Canadians Like Liberals

on their corporate tax stance. A Leger poll showed that 43% of Canadians want companies should pay more taxes and not less. Only 10% of people think that corporate tax rates should be lowered again. Liberals recognize the benefits of reducing corporate income tax, when we have the money to do so. It stimulates the economy, increases investment... But, the Government of Canada is presently running a deficit. We do not have the money to reduce corporate taxes right now. We don't have enough money to give away to large corporations. The Liberals will vote against this budget and rightly so. Corporate taxes should not be cut in our situation.

Stopping the Filibuster.

The senate passed new rules that now make it harder to delay legislation. The new rules include that no senator can hold legislation from being voted on while being anonymous. Meaning that after 2 days the senator that stops a bill from being voted on will be published which will make it harder for some senators to stop legislation as they might get hit for stooping legislation that is popular. They passed rules that make it more difficult to force a bill be read allowed in full before voting on it. All this is small potatoes to what really needs to be done. The senate must stop senators from withholding legislation from being voted on, making it harder for a senator to talk forever to delay legislation by making them have to stand up and making the necessary amount of votes to pass legislation to a simple majority. This must be done if the U.S is ever going to be able in time of crisis be able to act quickly and easily.

Under the new rules, a senator's name will be published in the Congressional Record two days after the senator places a hold.

The Senate also overwhelmingly supported a measure that will make it harder to force a bill to be read aloud in the Senate chamber, so long as senators have had reasonable time in advance to review the text.

Read more Here

New EKOS Poll

A new EKOS poll does not really show anything. The Canadian political landscape has been locked for a while now. Not one party has changed support substantially over the last year. The Tories maintain their usual seven point lead while the Liberals trail at 27%. This would allow for another Conservative minority government, albeit weakened. The Liberals would gain 20 seats. Even though the Liberals and Conservatives have put out ads, I do not think there is going to be an election in 2011. All it takes is one party to support the government and I think the NDP will. Some parties may not want an election, but Canadians do. 53% of EKOS respondents say they want a general election to happen in 2011.

[Ottawa – January 27, 2011] – The frozen political landscape appears almost totally inert. The Conservatives enjoy a mildly comfortable 7.5 point lead, but everything looks more or less as it did two weeks ago. These results are somewhat better for the Conservatives than in the late fall, but the outcome of an apparently looming election is very much in doubt. The public as forecasters say they lean to a Conservative result of the minority variety.

Read the full report. 

Related articles

• Tories hold lead over Liberals: poll (cbc.ca)

Let's Ask Michael Ignatieff...

The new Tory ads are just ridiculous. It's one thing to take quotes out of context like the Conservatives did previously. At least the quotes were more or less on the same subject. This time, the attack ad department decided to use Michael Ignatieff's quotes... like the Tories do. The word "yes" can be put in any situation to "prove" a point. Maybe someone was asleep at the switch, because I cannot see how these ads convince anyone of anything. In fact, it probably does the opposite: driving potential voters away. Will this move backfire? Let's ask Michael Ignatieff: "Yes, yes, yes!"

Related articles

• Tories launch attack ads aimed at Ignatieff, Layton (calgaryherald.com)
• Michael Ignatieff works Liberals into a lather (theglobeandmail.com)

3 state of the Union adresse's

Usually you just get 2 addresses. The President then you get the opposite parties address this time you got Obama , The Republicans address and the Tea party address's. Obama's address was great to hear liked what he said he made no attempt to talk about increasing taxes except increasing taxes on the rich, but he only said that there tax cut couldn't stay permanent. He talked about how people who get a degree should be given the right to citizenship which i say is a good idea. He also said that immigrants children should be able to become citizens , as long as they have done some service to the country which is a great idea, but some people who illegal immigrated at a certain age should be deported I think.  The Tea party address was fun to watch saying that Obama should repeal almost everything he did in the first year. Anyways Obama promised he would veto any bill that has earmarks which is okay at cutting 8 billion dollars tops, but at least some Bipartisanship that I hope will stay with the President and the House and Senate. Odds are it won't , but never the less I think earmarks are okay as long as there is an earmarks bill and no earmarks are put in parts of important budget items.

