tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post6423532857520085076..comments2023-10-25T05:33:59.547-06:00Comments on Climbing Out Of The Dark: Freedom Took Washingtonhunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180857240945765697noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-16130514236702423572009-09-13T22:11:07.997-06:002009-09-13T22:11:07.997-06:00Richard,
You said "Wonderraven, hate to brak...Richard,<br /><br />You said "Wonderraven, hate to brake it to you but you're a socialist... By what right are you able to demand that property should be taken from the producers and given to the non-producers?"<br /><br />If I am a socialist, I must be supporting the wrong party because I have been a member of the Reform, CA, and CPC since 1992. I am a strong supporter of our PM and Conservative gov't and work for the party through the riding association when I can.<br /><br /><br />I didn't say gov't should take money from producers to give it to non-producers. If you look at the real world, you will see that you personally use and enjoy many services the government provides courtesy of other taxpayers.<br /><br />I am sure if you became unemployed you would be in the lineup for EI benefits or welfare payments like everyone else. When you reach age, are you going to apply for your Canada Pension and Old Age Security or would you say you are not going to take it because it is other people's money? We have to be realistic. In a democracy such as Canada's, it is the people who elect the government. So government is not stealing taxpayer's money. The theory of democracy is that they have a mandate from the people, and a legal right, to tax and provide the services. If you don't agree, you are free to speak against whatever you disagree with and even run to be an elected representative or support whatever party of organization you wish.Small Town Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13916492142790961736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-26807624916728668672009-09-13T21:55:46.027-06:002009-09-13T21:55:46.027-06:00Eskimo,
I didn't mean to leave the impression...Eskimo,<br /><br />I didn't mean to leave the impression I don't think the Americans are generous. As individuals many of them give huge amounts for charitable causes. <br /><br />My point was that many in the U.S. hold to a different philosophy than many in Canada. Some have an ideological or religious distrust of everything government does or wants to do. A few examples would be the number of U.S. presidents that have been assasinated, as well as Senator Robert Kennedy. There was also the Oklahoma bombing. There are many anti-government radicals. One well-known group was the KKK. Others would be groups who believe in the 9-11 conspiracy theory. You can probably think of others.<br /><br />You said Canada is very generous with other people's money. Quite true. This is Canada's Achilles heel. I don't know what the answer is to solve the problem of growing costs for health care. How much of it is wasted and not being properly accounted for?<br /><br />Also, it is easy to criticize government for the money they spend on services such as health care, but what would you do instead?<br /><br />JR<br /><br />You said "Wonderraven, The vast majority (better than 90%) of Americans are very happy with their healthcare so why should they go along with a socialist plan that puts it in jeopardy."<br /><br />I doubt that 90% of the U.S. population is happy with their healthcare. Just ask the 46 million people who have no health care insurance just how happy they are. Ask the many people who have been dropped from health care insurance because their medical problems are becoming or about to become too expensive.<br /><br />Governments in the western world already have a varying degrees of "socialism". Otherwise where would the highways come from which we drive on, the Canada pension plan, the Old Age Security Pension, Employment Insurance, and various other government services. I am not advocating socialism, but let's be realistic. Without a public health care system, a lot of people might not even be alive today. What we have is not a socialist system, but rather a mixture of free enterprise capitalism with a certain degree of public (socialized) services.Small Town Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13916492142790961736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-62995338153097056272009-09-13T20:30:56.570-06:002009-09-13T20:30:56.570-06:00Wonderraven, hate to brake it to you but you'r...Wonderraven, hate to brake it to you but you're a socialist... By what right are you able to demand that property should be taken from the producers and given to the non-producers? You speak of generosity but I don't think you have a clue what it means... Is it "generosity" when the state forces you, at the barrel of a gun, to give them the fruits of your labour such that they can spend it in ways that aren't in your best interest?<br /><br />Give your friggin' head a shake...Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08833076599650152590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-76262106373111385072009-09-13T12:57:01.399-06:002009-09-13T12:57:01.399-06:00I saw the pictures of the protests on CTV news las...I saw the pictures of the protests on CTV news last night. Very impressive. You have to admire our American neighbours. When moved by an issue, they take action.<br /><br />Wonderraven, The vast majority (better than 90%) of Americans are very happy with their healthcare so why should they go along with a socialist plan that puts it in jeopardy. And don't believe everything you hear from Obama or any other liberal propagandist on this issue. Whatever they manage to ram through congress is just the beginning of government interventions that will be all but irreversible once in place.<br /><br /><i>"...many in the U.S. have a different attitude toward helping their fellow man. In Canada I think we see it as more of our civic duty to make sure everybody is taken care of to a significant extent."