Archives for November 2009

From a recent report compiled by Frank  Holmes, from US Global, we can see the size difference in economic terms between Canada and the United States.  Mr.Holmes checked the U.S. National Debt clock on Wednesday morning, November 25, noting a series of numbers, then returned on Friday, November 27, noting the changes that had occurred. It’s an interesting read:

The U.S. Federal Reserve printed more than $10 billion in new money, or more than $200 million an hour during the period.

The national debt grew by almost $10 billion, with each U.S. taxpayer share going up by $65.00 to $110,781.

The federal budget deficit rose by $9 billion in those 2 days.

Total unfunded liabilities shot up almost $30 billion to $106.3 trillion, or $345,088 per citizen.

More than $5 billion went out for Medicare/Medicaid, $4 billion in social security benefits, $3.6 billion for national defense and war efforts in Iraq and Afganistan.

$2 billion in interest payments were made on the national debt.

On the plus side, GDP grew by nearly $200 billion, or $1600 per worker, and about $40 billion in value was added to total national assets during those 2 days.

About $4 billion in private debt was paid down, mostly mortgages, with over $1 billion in personal debt retired, along with $700 million in credit card debt. Personal savings climbed by over $1 billion.

To watch it unfold up close go to: www.usdebtclock.org

The current debt in the U.S. is around $12 trillion dollars, and rising fast.

     Most everybody has heard “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” It works for the ambitious among us, those that understand about being personally responsible for their actions and their lives. For the rest, there’s government, and it mostly gets spending. Whether times are good or bad, government spends. Unfortunately when the economy hits a rough spot, and goes into a spin, the politicians panic. We have perfect examples of this here in Canada, and in the United States. Trillions of dollars are being spent to prop up both countries.

     The problem is the government just doesn’t know what to do, and that’s partly because many people don’t know either. We are full of special interest groups, with hands out,  begging for subsidies, grants and whatever else they can get for free. Lobbyists have developed careers around cajoling bureaucrats for money. When you add legacy ministries who, after spending years vaporizing billions of tax dollars, and convincing themselves and a large percentage of the population that they are doing a good job, it’s a disaster. They don’t know any better. The easiest thing to do is keep the cash flowing any way possible. Print it or borrow it, doesn’t matter, just get it into the hands of the voters. They want it and need it, and if we don’t give it to them, well, in Canada anyway, there might be a few nasty letters to ignore.

     So we are wallowing around in a pig pen full of short term financial bailouts and the slop is getting deeper. In fact, so deep that on Sunday, November 22, the Canadian debt is going to reach one half trillion dollars. That’s $500 billion worth of obligations on the wrong side of the balance sheet. According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, our debt is increasing by $153 million a day. Interest expense is $84 million per day. Imagine if your personal finances were going down hill at $153.00 a day, and your cost of interest to your bank was $84.00 per day. What would you do?  Try and make it an even $200.00? Probably not.

     Unfortunately the politicians don’t think like we do. They don’t have to. The citizens have provided a backstop since taxes were invented and the only thing that will stop a politician in his tracks is fear of voters. A very large group of voters, angry and frustrated. It’s really the only way we can stop them. One at a time, we are useless. They’ve learned to write nice letters thanking us for our concerns and opinions, and promising to look into whatever it is we are upset about. Then it’s back to business as usual. But when a large enough group arrives on their desk in the form of a petition, accompanied by the news media asking a lot of questions, the fear returns. It scares the hell out of them. Their excuses and long winded blather doesn’t stand up against the truth.

     In the case of our debt and what it’s going to do to our future and our kids future, we need to do something now. One of our allies as voters is the aforementioned Canadian Taxpayers Federation. They are a small group of dedicated individuals exposing government waste and incompetence on a daily basis. I encourage everyone to go to http://www.debtclock.ca .  Read the facts, fill out the petition and send a link to as many friends as you have. It’s fast and easy just like a politician and one of the best ways we have to fight back.

https://votersconcerns.com

   The Government of the Northwest Territories recently posted an ad for this position in a national Canadian newspaper. The job description is an eight page document, filled with language fit to warm the hearts of bureaucrats everywhere.

     The incumbent will “develop, interpret, and disseminate,”  “provide continuing and effective representation”, “play a critical role”, and understand that “results are extremely focused.”  In addition, although “no positions report to this position, the incumbent does exercise managerial and supervisory skills when providing direction to the stats.analyst,  the stats. administrator,  to the survey manager, and to casuals (summer students). “Human relation skills are critical to this position.” 

     “Physical demands: Not a factor.” “Environment Conditions: Not a factor.” “Sensory demands: Close attention required…”. “Mental Demands: Position works to strict deadlines, routinely involved in several complex and varied projects, requires prioritization of work to meet competing pressures”.

     All great stuff if you’re a numbers junkie, and love statistics and their exciting formation and evolution. Granted, we do need to know certain things about the general population for planning purposes. 

     Businesses do this kind of research all the time. Unfortunately, so do governments. In this case, its clear the cost is huge.  The social stats. person reports to a stats. manager, and has up to three people plus students below the position. The renumeration for this starts at $46.93 per hour, or about $91,514.00 per year, plus $3450.00 in Northern Allowance. Presumeably the others in the group would be paid similar amounts, so it’s not hard to imagine total payroll for this endeavour could easily exceed a quarter million dollars a year. 

     The total population of the Northwest Territories is 43,000.  Its economy is primarily government administration, although the discovery of diamonds has had some impact on “real taxes being paid”.  Most of the money received by the GNWT comes from Ottawa and the federal government as grants in lieu, as the tax base is very small. It’s easy to see how creation in Ottawa, causes creation in all the provinces and territories, regardless of actual value, necessity or cost.  

     Just how many times a year do you have to count 43,000 people?

www.votersconcerns.com