Wondering about politics?

[blackjack]

...one thing coppertop you do give me some chuckles...the little pork bellies are not just sitting on their butts waiting for their cabinet post...i imagine they're doing it out of the kindness of their hearts...lol

[WildwoodsDoc]

The message is clear. If you don't stand for anything, you stand for nothing. Nothing will be done. Hopefully more folk will get out and vote on the 2nd try. We must not forget that the new premier should be someone who will work well with Prime Minister Harper. True, keep more Alberta money here, need more to support the influx of more people. This is a happening province. Attitudes of no voting, mean no thinking, or just plain lacking in I.Q. levels. Yes,picking our new leader really does matter in what happens down the road.

[wilagro]

Sounds like another rabid fan of Morton...

[kpb]

It's fascinating to me how the opponents of Morton sound so much like the Libs in the federal election. I mean how do you get a "rabid supporter" out of those comments? Geez anyone who disagrees with you is rabid?

And coppertop, I'm trying to retain my respect for you but you are also adopting the Martin-Lib tactics. Just because people voted for Norris, Oberg or Hancock in the first go-round does not in any way shape or form mean they will vote for honest Ed. My wife and I are not and we both voted for Hancock.

And why are you so fixated on where Morton was born? You're starting to sound like that loony Lib from eastern Canada who has some sort of hate thing for Americans. Do you seriously have a racial bias against Americans or what?

And this business about doctors working in the private sector. Morton has been very clear several times, as I'm sure you know, that doctors would be required to work a minimum number of hours in the public system as well as the private. So it's not a matter of choosing one or the other.

What bothers me the most about your comments is that I'm sure you know all this and are just playing to people's fears--just like the federal Libs. It's shameful really and I would have thought beneath you. All it really reflects is the precarious nature of your candidate's campaign, I think.

I think it most unlikely that any Albertans anywhere will respond well to a collection of mud slinging and fear mongering.

kpb

[coppertop]

thanks kpb, not only has ivebin called me a bigot, now you call me a loony.. because I am concerned for the future of our health care system, I do not want to see a premier elected on an issue like same sex marriage which is a federal issue.....if that makes me a loony, then there were lots of other loony's last week and I am sure there will be lots more tomorrow. Interesting that our Deputy Premier endorsed both Ed and Dinning, but did not endorse Morton......is she loony too ? If so, she has done a pretty good job of covering it up during a long and distinguished political career.

[kpb]

well coppertop I did not call you a loony--I said you were starting to sound like a loony Lib--that does not make you a loony. Yet, lol.

Your last post was the best you've posted in a while because you articulated an issue that is important to you in this leadership selection. Fair enough.

I respect that and you and if you stick to actual policies that bother you about Morton and Dinning and tell me the actual policies that Ed stands for I think the whole discussion would be a lot better and more instructive.

I respect your opinion and, like I said, I think it is beneath you to slang Morton for his American beginnings or by putting out misleading information about his health care platform. If you disagree with his real platform--not a bogeyman made up version--then lets hear it. But please, no more if Ted gets in we'll have no public sector doctors. I mean I know you don't seriously believe that. He's proposed one solution to our health care woes--to disagree with that stance is fine and good but surely we can move beyond wilfull misinterpretation of someone's platform and into honest discussion of the merits of an argument? Is that too much to ask?

We have lots of things we need to improve in this province and country. It's depressing to see people who belong to the same political party, for god's sake, resorting to mud slinging based on where a candidate originated. If we can't get beyond that and get into a real discussion about the merits of the various platforms then I guess there really is no hope of making meaningful change.

kpb

[blackjack]

...i don't know if anyone of you were listening to dinning this afternoon on the radio ...there was a fellow that asked about the transfer payments albertan's send to ottawa...his answer was not one that i had ever heard... ottawa does not collect transfer payments from the govt of alberta... the only thing that comes from alberta is the corporate and individual tax that all citizen of all provinces pay...he basically said most other politicians don't have a clue what they're talking about...when it comes to these transfer payments...does that mean klein was drinking too much over the last few years when he was talking about these payments...