Taxes Must rise

The U.S will face major problems if it doesn't increase taxes. Today the U.S will spend 74% of every tax dollar on Social Security, interest on the debt, Medicare and Medicaid. That means that only 24 cents of each dollar the U.S government have in taxes will be spent on everything else. Education, the Army etc.. In 2020 , because of out of control deficits the U.S will pay more on the interest and in 2020 the U.S will have to pay 92% of it's taxes to Social Security, interest on the debt, Medicare and Medicaid. That means the U.S in less than 9 years the U.S will only have 8 cents to run the Government, and the 92% of the money will go to Social Security, interest on the debt, Medicare and Medicaid. These four budget items our non negotiable. The U.S can't say isn't paying the interest on the debt. This means that the Republicans idea of cutting is only today 24% of the budget, and soon only 8%. Now there are many solutions to this. You could increase the retirement age and spend less on social security which is the biggest budget item today and 2020. Create a national sales tax for 5% which would be one of the lowest in the world. Create a carbon tax and stop the Bush tax cuts for everyone and make a estate tax that is more strict. By doing this the interest on the debt will be less as the deficit will dramatically decline even though I do believe in some sort of stimulus with all these major tax increases, but with all this it would be likely to see that a smaller deficit and a possibility for a surplus can happen now. The U.S also needs to increase it's research spending the country today that spends the most on research is Israel (as a percentage to GDP) with this spending many new products can be made and created and this would create jobs. The U.S must raise taxes and cut spedning to the military and now increase it's spending on research.


Read more here

Ignatieff Shows Leadership

When four kirpan-wearing Sikhs were not allowed in the National Assembly in Quebec City, Ignatieff showed leadership. He defended their right to wear the ceremonial dagger in public areas such as the House of Commons. This comes as the Bloc Québecois wants to ban the kirpans from being worn in Parliament. Ignatieff and Layton are right to defend the rights of ethnicities to continue practicing their culture. Especially when those four Sikhs were at the National Assembly to testify at a hearing on accommodation. The kirpan is a cultural item and Ignatieff is right to defend it.

Leadership requires the willingness to take unpopular positions. Michael Ignatieff showed that willingness this week when he went to Quebec and defended Sikhs’ right to wear the kirpan, a ceremonial dagger, in the Quebec National Assembly and other legislative buildings in Canada.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Related articles

• The kirpan and Canada’s French-English divide (theglobeandmail.com)
• Sikhs with kirpan not allowed in Que. legislature (cbc.ca)
• Bloc proposal to ban Sikh kirpans in Parliament called 'un-Canadian' (nationalpost.com)

Giuliani in the race! Maybe!

Giuliani was in 2008 the front-runner for the Republican nomination, but the maybe crowd for this nomination is getting very big and Giuliani says he will consider running if more people join the race. At this rate  having 25 candidates that practically believe in the same issue will probably turn out that the candidate with more ads will win the election, but there are other more important factors. Iowa who ever wins this state is kind of like Given a ticket to be one of the last in the election to go for the nomination. So far Romney and Huckabee are battling for that state Giuliani on that hand didn't do well his best showing was Florida, but this year Florida might not move up it's primary date, so far Giuliani is going to have to win one of the first states in the election. Iowa is out, New Hampshire no way Romney is leading, Nevada Romney and Gingrich and South Carolina Well it is now a four way race so what's a  another fifth way race. With all these candidates the only one who is going to gain is Obama he won't have to spend money on that race he will just watch them fight each other, and fund raise money for his campaign, Not enough to win, but not enough maybe to win the white house.

GOP Wants to Spend to Discriminate.

Many Republicans are just plane hypocrites. Many Republicans want to reestablish the don't ask don't tell policy. The Don't ask don't tell policy cost tax payers almost 200 million dollars over the past 6 years. The policy has been in place for more than a decade, and some Republicans want to increase the deficit in order to continue to discriminate against Homosexuals. It's stupid and silly for the so called less Gov party to take taxes from people who might like the same sex and use that money to discriminate against the same people they take the tax from. Then the scream and shout at Obama for increasing the deficit. The Republicans promised that they would cut the deficit, but so far some of there proposals would increase it. Like the Health care bill and reinstating don't ask don't tell.

