Raise the Hammer

The problem with being the government party is that they have to actually write a Budget and try to get it through the Legislature.

Last year, the government showed great courage in putting 11 revenue tools on the table as ways to pay for The Big Move. Even the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (not exactly a bunch of wild-eyed tax and spend leftists) said that "The question is no longer ‘if’, but ‘how’ to fund The Big Move."

As rational business types, the members of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce know that we don't get good things without paying for them. They endorsed two of the revenue tools as "high potential." The Ontario Chamber of Commerce endorsed Highway Tolls at 10 cents per km and an increase in Fuel Tax of 10 cents per litre.

Andrea Horwath rejected and vetoed all of them. Since NDP support was necessary to get a budget through the Legislature, that meant they were not going to be in the Budget.

What does it mean when the NDP and Andrea Horwath are more right-wing than the Ontario Chamber of Commerce?

It means that Andrea Horwath and the NDP do not support The Big Move. In particular, it means that Andrea Horwath and the NDP do not support LRT in Hamilton. They may pay lip service to The Big Move and Hamilton's LRT. But that lip service is meaningless hypocrisy without supporting the means to pay for it.

In the real world, if we want something, we've got to pay for it. Rejecting and vetoing the means to pay for The Big Move and Hamilton's LRT means that, in reality, Andrea Horwath and the NDP do not support The Big Move and Hamilton's LRT.

And this means that my wife and I just finished voting for a candidate who has consistently supported The Big Move and Hamilton's LRT. A candidate who has demonstrated that support by supporting the revenue tools to pay for it.

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2014-06-12 17:16:25