Sunday, April 8, 2012

The spin on pensions continues

The Globe and Mail, believes that "it’s not a given the Conservatives will lose on this issue as the debate matures." The editorial goes on to state, "they are at least now sticking to their main point: Unchanged, the current system will eventually eat up an unprecedented amount of tax money." and that the OAS policy announced this week might be the single best thing the Harper government will ever do for younger Canadians.

The readers comment about this article have some interesting ideas, I found very few of them support this legislation. So no matter how the mains stream media tries to to spin the changing of the OAS rules, most Canadains are not buying the line and the spin is not working . Here are a few of the readers comments from the Globe story:

These statements are false according to many trustworthy sources
Spin, Spin, Spin ....... Harper has the best spinmeisters in the world. Tell a lie often enough and people believe it to be the truth

People in their 40s and younger are double-hosed by this policy. First, their tax dollars pay for two years of benefits for people over 55 that they won't receive. Second, as the younger ones get towards the end of their careers, they won't be able to move into the highest echelons because of the large numbers of boomers staying in those high end jobs longer

Raising the OAS eligibility age will hurt the most vulnerable--low-income seniors and low-income workers who are not able to save during their work lives. Denying them a pension for an extra two years will force many to choose between necessary medications, food, and keeping a roof over their heads.

As to actuarial "necessity", we are only talking about a temporary bump in increased demand on tax revenue to pay for OAS. According to government figures, the OAS as a percentage of GDP for 2011 was 2.4%. That figure is projected to jump to 3.2% in 2030 before dipping below 3% in subsequent decades—2.9% in 2040, 2.6% in 2050, and 2.4% in 2060.

Using a temporary situation as an excuse to permanently cut government support for citizens may be acceptable to conservative ideologues--even if it does inflict severe hardship on the most vulnerable seniors--but it is not good government.

We had a friends and family party last evening with this as a big topic. All 163 of us, who voted PC last May said we will never trust them again. We will all be voting the NDP come next election.

The CON paid trolls try to make anyone who disagrees with the Harpercrite Regime as leftards and libtards etc.. Many of us are Progressive Conservatives who have no Party or are just Canadians who don't believe that a Party in CONTEMPT of Parliament has a right to govern... Democracy is being threatened by election fraud and voter suppresion by the Reformers. Harper certainly isn't a PC. Fascism best describes him and his CULT.

Let's get this clear. This has nothing to do with sustainability. An approach for sustainability would have hit the boomers. That's the biggest burden on OAS. They could have solved this problem by immediately decreasing the income above which OAS is clawed back. Instead, they went with vote buying by leaving out the boomers and punishing the poorest seniors. There was little impact on sustainability when we still have to carry all of the boomers. Standard operating procedure for this government.

So who wants my vote. Whatever party promises to reinstate retirement at 65 I will vote for you.

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