Read more here

Tu Bishvat.

January 20 was Tu Bishvat. Tu Bishvat is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the birthday of the trees. This holiday today is celebrated in planting tree's in Israel , Eating food especially from Israel and the respect of the planet. Tu Bishvat celebrates the planet that G-d created and in the Jewish religion people are supposed to keep the planet that they were given in the same or better shape for the next generation. The whole idea is to keep the planet clean and not live at the expense of other generation. This holiday brings the right message telling us that we are given a planet (no matter if you believe in G-d or not) that will be inherited by the next generation. When the next generation looks at the world they got they should be given a planet that was treated well when it was used by the past generation.
"No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy with a full repairing lease" Margret Thatcher

New Liberal Ads

The Liberals have launched new ads to counteract those of the Conservatives. These ones concentrate on attack Stephen Harper's policy and not personal affairs. The Tories like to attack Michael Ignatieff personally and not the Liberal policy. Unfortunately, too much of this and they might backfire. The Conservatives launch personal attacks because they cannot attack the Liberal policy properly.

Related articles

• Federal Liberals launch campaign-style attack ads (calgaryherald.com)
• Liberals strike back with ads on fighter jets, corporate tax cuts (theglobeandmail.com)

Illegal Conservative Ads

Not only are the new Conservative ads unethical and lying, they are also illegal. Their new attack ads, while blowing things out of proportion and using out-of-context statements, also use file footage from CBC. The Tories did not ask permission to use the video. It's a requisite for the CBC to not provide this footage for political use.

Yet the Conservatives think that it is fair to use this footage without even having the decency to make a request. This kind of arrogance should not be tolerated. They are not entitled to use anything for the lies of attack ads they broadcast. The ads will backfire.

The CBC is demanding the Conservatives withdraw file footage from the national broadcaster that appears in new Tory ads targeting their political opponents.

Read more at the Globe and Mail. 

Related articles

• Tories seek alms to keep attack ads on air (theglobeandmail.com)
• It’s a risky time for attack ads (theglobeandmail.com)

Election fever.

With new ads out from the Conservatives I wonder how all the other parties will react. The NDP,Bloc and the Liberals all are against the ad no wonder. The fact is that these ads aren't going to really work, because the Liberals are still were they were in the polls as were they were in the last election. Calling out Ignatieff on a carbon tax and GST hikes both out of context and inaccurate, and used in the last election to stop people from voting Liberal in 2008 the Liberals will still get there same supporters and many people who voted Conservative last time just can't buy this again. This will just re-fuel the right wing base of the Conservative party. Harper's ads aren't really going to work in getting him a majority. Conservatives will realize there polling numbers won't go back to there 40% again and although no election will be called the ads will trigger some sort of anger with other parties, but  with these polling numbers an election could be as soon as this fall, but the Conservatives are really pushing for it now, and an election could be sooner than everyone thought.

Crazy Attack Ads

The Conservatives have launched new attack ads and they are full of false information and quotes taken out of context. There is much fear-mongering about the supposed "coalition," that Ignatieff supported, according to the Tories. Actually, it was he who disbanded it. The Liberals should run counter ads with the main message being "Canadians aren't dumb, Mr. Harper." The vast majority of people do not believe these lies and never will. This might very well be a waste of money for the Conservatives. Even worse, they might backfire.

The Conservatives can defend their new ads as accurate – provided that those who view them are among the most gullible folk who ever walked the Northern Hemisphere. For example, one ad notes that Michael Ignatieff favoured a carbon tax at one point. It forgets to mention that he has since disavowed a carbon tax.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Related articles

• Michael Ignatieff takes aim at new Conservative attack ads (thestar.com)
• Tories launch attack ads aimed at Ignatieff, Layton (nationalpost.com)

Keep our Airwaves Clean

The CRTC is proposing a change to the ban on broadcasting false news. This modification would allow false news to be broadcast except for the kind that "endangers or is likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public." The problem with such narrow specifications is that all other types of false news would be allowed. I could see a Fox-like SunTV News in the future, broadcasting false lies without any punishment. The ban on spreading lies through the media must be upheld by the CRTC.

