ahead with tax reform, President Barack Obama will allow tax cuts put forward by former President George W. Bush to expire in 2013.
But Mr. Busch hopes the committee will focus on corporate taxes, arguing the current system makes it difficult for the country to compete globally and is holding back job growth.
If the U.S. moved to a flatter, simpler code - he suggests a corporate tax rate of 25% and eliminating costly tax breaks and exemptions - it would stimulate the economy, he said.
"First, it's a lower tax rate so you simplify the tax code and therefore you reduce the cost of doing business in the United States because they don't have to spend so much on accountants and tax attorneys.
"Second, for small businesses, you really reduce their costs... and they're the ones who are the job creators in the United States. You want to make them as viable as possible."
Mr. Busch also argued the United States should move from its extra-territorial tax system - that taxes domestic companies on overseas activity - to a territorial one.
"Companies keep a tremendous amount of money overseas," he said, noting that some of that will be spent on the cost of doing business abroad but in some cases multi-national companies simply keep money overseas to avoid taxation.
"This is all about reducing friction and reducing incentives for companies to keep their money overseas and that's really critical," he said.
He noted that the structure of the debt ceiling plan committee may not lend itself to agreement on these two issues, but suggested the pressure to make changes to the tax code to spur economic growth will only increase.
Either way, Mr. Busch predicted: "Whoever grabs a hold of this issue will likely make it to the White House in 2012."
cdobby@nationalpost.com


Read more:http://www.leaderpost.com/business/fp/reform+next+battle+fiscal/5190509/story.html#ixzz1Tt049VGM

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

My Fix For Big Labour!

O.K., I may have said this before but for anyone new to reading this blog I just want to explain my theory on how to fix the problem with big labour.

First thing is we need to figure out that there is a problem to begin with, if our politicians can't figure this out then they need to be ousted.  Once we have decided we need to do something about the contracts signed with big labour then we need to make the changes to fix the problem.

$200 billion dollars, that is how much the federal government has in Unfunded Pension Liabilities going forward. That means there is no money set aside to pay for the pensions that are on the horizon.  This needs to be addressed now and not later.

First thing that needs to be looked at is something called "right to work legislation"  This simply implies that if you have a job in any sector be it private or public that you have the right to join the union or not.  This is being done in a lot of States right now and is proving out to be very successful, in fact it has made it possible for many states to show budget surpluses this year all the while the federal government is drowning in debt and on the verge of defaulting.

When you get a job, is it not a basic human right to decide whether you want to be represented by a labour group or not?  I mean this is a democratic country is it not?  If I were to go and get a job tomorrow as a welder at a local steel plant, why should I be forced to join a union?  Can I not keep my union dues and just go and do my job, that is all I want.  I do not feel my money should go to pay for a bunch of bureaucrats in the union so that they can get paid 24/7/365, even though the contract only expires every 3-4 years.  I want to be able to spend my $1000/year how I see fit, be it on my family, a vacation, whatever but I will have the right to do what I want with my own money.  I should not be forced to pay for something I do not believe in, that in my mind, is not democratic.

Now some will say without unions the labour pool will be taken advantage of by corporations, and to that I say we already have labour standard board that for on intents and purpose do the same thing that the unions do.  And if the worker feels something is wrong, the labour board is there to step in and represent the worker.

But what about negotiations?  You can't expect every person to negotiate their own contract?  No, I don't, but what I do think is very possible, is for the worker to vote for hiring a law firm to represent the group as a whole.  This is democratic and the law firm would only get paid during negotiations(other than a small yearly retainer).  The cost to the worker would be far less than what they pay in dues on a yearly basis meaning more take home pay.

The next step would to be to change pensions.  The worker needs to fund more of their own pensions, it is done this way by the private sector and is proven to be sustainable. Especially when it comes to the public sector, the taxpayers should not be on the hook for large pensions that you would not get in the private sector.  The public and private sector need to be more aligned on the pension and benefit front, what you get should not vary that much between the two.  With employees paying more into their pension it would alleviate the future liability that the country has and make sure that the pension is there for you when you do go to retire.

As you can see the worker is still represented, and more than likely represented better by a law firm than say some Joe who rose up through the ranks and does not know law at all.  This is a common sense approach to one of the problems facing our country.  I know that a final version of this would need some polish but I feel it is a great starting point and is a large step in the right direction.  If you agree, talk to your MP, MLA, council members, we need to make these changes for the whole of our country.

