Extremely pissed at Harper Government's wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.

[pastarocket]

For the record, I do not support the Conservative government. When I voted in the federal election, my vote was definitely not for the Tories.

Here's an article that makes my blood boil. Talk about uncontrollable government spending and no accountability for wasting tax payer money:




G8 resort renos include $1,650 to remove bed, $3,500 to move light fixtures - Yahoo! News

Your thoughts about this article?

[Hondaracer]

shit like this happens at -every- level of government, municipal organiziations such as the City of Burnaby, Vancouver, etc. are just as much of a joke as shit like this

examples:

A buddy of mine who's worked for the Vancouver school board for about 4 years now goes from school to school cutting grass, once he arrives at a school he instantly knows whether or not he will have to cut the grass or not, if he does it might take him 2 hours which the work is alloted 6+, if he does not need to cut the grass he drives down to spanish banks and sleeps for 4 hours, all on your tax dollar, and it's no fault of his own, thats the way it's structured from the ground up.

One day he was sitting in his car outside of a school of which he hadnt been doing anything for 2 hours, eventually a school board "construction crew" came on scene to take down and move a chain link fence, so my buddy gets out and offers to lend a hand in moving some pipe etc. for 5 minutes, as he's doing this his "charge hand" drives by and writes him up to the union for helping a division outside of the ground-works and tells him he could be potentially fired next time somthing like that happens and never help anyone outside of grounds crew for any reason, basically saying go sleep rather than do actual work for your pay

City of Burnaby is even worse, 2 guys in some of my classes at school work for the city of burnaby, one of the guys explained to me one night how the tool chest/sign out building can be used at any time, for extended periods of time/weekends to any city employee, basically you say your signing out a tool for X job that day, didnt have time to return it at the end of the day, and kept it for the weekend

a vast majority of people do this, keep tools over the weekend, everything from screwdrivers to freaking Bobcat's and use it for their own profit/projects on the city dime

[MoBettah]

Meh, doesn't sound too outrageous to me. Contractors are damn expensive.

[wstce92]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

shit like this happens at -every- level of government, municipal organiziations such as the City of Burnaby, Vancouver, etc. are just as much of a joke as shit like this

examples:

.
.
.

+1
While this pisses me off. Do you really think any other party or level of government would be spending our money in a better way?

Especially with little things like this, if they went cheap instead and hired some non-union asian guys, shit would also hit the fan. What I mean is, go look up how much it costs the city to maintain the greenery around city hall. Then go ask any asian guy with his own company out of his truck how much he'd charge. You may say that his work won't be as nice, but my parents used to live in a pretty stuck up area of west-van. Their neighbours would blow ridiculous amounts of money on their gardens, my parents used this asian father-and-son team. When my parents sold their house, the number 1 comment, was how much nicer our garden looked compared to the rest of the block.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by MoBettah

Meh, doesn't sound too outrageous to me. Contractors are damn expensive.

They you can pay for them because I don't want my tax dollars wasted like this.

[Death2Theft]

This is what happens when you have big gov in control, when will people ever learn? These things should all be done on the state level, what state would ever let that kind of billing practice get swept under a rug? They wont because they can't afford it.

[StylinRed]

well our Debt has been skyrocketing since Harper got in

[Graeme S]

Originally Posted by StylinRed

well our Debt has been skyrocketing since Harper got in

While I'm not the biggest fan of Harper, it's hardly his fault that the Economy collapsed and that that's driven up a lot of expenses in the country.

For me, the amounts of money are not the things that bug me, it's the methods in which it's spent. While I understand the idea of spending money in order to keep the economy going, it bothers me that the Tories seem not to care about what happens in the immediate future--there are no drives to make Canada a more competitive nation internationally as far as anything goes. They're basically interested in treading water and not making any big waves so that they can stay in office; and that more than anything pisses me the fuck off.

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by wstce92

+1
While this pisses me off. Do you really think any other party or level of government would be spending our money in a better way?

