A Nation Of Roads.

There'sNoMusicLikeDIY
MusicVille

The Left Coast's best kept musical secret, Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray is/are getting ready to head out on the road once more.

They've upgraded from their little Honda Element to a real touring van and this summer they are using Road Nation to help crowd-fund this summer's tour.

Unfortunately for Lotuslandians they won't be going north of California so it's not possible help fund a show here this time around.

But have no fear because they have some pretty cool stuff you can invest in to help get them on their way anyway.

And in trying to choose, I first kibbitzed a bit with Yuma on the Twittmachine about getting a guitar rig consult but, in the end, decided I don't have enough pedals yet so I bought something else instead.

And that was before I moved down to the end side of the list towards the more pricey items and started laughing my head off when I saw the following:

Which is not the first time I've heard about this indy-band aversion to the Avett Brothers rip-off.

But, heckfire...That doesn't stop me and mine from doing it.

In fact, here is Bigger E and her friend Yuval down in the Montreal Metro from a while back:

That one always makes me smile.

But then again, what do I know - I'm just an old guy who doesn't get out on the road near often enough.

Ha!

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Anti-Think Tank Thinking About...The Minimum Wage.

The(ThreeQuartersOfA)Buck
StoppedThereVille

So.

What happened when Harry Truman almost doubled the American minimum wage back in the days of yore?

Well, as any thinky-tanked institute living off the fat of the wingnuttian welfare calf won't (under any circumstances) tell you, unemployment went...

...Down:

"One of the arguments against raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour today to $15 an hour over five years is that the United States has never had an increase that large. There is solid research to show that modest increases in the minimum help low-wage workers without harming low-wage employers. But there is no similarly rigorous research on the effects of large increases.

There is, however, the example of 1950, when the minimum wage went from 40 cents an hour to 75 cents an hour, an increase of 87.5 percent....

{snip}

... In December 1949, the month before the raise kicked in, the national unemployment rate was 6.6 percent. By December 1950, when the 75-cent minimum had been in place for nearly a year, it had fallen to 4.3 percent. By December 1951, it was 3.1 percent and by December 1952, it was 2.7 percent.

The higher minimum may not have caused the improvement, but it clearly was part and parcel of it..."

Theresa Fitch, NYT Editors' Blog

Feb 16/16

Imagine that!


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This Day In Clarkland...The Return Of The Old Turdstormer.

OfBarns'N
SpittleVille


Firstly, a wee reminder just in case you've forgotten where the moniker came from in days of yore (i.e. before the last provincial election):

And with that, let's return to the present, with an assist by Mr. Smyth in today's Province:

...As for liquefied natural gas, (Dipper finance critic Bruce) Ralston said the NDP is against the Pacific Northwest LNG project because of environment concerns at that particular site.

That doesn’t mean the NDP is opposed to LNG in principle, he said, adding the party supports the Shell-backed LNG project near Kitimat.

“That’s a brownfield industrial site,” Ralston said. “It has both federal and provincial environmental approval and is strongly supported by First Nations and by the community.

“That’s one that we would like to see go ahead.”

But Energy Minister Bill Bennett scoffs at that, pointing out the NDP promised a “scientific review” of fracking, the controversial method of extracting natural gas for LNG production.

“How can you support LNG but not support fracking?” Bennett said. “You can’t have LNG unless you have the natural gas.”

But wait. The NDP said they’re not opposed to fracking; they just want to make sure it’s not poisoning B.C. groundwater.

Bennett scoffs again.

“We know fracking is safe,” he said. “There have been all kinds of studies done. The drilling of gas in this province is so deep, we know it doesn’t affect groundwater.”...


Leopard, spots (turd coloured or not) and all that I suppose.


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And in other not-news...Don't know about you but, despite the best attempts by the usual suspects, I can feel the Lotuslandian proMedia turning against bald-faced Clarklandian codswallop a degree or seven...More on that later.


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The Keef Report...At Least He Didn't Call Her A 'Community Organizer'.

Link

So.

What was this one all about, Alfie?

Well...

Laila, after receiving a tip from someone on the ground, asked the Twittosphere if anybody knew anything about the composition of the reported 'long lines', and whether or not anyone had been paid to stand in them, at Site C jobs fairs up north.