OTTAWA — The CRTC is proposing a regulatory change that would give Canadian TV and radio stations more leeway to broadcast false or misleading news. 

Current regulations contain a blanket prohibition on broadcasting "any false or misleading news."

Read more at CTV.

Asbestos Must End

The asbestos industry in Quebec must end. Asbestos has been proven to be a harmful mineral that causes more than one disease and also causes suffering. Yet the government in Quebec wants to expand the industry. This mineral used for insulation has long been put out of usage in all of Canada. Instead, we ship asbestos to developing nations, letting them suffer the consequences. And they do not have as good a healthcare system as Canada. It is time to stop the asbestos industry and the accumulation of money at the expense of other people's health and lives.

MONTREAL - More than three-quarters of Quebecers oppose the idea of the Quebec government financing a project to expand the Jeffrey asbestos mine, according to a survey commissioned by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

Read more at The Gazette.

Related articles

• Medical journal slams Canadian 'hypocrisy' on asbestos (nationalpost.com)
• Victims, activists urge Canada to stop asbestos exports (thestar.com)
• Asian anti-asbestos delegation headed to Quebec (ctv.ca)

Palin numbers go down!

 A new poll shows taht Palin would do the worst if it came to an election. The poll has palin at 30% against Obma 56% with 14% undeciced. Now this lead if Palin does run will narrow for sure, the poll before it had Palin at 40% 52% Obama. The poll was taken in the middle of the tuscon shooting,so Palin has no were to go, but up and I suspect her approval rating and poll numbers are going to go back up. I don't know why they even really went down I don't blaim her for the shooting at all. Her comments about "blood libel" I truly find no offence with her using that term. She used it and that's it! It's an english pharse (meaning Blood libels are false and sensationalized allegations that a person or group engages in human sacrifice) There is nothing truly offesive. I say leave Palin alone she did nothing wrong and no way can you blame her being a part of any of this. It's time the U.S stops blaiming the figures,celebreties and tv shows for these violent acts, but rather the problem is that guns are way to easy to get a hold of in the U.S. Although I am happy Palin polling numbers went down I don't like why and the reason for it.

President Huckabee. Not just yet!

In the race of 2012 which will start in less than a year. Who will face Obama in the next election. Huckabee is now seeming to be the rising star. With having an evanchelicol base, already well known for his last unsecssful caimpaign in 2008. Huckabee in the Primaries can finetly woo the prodominat right wing south. His net approval rating (approval minus disapproval) is the highest out of many of the other candidates. Huckabbe 30% Newt 24% Romney 23% Palin 22%. Altrhough the marging of error is 4%it still assures Huckabee can be a strong competator this time. Last time he was out of the running by super tuesday when Mccain smashed the competition. Huckabee former governor of arkansas still needs to be ab.le to get moderates to win the white house. Problem is in a national poll him against Obama poll finds he is behind 12%. 50% Obama 38% Hucakbee.  This poll came a surprise to me Obama approval rating went up in a month from 42% now 48% some even got at the 50% mark. This new Happy modd for Obama is probably coming from the new congress. Problem is the new congress isn't going to fix anything really.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/10/poll-huckabee-most-liked-palin-provokes-most-negative-reaction/

Harper's Secret Government

Harper likes to keep things secret. Although campaigning on freedom of information was one of the things that brought him to power, he has not kept his promise. In fact, he has made it even worse than it was before. Now, information is not disclosed in a full state, some requests are denied outright and even if the request for information was accepted, the Tories do not report back on time as stated in Canadian law. Now, Canada ranks last in access to information when compared to Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

I would like to see something like the Liberal Party's "Open Government Initiative." It includes setting up websites to make it easier to submit and track requests for information. Another feature would include uploading government data. This would increase government transparency while making the system simpler.

