Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[alwaysfishn]

A letter to Mr. Vanderzalm  - UTube version.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nZXu3LXNwEg

[DavidD]

I like it... 

I wuz wondering whether anyone else did the math!  Besides - isn't it a fact that 79% of all statistics are made up??

[alwaysfishn]

  

[skaha]

--even good stats usually only predicted to be correct 19 times out of 20

[chris gadsden]

From standup BC

Liberals Lying Again on HST Restaurant Meals
Posted on May 14, 2011
by Standup and Speakout BC| 19 Comments
The battle on the HST is starting to heat up again. Again we hear miss truths – today we were linked to another “highly controlled” town hall meeting with Kevin Falcon in relation to the HST.

Falcon made comments in relation to the restaurant industry and stated that this industry lobby is saying sky is falling “our industry is not recovering if you do get rid-off this additional costs (HST)”  Falcon’s response “that if you go to London, Rome or Paris they are known for their restaurants they have VAT (similar to HST) and their tax is  more then double the rate of the HST….  Our HST is the lowest in Canada and is way lower then in Europe and somehow their industry is thriving”  He also indicated that our HST Tax is lower then the one in Europe on restaurant meals.  We ask you are we being snowed again?

Now Minister Falcon did not get his fact right – and may be a Minister should read up on the real facts which are only one click away and he is advised to go to the BBC web and read the following:  ”The price of eating out in France should be set to fall as a government tax cut comes into effect.”  Value-added tax (VAT) has been reduced from 19.6% to 5.5%, in an attempt to increase consumer spending and create thousands of jobs. French eateries have been badly hit by the global recession and by a smoking ban introduced in 2008.  From Bloomberg French VAT Cut Boosts Restaurant Trade “Dropping the sales tax to 5.5% from 19.9% is expected to make dining out more affordable and help eateries survive” and from Rome: “Milan restaurant prices are subject to IVA (value added tax) at 10% but this is always included within the prices given” see  World Travel Guide

Clearly the government is back on its tack of deceit and misleading the voters and Mr. Falcon is well advised to research his facts first before spouting of nonsense in so called town hall propaganda meetings.

And also, what has Europe to do with BC, Europe has a different economy and different social safety net. Now if Mr Falcon wants us to become like Europe – then he must join a different party, as the neoliberals certainly are not coming close to Europe.  We even begin to wonder if he ever has been to Europe.  But then again lets not give him any ideas on your tax payer dollars expense

Talking about the HST Propaganda
The government has started to spend $5.0 Million to tell you that the HST is good for you and what government spending priorities should be.  Forgets to tell that the HST is revenue neutral and that not a single penny goes to health care, education or social services.  Or that all the HST collected will go as a rebate to the big corporations under the excuse of job creation.  Job creation do not let me laugh – more part time and lower paid jobs!  Oh yes the opposing forces get $500,000 to spend and third party pro HST forces (yes big business) they can spend unlimited amounts to improve 12% to their bottom line while not improving productivity.  I guess their shareholders will be happy as their dividends will increase.

[alwaysfishn]

I like to know who is writing an article as everyone usually puts their bias in what they write.....  so I googled Standup BC and the first thing that came up was the definition for "standup comedy".

Considering what Standup BC is publishing it's probably appropriate..... 

[alwaysfishn]

http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/122030229.html?c=y&curSection=/fraser_valley/theprogress&curTitle=BC+Opinion&bc09=true

VICTORIA – By now you’ve probably seen part of the B.C. government’s “stick man” ad campaign to raise awareness of the harmonized sales tax.

Stick men, or rather stick persons, sort out conflicting claims about the tax by going to the B.C. government’s website  to get an accurate summary of what is and isn’t costing them more.

Later versions will no doubt feature stick persons checking their mail for brochures offering arguments for and against the HST, and of course, those all-important mail-in ballots that will arrive in June.

This is an urgent pre-requisite to an informed vote. Anyone who listens in to a telephone town hall or phone-in show, or gets reader feedback such as I receive, knows that the basic facts are still widely misunderstood.

So what does the NDP opposition focus on? The ads cost $5 million, grumbles NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston. Add that to town halls and mailers and the referendum funding boils down to $7 million for pro-HST and a mere $250,000 for the FightHST effort.