The Federal Liberals wasted on the ad scandal.
The Provincial Liberals gave away BC Rail.
The Provincial NDP wasted on the fast ferries.
The Municipal Vision wasted creating bike lanes.
...

Yet it really pisses me off we cannot have a true Conservative party, one that is for smaller government and less waste. They might as well call themselves Liberals for how much they spend.

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by Graeme S

While I'm not the biggest fan of Harper, it's hardly his fault that the Economy collapsed and that that's driven up a lot of expenses in the country.

For me, the amounts of money are not the things that bug me, it's the methods in which it's spent. While I understand the idea of spending money in order to keep the economy going, it bothers me that the Tories seem not to care about what happens in the immediate future--there are no drives to make Canada a more competitive nation internationally as far as anything goes. They're basically interested in treading water and not making any big waves so that they can stay in office; and that more than anything pisses me the fuck off.

What did you expect with several years of minority government? If they do anything controversial, they'd be out. At least with a majority we're starting to see them do something concrete and not sit on the fence.

All political parties only care about the next 3-5 years. If any had to make the hard decisions looking forward decades, people would vote them out.

[stewie]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

City of Burnaby is even worse, 2 guys in some of my classes at school work for the city of burnaby, one of the guys explained to me one night how the tool chest/sign out building can be used at any time, for extended periods of time/weekends to any city employee, basically you say your signing out a tool for X job that day, didnt have time to return it at the end of the day, and kept it for the weekend

a vast majority of people do this, keep tools over the weekend, everything from screwdrivers to freaking Bobcat's and use it for their own profit/projects on the city dime

well, since i do work for the city of burnaby...

yes, were allowed to borrow tools for a weekend...ONLY if theres a spare of that specific tool.... example: if i need to borrow a chainsaw to cut some shrubs in my yard down, thats fine, i can borrow it, so long as the "on emergency stand by" crew's truck has a fully stocked truck with all tools and parts. but then again...every truck is stocked and equipped with every tool...and once friday at 330pm hits, only 1 single truck will be used for the entire weekend if theres an emergency, so as long as the tools dont come from that truck...wheres the problem? its not like were stealing...

as for borrowing bobcats..hahaha, sorry man, not a chance...the biggest tool you can borrow would probably a hand held chop saw or a chain saw.

your buddy was making a mountain of a mole hill, making it sound like we can take home excavators for months on end..lol

[Infiniti]

Originally Posted by stewie

well, since i do work for the city of burnaby...

yes, were allowed to borrow tools for a weekend...ONLY if theres a spare of that specific tool.... example: if i need to borrow a chainsaw to cut some shrubs in my yard down, thats fine, i can borrow it, so long as the "on emergency stand by" crew's truck has a fully stocked truck with all tools and parts. but then again...every truck is stocked and equipped with every tool...and once friday at 330pm hits, only 1 single truck will be used for the entire weekend if theres an emergency, so as long as the tools dont come from that truck...wheres the problem? its not like were stealing...

as for borrowing bobcats..hahaha, sorry man, not a chance...the biggest tool you can borrow would probably a hand held chop saw or a chain saw.

your buddy was making a mountain of a mole hill, making it sound like we can take home excavators for months on end..lol

I can just picture someone casually borrowing a huge ass caterpillar backhoe for some project

[Gary Oak]

"$1,650 to remove a king-sized bed from one of the rooms" lol seriously where can i get in on this.

[CP.AR]

removing a king sized bed requires that much money? really?
they fly in midgets from north korea or something?

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Gary Oak

"$1,650 to remove a king-sized bed from one of the rooms" lol seriously where can i get in on this.

Fund raising and donating a large sum of money the party is a good start.

[TheKingdom2000]

I just don't understand how this happens so much at so many levels?
Are there not any educated, honest, smart politicians out there?

I mean if I were in office and I heard about shit like this, I would send someone to investigate this shit. I mean, that's common sense to me?
Or is it that I would be way too busy to worry about shit like this?

