TheToryBoy1 has a new video out – “Ignatieff’s E.I. Plan”.
Check it out:
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Related: Ignatieff, E.I., And Raising Taxes – Raphael
Excellent column by Angelo Persichilli today – Liberal election hawks send the wrong signal.
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Monday Update: Opposition teams up to support EI reform – Ottawa Citizen:
“It’s the Liberals who basically devastated the EI. It’s the Liberals that actually gutted that EI fund. Now we find ourselves where people actually need this money and they’re told it’s not there. And they’ve paid into it. It’s an insurance fund.”
She [NDP MP Carol Hughes] cited the fact it was a Liberal government that instituted the existing eligibility rules based on regional unemployment rates and who “stole” an accumulated EI fund surplus of $57 billion to pay down the general budget-ary deficit when they were in power…
THAT is the kind of commercial the Conservatives should put out!
Although the other ones are good to.
That was awesome. Love the music very intense.
That was like an ad for Star Trek, lol.
I like it. Very effective. Of course, to be fair I think even the Conservatives have admitted raising taxes is now inevitable.
Yes, I think this is his best effort yet.
Has anyone heard the Liberals explain if students would qualify for E.I. under Iggy’s scheme? I’ve heard the question posed, but never a straight answer.
Perfect educational truth ad. People need to know.
Whats raising taxes got to do with this video Raphael???
Bert,
Didn’t you see the video?
How could students working during their summer break not qualify? To do otherwise would be engaging in discrimination.
Iggy’s scheme isn’t well explained and probably not well thought out, it’s a desperation move. We have to assume anyone who works the required time would have to qualify to collect for the twelve months. It’s a crazy and wild idea in that it’s a recipe for abuse of the EI system plus the fact it wouldn’t be sustainable. We do know it’s supposed to be a temporary thing, just try to get rid of it when fortunes change.
Looking for straight answers from Ignatieff? Haven’t heard one yet. It’s still down to if necessary but not necessarily, whatever.
to be fair I think even the Conservatives have admitted raising taxes is now inevitable.
Do you happen to recall the exact wording, Raph? Thanks.
Raphael @ 3 says..
“That was like an ad for Star Trek, lol.”
LMAO, I was thinking a NFL films special, but you nailed it with the Star trek trailor music…..
Raph, are you talking about what the Prime Minister said in the House?
If so, you missed a key word.
I am paraphrasing, but what was said went like this:
“What this government is NOT going to do is keep bringing in budgets every couple of months until we have to raise taxes”.
I love it!!!
The Conservatives have NOT said that they’d have to raise taxes.
I too look forward to the exact working of that fanatsy Raph. It didn’t happen as the Liberals and I guess, um, you tried to spin it.
I don’t know if the current government will end up raising taxes in the near term. I fairly doubt it. Over the long term, if they got a long mandate and their revenue stream continued to be lower than expected, they would be forced to make a choice between cutting spending or raising taxes. That much is inevitable.
If the Liberals get into power and raise taxes I wouldn’t be surprised, but I also wouldn’t say it’s entirely unwarranted. At a certain point we need to pay back the debt we borrowed, so some government, either Conservative or Liberal, will need to find a way to start doing that. If we can raise enough income without increasing taxes, all the better.
“Has anyone heard the Liberals explain if students would qualify for E.I. under Iggy’s scheme?”
Joanne, Someone pointed out that if you want to qualify for EI, you have to be actively seeking a job.
Of course that also assumes you are telling the truth if asked. Plus lots of students actually do work their way through college.
Of course, to be fair I think even the Conservatives have admitted raising taxes is now inevitable.
I appreciate your desire to be fair Raphael, however, being fair would mean being able to backup the statement you’ve made regarding the Conservatives raising taxes.
Is there a link available?
==
Platty, obviously openly forwarding the suggestion of raising taxes from either side is politically dangerous right now. Not even the Liberals would do that, except by answering hypothetical questions, which are also dangerous. I should have said that even the Conservatives will be forced to admit they need to raise taxes eventually.
My point is that the advertisement is great, and I understand the point of the last line, but I really think we’re beyond suggesting who or who will not be raising taxes. It’s going to be a necessary evil for whatever party survives this recession. With the caveat, of course, that we can somehow find another way to get out of massive debt and cut spending.
Raphael said @ #3
“to be fair I think even the Conservatives have admitted raising taxes is now inevitable.”
Well, I guess you are fair using special K’s taliking points.
