There is a lot of fear, from Government Workers [source], ordinary people, that the recent economic solution, implemented by the Harper Regime, will now have it’s bill come due. In other words, the outrageous deficit of $60 Billion is going to have to be paid off, and the concern is, who is going to feel that bite, first?

Our Illustrious Leader says no tax increases, and his stooge Flaherty echoes that sentiment, along with a promise to not cut transfer payments to the Provinces.  Like their word is any good?

I’d like to know, from these two Economic Giants (Harper & Flaherty) what about the money we gave to their business buddies? Do we get to see any of that in repayments? Or did that ship sail, along with the sellout of the environment and the scrapping of the Kyoto Accord?

I still haven’t been told where the money has been spent, especially that paltry $14 Billion to infrastructure. About all I do know for certain, is lots of cheques were cut, bearing the Conservative Party Logo, instead of the Government of Canada logo, but for what? I know a new home owner can get a gigantic tax cut of almost $800 bucks when they buy a new home, that will cost about $200,000.00 and have about $10,000.00 added in GST costs.

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You have to love these so called economic experts, especially our Bank of Canada Governor. I mean really, now he is warning us of the out of control debt load, that people are getting into, as well as Government.  UH, wasn’t he the same joker last year who told us to SPEND & SPEND MORE?

In its semi-annual Financial System Review, Canada’s central bank says that despite positive signs of economic recovery in the last six months, rising household debt levels are currently the biggest risk to the country’s financial system ( source – CBC News )

It makes me wonder, if these people even stop to think, before opening their mouths? Are they so blinded by the need to protect some corporate entity, that they forget the reality of life? Take a simple look at the causes of this recession, and one has to really wonder at the sanity of those in charge.

[1] Let us be honest, and realize that the so called financial sector of our economy has played a huge role in this recession, through its greed, its manipulation of figures and unsavory business ethics, that has led to many people being hoodwinked, and led down the garden path.  Does Sub Prime Mortgage rink a bell?

Back in the days when I was a wee kiddie, life was much different. To begin with, things were built on ‘earning a level of trust’ before one made huge purchases, such as homes, television sets, new cars. Business grew, but the emphasis wasn’t on rushing out to spend a fortune you didn’t have. IT WAS BUYING THINGS YOU NEEDED, NOT JUST WANTED.

It also was buying what you could afford, and yes, that included ‘time payments’.  If you didn’t have the income, you didn’t get that ‘time allowance’ and so it made people SAVE.  Something today’s economists talk about out of one side of their mouth, while out of the other side, they tell us to spend and buy more.

[2] Our values have been warped, so that we no longer expect the goods we buy, to have any real shelf life. Instead of a car lasting ten to twenty years, we are pushed into buying a new one, every few years. It is the same with virtually every single consumer goods sold, from television sets to washing machines, to computer operating systems.

Business needs to keep selling, but come on, the expectations of doubling or tripling your sales, each and every year is a crazy notion, yet one fostered by the Financial Markets. Whatever happened to the notion that a company grew at a nice steady pace, not at hundreds of percent each quarter, but at reasonable growth, over time?

Today we expect a huge profit each and every quarter, with no regard for future development, with no inkling of planning for advances. Business is no longer about preserving a way of life, but of creating a new one, each and every quarter, and frankly, that is just plain stupid, as well as unreasonable. Yet that is what Wall Street, Bay Street,  and other financial markets are pushing, and so it is no wonder, the world economy nearly collapses, at the merest hint of a loss.

[3] Governments used to be about serving the people, not the corporate entities of the world. In the past, it was the obligation of Government to watch over commerce, to insure its steady growth, but also on a ethical level, that prevented royally screwing the consumer, the worker. Today, that no longer exists, thanks to the need for more money, to campaign with.

In the day of growing up, back in the sixties and seventies, life was different. It wasn’t about greed, but about issues. Governments and the Banks were tools responsible to the people they served. Financial Markets were about providing funding for companies looking to advance, to improve on their products, not about outsourcing, or about building factories in countries to take advantage of cheap labor.

In those days, it was about providing infrastructure, to weather storms, such as Wars and to battle those who wanted to destroy our way of life. Yes, it was hard, but in those times, it was more about protecting & preserving our Freedoms, of defending our Democracy, not in SELLING IT OFF, AS WE DO TODAY.