This led to a whole lot of back and forth that involved the skepticism of the good Mr. Baldrey and the Alaska Highway News' Jonny Wakefield.

None of which I have any problem with.

What I do find bothersome, however, is the ad hominem dismissal of anything that Ms. Yuile has to say about Site 'C' because she is an 'activist'.

Oh, and, for the record....

Please note precisely what Mr. Wakefield had to say to Mr. Baldrey after he went full-metal Keef.


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'Community Organizer'?....Well....You know.
Previous Keef Reports can be found...Here.

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This Day In Clarkland...Who Is Really Paying For The Budget 'Surplus'?

InequalityAs
PolicyVille



Paul Willcocks, writing in The Tyee, has crunched the numbers and has come up with the answers you most definitely have not seen in the rest of the Lotuslandian proMedia.

Here is is Mr. Willcock's lede, but I highly recommend you click through and read the entire thing:

Christy Clark likes talking about B.C.'s low taxes.

But since she's been premier, a fairly typical retired couple has seen their provincial taxes increase by 19 per cent.

A low-income family with two children has faced an even larger increase, paying 20 per cent more in provincial taxes since Clark's first budget in 2012. That's an increase of 4.6 per cent a year, more than twice the inflation rate.

There is nothing wrong with higher taxes, if they're equitable and the money helps build a stronger society.

But Clark falls down badly on equity, according to this week's budget documents.

While seniors getting by on modest pensions and low-income families have faced 20 per-cent tax hikes, their more affluent neighbours have pretty much escaped tax increases...



Your move Mess'rs Mason, Palmer, Smyth and Baldrey.

Because if you want to stop moaning about how the public just doesn't care, the time for columns  containing real, sustained umbrage is now.

OK?



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And yes, the sub-header is all Paul's...
Also, here is his original Tweet that started the ball rolling... 
Update Friday Afternoon....And then there is Norm Farrell's analysis...Please note the little nugget about BC Hydro.


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This After Day In Budget Land...The Cookie Dough Economy!

AndHereWeThoughtItWasJustThePremierWhoSays
AnythingVille



From the lede of the usually not gullible Brett Jang's budget follow-up piece in The Globe:

...(T)he B.C. government said Tuesday that strength in manufacturing, retailing, technology, trade and film will help propel a diverse economy.

Population growth and a tourism boom will also contribute to the outlook for prosperous times, said B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong...


Now.

We get the low dollar and subsidy-assisted 'film' thing.

And we can see that there is a little bit of tech thing happening (which we would argue pales in comparison to microbrewing which, of course, the Clarklandians are doing their best to crush like a bug given, at least in part in my opinion, the wants and desires of the pay-to-play crowd).

But 'manufacturing', 'retailing' and 'trade'?

Where the heck did that come from?

Hmmmmm....

Is it possible that Mr. de Jong was referring to the manufacturing, retail sale and export of his burgeoning cookie concern.

Or some such thing.


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Of course, what is truly telling is what 'the BC Government' and Mr. de Jong did NOT name as drivers of the provincial economy. 
Gosh I love blog archives....Yesterday it was BC Mary's old place...Today it was former journalist (now professor) Holman's hangout emporium.


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This Day In Clarkland...Tweetle Dee And Tweetle Dumb.

Link

Words escape me.


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There will always be, however.....This.




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The Day I Almost Agreed Entirely With Mr. Mason Of The Globe.

SometimesEvenTheObviousIsWorth
RepeatingVille


In his latest column in The Globe, Mr. Mason takes the Clarklandians to task for treating struggling British Columbians like crap.

Here are a few of those takes:

...There was lots of money, for instance, for those wanting to purchase a house – tax breaks of up to $13,000 – but little for those for whom the idea of ever owning a home will remain a dream...

...The government could find $100-million to put in some phony prosperity fund, a pre-election gimmick of the first rank, and yet could find only enough money to give those on disability assistance less than $20 a week more to make do. It is barely a nudge of a rate that has been frozen, unconscionably, since 2007 at $906.00 a month...