The law that determines what secrets Canadians can pry out of their government hasn’t been substantially overhauled since Pierre Trudeau introduced it in 1983, an era when Ronald Reagan was U.S. president and the Internet connected fewer than 600 computers.

As it nears its 30th anniversary, the Access to Information regime that was designed to furnish Canadians with government records on everything from the military to health has grown sluggish, unresponsive and obstructionist.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Subsidies to Political partys must stay.

Political party subsidies were put in place to level the playing field so that political parties get funding for every vote they get. Harper again is putting this into the spotlight for silly reason's saying that it isn't fair to Canadian tax payers. That's silly the whole point political parties get 2 dollars per vote is to support small and large parties for having support rather than supporting the party that has the most richest people in it. In this circumstance it helps parties like the Green Party that almost got 1 million votes in the last election, but no seats it gives these small parties finical support, because they proven that this party has a strong amount of support in the country. Eliminating this subsidy would mean that small parties wouldn't get funding and big parties that have already a lot of money would be able to silence the smaller parties. We need to keep the subsidy it is important to allow the people to have voice in how in a election is done when they vote, but Harper would like to silence the Green party the NDP and the Bloc in the next election. this 27 million dollar subsidy is will do little to nothing to reduce the 55,000,000,000 dollar deficit the Conservatives gave us. How about instead of giving Oil companies high tax cuts to reduce the deficit instead of a subsidy that supports political balance in our election.

Ignore the Illegal Guns

That is what the Conservative member  for Bruce-Grey-Owen-Sound wants the government to do. He says that we should turn a blind eye to farmers who use their unregistered guns to protect their livestock. This is a bad statement to make. He is saying that it is okay to break the law if it is done to make money. What should be done is sending a Firearms Centre representative from door to door once a year to see if there are any guns that farmers want to register. Hence, it wouldn't be such a hassle for farmers to register their guns. The gun registry helps save lives and should be maintained. And even though the Tories allege it costs billions of dollars, it costs but a fraction of that.

OTTAWA—Conservative MP Larry Miller has suggested government officials should turn a blind eye to unregistered firearms if farmers are just using them to protect their livestock from coyotes.

The beef farmer-turned-federal politician made the remarks at a Saturday meeting in Elmwood, Ont., to discuss how to deal with the growing problem of coyotes preying on sheep and other farm animals in the area.

 Read more at the Toronto Star.

Rewriting History

We all know the N-word is a bad word to say, but over 100 years ago the N-word was used on a daily basis. Now someone wants to rewrite one of the greatest books in history. The Adventures of huckleberry finn and To Kill a mockingbird have the N-word numerous times in these books. The whole reason that these books are great is, because they make it sound realistic since they used old fashioned words. It be like watching a play about the 17 century and the actors aren't wearing old fashioned clothing it's just silly. Rewriting history is wrong. If we censure the N-word what next. Censure any books that talks about slavery or racism. for the sake of education people should know that the N-word exists. We shouldn't try to forget parts of history just , because they aren't lovely rather embrace the fact that the event happen and learn from it. One of the greatest books like To kill a Mockingbird or Of Mice and Men have the N-word in them they are great, because they were very realistic, because the books talked about issue's that weren't yet discussed. Censuring history is silly in this case you get nothing in return, but teaching kids that they're is no such thing as the N-word. Ignorance isn't bliss when that ignorance is the ignorance of ignoring history and what it has to teach us.

"We learn from history that we don't learn from history!." (Desmond Tutu)

Related articles

• New Huckleberry Finn edition censors 'n-word' (guardian.co.uk)
• Critic's Notebook: Light Out, Huck, They Still Want to Sivilize You (nytimes.com)

Sivilizing Huck

It's been more than a century since Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been written and people still want to sivilize Huck. A new version of the book will be published featuring the word "slave" instead of nigger. As the book was written in the nineteenth century, the n-word was commonplace and was not as offensive as it is today. Reading that book, one of the things I remarked was that the words "slave" or "slavery" are hardly ever mentioned. That is because African Americans were not slaves, they were simply "niggers." This book can teach us a lot about society at the time and how Huck battles with what he has been taught his whole life and comes to the conclusion that if helping Jim escape is a sin, then "I'll GO to hell."