[4] Debt is about buying what we want, not what we need, and yet while we attempt to contain that rising level of debt, we ignore many of the causes of such debt.

The real cause of our increased debt, is the unreasonable rises in the actual cost of living. Government & Financial Institutes are forgetting, that if they allow unchecked prices to rise, for no reason, it becomes a huge struggle to simply stay even with things. Look at food, at housing prices, at anything for that matter. THEY ARE ALL DEPENDENT ON THE COST THEY PAY FOR ENERGY TO PRODUCE THEIR PRODUCT.

By allowing the Oil Industry to charge and raise prices, based on idle speculation, ON GREED, they have allowed a rapid rise in all sectors of our economy. From the cost to cut down a tree, to the cost of heating one’s home, business. From the cost to deliver the goods to market, to even the cost to ship them in from cheap labor sources like Communist China, from India.

It really is simple, look at when Oil first hit $50 a barrel, then look at what the price was at the pump then. NOW LOOK AT WHAT THE PRICE IS AT THE PUMP WHEN OIL ONCE MORE HITS THOSE PRICES.

THAT IS GREED, PURE AND SIMPLE.

There are many issues at play here, but when we claim a low inflation rate, that is bullshit, when we say prices have gone down for energy, when the truth is, they are still artificially too high, we are going to have to spend more, just to keep what we already have. That is the reality of this NEW ECONOMICS.  If the Bank of Canada wants to reduce the debt load we carry, both individually, and nationally, then perhaps the solution rests in a return to making CREDIT EARNED NOT FREELY GIVEN OUT.

Perhaps the solution isn’t in lower interest rates, or extended periods of time to pay for things, but a return to where we bought what we needed, and that what we bought, was made to last, not fall apart in a short time frame, as is the case today.

Harper’s trade deals with India and now Communist China are in the news, and today our Illustrious Leader tells us we are just scratching the surface of trade with the big Communist Giant. I wonder, do we really want to be in bed with them, that much? How does it actually benefit you and me?

While he claims our trade is rising, and that his efforts may mean a $100 Million in Tourism Dollars, and we can now sell Pork to China, what does it do for the sector hurting the most in our Country? I refer to MANUFACTURING.  After all, isn’t that the real sector of any Industrial Nation’s economy that creates the high paying jobs, that creates the infrastructure?

Summing up his trip, Harper concentrated on the “achievables,” including finally securing a tourism deal that could bring $100 million a year to operators in Canada, and China’s lifting of a ban on pork imports. ( source – CBC News )

So while our major job sectors languish in this recession, he boosts Tourism, perhaps. After all, it is only a ‘could bring’ scenario, and just how much Pork can we ship? I wonder, at all these Trade Deals that allows big corporations an opportunity to set up shop in China and India, and then ship the goods to us, at the same price as if they were made here.

I also wonder at how we can continue to allow cheap goods, made by slave labor, to be on our shelves, before we become no better in our own labor practises? Seriously, today’s job market is not good, and even if we did increase jobs, the bulk was in low paying jobs, in that very same sector that MAY benefit from this week’s trade talks.

Then there is the Security aspect of all this trade with Foreign Countries like India & China. As December 7th approaches, let’s not forget that one of the major reasons for Japan attacking the USA was due to the cutting off of oil. Granted, that was an ‘excuse’ but what would we do if suddenly China cuts off selling us steel, and other goods, that they NOW MANUFACTURE & WE DON’T.

History has a way of repeating itself, and I wonder, if the way our economies are so in debted to Communits China, that we aren’t helping to hasten the end of the very freedoms, that make us unique, and special? Mind you Mr. Harper’s own Party is doing a pretty good job of taking away our basic rights, so maybe it doesn’t matter.

Just like George Bush, his hero, Stephen Harper has told reporters that the whopping 56 odd Billion dollars of our money, has nearly all been committed, in a drive to stimulate our economy. The one that grew .1% in the last quarter.  Of course, what is missing in this fanfare, is WHERE HAS THE MONEY GONE.

I too, have a budget, and yep, it too is spent. Rent, food, medicine, eat up pretty well most of it, but unlike Mr. Harper, I have to account for it.

