OT: American Politics

It’s a looping belt of tyranny that swoops from the South Pacific to Europe and all the way across the Americas. It controls three of the world’s 12 largest economies and the entire global supply of some key resources. It is, in the eyes of the world’s most important, and perhaps only relevant, demographic, a new axis of autocracy and it isn’t centred in Pyongyang, Tehran or Harare but in Canberra, Paris and, yes, Ottawa.

That demographic, of course, is the American teen. And if new U.S. test results are any sign, that all important group doesn’t think highly of us, if it thinks of us at all.

In recent results from the U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress — billed as the Nation’s Report Card — fully 33 per cent of American 8th graders said Canada, Australia and France are dictatorships of one kind or another.

Asked on a national standardized test what the current governments of the three countries have in common, 23 per cent of the 29,000 teens tested chose “they have leaders with absolute power” from the four options available. Another 10 per cent chose “they are controlled by the military” while 12 per cent picked “they discourage participation by citizens in public affairs.”

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Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver said his governing Conservatives will continue to cut taxes if they retain power in October’s federal election, even with levels at their lowest in generations.

The government’s debt-reduction efforts and projected surpluses will free up additional room to lower taxes in the future, Oliver said Thursday at Bloomberg’s Canada Economic Summit in Toronto.

“We want to keep taxes low, we want to make them competitive, and that’s a never-ending task,” said Oliver, declining to specify where any future tax cuts would be focused. “As the debt declines, and as debt payment declines as a proportion of expenditures, there’s more opportunity to provide tax relief and to provide other benefits to businesses and Canadian families.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s tax record -- which has brought the federal government’s tax revenue as a share of GDP to the lowest in more than 50 years -- is poised to be a central issue in the October election, in part because it has fueled deficits. The opposition Liberal and New Democratic parties have also criticized the Conservative tax cuts for favoring the rich and undermining the federal government’s fiscal capacity.

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The US Senate has blocked a bill that would have extended the bulk collection of Americans' phone records by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Senators are to discuss the issue again on 31 May - a day before existing legislation permitting surveillance is due to expire.

A US appeals court has already ruled the bulk collection illegal.

The NSA's spying was leaked by Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor who has since fled to Russia.

The NSA has collected data about numbers called and times, but not the content of conversations. It also allegedly spied on European firms.

Among individuals targeted was German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The White House has pressed the Senate to back a bill passed by the House of Representatives which would end bulk collection of domestic phone records but allow the NSA to search records on a case-by-case basis.

Supporters of the proposed USA Freedom Act, including privacy and civil rights advocates, say it protects privacy while preserving national security powers.

The Snowden revelations in June 2013 caused an international outcry, despite US administrations insisting the programme has been fully authorised.

The measures have been repeatedly approved in secret by a national security court since 2006.

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MapleLeafBlueJayBoy said:

All the major parties and networks have agreed on a two debate format. All parties but the Harper party. The networks have come back and said we are doing the debates without you.

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corksens said:

This simply isn't the case.

The Liberals have agreed - with a slew of conditions. The Conservatives have made their own. The only party actually willing to debate under the old guidelines is the NDP, to their credit.

But to paint this picture as the Conservatives being unreasonable is purposely wearing blinders.

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anne25 said:

Whatever they decide on debates, one change I want to see no talking over each other. Get a moderator who can reign in any participant who continues to gab on or butt in while others are talking.

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Ontario municipalities from Toronto to Kawartha Lakes amalgamated services in the 1990s and 2000s in an effort to become more efficient.

But a new study concludes that goal was not reached.

A study by the Fraser Institute, a public policy think-tank based in B.C., reveals the cost savings, smaller bureaucracy and lower taxes promised by consolidating of local governments have not materialized.

"In the late 1990s, the government of the day wanted to consolidate municipal governments in an effort to reduce waste and lower property taxes. While that may have been a laudable goal, it's become clear that those benefits never materialized," said Lydia Miljan, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of the study, titled Municipal Amalgamation in Ontario.

The Fraser Institute examined financial indicators from 2010-12 and determined the amalgamation efforts actually increased costs like property taxes, public sector employee compensation and long-term debt. The data suggests "there was no tangible, financial benefit from amalgamation," according to the analysis.

The study concludes that the reason for the increases was the speed in which municipalities were forced to consolidate.

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anne25 said:

I noticed the focused on just three smaller communities, but their conclusions are no big surprise. They probably could have saved time and money by just checking out how much savings were gained for the cities that amalgamated in the 1960s and 1970s.

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anne25 said:

I agree it was rushed, but the problem here was not communities demanding an increase in services, It was more that debt free communities had to take on the debt of the larger city as well as pay for services they were not getting and didn't want. As well, the new amalgamated city did not attempt to save on admin costs

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anne25 said:

Another thing that greatly added to property taxes was the change to how taxes were calculated. Changing to market value greatly increased and keeps increasing the property taxes even though there is no relationship between services received and what a person may get for their home should they ever decide to sell.

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Who do you think is the greatest president alive today?

Pretty simple question, right? Limits it to those still walking among this mortal coil, not to those who have passed into the choir eternal. Well, this simple question appears to have stumped the entire Republican presidential candidates when asked by CNN’s Chris Moody.


Jindal, Cruz, and Trump all voiced their support for Ronald Reagan.

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blacksheep said:

No need to shroud this in lies.
Hardly any communities are entirely debt free. This wasn't debt-free people having to take on new debt. That's a phoney excuse.
And what's this about paying for services that they don't get and don't want? Are you seriously trying to suggest that someone who, for example, was on a septic system because no sewers were available doesn't want the sewers he's now forced to pay for?? That's very disingenuous.
As for saving on Admin costs, how can that be done? Do you expect them to drop the wages of the city workers to match those of the smaller communities they merged with? Of course that's not fair. So the wages of the newly merged people went up to match. That was the only fair solution, and something Harris never cared about. And again, it was anticipated.



This was an issue brought up when Harris was shoving the plan down everyone's throats. He didn't care about it then, and now you claim it as part of the reason as if it was unanticipated. Any homeowner with an ounce of a brain knew this was coming down the wire, and a forced merger of towns would balloon the problem.

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