Several pots are simmering on the fire and that's a good thing. Too many cooks spoil the broth they say but when there's more than one potage it should be O.K.
Yesterday I posted a preference in the federal election. Instantly received a volley of abuse. Comical when one considers the circumstance. It's my blog. I can say what I like.
Mr.Spock wrote last night," You are the only one who believes what you write".
Why do these people log in to my blog. Several have started blogging. some with a pseudonym, some without. Guess What !!!
I don't read them.
This is my soap box. I will decide who shares it with me.
We finished the tortuous round table discussion on the budget on Tuesday.
There was a smattering of applause.
I did not join in
My home is modest. It fits in the neighbourhood. Market value has taken the assessment to slightly above average. Fixed income of Canada pension, Old Age Security and Gains is little more than $12Ks a year. Even people with private pensions are not much higher. Public sector pensions are a different
story.
I know people who are unemployed through no fault of their own at a time in their lives when it will hard to be re-employed and living on unemployment insurance and desperately hoping to find a job before the UIC runs out. I believe their income is not much better than a pension .
Their homes may be modest like mine. They may be of higher value. Light and heat are essential. You can cut down. You can't do without. A mortgage is likely. Possibly dependent children still.
This year's expense for taxes and water , only two of the essentials of living in a modest home in Aurora, will be $4562.54 That's an increase of more than $200.
Next year it will be closer to $5 Ks.
From a possible income from pensions or unemployment insurance of approximately $13Ks.
The town will purchase culture on our behalf to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars .
Platinum sponsorships of several thousand will be purchased to help provide employment for musicians of a particular genre.
$87 ks for contracts to create planting beds suitable for seeds not natural to our environment.
Hundreds of thousands for expertise on staff, plus thousands more on consultants to assist them in their labours.
Millions are planned to be spent on grandiose facilities to make room for all the employees we have and are planning to hire. Operating costs will balloon commensurately.
Salaries will continue to rise as well as being re-evaluated to cost even more.
Water meters will continue to be used to convey the impression that what you use is what you pay for
Well that's false.
User fees will continue to be waived for groups with political influence. But not for those without clout.
Heritage planning staff will be carried , while consultants are hired at $60ks a crack to protect a particular portion of town heritage at the request of a group with a foundation of three.
Fees have been paid to finance litigation by a politician against citizens, in an amount of $60 Ks.
And the beat goes on ..La...di...ya ... di...ya.
At the end, around the table, in the rarified atmosphere of the town hall , there was applause at the prospect .
I do not applaud the budget.
I understand why recipients of largesse dispensed by Council are pleased by the outcome.
Visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.
While the spectre of food bank is the lot of a growing number of others.
Gross inequity is not the basis of a just society.
Friday 8 April 2011
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