Edwards gets 'swiftboated'

Ouch. And to think, Obama was on record in november as saying that his opponents were using cheap republican tactics. I guess it really is all about kicking ass.

McCain, Edwards & Bhutto: Why, in tough times, Americans will lean on the two surging senators

From the Daily Dish:


It seems absurd to think of the domestic campaign ramifications, but my gut tells me this helps McCain. If you look at the GOP field and you ask yourself who would you want in the White House right now, McCain leaps out at you as the one with the experience and the judgment to deal with this. On the Democratic side, it's not so obvious, since Clinton's "experience" is much less than meets the eye. But it helps her nonetheless. Novak, meanwhile, is touting McCain:

Sen. John McCain, given up for dead a few weeks ago as he ran a cash-starved, disorganized campaign, today is viewed by canny Republican professionals as the best bet to win the party's presidential nomination. What's more, they consider him their most realistic prospect to buck the overall Democratic tide and win the general election. Indeed, if Mike Huckabee holds on to actually win the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, the road forward could be clear for McCain.

RedState's Erick chimes in here.

On the Democratic side, don't ask me why, but my gut tells me [as well] that the recent events in Pakistan will give the Edwards campaign a much needed edge over the soft foreign policy approach of his opponents...notwithstanding Biden of course. Plus, as a CBS news correspondent is reporting, [Edwards] international pressure is being taken seriously by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

A few things here and there

According to the early findings of the language advisory commission (and Mr. Lord), even though it is not obtainable or realistic, "the goal of having more children graduate bilingual is a noble (one)." Too bad fiscal responsibilty or productivity of the program [itself] didn't factor into the equation.

My impression of the federal finance minister (at this point) is of a man who is willing to flip-flop and make excuses on why he can not deliver across-the-board tax relief for all Canadians (as well as income splitting for married couples) while the government sits on a huge surplus in Ottawa. Or as CTF federal director John Williamson nicely puts it, "middle and top tax rates have yet to come down under the Conservative government.'' Oh yeah, one other thing, all the news isn't grim as all provinces saw tax savings in ’07 and will see more again in ’08...with the exception of just one province. I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis who the one province is?

I hope Prime Minister Harper mirrors the words of PM Gordon Brown, as he is right, Bhutto was killed by "cowards afraid of democracy".

This is a good start and will encourage safety as well as the continual flow (of trucks) across the Canada/US border.

Consultants and business advisors all around "Irvingville" are asking: "How do you put a price on a Junior A hockey team in Moncton, potato fields in Prince Edward Island, parcels of empty land in gritty Saint John, or an emerging energy hub whose spokes extend from the refinery?" I guess Neil Sedaka was right...breaking up is hard to do.

My parents have a small cottage near the Confederation Bridge (Murray Corner to be exact); and as long as we can remember, ever since the first dredging (and blasting) of the ocean floor occured in the Northumberland Strait, there has been an incremental drop in fish species in the area. In other words, as a result of the bridge, there is a free flow of goods and people, but definitely not Lobster. You have to feel for the fishermen in that area.

When you see documents like this come out of Public Works and Government Services, it makes you wonder what has taken the New Brunswick press (and opposition) so long in acquiring access-to-info requests regarding the provincial government and their pledge to have all their members (Cabinet?) drive some sort of fuel efficient vehicle. I guess they must be all abiding by their word.

These musings by Messr Layton about seats in Alberta are almost as obsurd as when New Brunswick NDP member Yvon Godin said "it was better for her (Fredericton's Kelly Comer) to go now (she defected to the federal Liberals last fall) than to have her leave after winning the election." In other words, it's as far away from realistic thinking as one can get.

And you thought oh-eight would be about issues...

Merry Christmas to all...

We are about to host 30 or so relatives for Christmas, so I am signing off. But here's wishing all you NBTites everywhere a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy 2008!