[wilagro]

YES...he may have been drunk...but who knows with Ralph.

[coppertop]

kpb, I don't know how long you have been a member of the PC party. I have worked for and been a member for many years, and certainly have not been happy with some of the things that the PC government has done, but am very pleased with others. We have a booming economy in Alberta, we have encouraged business, have excellent universities, and our health care is not all that bad considering the huge growth our province has seen.

If Morton does become premier, it is going to be interesting to see how he implements his plans for private health care, when Klein tried it twice and public pressure forced him to back down.

I know one thing for sure that he will NOT do away with the RCMP, he will never get caucus approval so he may as well forget about it, until he has a like minded caucus.

Making promises and getting the job done are two different things, that is why I have admired Ed's approach. The only dollar and cents promise he made is to provide municipalities with an annual grant equal to the school portion of their taxes. He has made no other monetary promise.

I will relate an issue that happened in our municipality. The first council after the municipalty was incorporated had to develop all the bylaws, get landfill, ambulance,seniors housing etc. agreements in place etc. They worked many long hours and of course were paid honorariums for their time.

There was a group of people in the community that didn't believe councillors should have the odd meal paid for, or be paid to drive their car to town for meetings etc. They recruited a group of hotshots to run in the next election and most of them were elected.

Within six weeks of the election they fired all the senior administration of the county, put the assistant administrators in their place, and proceeded to sell off equipment, pave roads past their homes etc.

When I was elected we had one heck of a mess to clean up, the first being administration that was inexperienced, afraid of their shadow and certainly not equipped for the positions they held in many cases. There was so much mistrust in the public that people came in every month to obtain copies of our expense claims to make sure we weren't living too high on the hog...all in all it was not an environment conduisive to good decision making. It took a long time to regain the trust of the staff, we had to hire a new administrator, staff in finance, planning etc. The point I am making is that sometimes things are not as bad as people make them out to be, and huge change without thought for the long term sometimes does not work out in the best interest of the majority of the people, who unfortunately never bother to vote in the first place !!

[cowman]

coppertop: With all due respect you play the fear mongering game? Ted Morton acknowledged very clearly that gay marriage was a federal responsibility and what he was proposing in bill 208 was protection for teachers and marriage commisioners to not be forced to violate their personal rights...by being forced to teach or marry the gay agenda?
An example: Your local preacher/priest refuses to marry a same sex couple. He is brought before a human rights tribunal for discrimination! Is that right? Did you know many Anglican priests refuse to marry divorced people and I think that is pretty standard procedure for Catholic priests, too? And now they are going to be forced to marry gays!
Bill 208 is about tolerance. Tolerance for people with religious convictions to not be forced to break those convictions? Period!...and I think you knew that...?
Wildwoods: I knew I spelled the word wrong. As I get older my spelling ability gets worse! I shouldn't have been so lazy and looked it up! It was not meant to be derogatory or anthing like that.

[cakadu]

Has anybody said that we should be making changes to school curriculum? It also seems to me that if you are a devout Catholic and/or Anglican, you need to get a special dispensation to be married again in the eyes of the church, not the law, but the church. Not everyone gets married in the church, or by clergy. There are marriage commissioners and those ordained clergy that will marry you. Marriage in a church does not guarantee marital success, especially when you take a look at our divorce rate.

Quite frankly, I have never seen the issue with same sex marriage, despite having been married for many years myself. To each his own.

Whatever happened to tolerance and acceptance?

[coppertop]

Bill208 would have passed but died on the order paper due to a filibuster by the Liberals. Conservatives would have supported it so I don't think Ted Morton was some poor waif all alone trying to save the marriage commissioners and Priests of the province.He put the bill forward but knew darn well he had the support of his caucus before doing so.