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samplain
Guest
I emailed an 2 MPPs and the three party leaders on an issue.
Only John Tory replied.
Only John Tory replied.
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Abeja de Almirante
Guest
While I voted for McGuinty last time, this time it'll be Tory. I know you all think I'm unfairly harsh on Dalton's broken promises as compared to most politicians, but I am annoyed with Dalton, because he broke the specific promises I voted him in for, as follows:
"I won't raise your taxes."
- Followed by the "health levy", the biggest tax hike in the province's history
Balance the budget every year.
- n'uff said
Roll back tolls on the Hwy 407.
- sorry
Not add to the province's debt.
- By 2007, the Libs will have added $15 billion.
Stop building 6,600 homes on the Oak Ridges Moraine.
- abismal failure
Abide by the balanced budget law.
- They broke this in their first budget.
Close the province's coal-fired plants by 2007.
- They might have one closed by 2009
I will ask you to not to quote the above, and spend time going through each of the above broken promises trying to explain the reasons behind it. I think we can agree this has already been done, and we all know about the background of most of these promises. McGuinty can claim he was trapped on the Oak Ridges Moraine, that the province's financials were hidden so he had to raise taxes, that he's trying to get the 407 tolls reduced but fighting the courts, etc.... But in the end I don't care what his reasons are for breaking his promises, nor if he is as bad or better than most politicans on their promise breaking. I imagine someone here will raise the sceptre of "I'd rather have a premier who shows flexibility and adaptability, than one who blindly keeps his promises....." But I don't care, I voted in McGuinty because of the above promises, and as he's broken them, IMO it's time for him to go.
"I won't raise your taxes."
- Followed by the "health levy", the biggest tax hike in the province's history
Balance the budget every year.
- n'uff said
Roll back tolls on the Hwy 407.
- sorry
Not add to the province's debt.
- By 2007, the Libs will have added $15 billion.
Stop building 6,600 homes on the Oak Ridges Moraine.
- abismal failure
Abide by the balanced budget law.
- They broke this in their first budget.
Close the province's coal-fired plants by 2007.
- They might have one closed by 2009
I will ask you to not to quote the above, and spend time going through each of the above broken promises trying to explain the reasons behind it. I think we can agree this has already been done, and we all know about the background of most of these promises. McGuinty can claim he was trapped on the Oak Ridges Moraine, that the province's financials were hidden so he had to raise taxes, that he's trying to get the 407 tolls reduced but fighting the courts, etc.... But in the end I don't care what his reasons are for breaking his promises, nor if he is as bad or better than most politicans on their promise breaking. I imagine someone here will raise the sceptre of "I'd rather have a premier who shows flexibility and adaptability, than one who blindly keeps his promises....." But I don't care, I voted in McGuinty because of the above promises, and as he's broken them, IMO it's time for him to go.
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AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
Abeja:
Knowing the reasons behind these decisions, and then chose to ignore it on purpose just reeks of simple-mindedness and shallowness to me.
AoD
I will ask you to not to quote the above, and spend time going through each of the above broken promises trying to explain the reasons behind it. I think we can agree this has already been done, and we all know about the background of most of these promises. McGuinty can claim he was trapped on the Oak Ridges Moraine, that the province's financials were hidden so he had to raise taxes, that he's trying to get the 407 tolls reduced but fighting the courts, etc.... But in the end I don't care what his reasons are for breaking his promises, nor if he is as bad or better than most politicans on their promise breaking. I imagine someone here will raise the sceptre of "I'd rather have a premier who shows flexibility and adaptability, than one who blindly keeps his promises....." But I don't care, I voted in McGuinty because of the above promises, and as he's broken them, IMO it's time for him to go.
Knowing the reasons behind these decisions, and then chose to ignore it on purpose just reeks of simple-mindedness and shallowness to me.
AoD
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SD2
Guest
^I agree.
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andreapalladio
Guest
And everyone knows that Conservatives are paragons of honesty and promise-keeping.
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AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
Abeja:
You certainly have an interesting way to express that.
AoD
I'm not ignoring his reasons, but instead do not accept his reasons as valid.
But in the end I don't care what his reasons are for breaking his promises, nor if he is as bad or better than most politicans on their promise breaking.
You certainly have an interesting way to express that.