The new book would take away this part of history and reduce the intensity of Huck's realization. However, I have no opposition to the publishing of the book as long as it's not touted as a complete replacement for the original manuscript. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn without the n-word would be good for children who are not mature enough to handle it. But, I stress that in no way the new edition should replace the old one. It is a complements the original. To properly learn this novel, one must read it with the the word "nigger."

A new edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer will replace the n-word with "slave" in an effort to boost acceptance of the books.

 Mark Twain's classics are frequently challenged because of the use of the racial slur and appeared as recently as 2007 on the American Library Association's list of most banned books.

Read more at CBC.

Related articles

• Trey Ellis: Censoring Huck Ain't So Simple (huffingtonpost.com)
• Sanitized Huck Finn (boston.com)
• Censoring 'Huckleberry Finn' is an act of literary graffiti (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

20/11 Tour

Michael Ignatieff is to go on another tour. The Liberal Express tour during the summer and the Open Mike tours were great successes. These two tours helped convince me that Michael Ignatieff is the leader who is going to lead the Liberal Party to victory. The 20/11 tour will visit twenty ridings currently not held by the Liberals to try and sway them. Notably, the tour is not directed at Conservative voters. Michael Ignatieff hopes to sway NDP, Bloc and Green voters not to vote for their respective party and instead, vote for the Liberals.

Some might consider voting for the NDP, the Bloc Québécois, or the Green Party in order to “send Stephen Harper a message.” But if you vote for the NDP, the Bloc, or the Greens to send Stephen Harper a message, you’ll get Stephen Harper – and he won’t get the message.

This is a good, well-calculated experiment. This might be in part driven by Kevin Lamoureux's win in Winnepeg-North, a former NDP stronghold. I don't put much stock in by-elections, but the tour cannot hurt. In the next election, the Liberals do have to win seats from the NDP and Bloc and the 20/11 tour is a good way to accomplish just that.

2012 candidates!

In 2012 the fight for the Republican nomination will be a fight to see. With many politicians already looking like they might run. with many of them saying that they will make there decision soon. One person that's funny to here is Donald Trump who is thinking of running. A definite front runner is Sarah Palin who looks like she will run with a new TV show a book out and campaigning in the last midterm that helped many Tea Party Candidates winning there primaries. Mitt Romney also campaigned in the last midterm election, and looks like he might run he also ran last time in 2008. Huckabee would be a good contender considering a poll shows he would beat Obama in a nation wide vote. Another Candidate could be the former house speaker Newt Gingrich who has been very politically active in the last midterm even speculated of running in 2008. In the U.S the first few primary/caucus states usually pick the winner of the primaries. Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina have traditionally started first. In Iowa in 2008 it voted for Huckabee over Mitt Romney by 10% polls from many moth's ago show Huckabee still having a 4% lead over Romney( which makes it a statistical tie). In New Hampshire that went to McCain last time, but now In a poll shows that in a hypothetical match up with Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Huckabee (and many other candidates)Romney would smash the competition with 39% vs. 16% Sarah Palin. In Nevada Romney last time dominated the election with 37% lead over the next candidate, and this time his lead isn't as big only if Newt Gingrich runs, but his lead is still 34% Romney vs. 21% newt Gingrich. In South Carolina it's piratically a four way tie between Huckabee, Romney, Gingrich and Palin.

Stupid Tax Cuts

The Conservatives want to continue the tax breaks to wealthy corporations in the next budget. This is outright unacceptable. When Canada has a pretty large deficit, one of the first things to cut is giving money to companies that already make billions of dollars in profit each year. These multinationals do not need help getting along. What we should be doing instead is giving out grants to innovators and environmentally-friendly businesses. This promotes new technology and respect for the earth, unlike the Tories' plan, which gives out money based on whether your business is a large corporation or not. If Harper decides to include this waste of money in the budget, the opposition parties should defeat him

But based on discussions with Flaherty in December, Brison said he felt the government was not willing to part with the final round of corporate tax cuts "that we can't afford and we don't need."

