On the point of voter memory, I thought when a said the attacks came too soon clearly shows I understand it is short. Well hopefully that states it clearly.
The latest budget is for 2013(projected). And I believe it is within about 40 million of balance, before the inevitable surpluses. In other words, we can use said surpluses to say pay down the debt on future transit commitments, cut a bit of the accrued debt from previous years and look at infrastructure as well.
I do believe some of the attacks are co-ordinated. A certain 27 year old former library board member is doing nothing but searching for the most minute ammo and passing it to various sources. Some of these people have admitted as much. Somewhere there is money behind this as well. I believe that.
That isn't paranoia. That's acknowedging modern politics.
The Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch do it in the USA
Why not in Toronto
OK you believe. Any evidence? One guy showing up repeatedly is not a conspiracy a cabal or even a committee. And exactly what's wrong anyway, with people who share opinions getting together and co-ordinating how they express them? You do know we have things called political parties for precisely that purpose?
I'd love to see full disclosure of all political spending and donations but that two-edged sword is exactly why US is now lumbered with corporation funded super PACs. Open records would throw the spotlight on those lobbyists and favour-seekers crawling around in the shadows, 'donating' to pols favourite cause and 'stimulating the economy' with junkets to casinos. But the big spenders also demand their free speech rights be paid for in secret. It isn't the little guys who invoke privacy over their $5 contributions.
Best bet we have is rigorous audits and something like zero-tolerance for discovered offences. After all these guys who claim their overspending was just an excusable lapse of oversight are running for jobs where they claim oversight has been lacking for years but they're just the guy to supply it. If overspending is rampant at City Hall, electing guys like these explains why. They cannot follow the rules, and they don't handle other peoples' money responsibly.
Responsible spending starts with raising enough revenue to cover on-going expenses, routine maintenance and a reasonable repayment schedule for the debt incurred for capital projects. Toronto hasn't been run like that since it became a megacity. The Miller taxes were an attempt to build the revenue side so we could make a start on transit, the Gardiner, water main and sewer replacement and upgrades, but Rob kiboshed all that and set us back a clutch of years by abolishing one of them. However we note he's using the other (which he promised he'd repeal the day he took office) to balance his budget. Not that he's got any plan to get the City back into decent repair, let alone make it better.
All he wants is a Casino. What an Inspiring vision!
