And It Begins!

Premier Jim Prentice dropped the writ this morning for really an unnecessary election that is going to cost the Alberta taxpayer $28 million. We go to the polls May 5. We had a fixed election date sort of.  We were originally supposed to go to the polls sometime in the  spring of 2016.  So much for that!

 Why is he calling an election now?  He claims he needs a mandate to implement his plan for Alberta but I think he wanted to catch the opposition primarily the Wildrose Party unprepared  since there has been some upheaval with all the defections before Christmas and just choosing a new leader in Brian Jean.  I could be wrong but I have a feeling voter turnout will be low as usual. 

I have become so disheartened by politics in Alberta lately so I don't know if I am going to and vote.  I want here what the new Wildrose leader has to say before I decide for sure. I do wish Brian Jean and all the candidates, volunteers etc. of the Wildrose Party the best of luck! 

We Are LIving in Bazzaro World

 

 There were two provincial budgets came down yesterday.  One budget was not a balanced budget with an historic deficit, more spending, and a rise in taxes pretty well across the board.  The other budget came in as balanced and a reduction in taxes.  One budget came from Quebec and the other one came from Alberta.  Guess which one is which.

The one you would think that was balanced and that reduced taxes would be Alberta but it isn't.  It's Quebec.  The one with more spending and historic deficit is Alberta.  Things have been turned upside down.  Here is the highlights of both budgets.

Alberta:

EDMONTON – The province unveiled its 2015-2016 budget Thursday afternoon. Here are some of the highlights:

The bottom line

Total spending of $48.4 billion on revenue of $43.4 billion for a $5-billion deficit – the largest in Alberta’s history. The deficit will be covered mainly by the province’s contingency fund.
 

End of the flat tax

Alberta will end its 10 per cent flat income-tax rate and phase in two new tax brackets for those making more than $100,000 or $250,000 a year. The change will affect about 330,000 workers.

Health levy

Individuals making more than $50,000 a year will have to pay a health-care levy, effective July 1. The amount will be tied to income and capped at $1,000 annually. The levy is to be collected through the income-tax system and won’t be paid by employers.

Gasoline tax

The gasoline tax jumps four cents a litre on Friday. The government notes Alberta’s gas tax has not been raised since 1991 and remains the lowest in the country.

Smokes and booze

It will cost 16 cents more for a bottle of wine and 90 cents more for a case of 12 beers starting Friday. The tax on a carton of cigarettes will go up by $5 to $45.

Tax breaks for the working poor

Families earning less than $41,220 a year will be eligible for a supplement for each child, to a maximum of $2,750 each year. The government says about 75,000 families will be eligible.

Fees aplenty

Fees are going up for everything from camping to court filings and marriage certificates. Traffic fines are being boosted by an average of 35 per cent.

Job cuts in government

The government plans to shed 2,016 full-time jobs across all departments. Most of those positions are already vacant and will not be filled. About 370 layoffs are expected.

© The Canadian Press, 2015

Quebec

It’s the first balanced budget since 2008.

Here’s what you need to know:
$197.1 billion: Quebec’s gross debt as of March 2014, estimated to reach $210.5 billion by March 2016
$80.7 billion: the amount it takes to balance the budget on own-source revenue

Related

$19.4 billion: in federal transfers
$2.35 billion: the 2014-15 deficit, as projected last year
READ MORE: Quebec tables balanced budget as it aims to slice its massive debt
11.5: per cent – the corporate general income tax will be reduced from 11.9 per cent starting in 2017
2019: the year the health tax will be fully eliminated
63: seniors over this age will receive a new tax credit of up to $602 in 2017 and $902 in 2018. For those 65 and over, the amount in 2018 will be $1,504
2: the percentage of expected economic growth
0: new taxes

As you can see it's a tail of two budgets.  For Albertans cost of living is about to go up because the Premier is punishing us instead of themselves for the state of our economic woes.   For Quebecers, cost of living is about to go down.  Bazzaro world indeed!  Gosh, I miss Ralph!

Update:

 Here is good take by Ezra Levant.

JR Gives Premier Prentice Advise

Will the Premier take JR's oil advice?
Hilarious!

Early Feminists Were Prolife

 

 March happens to be Womens History month and yesterday was International  Womens Day.  Feminism started out as women fighting for suffrage. In other words they were fighting for the right to vote. Today's feminist movement has more or less degraded into an anti-male/gender equality and pro abortion movement,  all the rights of a man without accountability.  I thought if you were a feminist, you were a strong, take no guff, independent woman. It's basically about victim hood.

Did you know that some of the early feminists of the 1800s were actually prolife? 

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

 There must be a remedy for such a crying evil as this. But where shall it be found, at least begin, if not in the complete enfranchisement and elevation of women?

  Sarah F. Norton

 Here is an excerpt from an article in which she referred to a case where a woman died after her partner gave her poison to abort their child:

Here we find that a husband has been procuring poison for his wife and prospective offspring! Not with any wish to kill the wife perhaps, but as the chances are 5 to 1 against every woman who attempts abortion, he could not fail to realize the danger. Had this scheme been successful in destroying only the life aimed at, what could’ve been the man’s crime – and what should be his punishment if, as accessory to one murder he commits two?

  Victoria Woodhull

  Wives deliberately permit themselves to become pregnant of children and then, to prevent becoming mothers, as deliberately murder them while yet in their wombs. Can there be a more demoralized condition than this?… We are aware that many women attempt to excuse themselves for procuring abortions, upon the ground that it is not murder. But the fact of resort to so weak an argument only shows the more palpably that they fully realize the enormity of the crime .

  Maddie H. Brinckerhoff

 When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society – so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged.

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell 

Look at the first faint gleam of life, the life of the embryo, the commencement of human existence. We see a tiny cell, so small it may be easily overlooked;…  it is a living cell; it contains a power progressive growth, according to laws, according, towards a definite type, that we can only regard with reverent admiration.Leave it in its natural home, tended by the rich life of the healthy maternal organism, and it will grow steadily into the human type; in no other by any possibility.

So as you can see these women fought for women's rights but without infringing on the rights of the unborn child.

Premeir Prentice Blames Albertans for Financial Problems

Premier Jim Prentice blames us for the financial problems in Alberta? 

  Premier Jim Prentice says Albertans should “look in the mirror” when it comes to the financial woes now squeezing the province — and defends his decision to reject corporate tax hikes while his government eyes higher levies and deep spending cuts.

Huh?  A new boss and he doesn't even get it.  The problems lie right with the PC government and their mismanagement of the public purse.   They've grown government exponentially, give themselves perks, wasted countless taxpayer money on projects for political gain and he blames us.

Maybe in a way he's right.  We've kept electing them in for the last forty-two years.