Which came from a comment from QP, which was clarified by PMO right after QP, to point out PM Harper was talking about Iggy.
Man, Raph, when Liberal supporter Adam Radwanski can spot this, you know you have issues..
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/radwanski/playing-to-the-level-of-their-opponents/article1159215/
JDot,
No, I didn’t realize Warren Kinsella had said anything of the sort. I don’t read his blog. As I say, I wasn’t referring to a specific admission by any Conservative.
Raph – I completely disagree. What the government should do is reduce or remove programs which are not helping real people in a real way. There are many expensive programs that do not achieve their real mandate. For example – we have and continue to spend billions to better the lives of Aboriginal people and, despite the contstant flow of money, there are thousands upon thousands of Aboriginal people still living in abject poverty and squalor. Why? Where is the money going? We have the CBC – ’nuff said. We provide funding for “art” which cannot sustain itself financially. We have the SoW which does nothing for the average woman but it does produce lots of glossy reports.
No, Raph. The answer is not raising taxes but becoming efficient and effective. Our governments at all levels waste far too much money. At a municipal level, here’s a good one or two.
OC Transpo buys articulated buses, the majority of which are off the road due to a known defect. The company bought expensive articulated buses which could not negotiate a hefty snowfall (but Winnipeg’s buses function). If not for an outcry, some OC staff had planned to go to the hot part of Asia to “study” the issue of snow tires on buses.
Our Ontario government does not pay for a PSA screen and delisted eye exams…but, will pay for sex change operations. OHIP would rather pay hundreds of thousands for prostate cancer treatment rather than pay the $20 for a PSA screen. I can afford it but many cannot or will not pay the $20 and end up with later stage prostate cancer which can cost hundreds of thousands to treat if it spreads. But a sex change operation is covered.
So…solution: spend efficiently and effectively. Reduce our taxes significantly and let us take care of ourselves.
As for EI – I resent having paid into it my entire working life. There should be a cap on lifetime contributions if a person has not taken out of the fund. I tried once to collect but by the time I got through all the BS, I had found work. As for the retraining – don’t make me laugh. It is nigh on impossible to get into any sort of program – and I remember when it was called Manpower.
PS – we need more truth ads like that one. I read somebody’s comment in some media (can’t remember which, I read so many) that the “attack” ads are actually “definition ads” because they define Ignatieff. I like that term “definition ads”.
EastofEden,
You say you completely disagree with me, but you don’t. You say that the government should reduce or remove programs that don’t help people in a meaningful way. I agree. Some of those programs were created by the Conservative Party as well. I look forward to their dismantlement.
I look forward to cutting of CBC funding, or selling off of the corporation to private interests. I look forward to the cutting of SoW and the HRCs. If the Conservatives ever get around to it, of course. Perhaps during a majority government?
I agree the answer is becoming efficient and effective, and not raising taxes. Unfortunately we don’t have a government that believes in such an ideology, which is why I feel they will eventually either raise taxes, or lose a party that will.
We don’t disagree about anything, actually, except our faith in the Conservative Party to act.
Raphael said @ 19
” I wasn’t referring to a specific admission by any Conservative.”
Then what or who where you referring too?
You said..
“to be fair I think even the Conservatives have admitted raising taxes is now inevitable”
Well please back that statement up with a link, you know, just to be fair..
JDot,
I already clarified my wording. I wasn’t referring to a specific statement by the party or an individual.
As an aside, I’ve spoken to conservatives [not Conservatives] who think raising taxes is inevitable because of the poor spending choices of this government.
Raphael said @ # 24
Thanks Raph, I get where you are coming from now.
But I still believe that taxes will not have to be raised.
I think the main thing we’re needing is a quote if it was actually said by someone in the CPC.
Raph seems to have backed down on that one.
EI may need to be looked and updated but MI’s idea is not the way to go. The result of making EI too easy is a permanently higher unemployment rate and increased premiums to support it. There are lots of people willing to lower their living standard by getting the bare minimum of hours and then collecting EI benefits. Some employers even encourage this because it cuts labor costs while ensuring that the workers do not relocate to areas of stable, year-round jobs.
As for tax increases, it depends on if it’s minority or majority government. Any minority government will mean no tax increases and no spending cuts. A Lib majority means more taxes and more social spending. A lefty coalition will mean massive social spending, deficits and long-term debt. A CPC majority…I’d like to say spending cuts but I just don’t know.
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Thanks, Jo!
Worth repeating…often!
Atheist Iggy seeks salvation and $$$$$$$$$$.