 "We want to see the budget first, but we're not that hopeful," he said.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2011/01/07/politics-liberals-tories-budget.html

Related articles

• It’s the economy, Scott Brison says, and the Tories are stupid (theglobeandmail.com)
• Halt corporate tax cuts, Liberals say (thestar.com)

G.O.P Want To Increase The Deficit.

The new Republican house wants to now repeal Obama's health care bill that passed last year. This was one of the promises that many Republicans made if they were elected. This of course will never happen, because the democrats hold the senate and the presidency , so no way it will be repealed now. The republicans are hypocrites they want to repeal the health care which will increase the deficit by 230 billion over the next 10 years. this means that not only will the under a Republican government the health of the nation will lower and they will increase the deficit. Under Obama's plan although it is not universal health care it would at least insure that all Americans can have health care insurance. The Republicans are hypocrites when it comes to the deficit. There is no reason not to have Obama's health care bill stay in fact it isn't enough universal health care is what the United state's need. The U.S under Republican ideology will be moving years back not that the U.S isn't already going backwards.

The people "want this bill repealed and we are going to repeal it," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. If it is not repealed, "it will ruin the best health care system in the world ... (and) will ruin our economy."

The new house speaker thinks the U.S has the best health care in the world that is false. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) ranks the U.S 37 on the best health care system. Canada is 30th 1st is France. The U.S is behind Costa Rica.

Legislation being pushed by House Republicans to repeal President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will add $230 billion to the federal debt by 2021, according to an analysis released Thursday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Read more here

Food Law In The U.S!

Obama has signed a food law bill that was the first major overhaul of food safety in the U.S all the way back since the 1930's were back then our food supplies weren't what they are today. This will now allow the Government to force re-calls of food if there is an out break, before a recall wasn't mandatory, but voluntary! The bill will make companies of food more accountable and reduce the risk of outbreaks which the U.S has faced in the last decade almost every year. The only problem with this bill is that it will cost 1.4 billion dollars. This is not a real problem considering that life and health is worth the 1.4 billion over five years, but rather the Republicans might say that the spending to expensive considering the deficit. I think if the Republicans want to cut 280 million a year because it cost too much I say there earmarks are 8 billion a year.  Although I think earmarks are okay I think that instead of putting the earmarks in legislation that have nothing to do with the earmarks. I think the U.S should have an earmark bill every year that is only for the use of earmarks to see how much every politicians spend on earmarks. Making earmarks more transparent. Anyways the Republicans I hope actually won't hit this piece of legislation to cut the 1.2 trillion dollar deficit. There are many other area's that should be cut like subsidies to fossil fuels.

The legislation gives the federal Food and Drug Administration the authority to impose new rules to prevent contamination and allows the agency to order, rather than simply suggest, the recall of tainted foods.

Hamburg told reporters Monday that she is optimistic Congress will provide the necessary resources to implement the bill's key provisions.

Read more here

Seven Billion People

By the end of 2011, it is expected that the world population will exceed seven billion. With more people in the world, we must plan. The world's problems will grow larger if we do nothing. We must ensure access to clean drinking water and make sure we do not waste, as our fresh water reserves are just going to decline. Probably most important of all, we must invest in cleaner, greener energy. Seven billion people are going to need more energy than ever before and peak oil looms. The tar sands are a symbol of our desperation to find oil. This non-conventional way of exploiting oil shows how far we have to go to get our oil. We must shift the economy to use alternative energy that will not peak and at the same time, does not pollute as much.

Stop the Filibuster!

In the U.S the system to pass a bill is as confusing as it is difficult. It may sound easy on paper just make a bill, propose it to the Senate or House, then have a committee vote on it, Then wait for it to appear on the floor, and it has to pass, Then it goes to the opposite body and they like to make some changes, Then it goes back to the body were it came from to either make new changes or pass it, After both bodies pass the same piece of legislation then it has to go to the president to either sign or veto. If the president sign's it the bill is then a law unless the supreme court says it unconstitutional. If the president veto's then the bill has to go back to the chamber and either the bill passes in both chambers with 2/3 of the vote or it dies. The problem today is that passing bills are very hard to do. The major problem comes from the Senate. In order for the Senate to pass a bill it needs 60 senators I say destroy that and make it 51 like the House. Then also try to limit filibusters by stooping the ability of one senator ( who can remain anonymous) to hold a bill from arriving to the floor. The senate needs to be changed. The longer the Senate waits to reform itself the harder it will be for it to be able to do it in the future. Unless reform is done now the Senate will not be able to move as fast as it could be and make major reforms and major actions take so much longer then needed.

