The Mark McKay Show, Episode 1

definitely fertile ground for discussion and hella entertaining! thanks mark!

Why shouldn't we get One cent now? Sounds like a good idea to me.

I don't want the once cent. I don't think it really make that much of a difference. But if we give all our once cents to the city I think they can do more good with it and spend it in a way that benefits us all.

I hear you and I'm not saying that the chunk of change generated by the one cent won't do the cities some good. But after all the controversy surrounding the tax and it finally being (slightly) eliminated, I would think that people would want to fight for that penny. A generation ago people were fighting against the GST, now Miller is trying to inspire another generation to fight to keep the tax in place!


And like I said before $2.9 million on renovations on city hall is much better spent on something that benefits more then elected officials, like saving our crumbling school board.


Also after allocating half the cities budget to the TTC doesn't it make sense to enact the taxes described in the Toronto Act that allow for the taxing of automobiles? Its a great way to encourage people to use the TTC, improve the environment AND raise money. I'm sure that with all the cars in the city the cash generated from those taxes would almost equal the amount the city would receive from the GST.


Mark

What a great editing job, Mark. Awesome.

Damn you're dizzifying, but awesome vlog post.

I'll take that penny in my pocket. I can think of things I could spend the extra $100 or so from every 10,000 I get (helllllllllo Turion MT processor!). If the city gets a few billion annually, fuck'im.

HOLY SHOOT! the druncnes empire just won't stop growing. good looks, Mark. i'm happy to see your audience growing...

Miller is right, for once. It is not a handout. The feds have downloaded shit onto the province, the province downloaded shit onto muncipalities. Toronto pumps billions into the feds' and province's coffers and gets jack in return. We deserve the cash since we are a very important city.
Hey Mark, instead of asking where $1.4 billion went just look around. You think it is cheap to run a city of this size? Look at New York City's budget - $54 billion and they only have 7 times more people than us. In comparison, we are sadly lacking in funding the city.
As far as giving half to the TTC, we wouldn't need to if the province brought back it's funding like in the 80s. Doesn't the "economic engine" of Ontario deserve a decent transit system for it's citizens?
Further, getting 1 cent from the feds is not necessarily the 1 cent extra they promised to cut, there are still 5 cents in that tax left. If taking 1 cent from the tax to give to citys is not a good use then what is that cent being used for? It certainly isn't healthcare, affordable housing, the environment, transit or citys.
So it is true, opinions are like assholes, just do your best to make sure yours isn't full of shit and smelly.

Oh no Mark. I wasn't angry or saying you are full of shit, I was merely finishing off the ellipsis from your sentence comparing assholes to opinions. I can see how the way I worded it could seem that way.
I don't think Miller cares if the GST goes to 4 cents or if the other cent he is courting is the cut from the GST. I certainly do think that he was insinuating that it go to 4 cents. I mean, how popular would it be to ask for the cent Canadians are expecting from the GST cut? He knows better than that. I think he probably feels like we all do, that the GST is bullshit. Our country was able to survive before 1991.
I agree that all levels of government have misapproprated funds but, really, is one cent on every dollar you spend gonna help you out? As an aggregate it is significant enough to help citys and their crumbling infrastructure. If you are that hard up for cash that a cent rebate on your purchases would mean so much I doubt you spend enough to make it worthwhile anyway. If a company offered a cent off an item as a incentive people would laugh their asses off.
The point is not about bailing out a city, it's about maintaining your home. If you had roommates and the roof was leaking would you consider it a bailout to pay your share of the cost of fixing it? Would you just live in the damp because the money is better off in your pocket?
The country needs cities like ours, we drive the economy, and for too long the province and the feds have taken out too much and put little back in while downloading the costs of social programs. If we have infrastructure that needs fixing, hell, that isn't a bailout that is regular maintenance.
Your words make you seem like one of these people who bitch that nothing works but doesn't want to pay to have it fixed. Those people also have a knack for bitching that the government intrudes too much in their lives but cry "where was the government" when something goes wrong.