Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Paul Rosenberg writes about the high-priced effort to undermine public institutions and the collective good in the U.S. And Paul Krugman highlights how the Republicans’ stubborn belief in the impossibly of good government (regardless of large amounts of evidence that such a thing
Continue readingTag: Joe Oliver
Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Issue that Will Destroy Him
Gosh. What a difference a day makes. Yesterday I wrote about that nightmarish Ipsos Reid poll that suggested that Stephen Harper had risen from his political grave, and was heading for another majority.And I said that I couldn't wait for another poll, to see if the numbers were more encouraging.And
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and My Horrible Majority Nightmare
It was a horrible nightmare. There was Stephen Harper in the musty basement of his House of Pain.Chained to a chair by the young fanatics running the PMO, to prevent their beloved master from blowing apart at the seams, under the weight of all that bad economic news.Or stumbling out
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Breaking: The Harper Cons Prorogue the Budget
Uh oh. In my last post I said that I wasn't sure whether Oily Joe Oliver knew what he was doing.But it turns out the situation is even worse than I thought.One moment he's claiming we have nothing to worry about. Finance Minister Joe Oliver says the government is confident it
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper, Joe Oliver, and the Latest Porky Ad Scandal
As you may have noticed, Stephen Harper has stopped bragging about his government's economic record.Now it's all about the Great War on Terror, and the dangerous jihadis Justin Trudeau and Tom Mulcair.But then who can blame him?If I had screwed up the economy like that, I'd also be hiding in
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper’s Sad and Desperate Return to Parliament
Well after spending most of the past month travelling around the world, hopping from one photo-op to another, Stephen Harper finally returned to Parliament yesterday.And as you can see from this grainy photo, and the weird look on Candice Bergen's face, it was not a pretty sight.He was angry, he was bitter,
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Incredible Shrinking Surplus
Well it was only a matter of time before somebody totalled up the damage from the plunging price of oil.Added it to Stephen Harper's reckless decision to spend billions trying to buy votes.And concluded that the Con regime's mighty surplus has just about vanished. Read more »
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Canada’s Fearless Tax Warrior
That intrepid capeless crusader for core Conservative concepts, Finance Minister ‘Uncle’ Joe Oliver, has found yet another weapon in his utility pouch to save us from the implacable clutches of taxation. Rather than rely on a bureaucracy that may be rife with ‘fifth columnists, Oliver has decided to outsource fiscal
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Joe Oliver’s Dangerously Reckless Budget Scam
Well as you know, I wasn't exactly impressed by Joe Oliver's totally political fiscal update, and by the way he is recklessly blowing the surplus.To try to buy votes and leave no money in the cupboard, so the opposition can't make their own spending promises.While also leaving no money for a rainy
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Joe Oliver and the Incredible Shrinking Surplus
It was hard to imagine a scarier sight, than old Joe Oliver delivering his fiscal update to an audience of Bay Street business types the other day.And announcing that Canadians should support the Cons, because he's blown the surplus trying to buy votes.So they can't trust the opposition to run or ruin
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Tax Evasion: When the Cons Are Part of the Problem
As probably you know, the Con regime has given the Canada Revenue Agency more money to go after its enemies.While depriving it of the resources and the inspectors to go after tax evaders.Well now it turns out there may be method to that madness. For it seems that when it
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Harper Acquiescence To The Corporate Agenda
As much as it is said that the Harper regime is planning to buy votes for the 2015 election by giving income-splitting to families, the reality is that Canadians are increasingly being called upon to aid and abet its agenda of ‘starving the beast‘ while at the same time subsidizing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On intended consequences
Shorter Joe Oliver: Hey, I’ve got a bright economic idea! Let’s pay businesses not to pay workers! If there’s any long-term bright side to the Cons’ announcement, it’s that it should serve so nicely to undercut any “job creation” or “better off” narrative: surely every opposition party can identify workers
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper’s Reign Of Terror – A Closer Examination
While Stephen Harper’s attacks on charities have been followed here and elsewhere, the Star presents a good overview of how the offices of the CRA have been subverted by a vindictive regime that brooks no opposition to its neoliberal agenda. The article begins with the egregious case of CoDevelopment Canada,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Could Harper Deploy Troops Against Canadians?
I was taken aback by a post from Geoff Kennedy at Parchment in the Fire entitled, “EU Advisors Advocate use of Military Against Strikes and Protests | Global Research.” The thrust of this report is that military forces should be employed to defend the interests of the extremely wealthy from unrest among
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Joe Oliver and the Reckless Incompetence of the Con Regime
Well I'm sure Joe Oliver is feeling pretty good about the way Statistics Canada was able to fix his lousy job numbers.And must be toasting his success with some of that water from the tailing ponds he once tried to convince us was clean enough to drink.While making plans to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the Harper Cons’ kabuki consultations can’t mask the fact that their budgets utterly neglect what’s most important to Canadians. For further reading…– Dean Beeby has previously reported on the disconnect between the public position on policy issues and the Cons’ budget choices, while Andy Radia also comments
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Will The Harper Promise Of Tax Breaks Continue To Seduce Canadians?
Recently, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called upon the Harper regime to commit $12 billion annually in infrastructure funding. This request takes on even greater urgency in light of the challenges we are and will be facing as we reap the consequences of climate change. Fiance Minister Joe Oliver’s response: Wynne’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: History repeating
Shorter Joe Oliver: Sure, we’re getting thoroughly lousy results after years of setting our economic policy based almost exclusively on corporate interests, with special privileges for the resource sector. But I’ve got an idea: what if we instead based our economic policy even more exclusively on corporate interests, with even
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Linda McQuaig criticizes the Cons’ use of the tax system to try to silence charities who don’t match their political message: PEN now joins Amnesty International, the David Suzuki Foundation, Canada Without Poverty, the United Church and other groups that, having criticized
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