Mayor Ford In Toronto, a Sign of The Times?

With the election of Mayor Rob Ford, the city took a hard right turn politically speaking.  Now what does this mean to the rest of Ontario, organized labour and the rest of Canada.

For too long the most populous cities in this country have been run by steadfast socialists and for far too long they have bled the coffers dry and made the rest of Canada pay for their "love of humanity"  Now comes along a Mayor who is set to take on the big unions in his city, he has put them on notice that there are going to be changes coming and that their sitting at the trough is about to end.  Toronto is run by big labour, the provincal and local governments made their bed with these guys and now it is about to do a full 180.  Ford is standing up to labour and has publicly stated that the people of Toronto will stand for long strikes, if that is what is needed to reign in the expenses brought on by union contracts.  He knows what it is going to take to curb expense and lets face it labour is the problem, it is the super lucrative contracts that previous administrations signed that have come to bite the people of Toronto in the butt.  Something has to give and it is time that labour really looks at itself and figure out that they are the problem.(more on that in my next post)

Now, what does this mean for the rest of the province and Canada?  Rob Ford has listened to the people of his city and it taking appropriate actions.  He will be smeared publicly by big labour, he will be hated by many on the far left but he will stand tall knowing he is doing the right thing by the taxpayers.  The tax base has had enough and they signaled that by voting Ford in as mayor, they want change and change now!  Now with Ontario staring at large debt loads and having to take equalization payments from Ottawa, the taxpayers seem to be ready to do the same on the provincial level.  It looks like the Conservatives will become government and maybe by a large majority.  This means that the changes being taken at the city level can now carry on to the provincial level.  The people are speaking up and it is time for the politicians to hear their voices.

Federally is a different situation, we have had a conservative government for some time but finally have a majority to work with.  They have already set sail on a bunch of changes coming.  They are freezing most hiring, getting rid of the boondoggle gun registry as well as getting tougher on crime.  Now they are starting to look at themselves and try to figure out where cuts can come from to bring down the debt.  Canada is in a great position when compared to the rest of the world but that doesn't mean we should rest on our laurels, we need to keep at it and reduce the debt load that our children will have to pay for.  This means pensions must be looked at as well as the benefits.  This is a large portion of the annual budget and needs to be addressed as they are unfunded in the years to come and myself as a taxpayer do not think I should have to pay for someone's retirement when I have to save my whole life in order to retire.  Typically government employees are paid much better, have better benefits and pension plans than that of an equal working in the private sector.

All in all, this movement that seems to be sweeping the country is not only good for us but also for our children and their children.  We live within our means and should demand that our governments do the same.

Is It Time To Live Within Our Means In Canada?

It is my belief that all governments should live within their means.  This means balanced budgets, cuts to programs that are either ineffective, outdated or simply not run as lean as it can.  Our governments have allowed the pigs to sit at the trough long enough and it is time to tighten the belt strings before it really affects our economies.  The cuts really need to start within government where they have been guilty of growing governments at unprecedented rates over the last 10-20 years.  This means more salaries being paid, more benefits and more pensions going unfunded.  The federal government alone has a $200,000,000,000 unfunded pension shortfall, where is this going to leave the younger generations?  They are going to have to pay for our failures?  Doesn't seem fair now does it?


This is why I am calling on all governments in Canada to make it law to have balanced budgets.  Governments should be run just like any business or family, which means living within it's means.  No more hiring, spending cuts and unfortunately maybe even some small tax increases when and where needed.  Governments should have the ability to raise and lower the GST, PST & HST on a yearly basis in order to meet their budget needs.  This will put them in the position where they know the people will not stand for much in the way of tax increases and learn how to make do with what they have coming in with taxes and other means of revenue, just like any business or family has to.


P.S. Just how long do we continue to pay these high amounts to Quebec? $7.8 billion in one year alone, should they be forced to make do with much less?  I think it is time for them to stand up and become more productive and develop their economy better.  But in order to do that they must vote the right way and I am afraid that will not happen until we(the rest of Canada) cut them off.



