Author: Mulder

An Billion of Prevention Is Worth Dozens Of Billions Of Cure

Mulder

Cost of the G8/G20 summits?  $1.2 Billion

Outcome of G8/G20 summits?  7 of the 8 G8 nations are cutting their deficit by 50% and cutting their debt to GDP ratio.  i.e. they are cutting spending by billions upon billions over the next few years.  It’s as simple as that.

My message to those who criticize the cost of the event is this.  It was a massive world stage with over 80% of the world’s population represented including hundreds if not thousands of reporters who will go home and tell their populations that spending is getting cut.  This means that the commitment to cut spending was, in essence,  made in front of over 4 billion people on the planet.  This creates a massive pressure on the leaders to meet that commitment.

And cutting spending is a conservative trait.

Think of the billions that will not be spent now that this commitment is made.  PM Stephen Harper may be criticized for the event cost.  His government might get raked over the coals.  But as a fiscal conservative I am ecstatic at what the long term benefit of these summits is.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Rainbow Poppy

Mulder

I snapped this photo because it simply put a smile on my face seeing a rainbow sticker and a poppy proudly displayed by the vehicle’s driver. I know the owner of the vehicle and asked if they minded me posting this on my blog. With permission granted, I present to you the Rainbow Poppy. It would be nice to see more of this.

Look closely in the back window just above the third brake light for the rainbow.

I am sure other’s out there would appreciate it too.

The Rainbow Poppy
The Rainbow Poppy

G8/G20 Cost Analysis

Mulder

No this is not a breakdown of the cost of the G8/G20 summits taking place in Huntsville and The Big Smoke this year.  This is my analysis of the whole “G8/G20 Cost” debate.

Question:  Did it need to be over a Billion dollars?

OfficiallyScrewed.com Answer:  It wasn’t over a billion dollars.  Sure, maybe it was earmarked as G8/G20 spending but realistically it is also a chance for the government to beef up permanent security needs for a major urban area. ex.  London, England already had 10,254 security cameras scattered around the city when they held the summit.  The Big Smoke did not.  So realistically all permanent infrastructure that will be in place for the benefit of Muskoka and The Big Smoke should really be eliminated from the bottom line when analyzing the cost.  And I am pretty sure that over half the cost can be assigned to this category.  So in effect it becomes stimulus money for the local economy.

And speaking of the local economy, I wonder what The Big Smoke tourism board thinks of all this.  With some entourages numbering in the 4 digit area, we can safely assume over 10,000 guests to The Big Smoke.  That’s a hell of a lot of hotel rooms and meals.  And think of the shops in Yorkville or along Queen St.  The VISA and Mastercard machines will be humming and alot of this spending will be subject to GST and PST reducing the total cost even further.

Question:  Will jobs be created out of this?

OfficiallyScrewed.com Answer:  Damn straight.  Security alone will be huge but there will also be paramedics, fire, police, food services, waste disposal, preparation, (and yes Nellie, even the arts get some money.  (Do you think some suit put together the fake lake?  No, I bet it was some artsy fartsy person taking their turn at the trough too.)  I am not sure about how many jobs are being created even temporarily but I can be sure that the paychecks for those jobs are subject to……ding ding ding…federal and provincial income tax further reducing the cost.

Question:  Will we come out ahead?

OfficiallyScrewed.com Answer:  Probably not.  But there is other inherent values to hosting the G8/G20.  Long term tourism dollars are the least of my concern.  You see in the old days in many countries a group of three people meeting could be considered conspiracy and you could be charged.  The paranoia ran deep in governments but it was also a symbol to them that the few at the top controlled everything.  This is not the case in a western style democracy.  Perhaps from a mile high view this is the case but realistically if taxes go up, jobs go down, that government will get tossed out on it’s ear.

So to me, having these nations get around a table and talk is important.  It shows leaders like Ahmedinejad and Chavez, and groups like Hamas and Hizbollah and Al Quaeda that we can sit and talk peacefully about how we should best address problems the world is having so we can all best move forward wherever our free will takes us.  We do NOT need to be pushed back in the shadows to meet under cover of the night or teleconference or in small groups.  We can do it openly…under their noses and in front of their faces.  And hopefully in front of the faces of their citizens too.

Because the bottom line is that as long as we are talking, we are not fighting.

I Am Calling Bragging Rights – Personal Post Alert

Mulder

Y’all know family comes first.  In light of that, I have to post that my daughter Cookie and her partner took Gold with their duo routine  in the Ontario Provincial Rhythmic Gymnastics championships in Toronto On Friday night.  This is their 3rd championship in a row!!

Additionally she eked in to the provincials in 10th place after the first two qualifiers for the individual events.  I told her that all it would take for me to be happy is if she surprised herself with her performance and scores.  Simply surprise yourself.

Well in her ball routine she took the bronze, in her hoop routine she came 7th and in her ribbon she took eighth for a 7th place overall out of ten.  Considering where she qualified, she told me that she surprised herself.

So today I am a happy man.   Way to go Cookie!!

Obama said ASS. Who Cares?

Mulder

He said “ass”. *giggle giggle snort snort*

I was rereading the story about the Gloucestor Dragon’s (who rumour has it have reversed their “win by 5 goals and you lose” ASSinine rule. I mean next thing you know they would fail kids who get more than 5 marks higher than the clASS average. So back on topic. In that post I said “ASS whooping”.

Well it has dawned on me that ASS is not a word we should worry about. It’s a very commonly used word in society and very acceptable and I think the fact that the President got a bit of flack for it from both the left and right wing media is ridiculASS. I mean anyone who watched “That 70’s Show”, one of my favourite sitcoms, knows Red Foreman would say the word ASS almost every episode. “Get your ASS in the car”, “Do it or I’ll kick your ASS.”, etc.

Even George Carlin, going back decades did a bit about the 7 words you can’t say on television. ASS was not one of the 7 words.

So the verdict is? ASS gets a pASS.

Smackdown: PM Harper Returns Liberal Leader Michael Zsohar’s Serve On Roland Garros Claycourt

Mulder

I love Question Period. Call me a goofball. I actually caught this without sound on a TV in the lobby of a customer’s yesterday afternoon. Good timing on my part. The bolded part is a nice zinger that plays on Liberal Leader Michael Zsohar’s status as a temporary visitor to our great nation.

Hon. Michael Ignatieff (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.):
Even France is saying that the costs of this summit are getting out of control, and France knows something about extravagance. Its foreign minister is making jokes about the lake.
How can the Prime Minister preach austerity and restraint to Canadians and his G20 colleagues when he has lost control of the cost of his own summit?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, of course, as has been observed by many people, the cost of these summits in this age is very expensive because of the security demands placed on the summits. Well over 80% of the cost for our summit are, of course, for security, and this is similar to all similar types of summits.
As for extravagance in France, I would not know about that, but perhaps the Leader of the Opposition, at his home in Provence, could tell us all about it.

Harper: 15, Ignatieff: L’oeuf