This is a classic “straw man” argument, where one sets up a false premise and then knocks it down. The ads do not advocate, they merely inform.

Stikine MLA Doug Donaldson propped up the NDP’s oldest scarecrow, that big “Liberal donor corporations” are the main beneficiaries of the HST. This is a vital point for rural B.C., which depends on resource industries with huge machinery investments, and he has it exactly wrong.

In fact the entire ‘big business benefits most from HST’ narrative is false.

Vancouver tax lawyer David Robertson points out that this is one of the “myths and misrepresentations” propagated by Bill Vander Zalm, who has effectively set NDP tax policy since their limping retreat on the carbon tax.

In 24 pages, Robertson has written the clearest analysis I’ve seen so far, including a thorough demolition of Vander Zalm's crude scare campaign known as FightHST, which has singled out banks and large resource companies.

Robertson notes that banks are actually worse off.

“…unlike most businesses, banks, financial institutions and insurance companies cannot recover GST/HST they pay on expenses,” he writes. They actually pay more under HST than they did under the old provincial sales tax (PST).

As for FightHST’s other specified villains, “large corporations” and “large resource companies,” their machinery and production equipment were long ago exempted from sales tax. No change there.

“What the PST legislation did not contain were PST exemptions aimed specifically at small, independent businesses,” Robertson writes.

“So construction workers like welders, plumbers, electricians and other tradespersons had to pay an additional seven per cent PST on their work trucks, tools and equipment that they used to earn a living; retailers and corner store operators had to pay an additional seven per cent on their shelving, refrigerators and cash registers; accountants and other professionals had to pay PST on their office furniture, computers and software; truckers had to pay an additional seven per cent PST on their truck tractors and trailers …” and so forth.

This is what the HST fixes.

Obviously, Big Labour doesn’t like all these independent contractors. Therefore the NDP must also “fight” HST.

I’ve mentioned before that the NDP-Vander Zalm axis of nonsense wants to deprive the poor of a modest tax shift in their favour, paid for by voluntary purchases of more affluent consumers.

I’ve talked about the trend towards self-employment and small business as the Canadian economy adapts in a fast-changing world. You may not like that trend, and you may wish that everyone could have a union job with an employer-subsidized pension.

That’s not what is happening today.

Tom Fletcher is legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press and BCLocalnews.com

[alwaysfishn]

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/thewest/Liberals+lower+rate+offer+rebates+hike+corporate+taxes/4838204/story.html

Victoria, B.C. — The B.C. government is promising to cut the 12 per cent harmonized sales tax by two percentage points, provide rebates to millions of British Columbians and hike corporate tax rates in a last-ditch attempt to save the unpopular tax from defeat in a summer referendum.

Finance Minister Kevin Falcon unveiled long-awaited “fixes” to the tax Wednesday, including cutting the provincial portion one per cent on July 1, 2012, and another per cent in 2014.

Families with children under 18, along with low-income seniors, will receive one-time payments from government worth $175 per child. The payments are designed to eliminate $350 in additional sales tax families currently pay under the HST, reducing costs by $470 and leaving an average family paying $120 less than under the old provincial sales tax, said Falcon. The government will spend $200 million to send out the cheques, which it portrayed as a “bridge” payment to the first HST rate cuts.

The promises are contingent on the public voting to keep the tax in a summer mail-in referendum, Falcon said. The finance minister called his proposal to save the tax “bold, responsive, fair and balanced.”

“On average all families will be better off under the improved HST,” he said, while again arguing that reverting back to the PST would be “a terrible step backwards” for the provincial economy.

The government had said each percentage point reduction of the HST would forgo around $850 million in revenue.

[Novabonker]

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/thewest/Liberals+lower+rate+offer+rebates+hike+corporate+taxes/4838204/story.html

Victoria, B.C. — The B.C. government is promising to cut the 12 per cent harmonized sales tax by two percentage points, provide rebates to millions of British Columbians and hike corporate tax rates in a last-ditch attempt to save the unpopular tax from defeat in a summer referendum.

Finance Minister Kevin Falcon unveiled long-awaited “fixes” to the tax Wednesday, including cutting the provincial portion one per cent on July 1, 2012, and another per cent in 2014.