Growing equalization payments to Ontario threaten country: expert

Aaron Lynett/National Post
Aaron Lynett/National Post
Federal equalization payments to Ontario have risen 534% in the two years since the province received its first payment.
  Jul 20, 2011 – 6:35 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 19, 2011 8:16 PM ET
By Lee Greenberg
TORONTO — In just three years, Ontario has become the second-largest recipient of equalization payments in the country, with $2.2-billion set to flow into its “have-not” coffers this year.
Only Quebec, which takes in $7.8-billion in such payments, receives more.
More ominously, Ontario’s burgeoning take threatens to destabilize Confederation, says one of the country’s leading academics, by creating problems for Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces.
Tom Courchene, an economist at Queen’s University and a senior scholar at the Institute of Research on Public Policy says those other have-not provinces will find themselves increasingly squeezed out of a fixed pot of equalization money as Ontario takes a bigger share of the pie.
Federal equalization payments to Ontario have risen 534% in the two years since the province received its first payment. The program has been capped at Canada’s GDP growth since 2009.
Courchene says, that as a result, a “crowding out” effect will make flaws in the oft-criticized federal program harder to ignore.
“The poorer Ontario is, the less other provinces are going to get,” he says. “It’s a big issue and it’s going to get bigger.”
Matthew Mendelsohn, director of the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation, says Ontario’s growing equalization take will likely cause tension between recipient provinces and the federal government.
“The growth cap has certainly not been happily received by many provinces,” he says. “They’re pushing for change here. And as Ontario’s take grows, that may put even more pressure on other provinces, who may escalate their argument with the federal government, that the federal government should stop the artificial (limit on) growth of equalization.”
Ontario’s diminishing status is partially a result of the demise of its manufacturing industry, says Courchene. The decline is also a relative one, however.
Compared to the soaring economies in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, all resource-rich provinces whose oil and gas are fuelling growth in India and China — Ontario is looking increasingly impoverished.
“(Equalization) really isn’t a reflection of a province’s underlying economic strength,” says Mendelsohn. “It’s a reflection of whether they are dominantly a natural resource, carbon petro-economy or not . . . .That’s what’s driving the equalization program right now. It makes sense now to think of oil provinces and non-oil and gas provinces rather than poor provinces and rich provinces.”
The resource boom in those petro economies has had a double effect on Ontario, having sent the Canadian dollar soaring by roughly 40% since 2004.
The higher dollar has in turn clobbered Ontario’s struggling manufacturing sector, which has hemorrhaged 290,000 full-time jobs over the past decade.
In economic theory, that scenario is known as “Dutch disease”, so coined by the Economist in 1977 after manufacturing in the Netherlands was decimated by the discovery of a large natural gas field.
“We’re just too small an economy to try to have one of the largest resource operations in the world at the same time as trying to have a world class manufacturing sector,” says Courchene, one of the most prolific and well-respected scholars in Canada.
The Kingston-based academic suggests implementing a fixed exchange rate with the U.S.
“We need to be part of a larger currency so when oil prices rise, we stay with the U.S. dollar, we don’t go up by 20-30% and destroy manufacturing.”
Meanwhile, Ontario continues to struggle even after its equalization top up, with lower levels of public services than many other provinces.
A report by a Winnipeg-based think tank in 2010 stated Ontario had fewer public servants, nurses, doctors, teachers, day-care spots and long-term care beds than in most other provinces.
That runs counter to the objectives of equalization, introduced in 1957 as a means to ensure comparable public services in all 10 provinces.
It costs Ontario roughly 10% more, on average, to provide a “bundle” of public services — one doctor, one nurse, one social worker, a judge and a police officer, for example — than it does in other have-not provinces, says Courchene.
While federal MPs from traditional have-not provinces have long fought for greater funding for their home turf, Ontario MPs have typically considered themselves federal first.
In negotiating a range of federal allocations for such things as immigration settlement, training funds, infrastructure and social housing, Ontario has had to settle for inferior agreements in recent years.
“There’s still a perception out there that Ontario is the fat cat,” says Courchene. “It’s all part of a pattern where everybody assumes Ontario is big enough to look after itself. The answer is increasingly it isn’t. It’s not able to provide the level of public services that other provinces can.”
Although Ontario was eligible for payments for five years from 1977 to 1981, federal politicians at the time balked at sending money to the country’s most populous province. Ontario received its federal transfer, $347-million, in 2009-10.
In 2010, equalization jumped to $972-million. This year it will total $2.2-billion.
Ottawa Citizen