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 Ottawa is broken. 
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Post Ottawa is broken.
Well, shit. Looks like the Canadian Government is officially broken.

A rather excellent commentary by Rick Mercer, who, by the way, would likely win majority vote in Canada should he ever create his own political party and run for PM...

I suppose we'll see in a month if the parties can actually get along to get stuff done. Hey, I'm an optimist...aren't I?

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Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:41 am
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Post Re: Ottawa is broken.
Well, you could have what we've got Fiss. Our 'Dear Leader' Dr. Gordon Brown ruling the UK and 'saving the world' with his big clunking iron fist. The Conservative opposition are a joke of a party with 'One is an ordinary chap you know!' David Cameron looking like a public school boy playing at politics. The Liberals have no chance in hell of winning and know it, resorting to making outrageous policies to gain some sort of attention; much like the drunk man in the street claiming the aliens will invade our minds with small tinned fish. Scotland wants out of the Union. The run on the £ is growing faster by the day with new record lows as I write against the $ and E. The Banks have been bailed but not nationalised and thus are free to do what they like with taxpayers money, interest rates are at record lows and expected to decrease soon. Hell, though the Eurozone is feeling just as bad even conservatives are considering joining the single currency at the rate things are going. Oh yeah, and Woolworths started a closing down sale today, with several other mainstream shopping chains predicted to go under if trends continue. Only the almighty TESCOS and other supermarkets will be left. Whoops! Can't forget the Olympics in 2010 as well...that's now £6billion over budget, at £12billion and rising.

And all through this Brown (who was not elected) continues to insist that we shall prevail under his vision. I cannot see it. The UK is on it's knees, and people are powerless to truly challenge our government on anything.

I'm not sure which I'd prefer, a government that is unchallenged, or one that can't function.

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Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:55 pm
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Post Re: Ottawa is broken.
Dark Machine wrote:
...And all through this Brown (who was not elected) continues to insist that we shall prevail under his vision.

Oh, God, tell me he didn't actually say "We shall prevail" in a stump speech - I just had a V for Vendetta flashback. :roll:

Perhaps I'm pollyanna-ish, but all I can tell you is to hold what you got (see also new sig line). If Labour is on the skids, the Tories are useless, and nobody else is stepping up, it can't last. Things will change, if for no other reason than because the government collapses utterly, and you guys have a chance to build anew. Just watch out for what they used to call the "Man on Horseback" - the Adam Susans of the world will always try to take advantage.

Worse comes to worst, and you end up having to bug out... well, if it happens, don't know about getting you over here, but I could maybe spot you some beans and bologna, and a sleeping bag on the couch until you got on your feet... Not that I think it'll come to that - just sayin' :wink:

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Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:50 pm
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Post Re: Ottawa is broken.
Thanks MJD, it means a lot to hear your wise words on mmy country's situation. I think that despite much of US not ssupporting Obama fully, his whole 'Yes we can' thing has galvanised the people and the rest of the world, at least that is my impression from over here. In the UK however, things just seem to keep getting worse, though as a student I remain largely unaffected by it currently, that lack of future job opportunities is already stinging some in my family.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what can be done about our situation, whether we should try and hoard some money, increase or decrease taxes or increase public spending (the latter two being Labour's principle policies). There was a good example set by the Swedish during the last great recession of the 30's where they got everyone off their arses to work for benefits and created thousands of new jobs by doing 'public works'. Admittedly this involved a great deal of borrowing by the government, however it is attractive to me as there is a great deal of stuff that needs fixing over here. (The train service and NHS to name just two) Fixing it requires a great deal of manpower to upgrade things like railway lines, buildings and other infrastructure and we may not have another opportunity to mobilise people en mass like this for a good while.

With a new President about to take the stand things can only be hopeful in the USA regardless of political allegiance, however here we're still subject to the same tired politics of before and there doesn't seem to be a 'can do' attitude coming from above or below.

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Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:29 pm
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Post WAS Re: Ottawa is broken.
Well, I don't pretend to be peddling wisdom (though I'm flattered that you say so :wink: ).

FWIW, from the outside looking in, I think you're right about the shortage of can-do attitude - it seems as if the average voter in the UK gets more mileage out of complaining about the government than forcing the issue, even at the town council level. Anybody who does try to force the issue, because he has no backing or allies, has his vote offset by the horde that's going with whichever candidate promises him the most bread and the flashiest circuses. They need something to get them motivated. Here, Mr. Obama seems to have hit the right combination of newness, party credentials, and showmanship to slide past the old-boy network (now, all he's gotta do is produce!) That may be tougher over there than over here - you've got a helluva lot more old-boy networking, a plethora of deeply entrenched jobsworths and empire-builders in the civil service, and a huge bloc of voters wedded to their bread-and-circuses - all of whom are going to fight like bastards to protect their personal rice bowls from any reformer. In other words, "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim." :P

The good news is, if you can get that average voter motivated, you can get a reformer in (word of warning - he'll have to have a majority, because if he has to form a coalition, he's much more vulnerable to the jackass who forces a vote of confidence because his rice bowl is endangered). And, believe me, however tough it might be, it's much easier to get your country back at the ballot box than at the dustbin, fishing broken pieces of country out of the rubbish.

I understood (if I'm not mistaken) that the Swedes also had to retool their social programs in the 90s, after their real estate bubble burst. You folks (and we) may have to do that, as well (and it's going to hurt, but not as much as going completely broke will).

As I said, FWIW - but keep looking for a way to get it done in spite of the bastards.

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"Tough times don't last. Tough people do."

"You have the rest of your life to solve your problems. How long you live depends on how well you do it."

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Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:01 pm
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