"The Twelve Days of Christmas," Victor Boudreau Style

On the first day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the second day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the third day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the fourth day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the fifth day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me five vacant mills, four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the sixth day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me six broken promises, five vacant mills, four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the seventh day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me seven stretches of moose fencing, six broken promises, five vacant mills, four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the eighth day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me eight ripped up energy rebates, seven stretches of moose fencing, six broken promises, five vacant mills, four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the ninth day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me nine more years of outmigration, eight ripped up energy rebates, seven stretches of moose fencing, six broken promises, five vacant mills, four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the tenth day of Christmas my finance minister to me ten million excuses for the Shippigan Caisse bailout, nine more years of outmigration, eight ripped up energy rebates, seven stretches of moose fencing, six broken promises, five vacant mills, four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me eleven times the surplus reported, ten million excuses for the Shippigan Caisse bailout, nine more years of outmigration, eight ripped up energy rebates, seven stretches of moose fencing, six broken promises, five vacant mills, four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my finance minister gave to me twelve more months without a tax cut, eleven times the surplus reported, ten million excuses for the Shippigan Caisse bailout, nine more years of outmigration, eight ripped up energy rebates, seven stretches of moose fencing, six broken promises, five vacant mills, four new overpaid bureaucrats, three forgiveable loans for Atlantic Yarns, two tory turncoats and a useless self-sufficiency strategy.

Iowa: Cutting through the polls

Mark Blumenthal breaks down the polls two weeks before Iowans gather and caucus. His findings seem to lean towards a heavier turnout favoring Obama on the democratic side.

Although, as I've said before on this blog, I think it may come down to whose campaign has the best GOTV unit (see comments). And if that is the case, I think Edwards has a slight edge over his opponents. Plus, as NBpolitico predicted long ago, I think NH will come home for McCain on the Republican side as his campaign has made a final push in Iowa (could finish as high as third) and he is gaining some momentum from recent endorsements (Sen. Lieberman and the Boston Herald). Let's just say I'm pleased at this turn of events considering some of the frontrunning alternatives.

Is this policy or comedy???

Building oxymorons in Dalhousie

That's funny, I thought that in order to have a successful transition centre, you first required something to transition into. At the moment, all this looks like is more bad judgement from Shawn Graham's government, not to mention, a waste of $300,000 of NBers hard-earned dollars.

Isn't it ironic, Mr. Premier?

This is a classic. In a press release on thursday, the premier was on record stating, "the era of people being able to work in their hometowns may be over." Hmmm...I see some are already taking him up on his call. Good work Mr. Premier, good work.

Workers in the streets. Being subsidized by NBers. In the streets. In PEI. I'm not making this stuff up

And if that's not comical enough, with jobs being lost and mills closing, the government has decided to stop the bleeding by throwing down another $2 million of your hard-earned cash to prop up a fledgling industry in hopes of saving (subsidize) 65 full-time year round positions (at an estimated total payroll cost of $2.5 million per year). Unfortunately, for NBers, the plant and jobs are in Albany, PEI. How funny is that???

Are failing bilingual programs wasteful to taxpayers?

We all remember in a speech to 2,000 New Brunswick elementary school teachers last spring when Justin Trudeau said "separate school systems are divisive and economically inefficient."

Well, we all know what happened next, in that, he ended up taking quite a bit of heat for his words, and eventually, he was forced to backtrack on them.

Now as painful as it is to state publically on this blog, could it be that he was, at least, right on the former after all? You know, the part where he adamantly stated that the policy was economically inefficient and possibly wasteful.

Shedding some light on salaries

New Brunswick Annual Public Accounts Salary Disclosure Report Reveals Questionable Uses of Taxpayers’ Money

Year after year, the public service sees its ‘$100,000 club’ grow (as we saw with James Hughes et al. today), while all New Brunswick taxpayers see are bigger tax bills in the mail. Well, this year is no exception, but unfortunately for NBers, there are some who cashed in on our hard-earned tax dollars on the way out the door [list below from the Telegraph]:

• Marie-France Pelletier left Fredericton with the largest total deal, worth $201,896. Pelletier served as former premier Bernard Lord's deputy chief of staff until January 2006 when she took over as the deputy minister of policy and priorities, which is responsible for co-ordinating the government's policy agenda. The last year that her salary appears in Lord's office, she made $96,071.
• Rodney Weston, Lord's former chief of staff, earned $178,883 from the Office of the Premier in 2006-07 compared to $132,815 in the previous year. Weston served temporarily in the opposition leader's office after the election, earning $32,781.
• Barbara Winsor's final salary as president of NB Liquor was $154,008, up from $137,961 in the previous year. Winsor served as Lord's chief of staff after the 1999 election campaign victory.
• Bill Thompson, the former deputy minister of energy who also served in senior positions within the Lord government during its transition into power in 1999, collected $146,500 in the last fiscal year, an increase from $132,815 in the previous year.
• Yassin Choukri, the former deputy minister of justice who earlier worked in the premier's office and was also a former law partner with Lord, earned $141,943 last year compared to $117,806 in 2005-06.

