Iraq was not the #1 issue in '06; it was the #3 issue. I don't remember what #2 was, but ethics/spending was the big deal then as it is now; that's why the new majority promised to clean things up. That said, '06 was pre-Surge and downplaying the Iraq issue would be a mistake.
Lummox JR wrote:
Iraq was not the #1 issue in '06; it was the #3 issue. I don't remember what #2 was, but ethics/spending was the big deal then as it is now; that's why the new majority promised to clean things up. That said, '06 was pre-Surge and downplaying the Iraq issue would be a mistake.

Trying to find the exit polls...

Only CNN has theirs up... yeah you're right, Iraq was #5 of 6 issues:

Democrats:
#1 Iraq
#2 Economy
#2 Ethics
#4 Terrorism
#4 Illegal Immigration
#6 Values

Republicans:
#1 Values
#2 Terrorism
#3 Illegal Immigration
#4 Ethics
#5 Economy
#6 Iraq

Combined:
#1 Ethics
#2 Economy
#3 Terrorism
#4 Values
#5 Iraq
#6 Illegal Immigration


Every man, woman, and child in B.C. recently got a "Climate Action" government subsidy of $100. The idea was, you put $100 towards making your home more energy efficient, less polluting, etc., and you'd wind up getting the $100 back by the money you save from the HVAC savings, the refunds of the deposits you pay on fuel and utilities, etc.

However, I don't personally know of a single person who spent that money on anything but junk.

(One particularly humourous thing was that a fair number of stores put their air conditioners on sale around the same time as the refund for improving household efficiency came up...)

There is a small argument to be said about people not spending money wisely if the government doesn't spend it themselves. Like most liberals I tend not to mind higher taxes, but I also believe that our top priority in Canada should be eliminating all of the redundant, useless, and/or otherwise low-impact ministers in the cabinet and parliament so that we're not wasting so freaking many billions of dollars on government-gets-the-tab catering, parties, awareness campaigns, and transportation. Then those high taxes can actually be put to use for the common good, like our hemmorhaging health care system or our troubled youth.


[edit] S'pose I should clarify "most liberals" with "most politically-aware liberals". Most average-joe liberals hate taxes as much as the right-wingers.
I'm not terribly keen on subsidies, but sending a check directly to people and asking them to spend it on such-and-such is moronic. More so when the amount of said check doesn't even cover a tenth of the cost of what the government wants them to spend it on. It'd make far more sense to create a tax credit so people who made such improvements could claim a deduction. New York State has a program where Energy Star improvements to a home can be tax write-offs and also qualify for very-low-interest financing.

But I'm not sure how that bears on the issue at hand, because my contention is that tax cuts benefit the economy. A one-time check isn't really a tax cut, and a tax cut doesn't automatically mean that the government's priorities will be addressed even if it does have secondary beneficial effects.
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