Believe me Bob, i'm well aware of the ramifications of the recent political
campaign finance regulations. I've worked on enough campaigns to know what
the money side of things has to do with the outcome. ;)
As for Harper, i've never heard any of his comments about these regulations
whatsoever, so you've caught me at a loss.
You seem to know about them already, so you probably know the limits are for
individual persons as well as corporations. However, they affect unions as
well, which is where a large portion of the campaign contributions come from
for the NDP in a number of ridings, my father's included.
In the regulations, (as far as my father explained it) a company can give
$5000.00 max, but a subsidiary of that company can also give $5000.00. Take
say Star Bucks's for example, the head company can donate $5000.00, but then
also each and every store could also donate $5000.00.
Now, with a trade union, say CAW, they are limited in total to $5000.00. So
head office can donate that, but no local office can go above the total
$5000.00 mark.
To me, this is clearly showing a bias.
But it was the libs that brought it in, and they have never shyed away from
the the big spenders. ;)
I very much like limits on the spending before it balloons out of control
like it has in the U.S. I do see the inequities in the current regulations
though.
I'm going to outright disagree with you about Harper being in touch with the
average Canadian though. I think i've got a unique perspective on that
topic as my girlfriend is from small-town Alberta, and visiting her, and her
VERY right-leaning father, i've got a pretty good look at conservative
thinking. hehe
And i'd say Harper is in touch with that theology, but it's not playing well
in Ontario as the past election results show, and i believe the future ones
will as well. And regards his upbringing and family life, i don't really
see that playing much of a role in the current state of affairs when leading
a party (and sitting in a seat) that is dominated (for lack of a better
term) by those working within the oil industry, as well as those controlling
the direction of said industry.
I will offer up that Layton is not any more in touch though. Unless of
course you want to buy a used car, but that's just my opinion. ;)
And i don't want him as the leader of my party. Hopefully he won't be for
long...
As for dropping the taxes on gas at a certain limit, i don't really see a
problem with that, other than that money is "supposed" to go towards
infrastructure. I know it doesn't always, but at least it's supposed to...
But as you stated the tax is merely a percentage of the overall price, so
why not have the overqall price dropped? Seems more logical to me. The
taxes on gas have been at the same rate for how long? They don't seem to
get higher whenever a long summer weekend rolls around do they? When demand
is high or low, the tax rate does not fluctuate does it?
I've barely been exposed to the study of economics, but i do understand
supply and demand models. I also understand when the market has essentially
become monopolistic. When there is no competition regarding pricing, but
rather what appears to be co-operation in setting those prices, i see a big
problem.
And not only will the mere cost to fill up one's vehicle become an issue,
but every consumer good, including our food will reflect this leap in fuel
prices, and i don't think it will be inline with the average hike in
standard of living that people are getting from whatever jobs they happen to
work at.
The Adam Blaster
Two words, figure it out.....
>
>He may be based out in Alberta but he and his family are
>originally from Toronto, Ontario. He went to the University
>of Calgary after from a Toronto high school to study economics
>and his father/brothers are accountants, not millionaires
>nor out of touch with the common citizen as most of our leaders
>have tended to be.
>
>With regards to your "campaign contribution" statement,
>the ruling party brought in legislation in 2003 limiting
>contributions to $5000 by corporations and individuals.
>The head of the right, which you're trashing in Bush-like
>fashion, has made public statements that the $5000 is
>far too much for the majority of the common people and
>advocates lowering contributions to a $1000 limit so that
>the rich do not dominate politics. He has pledged to bring
>in legislation to this effect if his party is elected to govern
>Canada.
>
>Unless I'm mistaken about your party affiliation, the leader
>of the party that you favour is advocating price control even
>though it was tried in the '70s in this country and was an utter failure.
>
>Political mode OFF :-D Racer mode ON =D>
>
>Bob
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Oct 01 2005 - 12:50:23 EDT