However, the statement in the CBC online article "all the severance packages were subject to confidentiality clauses and the exact breakdowns weren't available" worries me even more as I believe the details of public accounts, including individual severance or retirement packages, should be made widely available to all citizens (even downloadable on the government website). Either that, or stop calling them "public" accounts as they are anything but for NBers.

Big government = slower growth

This doesn't come as a surprise to yours truly. Although, with our manufacturing sector [and old staple industries] on life support, you would think that if the current Liberal government ever wanted to reach a point where our province can stand on its own two feet, they would realize that a growing bureaucracy (and intervention into the private sector) only serves as an impediment to overall economic efficiency, not to mention, it retards growth.

In other words, the bottom line here is that the higher the level of public spending in a given country or province, the lower its growth rate tends to be. Which makes me wonder about the title of the Telegraph article "Progressive intent", in that, is it progressive to keep people in acute poverty and tax them to death while government over-centralizes and bloats? You know what my answer to that would be.

Anyway, for more on this, go check out this study by professor Robert Lawson of Capital University in Ohio who has done excellent work on this topic wherein he gives us reason to believe that there truly is a negative correlation between these two factors. Hat tip Dave Campbell.

Trippin' for the flat tax

The growing trend in Oh-eight may see multi-nationals close down some of their operations in Canada and North America (where taxes are high) and relocate those operations to lower tax rate countries...like, say, a [tax] hospitable jurisdiction somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Ouch.

Update

I see UPM-Kymmene Corp. is getting in early on this trend. Not surprising since I see they put significant stock in SMEs and low taxes unlike a jurisdiction we all know too well. (Hat tip Rob)

If it's a three way race...

...then this final surge may just put him over the top:

On Monday, the Edwards campaign recorded more e-mail sign-ups than almost any day in its history.

Over the weekend, the campaign was forced to add four new servers to handle all the web traffic.

Contributions are up online: Thursday and Friday, the two days after the debate, made for one of the highest 2-day totals they've seen in months. (He's been ubiquitous on national television -- morning shows and Sunday shows.)

Say "No" to Green

Judging from the year this guy had, I think democrats should be [more] leery of the green scarf campaign. just a thought.

Nova Scotia Newsmaker of '07

When you are getting five times as many votes as an NHL scoring champion (and just the seventh player in NHL history to win the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, and Lester B. Pearson Award in the same season), you know you're popular. Go Bill!

Are the "super-rich" paying their fair share in federal taxes?

Well, according to an Associated Press report last week, both Sen. Clinton and Warren Buffett believe they aren't. Although, it would appear they have their facts all wrong:



Source: Tax Foundation

Presidential candidate backlash

Let's just say, if I was living in the US, I would be quite comfortable being in that 53 percentile.

NH Swingers, McCain and Edwards

The Washington Post has a great piece today which basically reinforces my screed over at NBpolitico regarding NH swing voters (6:31 pm comment). Although, it looks better for whichever democrat finishes stronger in Iowa:

McCain's weakening hold on independents holds enormous potential for Obama. In opinion polls done by the University of New Hampshire this year, 55 to 70 percent of undeclared voters said they would vote in the Democratic primary. (In 2000, 62 percent of independents who voted did so in the GOP primary.) A few months ago, there was little sign that Obama was taking advantage, as polls showed him doing no better among undeclared voters intending to vote Democratic than he was among registered Democrats.

But in last week's UNH survey, he showed gains among undeclared voters intending to vote in the Democratic primary, with 36 percent saying they would vote for him and 26 percent saying they would vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), putting him in a tie with her overall. Obama's advisers here say it simply took a little longer for independent voters to move to him than it did for them to rally around Bradley in 2000, because Obama is newer to the political scene.

A report from ABC last night shows growing support in Iowa for John Edwards and his "America Rising" tour:

ABC News' Raelyn Johnson reports: As his eight day bus tour through Iowa winds down, John Edwards is starting to bring audiences to their feet when he talks about America rising.

[...]