Congress is coming back.

On Wednesday the senate and congress is coming back. It seems a mix of issues are going to come this year. the Deficit will be big news today, the health care bill will be very interesting how that plays out. many Republicans ran on repealing the health care bill thing is that there is no way the health care bill will be repealed. It seems that the only thing that could get done this year would be major reforms I hope, both the Republicans and Democrats believe in some way of reducing the deficit why not then make a compromise that actually would work. Cut spending in : the military, government programs and increasing the retirement age. The Republicans could possibly agree with that and if Obama can really sell it maybe he could push in minor taxes like a national sales tax starting at 5% which would be one of the lowest sales tax in the developed world. These plans could lower the the deficit dramatically and increase revenue while doing these actions slowly over the course of time to not hurt the economy. Although I still believe that the U.S must raise income tax I think that the income tax increase to the Bill Clinton era should include extended unemployment benefits,tax relief to small business and more relief to states. Yes it is true some of the stimulus I stated are already in the tax deal Obama passed ( thank you Anonymous), but I think then you should increase relief to the states like California who really need it, while still telling the state to cut in the budget by giving 1$ of new spending for every 2$ of cuts the state makes. Without increasing the income tax I think the U.S will never reach surplus without even more dramatic cuts in the budget.

Some Great Year

In Prime Minister Stephen Harper's New Year's message, he went through all that was accomplished in 2010. Indeed there have been accomplishments, but also many failures. The year began with the prorogation of Parliament for the second year in the row. This time, it was designed to get away from the Afghan detainee scandal while gaining more support while the Olympics were happening. The Olympics were a great event that brought Canadians together. Congratulations on that, Mr. Harper. Following this was the G20 G8 double summit, plagued by useless pork-barrel spending, protests, a fence and a fake lake. So much spending led the French president to publicly state that next year's convention in France will cost substantially less. Along with the Tories' war on freedom of information and reducing emissions, Canada's international reputation is suffering. Election, please.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper toasted Canada's solid successes in 2010 in an undramatic New Year's message that contrasted sharply to those of global leaders who face continuing economic or political crises.

Despite a massive federal deficit, Mr. Harper offered no call to Canadians for common sacrifice, as British Prime Minister David Cameron did. Despite a sluggish economy, he felt no need to reach back to the achievements of previous generations to urge Canadians to renew their country's greatness, as U.S. President Barack Obama did.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Related articles

• Messages from world leaders (theglobeandmail.com)
• 2010 was Canada's 'year to shine,' Harper says (ctv.ca)

Deficit's still there Obama.

There will still be a deficit when Obama comes back home to the white house the country will still be in deficit. In fact not a surplus will even be predicted in next 10 years and even by then the U.S GDP will be the same as there debt. Meaning that the U.S will owe the same amount as they are worth. At that point countries don't tend to continue to lend money to a country that can't get a surplus ever. Obama needs to cut the deficit, but how? Well he should have eliminated the pointless Bush tax cuts. Now he will increase the debt another 850 billion. Clearly the U.S can't afford this. create a national sales tax that the U.S doesn't have reduce consumption in the U.S so the country's economy isn't so dependent on consumption. Raise the retirement age create a carbon tax and reduce the military budget and stop building more missiles. End subsidies to big oil or fossil fuels. To all this and pass one more stimulus that actually works by first giving relief to states, extend unemployment benefits, give small business tax relief and that's it no more spending after that. Unfortunately the Republicans are more for cutting, which is fine with me cutting spending is a good idea, but cutting will never be enough the U.S may need to realise this now or face major consequences that they need in order to balance the budget increase taxes.