...The increase in disability assistance will be partly cancelled out for about 55,000 people who are losing government-provided transit passes worth about $55 a month. Some will be losing other transportation subsidies as well. (I mean, if you didn’t take this stuff away you’d be spoiling these people!)...

...What help was there for people who can’t find a place to rent in Vancouver because the focus of civic and provincial governments is on building condos that make developers rich and put money into the coffers of those same civic and provincial governments? What help was there for young people whose minimal, service-industry wages have stagnated while facing rent increases of 2 per cent to 4 per cent annually?...



None of which is anything that those few British Columbians who have been doing all the heavy lifting themselves to find out what is actually going on can disagree with, I reckon.

But after all the takes and examples were done with came the bit in Mr. Mason's column that I cannot disagree with more:

...(T)he Opposition can rail on in the legislature about how horrible it all is, and columnists can take great umbrage over what is happening, but sadly not much will change...


Why do I disagree?


Because there is no evidence that columnists have taken 'great umbrage over what is happening' in any concerted way whatsoever.

And why does this matter?

Because if they did I am almost certain that British Columbians everywhere (i.e. not just the heavy lifters) would come understand what is going on.

And if that were to happen they would demand change.

So....

With that said, I look forward to Mr. Mason's (and his colleagues) numerous follow-up columns in which he (and they) lay things out in great detail for all to see so that he (and they), and his (and their) readers can take great umbrage.

Repeatedly.

OK?


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While Mr. Mason's column laid out excellent examples of how Clarklandian spending priorities are treating the struggling like crap he only barely nudged up against the flipside, which is the increasing unfairness of the revenue collection side of the equation (even without the HST).


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This Day In Clarkland...The Principal Of The Poverty Principle.

MathIs
HardVille


First lets have a look, once again, at that propaganda graphic that was being promulgated by the usual suspects on the Twittmachine just as the Clarklandians were releasing their budget yesterday:

Next, lets have a look at what the poverty principal of British Columbia had to say to the pom-pom wavers earlier today courtesy Shane Woodford of CKNW:

Finally, let's peruse a revised version of the graph with  MSP premiums added (that's the hard math part, courtesy Univ of Calgary enconomist Trevor Tombe):

Do you see what I see on those blue bars (curious colour choice that, eh?) at the lower end of the income scale now?


Question is, will anyone in the Lotusdandian proMedia have the non-regressive fortitude to call the principal on it?



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And, yes, apparently math (or something like it) is just not simple enough for the Edinburgh- and Sorbonne-educated principal to even begin to consider dealing with her regressive actions...Or some such thing.
Update, 6pm Wednesday...And, right on cue, here comes Mr. Smyth of the Province smirking behind his hand but refusing to call out the Principal for her true principles (or lack thereof).
Updatier, 9pm Wednesday...And then, of course, there's The Keef.  
Updatiest, 8am Thursday...Mr. Mason of The Globe actually does a pretty good job of taking the gov't to task for treating the struggling amongst us like crap, but only on the spending end.


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The Keef Report...Stand-Up Press Gallery Guy.

Sure glad to hear that Mr. Baldrey did that then and, it would appear, is doing it now for the good Mr. Levant and his most collegial colleagues.

But...

I, for one, do not remember Mr. Baldrey and his colleagues making a fuss when a local group of proMedia types that constituted a thing called the 'Supreme Court Media Accrediation Committee' refused to give a blogger/citizen journalist named Robin Mathews press credentials so that he could do crazy stuff like take a tape recorder to the Railgate courtroom to ensure an accurate transcription of the events there.

Instead, I seem to clearly recall Mr. Baldrey kibbtzing with a fellow Lotuslandian proMedia member on the (even then notso) Giant '98 about how bloggers covering Railgate were cultists.

Imagine that!



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Interestingly, if you click on through to the thread below Mr. Baldrey's tweet you will get to see him kibbitz once again with his partner in cult accusations from days gone by.
And just who, exactly, constituted the 'Committee' refered to above?...Well, click on through to BC Mary's wonderful archive for a gander to 'Get Smart(er)!' with passel of fine folks, including one who is most definitely no longer a kid in the hall.



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This Day In Clarkland...How To Take The Boom And The Bust Out Of Gov't Revenues.

