# Canada is headed into a recession



## Dragonlady (Jul 12, 2015)

The Harper government's aggressive spending cuts are driving the economy into a recession.  Anxious to go into this Fall's election touting fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget, and tax cuts for the upper middle class, the Conservatives have cut spending on infrastructure, health care, and education.  The result is the economy has lost steam and is losing ground.

Playing politics vs fiscally responsible policies.  Given the scandals, the so-called security measures, and other crap, Harper is going to be in for a very rough ride.


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## Mr. H. (Jul 12, 2015)

That's your analysis. 

It looks like Harper is trying to do what Governor Rauner is attempting with the state of Illinois: stop rampant expenditures and reduce bloated deficits. 

With respect to education, some of the greatest minds in history were educated in one room schoolhouses with a wood-burning stove and no electricity.


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## Mr. H. (Jul 12, 2015)

Regarding Harper's "rough ride"... the recipients of both healthcare and social services have historically been coddled at great expense to the taxpayer, with the result being mounting deficits. 

As I've taught my own children... there is good, "productive" debt and there is "bad" debt. 

But debt is debt and it must always be repaid. It's time to pony up.


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## Shrimpbox (Jul 12, 2015)

Canada is a resource country. From oil to copper to ag products the prices are going down, therefore monies to the treasury will be less. Can't blame a slowing economy dependent on global prices on a conservative administration.


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## Mr. H. (Jul 12, 2015)

Shrimpbox said:


> Canada is a resource country. From oil to copper to ag products the prices are going down, therefore monies to the treasury will be less. Can't blame a slowing economy dependent on global prices on a conservative administration.


If mama's got a shrimpbox, does daddy sleep at night?


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## Mr. H. (Jul 12, 2015)




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## Darkwind (Jul 12, 2015)

Dragonlady said:


> The Harper government's aggressive spending cuts are driving the economy into a recession.  Anxious to go into this Fall's election touting fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget, and tax cuts for the upper middle class, the Conservatives have cut spending on infrastructure, health care, and education.  The result is the economy has lost steam and is losing ground.
> 
> Playing politics vs fiscally responsible policies.  Given the scandals, the so-called security measures, and other crap, Harper is going to be in for a very rough ride.


Since I just spent the past 4 days in Canada, I can tell you that the infrastructure is just fine...at least in the area I was in, and that the Canadians are happy and prosperous under this new found freedom from government.

Nice try however.


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## Mr. H. (Jul 12, 2015)

When spending exceeds revenues, for whatever reason, you have a whole fuck-ton of trouble. 

Expenditures are most often made in order to coddle votes and garner constituents. 

This is why Conservatives are often one-term affairs. 

People don't like giving up their shit.


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## Dragonlady (Jul 13, 2015)

Mr. H. you ignorance about Canadian knows no bounds.  You don't know jack about Canadian social programs or its economy.  Canada is NOT the US.  Canadians pay taxes specifically because we have made a commitment to take care of one another.  Our spending on medical care is slightly more than half what the US spends per capita, and yet our health care is comparable to yours.  Cutting $39 billion from health care is most unwise, but that's what the Conservatives did.

We have income supports for the elderly, and for single mothers.  We spend less on education than you do, and yet our education system is rated higher than yours.  What we don't have is a military industrial complex gobbling up 1/3 of our tax revenues.  We spend our taxes on our people, not our corporations.

Our budget was balanced before W's great economic melt-down, and had been for years.  As is wise, the government had to run a deficit for a time to fund programs and infrastructure when revenues tanked.  Our economy recovered and the deficit was coming down, but the Harper government is in trouble because of various scandals, and attempts to try to push through anti-terrorist legislation which sharply curtailed Canadians' freedom and privacy. 

Harper is cutting spending, not because it's fiscally prudent, but because he wants to go into an election claiming a balanced budget and with tax cuts for the wealthy.  The budget was on track to be balanced within a couple of years, but Harper is in trouble so he's endangering the recover for callous political reasons.

Our infrastructure is not in good shape.  It's certainly not as bad as American infrastructure, but Toronto, for example, has a lot of sink-holes lately, as roads collapse into the sewers and tunnels beneath them.  Water pipes and conduits date back to the early 1900's, and chunks of the Gardiner Expressway keep falling down and hitting cars travelling on the road beneath it.