Families with children under 18, along with low-income seniors, will receive one-time payments from government worth $175 per child. The payments are designed to eliminate $350 in additional sales tax families currently pay under the HST, reducing costs by $470 and leaving an average family paying $120 less than under the old provincial sales tax, said Falcon. The government will spend $200 million to send out the cheques, which it portrayed as a “bridge” payment to the first HST rate cuts.

The promises are contingent on the public voting to keep the tax in a summer mail-in referendum, Falcon said. The finance minister called his proposal to save the tax “bold, responsive, fair and balanced.”

“On average all families will be better off under the improved HST,” he said, while again arguing that reverting back to the PST would be “a terrible step backwards” for the provincial economy.

The government had said each percentage point reduction of the HST would forgo around $850 million in revenue.

What's that rancid odour? That stench that permeates your nose and makes your stomach uncertain? Surely, it's not just one thing that creates that much malodour? It takes more than one thing......

I KNOW! I KNOW! IT'S THE REEK OF LIBERAL DESPAIR AND BULL BISCUITS! BOTH AT ONCE!


Despite the attempts with the cosmetics, it's still lipstick on a pig. Perhaps some eyeliner instead?


Had they been the prudent money managers they claim they were , they wouldn't have needed the federal bribe money to unbalance the budget. Now they're painted in a corner with slow drying paint and it's blackmail/bribe time - with my own money.

[Bassonator]

Why dont we just wait til the next election, seeing its around the corner, Im interested to see what the dippers platform is and how much its gonna cost. Betting the NDP will spend another 4 years in opposition.   

[Novabonker]

http://www.policynote.ca/the-smart-tax-alliance-non-partisan-really/

[Novabonker]

http://harveyoberfeld.ca/blog/

Far more eloquent than I am:

Those who don’t like the Hated Sales Tax complain it has all been based on a whole series of lies to the taxpayers:, the government lied when it said it was not on the table before the election; the government lied when it said it would be revenue neutral; the government lied when it said the HST would create 100,000 jobs;  business lied when it said when it said the savings would flow back to the consumers in lower prices; and business is currently lying when it says taxpayers will “save” $120 under the new HST formula …when truth be told, the “average family”  won’t “save” but ONLY be ripped off an EXTRA $230 by the tax, instead of the $350 a year the independent panel has estimated.

But no one has addressed what I see as the BIGGEST LIE put forward by the pro-HST forces.

That is; yes, the HST shifts the tax burden to consumers from business … but that is good, because business creates jobs and we will all benefit from that in the long run.

That is a TOTAL LIE!

Business does not create jobs: CONSUMERS CREATE JOBS!

Think about it.  There is not a single product produced, mined, timbered, manufactured, grown or service created, marketed or sold WITHOUT consumer demand. Yes, CONSUMER demand!

Without consumers, there is NO business, no jobs, no revenues, no profits, no Whistler chalets, no Mercedes, no executive bonuses, no Vancouver Club memberships or Yacht Club slips.

And yet, if you listen to the governments, the HST advocates, corporate benefactors, and all their media mouthpieces, the message spun right from the beginning has been that business creates jobs.  NOT!!!

Ironically, it’s those asked to bear the burden who actually create ALL those jobs that business needs in order to sustain itself and expand.

If the government really wanted to stimulate the economy …and create jobs…the solution would have been to give CONSUMERS the tax break, so they can go out and spend more, buy more, create demand …and create jobs as companies expand to meet that increased demand. That’s how the economy REALLY works.  Not by cutting the amount in consumers’ pockets: to the contrary.

The truth is the HST is designed only to put more cash into the pockets of big business, corporate executives and shareholders. Many of us, of course, are shareholders through investments or RRSPs and we would benefit. But let’s admit it: the HST’s PRIME GOAL is not to create jobs; it’s to make investors even richer, even faster. And reward the top executives with even more huge perks and pay, for jobs well done.

As for the argument you are now hearing quite often “business needs this tax break to be competitive” … that’s one of the oldest cliches in the BC Liberal and federal Tory repetoires.

 In fact, even under Clark’s plan to still stick the taxpapers with an extra $230 in taxes under the “new, improved HST” , they say corporate taxes will go up …. not back up  to where they were five years ago, when their other breaks began …  but up two per cent, and likely only TEMPORARILY. And what they do NOT say that on the very same day business will pay the higher corporate tax, the federal corporate tax will drop one-and-a-half percent: so their net increase is only half of a per cent.

