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Microcap & Penny Stocks : TGL WHAAAAAAAT! Alerts, thoughts, discussion. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Bishop who wrote (99436)	1/13/2002 11:43:29 PM
From: Rctrader2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 150070

LOL-The code of the Daytrader..Ride the winners and cut the losers...:-)eom

To: Jim Bishop who wrote (99436)	1/14/2002 12:42:16 AM
From: CIMA	Respond to of 150070

New Order of Things Still to Come to B.C. There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, 1532 After six months of B.C. Liberal administration, there should be no doubt left that this is a party intent on radically changing the face of government. The question, as always, is the one posed by Machiavelli 470 years ago: is it possible to politically survive when introducing a “new order of things?” While the early results are far from disastrous for the Liberals, a recent poll also indicates that a large segment of the public is extremely uneasy with the approach the Gordon Campbell government is taking. The Liberals’ approval rating has, in the words of pollster Ipsos-Reid, “plummeted” 22 points, from 71 percent to 49 percent, in just three months, a drop that would cause gray hair for strategists of any political stripe. Similarly, Campbell’s own approval rating fell 19 points in the same period, from 70 percent to 51 percent, in a December telephone survey of 800 British Columbians. What has to be most troubling for the Liberals is that despite talking about some very unpopular actions they may take, the new government hasn’t actually done much yet. If their approval rating can fall 22 percent before they even execute their plans, how low will they go when child protection workers are fired, environmental protection is turned over to logging and mining companies, major crown corporations are sold off, and a host of other radical moves are taken? So at the six months’ mark, it’s worth briefly looking at what the Liberals have done so far and what’s ahead. The key move, which will have the most impact on the government, was the biggest tax cut in Canadian history. The $1.5 billion personal tax reduction hastily announced in June was followed by an additional corporate tax cut of $848 million over two years. Unfortunately, Liberal claims that the tax cuts would “pay for themselves” have given way to the reality that B.C. is headed for the biggest deficit in its history, over $2 billion, as the economy tanks and government revenues dive. That has made Liberal promises to balance the budget in three years go from a short walk in the park to a lengthy death march. The “core review” process started by the Liberals has been overwhelmed by a reckless need to gut expenditures, regardless of the efficiency or importance of government programs. The list of cuts is long and varied. They have ended medical coverage for most British Columbians of chiropractic services, physiotherapy, massage therapy, naturopath, non-surgical podiatry and eye care while increasing Pharmacare user fees for prescription drugs. Parents of children with autism or disabilities face cuts of 30 percent to already under-funded services. Liberal-initiated reports have recommended privatizing B.C. Hydro and B.C. Ferries, with resulting electricity bill increases for consumers of 30 to 80 percent and higher ferry fares along with reduced service. A ban on hunting grizzly bears was lifted without a scientific review, and the government barely conceals another objective expected to be announced in January: to permit offshore oil and gas exploration near the Queen Charlotte Islands. Social housing funding is scheduled to be slashed at the same time the government rewrites landlord-tenant regulations and cuts welfare by 30 percent as it privatizes service delivery. Employment-standards rules that regulate most workplaces are to be made more “flexible” this spring by a government that sided entirely with employers in creating a new subminimum 500-hour “training wage” for those on their first job. Public-ector unions that heard Campbell promise to respect negotiated collective agreements before the election now fear they will be torn up to reduce wages and erode working conditions and eliminate successorship rights to facilitate privatization. Thousands of forest workers suffering layoffs due to the U.S. softwood-lumber tariffs now worry that the price of an agreement will be permanent dislocation and increased raw-log exports. Independent watchdogs on government like the Child, Youth and Family Advocate, the Auditor General, the Information and Privacy Commissioner, and Elections B.C., are in line for cuts of up to 45 percent, following the elimination of the Mental Health Advocate. And that’s the short version. The year ahead will show whether the B.C. Liberals can truly ignore Machiavelli’s centuries-old advice or whether their new order becomes reality. * * * * * Bill Tieleman is President of West Star Communications, whose clients include labour, business and non-profits. He is a political commentator each Thursday on CBC TV's Canada Now and regularly on CBC Radio's Early Edition. Email Tieleman at weststar@telus.net