</i> That's a typical Canadian conceit. Americans donate far, far more to charity than Canadians do. And the Conservative government has little choice but to go along with our bureaucratic, heavily rationed, government healthcare monopoly. It's almost taboo to even talk about making substantive changes. What we can hope, though, is that the Conservatives encourage the provinces to be more innovative and less ideologically hide-bound in their approach.JRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10884491329536733335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-61988092704961271832009-09-13T09:25:29.703-06:002009-09-13T09:25:29.703-06:00I am sorry to tell you, Hunter, that the media in ...I am sorry to tell you, Hunter, that the media in the US is precisely identical to the media in Canada. Both are corporatist, suckling at the hind teat of party press releases, devoid of working journalists who'd go to the mat to dig for a story, and with scared little children afraid of "what might happen" acting as gatekeepers.<br /><br />We Canadians love to dig at the CBC (and goodness knows there are reasons to) and there's been no shortage of criticism of CTV, Global, City, TVA, etc. but compared to ABC/CBS/CNN/Fox/MSNBC/NBC/NPR our news services are no worse, and oftimes better.<br /><br />I know that for a lot of Conservative readers that will sound like heresy (especially lumping Fox into the mix) but there you are: actually analyse the networks and their coverage (just as you would for a "foreign country") and the pattern will become clear. Since I'd rather deal in reality than in myth, I'm willing to stand up and say my findings.Bruce Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15698226231494151308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-35808110995220070522009-09-13T09:06:20.634-06:002009-09-13T09:06:20.634-06:00I think you need to educate yourself as to the fac...I think you need to educate yourself as to the facts of why the Americans are protesting Obamacare, wonderraven. Oh those big, bad insurance companies!<br /><br />That said, I think if you did a little reserch you'd find that the Americans individuals are in fact quite generous.<br /><br />Canada is very genrous with taxpayer (other people's) money. I hope you're not confusing the two. <br /><br />Canadians personally donate annually 8.9 billion dollars to charity. Americans gave over 300 billion last year. The US population is about 10 times that of Canada, so by a per capita basis, the US citizens give more than 3 times that which we did. Sorry to burst your anti-AMerican bubble.<br /><br />Your last statement is very interesting. You can 'defend' something all you like, but at the end of the day, health costs are increasing tremendously but nothing's changed. It's been said that the definition of insanity is doing something the same way and expecting a different result. This could be the definition of the Canadian health care system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-87092111524648342242009-09-13T08:51:20.231-06:002009-09-13T08:51:20.231-06:00Wonderraven, perhaps you are right about that spee...Wonderraven, perhaps you are right about that speech, but have you heard or read any of his earlier speeches on this, or what Pelosi/Reid want in it.maryThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10099534478709227356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-6547958068605297932009-09-13T08:49:54.138-06:002009-09-13T08:49:54.138-06:00OT, but Layton is in Edmonton for a caucus meeting...OT, but Layton is in Edmonton for a caucus meeting. Could one of your sons sneak in and video it for canada wide consumption. LOL.maryThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10099534478709227356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-64525017253151971942009-09-13T07:22:07.418-06:002009-09-13T07:22:07.418-06:00I saw some pictures of the event and it looked clo...I saw some pictures of the event and it looked closer to 2 million than 200000. I don't follow much of their politics but after yesterday I would be worried if I was Democrat.This is only 6 months into jis tenure so imagine what the mid term elections will be like. Cheers.sorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01234269186680911234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-55320846994292896332009-09-13T00:18:04.752-06:002009-09-13T00:18:04.752-06:00This protest against the govt of the USA should se...This protest against the govt of the USA should send a message to the coup planners in Ottawa.maryThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10099534478709227356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24226508.post-82153697539666811702009-09-13T00:07:49.922-06:002009-09-13T00:07:49.922-06:00I watched Obama's presentation the other night...I watched Obama's presentation the other night on reforming the health care system. His proposals did not sound radical. I thought his proposals were relatively moderate. He was NOT proposing to abolish private insurance or the private health care system. He only wants to make some changes to help the tens of millions who have no health care. So it is hard to see what these people are protesting for. They are claiming it is an assault on freedom. What freedom is threatened? The freedom of big insurance companies to exploit people by kicking them off the insurance plan when their medical bills may become expensive? It appears many of these protesters have become the pawns of big insurance companies and the rich who feel somehow threatened by any government intervention. In my opinion and probably most Canadians will agree that many in the U.S. have a different attitude toward helping their fellow man. In Canada I think we see it as more of our civic duty to make sure everybody is taken care of to a significant extent. The left of centre parties do go overboard on this with taxpayer's money, but by and large, I think Canadians have a generous spirit and do not begrudge their fellow citizens necessary health care services. I am hopeful the Conservative Party of Canada also believes in the public health care system we have in Canada and will always defend it.Small Town Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13916492142790961736noreply@blogger.com