MakeThePeoplePay
AndTellThemTheyAren'tVille


A number of very fine folks that periodically dart out of their hidey-holes, almost as if on cue, were gleeful as they tweeted-up the following Alberta dissing tax graph yesterday:

Which, of course is fiction when you realize the following 'non-tax' aggregate revenue number, as noted by Mr Willcocks in what, in my opinion, was the Tweet of Budget Day (and which appeared well before the Opposition noted the same thing):

So, with that in mind...

There is the fiction of the graph, which we're sure Lotuslandian proMedia members will continue to ignore from now until at least June 1st 2017.

But there is also something else to consider here.

Which is that the backs of rank and file British Columbians that are being continuously being gouged for MSP (and more!) will never take a powder like the Oil, Gas, Mining and Logging Co's. when the going gets tough.

And/or demand massive subsidies on mass if they don't.

Disappear for the duration of the hard times, I mean.

Which also means that things like the MSP Mass Gouge removes that old boom and bust problem that governments around here used to have to live with (and budget for).

The proof of that, in case you are doubtful of such an analysis can be found in the $100 LNG Prosperity Fund pudding pop that pretty much matches in dollar number the extra MSP revenues that will be collected this coming year.

Imagine that!



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U of Calgary Economics guy Trevor Tombe redrew graph above after adding in MSP....Here. (note, does not include other usurious user fees).


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This Day In Clarkland...The Great MSP Swindle.

WhenTheSwindleBecomesFact
PrintTheSwindleVille



Kudos to Steve Lus of the MoCo for really calling the swindle what it is by pointing out that while low-to-middle income single parent families will get a break, the following much larger group of British Columbians will, instead, be hammered even more:

- Couples earning over $45,000 pay additional $240 annually.
- Senior couples earning over $51,000 pay additional $240.
- Single adults earning over $42,000 pay additional $36.
- Couples earning over $51,000, with two children, pay additional $72.
 

And don't forget that senior couples making $51,001 will pay exactly the same amount of extra dough as an elderly couple earning $520,001.

All of which is bad enough, but here is the real kicker in the Clarklandian swindle:

...The government forecasts it will collect an additional $124 million in MSP premiums next year...


Gosh.

That little $124,000,000 nugget newly clawed out of already heavily scarred user fee flogged backs of British Columbians will actually pay for the fake Sparkle Pony Fund in its entirety (with a little left over for a Bogus Bollywood Bonanza II, of course).

Imagine that!


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This Day In Budgetland...Spot The Awesome!

And, yes, for those who need a memory jog, the His Awesomeness' given name does, indeed, rhyme with 'Mary'.

And, given that....

Wonder if any young whipper snapper in the Press Gallery thought to ask the pre-Clarklandian Environment Minister what he thinks of Shawnigan Lake's 'Lot 21' situation?




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What's it all about Alfie?....Well...This!


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What's That Huge Sucking Sound Coming From The Empty Sparkle Pony Corral?

MaybeTheyCouldGetExxonAndTheGhostOfEnronToBuyThe
EntireNorthernHalfOfTheProvinceForASongVille


We who have been reading Norm Farrell's stuff know all about the massive subsidies that the Clarklandians have been giving to the oil and gas industry and how few jobs British Columbians have received in return.

And now?

Well, this, from Jonny Wakefield of the Alaska Highway News:

B.C. is on course to post some of its lowest oil and gas revenues in recent memory after another lacklustre land sale.

The province brought in $548,187 in its September oil and gas land auction, an improvement over recent months but anemic compared to the $25 million pulled in this time last year...



Gosh.

Would'a thunk it.


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As for the subheader? All is historically explained, kinda/sorta....Here. 



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Marco Rubio....Lotuslandian!

WeSpeakSpanish
Don'tWeVille



A wee catch by Joel Connelly of the Seattle PI:

A Marco Rubio reprise on the famous 1984 Ronald Reagan "It's Morning in America" TV spot has generated a blooper to remember.

The Rubio spot features a shot of the Vancouver, British Columbia , waterfront...



The MoCo has more, here.

Lotusland appears right at the beginning of the actual ad video, which will most surely soon be taken down. You can find it, here. 



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