Pursuing Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
Why is it that Canadians are apathetic when it comes to responding to the ills of big government? We accept the unbridled increases in government spending, increases in programs and services, and the unexplainable antics of our politicians and bureaucrats. Without question, we accept taxes; we accept increased taxation and the imposition of new taxes….
It’s budget week with federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty poised on Tuesday afternoon to deliver another financial statement on the country’s fortunes (and its debts). It is time for Canadians to reflect, ever so briefly, on our Nation’s economy and our government’s interventionist actions in an attempt to improve our lot. For us at By…
Here’s sound counsel for our politicians today: The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome will become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living…
There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the…
The Throne Speech yesterday stated the Canadian Federal Government will be getting serious about curbing its out-of-control spending habits. (That’s good. It’s about time!) It is a fact that, today, we have the largest federal bureaucracy that we have ever had. And to maintain the bulging size of government and its programs, the government…
“Government does not tax to get the money it needs; government always finds a need for the money it gets.” – Ronald Reagan “The real goal should be reduced government spending, rather than balanced budgets achieved by ever-rising tax rates to cover ever-rising spending.” – Thomas Sowell “Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple….
Let’s review our nagging, on-going dialogue about big government and the call for accountability with our governments’ spending practices. Here’s an equation that Canadians should know well enough, especially after having just completed their income tax filing this week. Big Government* = Ever-Increasing Taxes (* – synonymous with out-of-control-spending, mismanaged budgets and…
It has become annoying that our political leaders today take no notice of just how big and intrusive Government has become for Canadians. It is equally irritating that they do not recognize (and, in many instances, try to rationalize) just how much government costs its citizens. Government has become too big, too costly. FACT:…
WARNING: What follows is another axe-grinding session regarding one of our greatest irritants: big government and our politicians’ inabilities to control spending and cut into the ever-growing, bloated bureaucracy. The last few weeks have brought into focus, once again, how our Canadian elected officials have learned little from the fiscal mismanagement of many of the…
This week MPs return to Ottawa to debate the federal budget. One of the central arguments on Parliament Hill in the days and weeks to come will revolve around Canadian pension reform. We are told, by way of setting an example that MPs are looking at their own gold plated pensions and perks of the job. For those…
This week ‘Big Government’ was back in the news with various Canadian political leaders suggesting it’s time for restraint. (ed. – They now are considering what to do with the barn door long after the horse has galloped out of sight.) Sun News has responded to these new cautionary messages from the PM and some Premiers like…
You’ve heard our lament before: Big Government just keeps getting bigger. In Canada, this reality has transferred our once-enterprising country into a state centered economy, where a growing number of Canadians are on the public-dole and/or receiving government cheques of one kind or another. What’s troubling is there are no siren cries that our growing public…
We received this e-mail yesterday – leaving us muttering aloud if this is actually the case… Can you imagine running the country with these numbers? United States Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000 New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000 National debt: $14,271,000,000,000 Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000 Now, remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget. Annual…
Expect in the months to come to witness our big Ontario Government become BIGGER. We only need look at a few developments this week to see that we will be getting the government we deserve, having just given Dalton McGuinty the free reins to tax and spend. So, now, here’s what we can expect through the next…
The Ontario Liberals have proven themselves neither managers of the Province’s economic engine nor of our public purse. Their big government ways have placed Ontarians and future taxpayers and businessmen in a difficult position. The accumulated effect of the Liberal’s big government ways over the past eight years have cost us dearly. Already, their economic…
I believe our government – all levels of government – has got too big, is growing too fast, and with no thought as to the costs to Canadians. So, as a frustrated taxpayer, who is a libertarian-at-heart, I have posted a half dozen snippets of what is wrong with our Big Government (not that I have…
Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s magazine, The Taxpayer, came in the mail today and I read it with some trepidation. I never know whether to laugh or cry when reading their feature stories. In this issue, CTF Federal Director Kevin Gaudet’s article on federal government spending confirmed my worst fears about “the run-away-train-wreck” we call Ottawa….
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation reports the federal public sector pension plan has created a situation where Joe Canuck would need to save $14,180 per year in his nest egg – every year for 35 years – to match that of a senior federal government bureaucrat pension. Here’s the math using the example of an…
There was a wonderful opinion piece by Kevin Libin in this Saturday’s National Post about the bulging Canadian bureaucracy and what it means for our country. The Wall Street Journal’s Dan Henninger recently put out an intriguing theory to explain why Egypt was such an economic basket case — with unemployment and…
“There’s nothing naturally “temporary” or “short term” about government spending. Creating taxpayer-funded programs means creating taxpayer-funded jobs to administer them. The expansion becomes structural — at least until politicians develop a stomach to unwind things.” – Kevin Libin