I’ve been banging the drum of “slow-motion austerity” for a while and little in the 2015 federal budget suggests any change from the pattern of death by a thousand cuts. This budget is another is a series of unspectacular austerity budgets. Taken together, however, the cuts rapidly add up and
Continue readingTag: Joe Oliver
Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper’s Totally Disastrous Budget Launch
It was a frightening sight, and for a moment I thought Stephen Harper had finally gone off the deep end.For there he was, on the day when he was supposed to be celebrating the launch of his new budget, screaming at the opposition, waving his arms around wildly, trying to
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Joe Oliver’s Monstrous Assault on the Future
It is without a doubt one of the most irresponsible statements I have ever heard, and it comes courtesy of the old Con zombie Joe Oliver.Who not content with delivering a smoke and mirrors budget worthy of a Con artist as I pointed out yesterday.A so called balanced budget which
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Harper Dynasty?
That’s what the leaden-tongued Finance Minister seemed to be suggesting last night in discussing his budget. Either that, or the message was “Screw future generations.” You decide: Recommend this Post
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Harper Regime and the Con Artist Budget
It won't happen of course, not in this corrupted Harperland, where decency goes to die.But if there was any justice, Boss Harper, Oily Joe Oliver, and the rest of the Con mob would be in a police lineup. Preparing to be charged with crimes against democracy and electoral fraud.For conspiring to bribe
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Joe Oliver and the Ghastly Cinderella Budget Show
Well let's put it this way, his PMO handlers did their best to turn it into a glamorous photo-op, but it wasn't exactly Cinderella slipping on her dainty glass slipper.And it wasn't pretty.It was just Ol' Joe Oliver, pulling on his new pair of Made in America, New Balance running shoes
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Joe Oliver and the Con Plan to Kill Government
OK. I realize that Joe Oliver doesn't know what's he's doing. And that the budget he will finally deliver tomorrow was written in the PMO.But you'd think the Cons would have stopped promoting his absurd balanced budget bill, which would punish cabinet ministers with a five percent wage freeze if
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: The Conservatives’ balanced budget legislation: Silly economics, smart politics
I wrote up the Conservatives’ new balanced budget law for Ricochet. In short, the law is really silly in terms of economics, but simply pointing out its economic stupidity is not enough, because the whole point is to shift the political consensus. Politically, it’s not that dumb. So rather than play games
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The NDP’s Brilliant Response to the Con Clown Joe Oliver
As you know, the thought that the old oil pimp Joe Oliver is Canada's Minister of Finance keeps me awake at night, with my wallet under my mattress.Because I don't think he knows what he's doing, or even what year it is.And his balanced budget proposal couldn't be more absurd. Joe Oliver
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Legislating Ideology.
It is when you listen to the federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver that you realize what a breath of fresh air the late Finance Minister Jim Flaherty must have been in Mr. Harper’s Cabinet of Inadequate Ideologues. You can also imagine how he would have laughed at Joe Oliver’s suggestion
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The BC Oil Spill and the Con Clown James Moore
It couldn't have been a more monstrous or absurd sight.A day after a ship leaked about 3,000 litres of bulk oil into Vancouver's beautiful English Bay, And a few hours after the province's premier and the city's mayor blasted the slow federal response.The monstrous Con beluga James Moore broke through the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Return of Joe Oliver and the Latest Con Scam
Well as you may have heard Joe Oliver went missing from the House of Commons for almost a month. And on the few days when he did turn up, he seemed as Ralph Goodale described him, both "puzzled and muzzled." Staring into space while others read his PMO talking points.And while his
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Prentice re-election budget tough on sinners, easy on corporations
OTTAWA, ONTARIO “If Alberta can deliver a budget, why can this minister of finance not,” Liberal MP Scott Brison asked of Finance Minister Joe Oliver, who was absent from the House of Commons today. Opposition Members of Parliament have been chastizing the Conservatives… Continue Reading →
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Rafe: Joe Oliver says fracking is safe, so it must be
Rafe has seen the light! Nice to see that Rafe Mair has come to his senses and is now backing the corporate toadies, aka the Harper Cabinet and the light headed Finance Minister Joe Oliver aka ‘Chuckles’. They are all joyfully promoting LNG and spending our money doing it. It is a
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Con Clowns and the Terrorist Menace
Well it was obvious that Stephen Harper and his Con regime would try to portray the video of that deranged Ottawa gunman, as proof that they were right all along.Michael Zehaf-Bibeau wasn't a mentally ill drug addict, a religious fanatic, a lone wolf with delusions or confusions of grandeur.He was
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Doug Saunders observes that Syriza’s strong election victory may signal a sea change as to whether austerity is inevitable, while Adnan Al-Daini notes that the financial sector can no longer take for granted that its profits will be placed above the interests
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Joe Oliver, Stephen Harper, and the Baloney Cons
As you probably know, I've got a sinking feeling that Oily Joe Oliver is not going to save us from our present economic predicament.Not when he helped create the oily apocalypse. Not when he doesn't know what he's doing. And is not only a bumbling buffoon, but also a ghastly hypocrite. Read
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jim Stanford reminds us that any drama as to whether Canada’s budget will be balanced this year is entirely of the Cons’ own making through pointless tax slashing: Running spending cuts since 2011 now total more than $14-billion a year. Canadians experience
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Fall of the Oily Messiah
For almost a decade he was able to fool countless Canadians into believing that he was the Oily Messiah.The Great Economist Leader who would lead us to prosperity down the tarry road to Greater Alberta.Even if he left the rest of the country in ruins, and the planet in flames.But
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Humiliation of Jason Kenney and the Desperation of the Cons
Yesterday I wrote about how Jason Kenney was embarrassed, when he claimed in a CTV interview that the government would use budget cuts to easily balance the budget. But wouldn't touch the rainy day fund set aside for emergencies, like natural disasters. Because you know, the Con regime is a RESPONSIBLE
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