Whoop-t-doo!  While working families will continue to get hosed with an “average” $230 .. on top of every other fee increase and cost the government and its agencies have pi9led on is in the past 10 years.

Where is the fairness?  How does it HELP the economy and CREATE JOBS by sucking more and more taxes from consumers …lowering, not increasing, their buying power.

Business has already enjoyed a number of tax cuts, grants, regulatory relief over the past few years (especially the film industry, by the way, one of the loudest corporate beggars that almost annually plays the “need a bigger break game” …pitting one province against the other, one state against the other, one country against the other… and then laughs all the way to the banks with  profits in BILLIONS!).

It’s time for the consumers to get the tax break …so we have the money to actually buy the goods produced by business and maybe, occasionally, even attend a movie produced by  the heavily subsidized film industry, where i have yet to see prices come down, thanks to their killing under HST savings, or any other freebies they’ve extorted out of government, here and around the world.

[alwaysfishn]

It's sad how the anti-HST crowd freely tosses around the word lie, when they realize that their argument is weak. Then to counter, they come up with ridiculous statements like this one!
"Business does not create jobs: CONSUMERS CREATE JOBS!"

Businesses are the ones that hire people, not consumers. Businesses pay the salaries, not the consumers. Businesses invest the money to start up their enterprise, not the consumers. Statements like the above show that the writer doesn't have a clue about business. A large investment of money is required to start a business, and probably 50% of businesses fail. As a result a lot of individuals lose their personal savings.

The truth is Businesses create the jobs!

Individuals (with money) do a lot of market research to determine what the consumer wants to spend their money on. They calculate all the costs (materials, facilities and taxes to name a few) that go into making the product or service and determine whether it is worthwhile starting a business. They will not invest in a business that won't give them a profit (just like an individual won't deposit money in a bank if they are not paid any interest).

Then and only then will these individuals invest (risk) their personal money in a business. In the process the business hires people (creates jobs).

If the business did their market research well, and their actual costs are close to their projected costs, and the consumer buys the product or service, they have a successful business. As they grow they hire more people. If at any point in time the consumer finds the product cheaper somewhere else, the business stops being successful. Unless it can make adjustments in the product or costs, the business closes or moves to some place where they can be successful. The jobs disappear.

At no point in time does the consumer invest in anything more than the product they purchase. They typically could care less whether the business succeeds or fails, because they have no vested interest. One of governments roles is to look after business interests. Without business there won't be any consumers, because there won't be any jobs.

Unfortunately until the anti-HST crowd sees their jobs disappearing, they won't recognize that a competitive tax structure is an essential component of a healthy business and a healthy BC economy.

[island boy]

HOW IS THIS CANADA POST STRIKE GOING TO PLAY OUT WITH THE MAIL IN BALLOTS?

[gilbey]

 What a bunch of Crap, keep spoutin your miss truths alwaysfishin, I am gettin tired of your stupid rhetoric. Novabonker is correct it's the nitch or the lack of product/services that create the business opportunities that create business and jobs. If what you are saying is correct then just come here to Merritt and fill your gas tank, The business creators that provide those crappy minimum wage jobs that you are constantly spoutin off about are charging $135.00 a litre for gas at the pump here in Merritt, yet if you go to Kamloops its $110.00/Litre, wheres the justice of supply and demand and competition between the oil companys that your philosophy says is friggin gospel. You seem to think that the HST lie is sad, well Im sure that you must realise that it is sad as the voting public has been lied to numerous times, to the point where we are loosing our demoratict ability to make an informed decision because of the lack of truth supplied by the elected government or the press that is supposed to report accurately and which in most cases the truth is ignored or not even mentioned in the press ( just look at the Run of the Rivers projects and all of the wilderness damage its done and the financial overcost to BC Hydro).... As for individuals risking there savings when starting a business, you make them out to be heroes or something, we all know that in any new business there is a risk and nothing ventured is nothing gained. As well some people say that big business will leave this province of BC if they dont get the tax breaks that the HST provides them, well I say good riddance to those corporations as this will in all likelihood open the doors and pave the way for more small local business that will keep the profits here in BC as wll as decent paying jobs....