With both candidates and caucus-goers focused on a cold night in January, Edwards pointed in the direction of the media gathered in the back of the room, predicting, "They all think they know what’s going to happen, they’re dissecting the polls. ... Wait 'til they see what’s coming."

What is America rising?

"We have a fight in front of us, we have a fight for the future of this country," he said. "We need someone who is going to step into that arena on your behalf, someone who is ready for that fight, somebody who has got it inside, somebody who has the toughness and strength and fight.

"Brothers and sisters, I was born for this fight," he told the more than 500 people jammed into a high school gym to hear him.

In addition, his movie trailer apparently has been bringing people to their feet all over NH and Iowa. I say watch out for Edwards, with this late surge on the ground, he just may rise up from the ashes of an Obama vs. Hillary war. Moreover, you know what they say about momentum.

Iowa is one interesting caucus on the GOP side...

...as it looks like Paul and Huckabee are the only ones actually gaining at this point. Who woulda thunk it, a staunch libertarian and a statist making a surge against the republican establishment --- at exactly the same time.

Boudreau must eliminate capital taxes for all businesses by '09

From the National Post, Monday, December 17th:

On Thursday, Ontario offered encouraging news by eliminating the capital tax for the manufacturing and resource sectors, starting Jan. 1, 2008, and pledged to eliminate capital taxes for all businesses by 2010. We hope the province follows through. The service industry is the sector that will spur future growth in Canada's post-industrial economy, and it should not be weighed down in coming years with the current high level of taxes.

In its annual tax-competitiveness survey, the C.D. Howe Institute reports that the tax load on Canada's service industries "including construction, transportation, communications, public utilities, trade, business and household services, remains the sixth-highest in the world." These companies pay an effective rate of 36.4%, while the average was just over 32% among the 80 countries examined in the C.D. Howe report.

While the tide against capital taxes is becoming stronger -- Ottawa and Alberta have wisely eliminated them, and Ontario and Quebec have plans to do the same -- B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and P.E.I. continue to maintain capital taxes on companies that employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians.

Mr. Flaherty's mini-budget in October showed that cutting corporate taxes can be done. Rather than lobby for corporate welfare from Ottawa, provincial finance ministers would do better to cut their own corporate taxes in order to give our businesses the level playing field they need to compete in a global economy.

To be sure, the 2007-08 fiscal year will be remembered as a tough time in New Brunswick, a time when the province raked in $79-million in revenues -- $42 million more than originally anticipated --- on the backs of both business and personal taxpayers. It's time for some relief, Mr. Boudreau.

On UPM's permanent closure: flushing money down the drain

As I've said a thousand times before on this blog, short-term government subsidies tend to only help failing companies limp along, like the $5 million Lord's government gave [in assistance packages] to keep the UPM paper mill in operation beyond 2006. But in the end, market forces always tend to have the final say on such matters.

In addition, since the $5 million dollar loan was handed out without any conditions, the province can't recoup it now that the mill has permanently closed. Nothing like flushing taxpayers money down the drain once again in NB...

...via corporate welfare.

Beefing up corporate welfare

The politics of bad business decisions

One of the rules of thumb in Canadian politics is to always send a minister to deal with a tough public policy decision (i.e. the closing of a mill/factory, the cutting of jobs or the announcement of a shacky business deal) and to have the premier only attend and do photo ops when it is guaranteed that there will be good press that follows.

Well, judging from the photo taken above in Charlottetown, PEI last sunday (where premier Graham and Macdonald were missing), the announcement to pour an additional $12 million of taxpayers money into the future of the Maritime beef processing industry obviouly wasn't a good business transaction for either the province of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. To be frank, if there was any winner whatsoever here, it was PEI premier Robert Ghiz as the other provinces believed his poker face when he said that he was going to shut down the processing plant in the first place (c'mon, we all know that would have been political suicide on the red island). Moreover, all the jobs which were retained, or resubsidized, are located in his province to boot (at a total payroll cost of $2.5 million per year). Plus, about 80 per cent of the cattle it processes comes from P.E.I. Not exactly an equitable situation for the industry in all three provinces.

Anyway, I won't go on ad nauseam about how [this] corporate welfare deal is damaging not only to taxpayers in this province, but also to the industry itself. If you want that type of info, I urge you to go here for your starter kit on the issue. I will assure you that it's a real eye opener to say the least.