I know it's wayyy easier said than done, but how can common sense just get thrown out of the window?

[Spectre_Cdn]

Originally Posted by mx703

I just don't understand how this happens so much at so many levels?
Are there not any educated, honest, smart politicians out there?

I mean if I were in office and I heard about shit like this, I would send someone to investigate this shit. I mean, that's common sense to me?
Or is it that I would be way too busy to worry about shit like this?

I know it's wayyy easier said than done, but how can common sense just get thrown out of the window?

Well, most of those politicians just got a job extension for 3 years.

[Nocardia]

Originally Posted by stewie

well, since i do work for the city of burnaby...

yes, were allowed to borrow tools for a weekend...ONLY if theres a spare of that specific tool.... example: if i need to borrow a chainsaw to cut some shrubs in my yard down, thats fine, i can borrow it, so long as the "on emergency stand by" crew's truck has a fully stocked truck with all tools and parts. but then again...every truck is stocked and equipped with every tool...and once friday at 330pm hits, only 1 single truck will be used for the entire weekend if theres an emergency, so as long as the tools dont come from that truck...wheres the problem? its not like were stealing...

You're kidding right?
You can't borrow tools from a store (well, with some exceptions), why can you borrow them from the government? Especially since saws and electric tools have a lifespan - are you replacing the chain or blade? Ohhh right, tax money is. Do you sometimes take a replacement blade home just in case? Then "forget" to return it. And if you say "So what, its only 1 person", I hope the next person you see slaps you.

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by mx703

Are there not any educated, honest, smart politicians out there?

Any honest person can:
a) make more money outside of politics
b) realizes how hard work accomplishes very little in government
c) understands its not about education, its about appealing to the lowest common denominator

[Graeme S]

Originally Posted by mx703

I just don't understand how this happens so much at so many levels?
Are there not any educated, honest, smart politicians out there?

I mean if I were in office and I heard about shit like this, I would send someone to investigate this shit. I mean, that's common sense to me?
Or is it that I would be way too busy to worry about shit like this?

I know it's wayyy easier said than done, but how can common sense just get thrown out of the window?

Let's think about this. Politicians make and propose laws, but a great deal of their time is spent at home dealing with constituents and their issues.

Let's imagine I get elected as a politician tomorrow and I have to work on Capitol Hill. That means I need a staff of people to do stuff for me, and to help me create and build the laws that I want to propose.

You think I find that staff from scratch? Part of the problem is not the politicians, it's the Governmental system. You know that expression where they say "You work for the government, you got a job for life"? Well, that's pretty much it when you work in Ottawa or Victoria or anywhere else where the government is entrenched. Let's say you wanted to propose a law to be tabled. Most laws read more than 10 pages to lay out some basic things.
1) the purpose of the law
2) the extent of the law
3) the limits of the law
4) the punishments for that law
5) the areas which the law may and may not cover

etc etc. So when we see "New healthcare bill proposed to alleviate hospital wait times", what actually exists is a 30-odd page summary of a 100+page legalese bill....all written by the staff and not the politicians themselves.


The problem is not always with the officials, it's with the system.

[stewie]

Originally Posted by Nocardia

You're kidding right?
You can't borrow tools from a store (well, with some exceptions), why can you borrow them from the government? Especially since saws and electric tools have a lifespan - are you replacing the chain or blade? Ohhh right, tax money is. Do you sometimes take a replacement blade home just in case? Then "forget" to return it. And if you say "So what, its only 1 person", I hope the next person you see slaps you.

last time i checked hilti and home depot rent tools, and no i actually dont borrow tools from my work place, my dads a milwright and i have virtually every possible tool there is in my house.

do you really think that using a chainsaw to cut down a few shrubs in your backyard on a weekend is going to dull a blade soo much that it needs to be sharpend asap??? give your head a shake man...

and fyi, every dept has a tool budget...once we exceed that, were done, we dont get new tools until the next year. so things dont go "missing" or "forget to be returned" like some people may think.

things dont run the way you think they do in the city...everyone has mixed ideas about how little work they do or how lazy city workers are cause when you drive past them theres 1 guy in a hole and 3 guys leaning on a shovel...do my job for 1 day and i gurantee you you'll never say were lazy again, and thats a promise. i cant speak for all the dept's, but for mine, im well spoken for.