I KNOW that rent takes up 50% of what we earn, that food takes up a great deal, along with the utilities.  What is left over, is pretty well taken care of by medicine for mom, depends, etc.

I KNOW that my hydro is higher, because I have to do laundry 5 out of 7 days, for Mom. Never mind that the rates have gone up, that everything costs more due to high energy costs, like gas, heating oil, etc. We use more. 

I KNOW that my grocery bill is higher, due to needing fruit for her diet, juice for her to take her pills with, and to provide proper nutrition, to try and keep her weight up. 

I KNOW THESE THINGS, SO DOES DAVID.   SO HOW COME MR. HARPER WON’T TELL US WHERE OUR MONEY THAT WE GIVE HIM IS GOING?   WHAT IS HE HIDING?

The government predicts that the spending will mean a budget deficit of $55.9 billion for fiscal 2009-10. The deficit is expected to be cut in half over two years, to $27.4 billion by 2011-12, as the economy regains strength and the stimulus spending winds down. ( source – CBC News )

I am not asking for a lot here, I would like to know where all that tax money is going. And then too, it makes me wonder, how can they give out all this money, and yet NOT have it be spent? I mean think about it. If you are a business, or have a project, that will increase spending in a district, will build or refurbish infrastructure, why are they holdng onto the money, instead of rushing it out there?

If my budget is short, and I need cash to buy what I need, and get it, I certainly don’t hold onto it, and ponder where it is going to go, I know already, and I spend it. Yet here is our fearless leader telling us he’s decided where the money is going, but it hasn’t gone there yet. I mean, once you have decided where to spend it, why are you not spending it?

Jobless rates continue to climb, so why isn’t the money being spent? Could he be holding it, for a quick give out, then snap election call? Could it be that he is NOT telling us who will receive the money, because he knows it will show political favoritism?

WHY IS MR. HARPER TELLING US HE’S DECIDED WHERE TO SPEND OUR TAX DOLLARS, BUT IS HOLDING ONTO IT?

Seems the Parliamentary Budget department needs to know, if it will receive its budget of 2.8 Million Dollars, or not, and as usual, Stephen Harper is not saying. Course, you have to wonder, if he has an axe to grind with the Office, that seems at odds with Flaherty’s economic outlook for our economy. I mean here he is, the Chief Officer telling us that our budget deficits for the next 3 to 4 years will hit a total of about ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS.

YES THAT IS BILLIONS OF MONEY YOU AND I HAVE TO PAY BACK.

Page’s appearance before the committee Tuesday came a day after his office released its latest assessment of the Finance Department’s fiscal and economic estimates. His department projected that deficits will accumulate to a total of $167.4 billion over the current 2009-10 fiscal year and the following four years, and it predicted the annual budget shortfall would still be $19 billion in 2013-14, even after an expected economic recovery. ( CBC News )

On top of all these differences in figures, comes the simple truth, that Stephen Harper is not living up to his promised  OPEN GOVERNMENT PLEDGE.  Now they are wanting to return to look at the Sponsorship Scandal, while ignoring their own obligations to us.

SUCH AS TELLING US WHERE THEY ARE SPENDING THE BILLIONS OF MONEY.

I mean how hard is it to tell us where the money is going? Obviously very hard, almost as if the Harper Government really doesn’t know. Course, in fairness, they are attempting to keep us all occuppied with old news, like the Sponsorship Scandal, while not doing a thing about Brian Mulroney who took a THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLAR BRIBE, AND THEN TOOK A TWO MILLION PAYOFF FROM THE TAXPAYERS TO NOT SUE US.

It is no wonder that so many stay at home come election day. I mean why bother, when the people running for office, seem to promise one thing, and NEVER DELIVER ON ONE OF THEIR PLEDGES.  Instead they whine, moan, and point the finger everywhere but at their own chests.

They hold back on flu shots, because they are inept, so they create additional fear in people, then wonder why their is a run on a normal supply of vaccine.

They fail to protect minority groups, because someone else says they are terrorists, simply because their name is Muslim sounding, or their religion is Islam.

All this talk about how things are improving, how our economy is rebounding, and at how things are actually costing less, and yet my food budget is up, my transportation costs are up, my utilities are rising faster than the new television channels can get on the air. Makes you wonder, what ever happened to HONESTY?