Anyway, what really got my attention was not the bad deal itself (that is self-evident), but the rhetoric by the sitting ACOA minister (who passes himself off as a supposed fiscal conservative who represents those views regionally):

Ensuring that beef producers here in the Maritimes continue to have access to a federally-inspected plant has been a priority of mine since becoming minister of ACOA.

Without this plant Maritime producers would be forced to ship animals at considerable cost to Quebec, Ontario or the United States. It’s estimated the closure of the plant would have meant a loss of 350 jobs, directly.

In other words, doesn't the ACOA minister's statement, not to mention the deal itself, totally contradict what was recently said by Jim Flaherty earlier on in the week in Ottawa at the finance minister's meeting about corporate welfare deals for declining industries in the maritimes:

I don't believe in corporate welfare or in propping up failing companies.[...] I'm not a band-aid-solution sort of finance minister, quite frankly.

Huh? Am I missing something here folks?? How can a processing plant, which has been reported to be losing up to $600,000 a month, be a good investment for an additional $10 million of our hard-earned tax dollars? How could this be classified as a good business deal? Methinks somebody in the finance department and ACOA have some explaining to do.

Is the CBC no longer objective?

Could this possibly be the start of the end of the CBC being financed by Canadian taxpayers money:

In a CTV interview, former Liberal cabinet minister Jean Lapierre, now a television pundit, said an "influential" Liberal MP told him that CBC journalists wrote out the questions that Montreal Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez asked Mulroney during his dramatic morning of testimony. [Watch interview]

Wow, these are very serious accusations. So serious, that an internal investigation has been launched by Mother Corp.:

The CBC has begun an internal investigation and possible disciplinary process after one of its parliamentary reporters suggested questions to a Liberal MP on the Commons ethics committee.

To me, if these allegations hold any water at all, there is no question this event will go down as one of the most egregious violations of journalistic integrity imagineable. I have long said on this blog that the CBC has been carrying out a hidden agenda, in that, their talking points have started to resemble [too frequently] those of the liberal war room. But again, if these accusations are found to be true, the head of CBC news should be fired immediately and the future of the Mother Corp. should be put to the test as it's not fair to ask taxpayers to fund an organization that is no longer objective and impartial. Simple as that.

The costly cockamamie blether of Karlheinz Schreiber

Well, since Kinsella made one, I decided another summary was required. Looking at it, I’d venture to say that the credibility of Karlheinz Schreiber (and the competency of the ethics committee) have been all but shredded:

• L. Ian MacDonald - After four days of testimony before the House Ethics Committee, Karlheinz Schreiber has established that he's not only a serial liar, but a sociopath, in the sense that he casually ruins people's reputations and even their lives.
• National Post - We here at the National Post have a sophisticated device known as the Truth-o-meter...We’ve used it regularly in the past two weeks to measure the reliability of the tale spun by Karlheinz Schreiber as he testified about the worldwide conspiracy aimed at squeezing him out of Canada so he can go home and face the music in Germany. Pretty much every time Karlheinz opened his mouth, the Truth-o-meter let off what sounded like a rush of air, followed by a thump. According to the manual, this means the jolly little German with the trouser issues should be believed roughly as far as you can throw him.
• Vancouver Sun - Mulroney easily shredded what little credibility Schreiber had left after his several days of conflicting testimony before the committee with well-documented examples of earlier statements that effectively undermined Schreiber's recent allegations.
• John Crosbie - the selection process that led to Air Canada's purchase of Airbus planes was technical, legitimate, commercial and altogether bulletproof. It was striking that Airbus was hardly mentioned yesterday, as opposition MPs prowled around the perimeter of the Mulroney years like hungry bears around a campsite looking for garbage.
• Chantal Hébert - But there is not a single police investigation that has laid a charge against Brian Mulroney. The income taxman...woman (whatever) is not after Brian Mulroney. And at the end of the day, I am still not convinced that we are getting more than a peek into a tawdry private affair.
• Andrew Coyne - I think when we were watching the ethics committee floundering around I think it reminding us that a lot of our institutions of accountability in this country are clearly lacking. [...] The weakness of the committee structure, the inability (continually) to get to the bottom of these questions is clearly troubling. [...] We saw today that there were only three questioners in that room that had any business being there.
• John Ivison - Mr. Mulroney will triumph in the court of public opinion because he's up against Karlheinz Schreiber.
• The Star Pheonix - ...every word Schreiber has said has been aimed at misleading the public and constituted a desperate effort to remain in Canada. [...] In particular, Mulroney underlined Prime Minister Stephen Harper was not in any way involved in the case, even though Schreiber has sworn that he asked Mulroney to raise the issue of Schreiber's extradition with Harper.

