[Newsbot]

Title: Feds to reduce growth in defence spending
Category: Political
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2010-03-04 18:30:38
Canadian

[bootlegga]

More proof that the Conservatives aren't any that much than the Liberals at defence spending.

Whenever a deficit needs to disappear, the CF is ALWASYs the first department hit, because it is the biggest, not because one party hates them, as so many Conservative supporters seem to think.

[DerbyX]

But Boots, the conservatives LOVE the military and the Liberals HATE the military. We are told that very thing on this forum daily. I think the nasty Libs must have somehow forced Harper to slash the defence budget through some shady backroom deal right?

[2Cdo]

DerbyX DerbyX:

But Boots, the conservatives LOVE the military and the Liberals HATE the military. We are told that very thing on this forum daily. I think the nasty Libs must have somehow forced Harper to slash the defence budget through some shady backroom deal right?

Now where exactly did they slash it? Oh, they are merely slowing down the increases, not actually cutting their budget. Nice try though.

[DerbyX]

If you aren't worried about Harper cutting spending then I won't either. Sound fair to you?

[commanderkai]

So...they're reducing future growth? You know, it's interesting...I've seen people rail on Harper for both trying to spend and trying to cut. I guess that's just politics, though, right?

[2Cdo]

DerbyX DerbyX:

If you aren't worried about Harper cutting spending then I won't either. Sound fair to you?

I think cutting spending is an excellent idea, and there are a lot of programs that could use it, including DND. But the truth is that DND will still see increases in their budget, just not at the previously projected level.

[DerbyX]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

DerbyX DerbyX:

If you aren't worried about Harper cutting spending then I won't either. Sound fair to you?

I think cutting spending is an excellent idea, and there are a lot of programs that could use it, including DND. But the truth is that DND will still see increases in their budget, just not at the previously projected level.

Except that when he announced that spending the comments were "Finally much needed money after the Liberal cuts" to which Boots and I diligently pointed out that he was mearly following the same spending curve Martin established. Now he is dropping that curve below what Martin established and funny enough there is nothing like the hate comments he got.

Like I said before. If the military and/or conservatives aren't concerned about the funding reduction Harper has announced (not to mention the reality that there is every reason to believe they won't be larger since their deficit "estimates" kept increasing) then I won't be concerned either.

Just don't expect to be able to complain when the Liberals do it.

[DerbyX]

commanderkai commanderkai:

So...they're reducing future growth? You know, it's interesting...I've seen people rail on Harper for both trying to spend and trying to cut. I guess that's just politics, though, right?

Yep. The Liberals were also in a damned if you do, damned if you don't position. I'd rather they raise taxes then reduce needed spending.

[saturn_656]

I'm concerned, there are many things that the government spends money on that are far less deserving of tax dollars than the CF.

[2Cdo]

DerbyX DerbyX:

commanderkai commanderkai:

So...they're reducing future growth? You know, it's interesting...I've seen people rail on Harper for both trying to spend and trying to cut. I guess that's just politics, though, right?

Yep. The Liberals were also in a damned if you do, damned if you don't position. I'd rather they raise taxes then reduce needed spending.

We don't need to raise taxes but we should be working on reducing government bloat. Both parties are guilty of this, and should quit looking at the taxpayer as an ATM machine with no withdrawl limit.

[DerbyX]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

We don't need to raise taxes but we should be working on reducing government bloat. Both parties are guilty of this, and should quit looking at the taxpayer as an ATM machine with no withdrawl limit.

Lemmy says exactly the same thing. Quite frankly everybody thinks that. Not everybody agrees on what is bloat and what isn't. My company is grossly guilty of what I consider wasteful spending. The vendors who supply us are guilty. For instance they needlessly include a rather large reagent specs guide inside every single reagent pack (kinda like pamphlet inside each and every box of bullets). Not only is it useless and ultimately harmful to the environment but it adds to the cost of every single blood test we do and ultimately to health care dollars.

My bosses even agree but does anything get done? I doubt other companies are much different. I fear it is next to impossible for a government.

[2Cdo]

DerbyX DerbyX:

2Cdo 2Cdo:

We don't need to raise taxes but we should be working on reducing government bloat. Both parties are guilty of this, and should quit looking at the taxpayer as an ATM machine with no withdrawl limit.

Lemmy says exactly the same thing. Quite frankly everybody thinks that. Not everybody agrees on what is bloat and what isn't. My company is grossly guilty of what I consider wasteful spending. The vendors who supply us are guilty. For instance they needlessly include a rather large reagent specs guide inside every single reagent pack (kinda like pamphlet inside each and every box of bullets). Not only is it useless and ultimately harmful to the environment but it adds to the cost of every single blood test we do and ultimately to health care dollars.

My bosses even agree but does anything get done? I doubt other companies are much different. I fear it is next to impossible for a government.

Nothing is impossible but Canadians have to get out of the mindset of having our government do our thinking for us. The redundancy within government is astronomical and needs us, the taxpayers, to say NO MORE. Cutting the excess at all levels of government would save billions of dollars every single year.

[bootlegga]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

DerbyX DerbyX:

But Boots, the conservatives LOVE the military and the Liberals HATE the military. We are told that very thing on this forum daily. I think the nasty Libs must have somehow forced Harper to slash the defence budget through some shady backroom deal right?

Now where exactly did they slash it? Oh, they are merely slowing down the increases, not actually cutting their budget. Nice try though.

Too bad it was that 'growth' that was going to pay for all the new hardware our guys need (JSS, destroyers, frigates, fighters, etc). You can say that spending isn't being cut, but of course it is. The Canada First plan outlined defence spending at certain levels so it could pay for procuring major new systems, yet now those purchases are going to be pushed back even farther.

Essentially, it's cutting procurement again, which is exactly what the Liberals did.

In a decade when our navy still has no new ships and our air force is still flying fighters from the '80s, will Liberal supporters get to complain about the 'decade of darkness' brought on by a lack of procurement? Or is that only a Conservative talking point?