AoD
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Abeja de Almirante
Guest
I'm not ignoring his reasons, but instead do not accept his reasons as valid. This man made promises he must have reasonably known were not possible to keep.Knowing the reasons behind these decisions, and then chose to ignore it
My thought at the time was, this guy must have some very serious plans and convictions here, since these are going to be very tough promises to keep. Even I knew that holding firm on taxes, fighting developers on the Oak Ridges and closing coal plants while the nuke plants were in trouble were demanding promises. However, they were his promises, and he should be put to account.
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Abeja de Almirante
Guest
I certainly haven't said that. What's that got to do with anything anyway?And everyone knows that Conservatives are paragons of honesty and promise-keeping.
Several of Dalton's promises were fundamental and of great importance, IMO. There is only two things a government can really do, one is tax, the other is spend. Dalton made a promise on the first, and broke it almost as quickly as he could once in power.
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Abeja de Almirante
Guest
Thanks, I appreciate that.You certainly have an interesting way to express that.
B
bizorky
Guest
Nevertheless, worth repeating IMO:
Knowing the reasons behind these decisions, and then chose to ignore it on purpose just reeks of simple-mindedness and shallowness to me.
AoD
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Abeja de Almirante
Guest
I am not ignoring the reasons he broke his promises. I do not accept them.
C
cdl42
Guest
With regards to the financial promises (taxes, debt, and budget), he stated that based upon the figures provided by the former Conservative government he could promise certain things. He had an independent economist sign off on the figures as being valid, workable, and fully costed based upon the financial figures provided by the previous government. But yet, when they took power and discovered that the previous government had cooked the books and determined that their fiscal plan was undoable as a result, you see it as a broken promise? Saying that the reasons and reality simply don't matter? Yeesh...
Story time. Okay, let's say the previous govenment said that they had a big bag of money with a billion dollars in it hidden in the basement of Whitney Block. They promised and swore that this big bag of cash existed and is a sign of their wise fiscal management. The opposing party states that hiding this money in the basement is pointless and promises that upon election they would distribute it to citizens or invest it in social services. Upon being elected and handed the keys, the opposition party heads down to the basement to discover that the bag of a billion dollars actually contains a billion bills, statements, and IOUs. Surprised and dissapointed, they state that money will not be distributed and instead belts will have to be tightened to pay off all the bills they found. Thinking themselves to be clever, apologists for the former government declare the new government to be liars, regardless of the missing bag of money.
Story time. Okay, let's say the previous govenment said that they had a big bag of money with a billion dollars in it hidden in the basement of Whitney Block. They promised and swore that this big bag of cash existed and is a sign of their wise fiscal management. The opposing party states that hiding this money in the basement is pointless and promises that upon election they would distribute it to citizens or invest it in social services. Upon being elected and handed the keys, the opposition party heads down to the basement to discover that the bag of a billion dollars actually contains a billion bills, statements, and IOUs. Surprised and dissapointed, they state that money will not be distributed and instead belts will have to be tightened to pay off all the bills they found. Thinking themselves to be clever, apologists for the former government declare the new government to be liars, regardless of the missing bag of money.
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Abeja de Almirante
Guest
Okay then, is the consensus here then, that Dalton, or any other ON leader, can make and break any promise they wish, simply by stating that the premises that they used to make their original promises weren't true?
If Dalton wasn't able to independently verify the state of the province's finances, why not make this a caveat of the promises re. no new taxes or debt? I.e. something along the lines of...."provided that the current government's financial status report is accurate concerning X, we will not raise taxes or incur debt"? If this doesn't sound sexy or electable enough, then don't make the promise, and concentrate on promises that you can keep no matter what you inherit.
If Dalton wasn't able to independently verify the state of the province's finances, why not make this a caveat of the promises re. no new taxes or debt? I.e. something along the lines of...."provided that the current government's financial status report is accurate concerning X, we will not raise taxes or incur debt"? If this doesn't sound sexy or electable enough, then don't make the promise, and concentrate on promises that you can keep no matter what you inherit.
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andreapalladio
Guest
Have you written to the man whose policies you slavishly espouse, Steve Harper, and asked him that question? And if not, why not?
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ganjavih
Guest
Let's face it, if we refuse to vote for people or parties that have a history of breaking promises, we'd never vote. Voting is about choosing the least evil option.