As they say, there is always two sides to every Coyne...er...story.

Is the political addiction to EI policy in New Brunswick bad economics?

It would seem that economist Yvan Guillemette believes it is. Not to mention, he sees it as a very inequitable situation:

"It isn't fair that somebody earning $10 an hour here in Toronto has to pay EI premiums to support somebody living off it for an extended time in New Brunswick."

His musings bring up an important point/question: What would NBers possibly do if the government reformed the EI system making eligibility more difficult for those reliant on it?

Well, for starters, I guess many living outside the three major urban centres would have to get used to the notion of commuting for work instead of just picking up that roll of toilet paper (1000 Sheets) on sale for $3.99. Inside joke.

On a more serious note, the government probably should attempt to get payroll taxes under control as the surplus in the EI reserve account is ballooning out of control. Let's just say, cutting premiums and ending the gouging once and for all would be a good start for all Canadians.

A small [but significant] victory for Canadian taxpayers

I was glad to finally see Finance Minister Jim Flaherty take a solid [but necessary] stance against the use of corporate welfare to prop up bad business deals. His words -- published today in the Telegraph Journal -- practically mirror what I have been saying on this blog since its inception:

"I don't believe in corporate welfare or in propping up failing companies," he said, rejecting any sort of direct industrial aid or investment as a response to mill closures.

Now, if we can only get a provincial party in New Brunswick to not only adopt a policy (a ban), but to take a public stance against this wasteful spending practice [corporate welfare] of taxpayers dollars. It's the right thing to do.

Boudreau must find a way to cut both wasteful spending and taxes

Interim NB Progressive Conservative leader Jeannot Volpé hit the nail on the head with regards to last springs tax hike:

"There was no issue at all but that was a way for them to find a reason to increase taxes -- now we all know they were lying to New Brunswickers," Volpé said of the Liberals. "There was no need to increase taxes."

Maybe the "lying" charge is a little much. However, as I see it, if Mr. Boudreau and his Liberals are serious about real economic growth and creating a top notch business environment in New Brunswick, they would be wise to not only return part [or all] of the projected $79-million surplus to the people, but to cut useless and wasteful spending. Taxing people and small business to death while investing millions in corporate welfare to declining industries isn't the way to go. Moreover, Boudreau's penchant for Keynesian style economics, wherein he has decided to set up a $35 million rainy day fund, makes me really nervous considering their past with similar amounts ( i.e. Shippagan Caisse).

â€$¢â€$¢â€$¢

Rumour has it that there will be millions in corporate welfare anouncements to three declining corporation after the holiday break. Flakeboard in St. Stephen, Fraser papers in Edmundston and Atlantic Beef Products Inc, in Albany, PEI.

Related: Seriously, where's our privincial tax rebate?

America's first black president?

Huh? I don't know which is more off-base here folks, Will Smith claiming that one day he will become president of the United States or the fact that he still believes Barack Obama to be the first "black president" upon victory? Why, you ask? Because I thought that acomplishment had already been done. You know what I'm talking about, when New Yorker columnist Toni Morrison, an African American female, deemed big, bad Bubba "the first Black President":

Years ago, in the middle of the Whitewater investigation, one heard the first murmurs: white skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas. And when virtually all the African-American Clinton appointees began, one by one, to disappear, when the president's body, his privacy, his unpoliced sexuality became the focus of the persecution, when he was metaphorically seized and body-searched, who could gainsay these black men who knew whereof they spoke?

Anyway, to make a good situation out of a bad one here, and since Barack has Oprah in his corner, why not deem Mr. Obama "the first women president"? Although, come to think of it, that would put an African American female in a very difficult predicament [down the road] if she were to ascend to the highest office in the land. just sayin'.

P3s: Public-Private Partnerships

Bruce Holland explains how municipalities can solve infrastructure challenges wherein [P3s] will reduce the burden on local taxpayers while leveraging a greater number of projects. This may be something that Moncton and Saint John city councillors could look into more seriously (as a longterm strategy) instead of always getting on their hands and knees with those on the dole in Ottawa and Fredericton.