“*Michael Ignatieff combines atheism with a passion for religion.”
Librano$$$$$$ Church of Iggy; it’s the church with the PET Cemetery behind and Iggy the Icon in front.
Alfonso Gagliano, the Vintner, cache$ the collection.
Iggy’s Woo-Doo and GG’s Voodoo = Iggy’s Theocracy.
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“Liberals attempting to woo religious groups: MP
The federal Liberals are making a deliberate attempt to woo religious groups after years of “benign neglect” by the party, Liberal MP John McKay says.
Mr. McKay, an evangelical Christian, said Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff asked him to start meeting with religious leaders across Canada to find ways of including them in the national discussion.
Observers, however, say the courting of religious groups can pose tricky political questions, and recent history shows Canadian parties have distanced themselves from religion, not embraced it.
Mr. McKay, who represents Scarborough-Guildwood, said this week there was a feeling that religion had become so “privatized” it no longer has a voice in the public square.
“There is a deep feeling in the faith communities … that they have been marginalized and they have not been able to participate in the debates in society as fully as they might. I would argue that we are a poorer society as a result,” he said. “Tommy Douglas was a Baptist minister, for goodness sake. And if it hadn’t been for the force and clarity of his moral vision we might still might be arguing whether we should have universal health care.”
He acknowledged that there is a fear among more secular citizens that any outreach to religious groups could be misconstrued as breaching the societal norm of keeping church and state separate.
“Religion and politics is a pretty dangerous mix,” he said. “We don’t want to get into a position where we’re talking to you because we’re only concerned about how you’ll vote. I’m more concerned that we have that space there for religious groups to have their say. Freedom from religion is not the same as freedom of religion.””
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/holy-post/archive/2009/05/31/liberals-attempting-to-woo-religious-groups-mp.aspx
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*”FEATURES: `A secular life can also be a humble life’
Me and My God
Michael Ignatieff talks to Frances Welch
THE TELEVISION presenter and academic Michael Ignatieff combines atheism with a passion for religion. “Some of the most important experiences of my life have taken place in churches. One of them was a visit to a little Ukrainian church built by my great-grandfather. The priest and community of believers sang a panikhida (a mass for the dead) in tribute to my ancestors – a family that had left 80 years before.”
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19147632.html
“Jack Layton shuts window on Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals
Hey, it could all change tomorrow, but what is being reported today is that Jack Layton and the NDP has agreed to support Stephen Harper and the Conservatives through to the June break of parliament.
That noise you hear is Michael Ignatieff grinding his teeth. Or is that the sound of members of the Liberal caucus sharpening their knives?”
http://stevejanke.com/index.php
JDot at 6:40 pm – That Radwanski column is a keeper. Especially considering that he is a Liberal!
Strategic Counsel, conducted a poll for CTV and The Globe and Mail,
so why are 1/2 the respondants from Quebec??
See this note at bottom of the article:
Results are based on a national sample size of 1,000 voting-age Canadians with an over-sample of 500 respondents from Quebec.
All the questions answered are not in this article,
one of the answers to who is patriotic had PMSH at 37% and Ifyy at 9%. lol the truth ads definitely had an affect!
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090531/survey_leaders_090531/20090531?hub=Canada
Looks like the Liberals are really worried, they’re turning their attentions to religion. Well at least John McKay, one of those “evangelical Christians” has been tapped by Iggy to start meeting with religious groups.
Wonder where John was hanging out when his party tolerated Kinsella making fun of Stockwell Day’s religious beliefs? Don’t recall any Liberal coming forward against it.
Looks pretty suspicious for a party whose leaders have shied away from religion, even the mention of God in a ceremony on the Hill was banned by Chretien.
I’m thinking the Liberals, the party of scams, shams,lies is reaching for a final refuge.
Good catch, Wilson. That article is quite misleading in the way it is presented.
Liz @#34 – Pretty hypocritical for sure.
Is Your Cleaning Lady a Rootless Cosmopolitan*?
The question was recently asked at SDA: Is Iggy a cosmopolitan*?
Gagnon says yes, Iggy is a cosmopolitan; but, is Iggy a rootless cosmopolitan? Yes.
The previous Liberal leader, Citoyen Dion, was also a rootless cosmopolitan.
Liberals love rootless cosmopolitans.
Rcs are “citizens of the world”.
You are a parochial with your visceral, i.e., your gut-hatred of cosmopolitans.
Do you “viscerally resent” Iggy the “worldly” cosmopolitan?