[MoBettah]

Originally Posted by Manic!

They you can pay for them because I don't want my tax dollars wasted like this.

Do you mean "Then you can pay"?

First off, I pay a hella lot more tax than you. So yes I do pay for it.

Secondly, It's not that I approve of them spending money on items like this, I am indifferent on that point since I don't have the full story. When you host the G8, you're expected to have certain level of accommodations for the foreign delegations. Wether we should have hosted the G8 or had a choice in doing so is a moot point. My point is that the rates are not outrageous, anybody who thinks they are either is blinded by their poverty or has no knowledge whatsoever about construction / renovations.

$3000 to move a "Large" chandelier is not crazy. You probably need a crew of 3 or more for a day, some equipment like a man-lift or a JLG, then an electrical guy to come in and wire the thing up.

People like to blame the top guy, this time it's Harper. That's just straight ignorant. The government runs like a corporation, the PM/CEO doesn't sign off on little shit invoices involving a few thousand dollars or even a few million.

Was there a conflict of interest in this situation where parties with close relationships to the minister befitted? Perhaps... but either way, a random non related contractor would have charged out exactly the same rate.

[Gridlock]

I've thought about it, and I have some trees that I want to cut down on the property.

Where can I come and pick up the chain saw for the weekend? I mean...I'm a tax payer, right? And the taxes on an apartment building are big money...so I should be entitled to like, a big fat chain saw, right? Or maybe two...and I'll do my trees in duke nukem style.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by MoBettah

Do you mean "Then you can pay"?

First off, I pay a hella lot more tax than you. So yes I do pay for it.

Secondly, It's not that I approve of them spending money on items like this, I am indifferent on that point since I don't have the full story. When you host the G8, you're expected to have certain level of accommodations for the foreign delegations. Wether we should have hosted the G8 or had a choice in doing so is a moot point. My point is that the rates are not outrageous, anybody who thinks they are either is blinded by their poverty or has no knowledge whatsoever about construction / renovations.

$3000 to move a "Large" chandelier is not crazy. You probably need a crew of 3 or more for a day, some equipment like a man-lift or a JLG, then an electrical guy to come in and wire the thing up.

People like to blame the top guy, this time it's Harper. That's just straight ignorant. The government runs like a corporation, the PM/CEO doesn't sign off on little shit invoices involving a few thousand dollars or even a few million.

Was there a conflict of interest in this situation where parties with close relationships to the minister befitted? Perhaps... but either way, a random non related contractor would have charged out exactly the same rate.

You probable pay more taxes then I do but our business probably pays more taxes than you do. You think any CEO of a private company would renovate a resort that they don`t own just for a conference. The FCO would never let that happen. businesses count every single penny and don`t waste it on installing a new chandelier for a party.

[MoBettah]

Originally Posted by Manic!

You probable pay more taxes then I do but our business probably pays more taxes than you do. You think any CEO of a private company would renovate a resort that they don`t own just for a conference. The FCO would never let that happen. businesses count every single penny and don`t waste it on installing a new chandelier for a party.

Why would you compare your company's taxes to my personal taxes? You think your making a point in your little pissing contest? I work for one of the top 5 largest companies on Earth, by your principle that would mean since we pay the most taxes we have the most say in what money is being spent on... Oh wait... we DO. Sorry to burst your bubble, but govt isn't run like your little private company.

Instead of skewering an unrelated concept perhaps actually try responding to some of my points, I'm trying to offer an alternative view other than just playing the blind blame game.