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What is the source of this conservative meme? I hear it all the time. "Large surpluses = government taking too much money out of my pocket." It's so ridiculously simplistic that I can't believe that even Lorne Gunter would use it as a self evident truth without some reasonable argument to back it up. I mean, even if it were always true, would the corollary be "deficits = government taking too little of my money"? (I don't think we'll be seeing Lorne Gunter arguing that point in a deficit situation, though.)
"Ah," you say, "but he does use a reasonable argument to back up his ridiculous meme. He has a whole column before he makes that statement." Well, aren't you a cheeky bastard. Now I have to go and explain why he's an idiot.
I would like to say that he makes a few good points. Health premiums are meaningless and probably should be eliminated (Gunter points out that they neither raise required revenue nor "show Albertans how their health-care isn't "free."") And the "Ralphbucks" intermittent cashbacks are way too easily used as a bribe to the public to be left to the government to dole out on its own whim.
That said, he spends the entire first part of his column detailing how resource revenue is stupidly high, and even more stupidly high than the stupidly high projections the province uses, and that natural gas revenue is stupidly higher than the stupidly high oil revenues but that no one even notices how stupidly high natural gas is. But from the argument about resource revenue (which, strangely, completely lacks the use of the term "stupidly high"), Gunter concludes that our taxes are too high? What? "I'm taking in too many calories, and I take in a lot of calories from double fudge ice cream sundaes, so I should start cutting out the vegetables and fruit from my diet."
So, no. Large surpluses do not mean that our taxes are too high. At least not always. Not today, and not in Alberta. They mean we have a huge gift of resources that, up until recently, no one spent a lot of effort extracting (so there remains a large reserve) and are worth a crapload of money today. And to suggest that the best way we can spend the bulk of the money is by simply dispersing it to meaninglessness, rather than using this one-time gift to create a better future, seems depressingly small-minded. I can only hope that the heir to the throne here has a bolder and more inspiring vision than our current monarch, or our friendly neighbourhood Lorne Gunter.
Hmm... sorry about the length there. Didn't mean for it to get so long. If someone would like to answer that question for me, though, that'd be awesome.
Gah.
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April 23, 2006 -- 11:43 AM
posted by Beck
Ditto
April 23, 2006 -- 10:14 AM
posted by Al
Happy Birthday Jere!
April 23, 2006 -- 9:48 AM
posted by Par
Notwithstanding that Lorne Gunter can be, at times, an idiot, I still have a question about something he wrote today.
Large surpluses mean taxes too high:
The point, though, is that when a government has large surpluses, its taxes are too high no matter how low its rates.
What is the source of this conservative meme? I hear it all the time. "Large surpluses = government taking too much money out of my pocket." It's so ridiculously simplistic that I can't believe that even Lorne Gunter would use it as a self evident truth without some reasonable argument to back it up. I mean, even if it were always true, would the corollary be "deficits = government taking too little of my money"? (I don't think we'll be seeing Lorne Gunter arguing that point in a deficit situation, though.)
"Ah," you say, "but he does use a reasonable argument to back up his ridiculous meme. He has a whole column before he makes that statement." Well, aren't you a cheeky bastard. Now I have to go and explain why he's an idiot.
I would like to say that he makes a few good points. Health premiums are meaningless and probably should be eliminated (Gunter points out that they neither raise required revenue nor "show Albertans how their health-care isn't "free."") And the "Ralphbucks" intermittent cashbacks are way too easily used as a bribe to the public to be left to the government to dole out on its own whim.
That said, he spends the entire first part of his column detailing how resource revenue is stupidly high, and even more stupidly high than the stupidly high projections the province uses, and that natural gas revenue is stupidly higher than the stupidly high oil revenues but that no one even notices how stupidly high natural gas is. But from the argument about resource revenue (which, strangely, completely lacks the use of the term "stupidly high"), Gunter concludes that our taxes are too high? What? "I'm taking in too many calories, and I take in a lot of calories from double fudge ice cream sundaes, so I should start cutting out the vegetables and fruit from my diet."
So, no. Large surpluses do not mean that our taxes are too high. At least not always. Not today, and not in Alberta. They mean we have a huge gift of resources that, up until recently, no one spent a lot of effort extracting (so there remains a large reserve) and are worth a crapload of money today. And to suggest that the best way we can spend the bulk of the money is by simply dispersing it to meaninglessness, rather than using this one-time gift to create a better future, seems depressingly small-minded. I can only hope that the heir to the throne here has a bolder and more inspiring vision than our current monarch, or our friendly neighbourhood Lorne Gunter.
Hmm... sorry about the length there. Didn't mean for it to get so long. If someone would like to answer that question for me, though, that'd be awesome.
April 23, 2006 -- 12:47 AM
posted by Par
Canadian creates cigarette with vitamin C:
A Quebec company is producing a cigarette it claims does not stain teeth, has less of an odour than regular brands and contains beneficial ingredients like vitamin C.
Called the "VitaCig," it was invented by non-smoker Roger Ouellette for his wife, who has smoked a pack of cigarettes every day since the age of 14.
...
Oullete's wife is pleased with her husband's product.
"I am happy, because I don't have to quit any more," Gisele Tremblay said.
Gah.
April 22, 2006 -- 4:29 PM
posted by *andy thompson
Tonight, you say? Why, yes.
Come to the casa de Thompson around 6:00. I am watching Owen, and just hanging out. Maybe bring a snack for the class to share?
(Sorry for the late notice.)
April 22, 2006 -- 2:55 PM
posted by Al
2 questions:
1)Is something happening tonight?
2)Are we doing anything for the game tomorrow?
Have a nice day
April 22, 2006 -- 2:20 PM
posted by Tonestar Runner
Some snacktacular web action: PimpMySnack.com
(the Monster Ferrero Rocher weighs in at nearly 1.5kg!)
April 22, 2006 -- 12:10 PM
posted by alison
hmm... that last post comes off rather cranky. I wasn't trying to be grumbly about things. Given that we were in a less than one-horse-town, everything was really quite good. The room, albeit kinda dusty and way too hot (as trailers often tend to be), was clean and had beds enough for us all. The food was hot and overly plentiful (yeah, sometimes greasy, but never horridly so (or I avoded the most disgusting stuff)). And for the most part, the people we talked to were really nice, just obviously work camp folks. Sure, there were a lot of creeps, and there was an upper-body-sized hole in the wall of the entrance way, so obviously there are some problems, but for the most part, we made our way through unscathed and well regarded, even if we were oddities.
oh, and by the way, Pita The Great is a wonderful, affordable restaurant. If you haven't gone there yet, I daresay you MUST go.
April 22, 2006 -- 2:19 AM
posted by eric
i watched the end of the third and both overtime periods - we were TOTALLY getting out played. we SHOULD NOT have even gone to over time. i'm actually impressed by Rollie "Cadence Weapon" the Goalie's performance tonight. i anticipate another 2 games in this series where it'll go to into overtime, and hopefully we'll be luckier then
April 21, 2006 -- 11:41 PM
posted by nobody knows my face
well that was a fucking bust. Neither the Oilers nor drawing came through for me. Another aimless evening... very literally spent walking around with nowhere to go. What a load of horsecunt.
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