When we travel to the US, we are appalled at the condition of your infrastructure.  The money being wasted on the F-35 fighter jet program would be better spent on your roads and bridges, giving jobs to construction workers, and increased safety for the people who rely on these transportation systems.


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## Shrimpbox (Jul 13, 2015)

You say you are a lady dragon so I will just say your statements are clintonesque instead of utter bull. Entitlement spending is 70 per cent of the U.S. Budget. You say your medical care is less than the U.S. But just as good and that education is the same way yet you continue to whine apparently only because you are a partisan who finds balanced budgets to be abhorrent. Who is responsible for the infrastructure in Toronto? And let me break a home truth to you. Canada doesn't have a huge defense budget because they expect the big bad USA to take care of any encroachments on their territory. Lastly if you don't care how we are running this country please please stay in Canada and mind y our own business, you'll be busy all the time.


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## Toro (Jul 13, 2015)

That, and the price of oil collapsed.


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## Toro (Jul 13, 2015)

Dragonlady said:


> Mr. H. you ignorance about Canadian knows no bounds.  You don't know jack about Canadian social programs or its economy.  Canada is NOT the US.  Canadians pay taxes specifically because we have made a commitment to take care of one another.  Our spending on medical care is slightly more than half what the US spends per capita, and yet our health care is comparable to yours.  Cutting $39 billion from health care is most unwise, but that's what the Conservatives did.
> 
> We have income supports for the elderly, and for single mothers.  We spend less on education than you do, and yet our education system is rated higher than yours.  What we don't have is a military industrial complex gobbling up 1/3 of our tax revenues.  We spend our taxes on our people, not our corporations.
> 
> ...



I'm a Canadian living in the US.  A few points

American healthcare is flat out better than Canadian healthcare.  If I'm sick, I'd rather get sick in the US.  Now, if I were poor or lower middle-class, I'd rather be in Canada, no question.  But generally, Americans have access to cutting-edge medical treatments often absent in Canada.
My son is in the US public education system.  It is better than in Canada.  It is harder and more advanced.  I come to this conclusion because my wife has relatives who teach high school, and from talking to friends back in Canada.  

The roads where I live are way, way better than the roads are from where I grew up.  Admittedly, that could be because of the harsh winters.


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## Shrimpbox (Jul 13, 2015)

I like the squeezebox analogy Mr. H. Not my favorite who song by far but thanks for breaking the boredom.


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## Dragonlady (Jul 13, 2015)

Shrimpbox said:


> You say you are a lady dragon so I will just say your statements are clintonesque instead of utter bull. Entitlement spending is 70 per cent of the U.S. Budget. You say your medical care is less than the U.S. But just as good and that education is the same way yet you continue to whine apparently only because you are a partisan who finds balanced budgets to be abhorrent. Who is responsible for the infrastructure in Toronto? And let me break a home truth to you. Canada doesn't have a huge defense budget because they expect the big bad USA to take care of any encroachments on their territory. Lastly if you don't care how we are running this country please please stay in Canada and mind y our own business, you'll be busy all the time.



I like balanced budgets very much, but not if they are balanced using unsound economic practices like cutting health care spending, and infrastructure maintenance, and driving the country into a recession. 

These are austerity measures you would only use if there was runaway inflation and high interest rates, neither of which is the case. 

This will backfire on the Conservatives. They will run a deficit because they cut too aggressively, and the economy will lose steam, making that deficit larger. They will then have to increase spending to get the economy moving again and extend the time it will take to genuinely balance the budget. 

They could have genuinely balanced the budget in another year or two. Now it will take 5 years to clean up the mess they're making.


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## Dragonlady (Jul 13, 2015)

Toro said:


> Dragonlady said:
> 
> 
> > Mr. H. you ignorance about Canadian knows no bounds.  You don't know jack about Canadian social programs or its economy.  Canada is NOT the US.  Canadians pay taxes specifically because we have made a commitment to take care of one another.  Our spending on medical care is slightly more than half what the US spends per capita, and yet our health care is comparable to yours.  Cutting $39 billion from health care is most unwise, but that's what the Conservatives did.
> ...



You're judging the Canadian education system on What???

Try this

The Top 10 And Counting Education Systems In The World


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## Toro (Jul 14, 2015)

Dragonlady said:


> Toro said:
> 
> 
> > Dragonlady said:
> ...



My son's education in the public school system here in Florida is undoubtedly more difficult than anything I know of in Canada, and has been throughout his school years.


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