[quote=“eccentric”]
You give him too much credit. Herb Pond was just one vote in all these decisions.[/quote]
I stand corrected.
Herb Pond VOTED to raise taxes and cut services. Herb Pond VOTED to have the highest taxes in BC, including some of the highest business taxes in BC.
I have no doubt that when asked whether to raise taxes to pay for the olympics or not, Herb would vote yes. Herb Pond has a track record of voting to raise taxes.
Thanks for making the clarification, eccentric.
Much better than the guy who insults anyone who doesn’t agree with him, the saltybear guy. If I were a liberal, I wouldn’t want him on my side.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we not debate politics–not at all. I just don’t think it’s fair or mature to bash someone because of why they’re voting for a certain party. Then again, I think it’s not necessarily in the best taste to so bluntly state who you are are voting for and why–it’s not my business.
The final NDP budget was balanced. Like I said, you can spin it any way you want, but that’s a fact. You want to deny it, great, stick your fingers in your ears and say LA LA LA. Otherwise, why don’t you actually look up that budget and see for yourself.
As for “financial mismanagement,” what about giving 35% of your tax dollars away as the very first thing the BC Liberals did when they took office? Then proclaiming that the province was broke. Of course it is, you just gave all the money away!
That’s financial mismanagement.
Don’t worry, Herb Pond will fit right in. He has a track record (thanks for making this point eccentric) of voting to raise taxes, of giving public money to corporations, and of having government-owned companies subsidized so they can compete with the private sector. A great fit for the BC Liberals.
Everyone who has bitched and moaned about crappy healthcare and education can point the finger of blame at the fact that the BC Liberals cut funding to pay for their tax breaks.
Well,thank the good lord…I am not the only one that can remember the “balanced budget farce”.We were lucky enough to have had the NDP twice and they damn near broke us both times.It took years to dig out of the hole.I am not a fan of Gordo but I will have to vote for the lesser of two evils.We have had some dandys over the years but Coons takes the cake!I have not heard one positve comment from him.Bitch all you want but at least come up with some solutions.
Well eccentric, this is a forum and usually, people who take part in an internet forum post opinions, ideas, suggestions and some stuff that fit the wasteland.
My original opinion was that I was amazed that the “vote for the winning party” method was still so prevalent in 2009. I totally agree with DWhite’s list of reasons for voting.
Was I shooting down Hotmail’s way of voting? Not really, i was just stating a fact that his method was closer to 1950 politics than what I would expect today.
By the way, Hotmail didn’t answer my question about voting for Coons if polls just before the election would predict an NDP government.
[quote]
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we not debate politics–not at all. I just don’t think it’s fair or mature to bash someone because of why they’re voting for a certain party. [/quote]
Now I was bashing and being immature! Wow, you are pretty sensitive.
Let me state again my opinion in a hopefully more mature way without bashing anyone: In my opinion, if someone votes for a party because of its platform, or a dislike of the alternatives, then that’s fair.
But if someone votes for a party because it will form the government, then I think that is the kind of voting behaviour that dates to the times when my grandfather was a young father and I am hopeful that this will not be the case for a majority of people in this country.
[quote=“DWhite”]
Four months to go and there’s the campaigns in a nutshell.[/quote]
I think the campaign will focus on olympic spending, personally. I hope Herb Pond has a good answer for the question when it comes: why should the people of Prince Rupert have to pay for Vancouver’s olympics, when the BC Liberals said that not one cent of taxpayer money would be used?
I notice that the leader of the Liberals is getting very sensitive when he is quizzed by the media about cost over runs with the Olympics. Transparency in government? I predict that the Olympics will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to BC taxpayers. Will we receive an accurate accounting of this mess prior to Spring 09? I doubt it.
[quote=“BigThumb”]
By the way, Hotmail didn’t answer my question about voting for Coons if polls just before the election would predict an NDP government.[/quote]
I also assume HotmailDOTcom voted NDP in a few elections, I’m sure. Afterall, he says we should always vote for the party that will win.
I don’t share your thought on focus there Mig, for one thing the Olympics would be a rather hard talking point for the NDP to pin on the Liberals, as the whole Olympic bid idea was that of Glen Clarks, so originally it was an NDP creation.
Whether they would have had cost over runs is a debating point for another day I guess, the evidence is probably against the Clark era as being parsimonious, seems to me that every Olympic comes in way over budget, so I think it’s safe to assume that these Olympics would have been costly regardless of which party should be in charge.
More importantly as far as votes go, much as we seem to dislike at times that concept of the votes are where the population is, the simple fact is the election is probably won or lost in the GVRD and lower Vancouver Island, considering the cost and the fear mongering of the escalation of the Cost of the Olympics, the folks down there will most likely vote for the party that suggests that we “all share the pain”, even the NDP will have to follow that line if they hope to usurp Mr. Campbell.
Personally I had wished there had been a referendum before the bid was even attempted, sounding out the population if they wanted the Olympics, or maybe things like better health care, better roads, better schools and better social housing etc, now that we have them, there’s not much to do but pay the bills, the bills and the bills. Go Canada Go eh…
As for the election, while that Musted poll of earlier today doesn’t showcase it (jobs down south apparently are our concern at the moment, they’re new to this recession/depression thing I guess) I would hope that such things as health care and education would be the points for the election to be fought on, not sure that Mr. Pond has much ground on that one either, having to defend the Liberal record and the city’s less than stellar attempts at putting across the nature of the problems up here.
But at least those are issues that affect us all, and in fact impact the rural areas much more than the larger cities.
Those are the questions that both Mr. Coons and Mr. Pond should provide answers and potential solutions for.
Here is the 2001 budget. fin.gov.bc.ca/archive/budget … lights.pdf I am wondering where the financial mismanagement is considering they had a surplus in 2001. I have also read in a couple other places that their surplus ended up being 1.5 billion dollars.
I was a teeny little boy back then, so I’m not sure what the intricacies of the political climate were back then–but in 2001 when Gordon Campbell first took power, it certainly wasn’t the NDP’s brilliant surplus that resulted in them losing all but two seats to the BCL.
Did you actually read the link he posted? You’d know it’s not “1 in 10.” When people perpetuate this “big lie” about the NDP leaving a financial mess, I often wonder if they truly believe it, or if they realize it’s not true, but think it makes political sense to repeat it.
Either way, it’s truly a sad tactic to rewrite history to hide the fact that the tax cuts were the reason the BC Liberals were broke. If you give away the province’s money, don’t complain that the province is broke!
The official record is clear, though, right there for anyone to read.
But if you’re going to fight the future election on financial matters, then Tax Man Herb Pond isn’t going to look very good. He has a proven track record of raising taxes to incredible levels. Herb Pond raised taxes to help a city organization compete with the private sector. Sounds like a great fit for the BC Liberals.
Did you receive your Herb Pond tax notice in the mail recently? I did.
[quote=“sandimas”]
Either way, it’s truly a sad tactic to rewrite history to hide the fact that the tax cuts were the reason the BC Liberals were broke. [/quote]
…
There seems to be something contradictory about your satements.
The point is that the local BC Liberals will rewrite Prince Rupert history as well, to make it seem that Herb Pond actually lowered taxes, or that the economy of Prince Rupert prospered under his watchful eye while on trips to China.
Sounds like a great fit for the BC Liberals.
I think everyone who received a tax bill in the mail recently will know that Herb Pond raised taxes. But give it a month or two, and the BC Liberals will be saying the exact opposite, over and over again, until they truly believe it.
Either that, or the Herb Pond Tax Man supporters will somehow try to blame some of the highest taxes in the province on the NDP.