Gagnon knows: >>>> “My cleaning lady bought a house in her native village in Portugal. When she goes there for holidays, she feels somewhat resented by childhood friends.”
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Lysiane Gagnon:
“Tory ads play on parochial spite
Many people viscerally resent those who are cosmopolitan and worldly”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/tory-ads-play-on-parochial-spite/article1160662/
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*Rootless cosmopolitanism may describe my experience of Jewishness, but its hardly exclusive to Jews:
It applies equally to most of the people I love and respect from every corner of the planet who see themselves as citizens of the world, their identities defined by multiple affinities formed in their movement through the spaces between cultures, their instincts including a disdain for racism and cultural (and geopolitical) arrogance, and a tendency to understand and respond to events through a global prism, rather than via the ties of blood and soil. Whether they were raised Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or atheist; whether their origins are Jewish, Indian, English, Scottish, Irish, German, Chilean, Persian, Basque, Israeli, Palestinian, Australian, Serb, Libyan, Midwestern or what have you, they are always most at home among people of similar heart and spirit.”
http://tonykaron.com/what-is-rootless-cosmopolitan/
You know, the more one thinks about the Ignatieff rise in Canadian politics, how he got there, the more you have to wonder why even Liberals would tolerate such maneuvers.
The fact he’s not lived here should be uppermost in the minds of thinking Canadians. The fact he feels he has to tell us all about his pedigree and pledge his love for the country in book form, then run about flogging it is setting new ground for potential PM’s. It’s making it appear to be a sham post. It looks like it doesn’t matter if it’s become more an opportunity for the person than who can best serve the country.
Perhaps that’s another reason religion has now become important for Ignatieff because it might help his chances. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Liz, Maz2 had some great links at #30 on the religious wooing issue.
This guy is beginning to look increasingly hollow. It’s all just a veneer.
MSM headline and story* doesn’t use “Liberal”.
Is the MSM referring to Liberal MP, ex-minister, Librano$ Hezbollah Coderre*?
“”He [Coderre] also says he has seen a UFO”.
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*MSM Headline:
“Former [Liberal] minister a true believer in UFOs”
“He also says he has seen a UFO and, like those Indians of 500 years ago who saw something on the horizon, he knows it’s a hard sell. But he’s trying.”
urlm.in/cnsy
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*Le Politico: Space case Denis Coderre claims UFO sighting!
1 Jun 2007 … Space case Denis Coderre claims UFO sighting! Awesome. He MUST have been kidnapped, and they tinkered with his modesty and inherent human …
lepolitico.blogspot.com/2007/06/space-case-denis-coderre-claims-ufo.html
On the EI issue, at least the NDP are telling it like it is, the Liberals used the fund to accrue a phony “surplus”. Conservatives haven’t even mentioned that fact to my knowledge. It’s appropriate to be bring that up since Liberals are screaming about the deficit while calling for more and faster.
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Maybe we could make donations to ToryBoy, and he can get those ads on the air. I’d pony up.
Brrr – He’s on Facebook too. Join up and get your friends to do so too. Let’s make this video go viral.
I think it is the ‘Monday Update’ that needs to go viral as well.
It has become increasingly frustrating to have known about this last fall and still, NOTHING about it in the MSM on a consistent basis. All the while, the Liberal doorknobs, are screeching for this insane reform. It just blows my mind that our useless media pundits allow themselves to step over this FACT, time and time again.
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“Of course, to be fair I think even the Conservatives have admitted raising taxes is now inevitable.” -Raphael
[copy and pasted from here]http://www.bluelikeyou.com/2009/06/01/and-now-it-all-becomes-clear/comment-page-2/#comment-54907
No, it won’t actually require any taxes what so ever. Read the budget. It’s a money maker.
IF you want examples of how to increase government revenue without taxes read through the Ontario Progressive Conservative Budgets 1996-to-2002. NAFTA helped them out as well.
Had it not been there, it would of been less open to investment and etc so on and so forth.
When the up turn comes back we’ll be in a technological boom as such things are now ongoing regardless of global recessions since ideas still thrive and progress even amidst perceived chaos. Internet and globalization increase such progress and continually opens up more opportunity in every field imaginable and unimaginable.
Positive GDP growth and growing job employment increases government revenue enough through income taxes.
The Conservatives have plenty of room to cut from the needless left over programs that the previous Liberal governments have put in place.
If it even comes to that. I don’t imagine deep cuts to anything will actually be needed.
Sounds good to me, Taylor!