A bit of this, a bit of that

• I think Moncton Crescent MLA, John Betts, could read his rendition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's How Do I Love Thee (-- high taxes)? all the way to the the top of the polls --- maybe even back into government? I think it's safe to say the rest of his party isn't.
• I can remember when Travesty was mum when the Dithers gang contracted out a certain public relations firm that starts with the letter "E" and ends with "E". Which makes this about face on the subject all that more comical.
• Note to federal NDP strategists: if your MP's are going to go on baseless character assinations of government members...make sure you get the right minister in charge...and the right house for that matter. Rookies.
• Quite ironic that the advice the Prime Minister gave John Tory today, "Kick Ass" was the very title of the book whose author orchestrated his ass kicking in the first place. just sayin.
• This guy will be missed.
• The New Conservatives are doing their best in the ethics committe to sever all ties with the ol' Mulroney/Schreiber gang. However, if I'm not mistaken, it would seem that Andrew Coyne is trying his best to sever all ties with any conservative government... be it past or present. Maybe he is just sick of politics in general? Either way, I have noticed a definite change in the tone of Messr Coyne lately.

My problem with Huckabee

Though I don't agree with Jonah Goldberg's assessment of Ron Paul (notwithstanding his brief comments where he praised his stance on limited government), he is dead on when it comes to Mike Huckabee's compassionate conservatism...right-wing progressivism...Christian dogmatic do goodery. Better known as big government conservatism.

Corporate welfare is not the answer

AV Cell to receive $17.3M from Graham government

Let's just say, I can't even begin to articulate how disappointed I am with the decision above. Furthermore, in the wake of last week's Dalhousie mill closure, the premier mused about future corporate welfare deals/loans (usually forgiveable) "with Flakeboard in St. Stephen and Fraser papers" in Edmundston. *sigh* Plus, rumour has it that this deal to a PEI beef processing plant may go through after all.

What kind of message does this send to New Brunswick entrepreneurs (both large and small) who are not on the government radar when it comes to corporate welfare? I'll tell you what message it sends. It tells them that their successes, credit and capital (earned on an open market) will be diverted to less successful, government connected firms/companies. In other words, companies that do not receive government assistance subsidize their government-supported competitors through their corporate taxes. And you wonder why businesses avoid this region like the plague.

Advice to the Graham government: start implementing policies [today] that will ensure that the playing field for all competitors is even. Maybe you can start with a solid 21st century business approach whereby you make the region more attractive by lowering taxes (n\both personal and business), cleaning up government and eliminating useless and inefficient bureaucracies. Moreover, I wouldn't wait around for the feds to wave the magic wand and make everything better if I were you premier as I suspect this will be the only substantive announcement that will come out of your talks with the prime minister on self-sufficiency in Moncton. Can you say "not on the PM's radar screen" Shawn.

I guess now you know how it feels to be a firm in NB who doesn't receive a provincial government loan (bailout) while their fledgling competitors are rolling in the dough. It's not a good feeling, is it?

Related posts -- a growing list of offenses

I can't drive 55 (Roger Duguay on grants & loans)
Corporate welfare on the march once again (Atcon Group Inc.)
Spinning Yarn of Corporate Welfare (Atlantic Yarns)
Atlantic Yarns: Bottomless subsidy pit ("")
Atlantic Yarns: bottomless-pit filing for bankruptcy? ("")
The business of gov't is not the government of business
A culture of dependency (Rogers Communications Inc.)
My New Business Plan (The Mactaquac marina)
Business Pork (Cape Jourimain Nature Centre Inc.)
Statist Guile (Premier's pledge to stop use of grants & loans)
Put An End to Wasteful Subsidies (Atlantic Beef Products Inc.)

Parliamentary decorum

It seems as though we get one of these calls every session. In other words, we get it already, Ian.

NDP and the senate

Can't say for certain, but I think it's safe to conclude that this gal wasn't consulted by Layton et al. regarding the drafting of a message on this website. Just sayin.

Giuliani: Er, so what...it's not my money

It may be NY taxpayers money and not NBers; regardless, this kind of abuse of the public purse still sickens me.

Hopefully, some of his delegates [and their cash] will go over to Ron Paul.