Seriously, Council never should have approved their salary increase. Maybe they should UNapprove it.

I've created a handy guide for anyone who wants to guage their own thoughts on the issues at City Hall:

If <x's idea/opinion> equals <Rob Ford's idea/opinon>, then <x's idea/opinion> is likely really stupid. <x> does not equal <x's idea/opinion> but <Rob Ford> is a complete idiot. 

We can rise up and overthrow them, just like the Rose revolution, but this one would be a trillium revolution!  

Oh, wait, this is apathetic Toronto... 

 I'm just pissed oiff at the stupidity of city councillors who voted against taxes (without proposing any alternatives of their own aside from idiotic "let's get rid of waste" bullshit, as if reducing "waste" can generate $500 million in cuts) and then complain when the consequences of that vote are made clear, consequences which should have been clear to anyone who's paid attention to politics in this city since 2000.

 None of this is news, and it was made very clear that with no reserves left, the city has hit a brick wall. There is no more cash lying around. If there are going to be no new taxes and no new provincial/federal funding, then the only thing left to do is cut spending by the $500 million necessary. It's not grandstanding, it's simple cause and effect. 

 it doesn't matter what we say here....what matters is how we act when these issues affect us and we choose not to take a stand...?

 I'm not slamming transit, as anyone with adult reading comprehension could see. I'm pointing out that these cuts are a consequence of the vote by foolish City Councillors who didn't want to levy necessary taxes. It's not grandstanding, it's cause and effect.

 The bus I take to work is one of the ones that  will likely be cancelled, leaving me no way to get to work. I don't have a car, so I'll be fucked over. Do you think I want these cuts? I'm simply pointing out that they were inevitable given the idiotic decision not to raise taxes. 

 Tell me Craig, where in the GTA do you live and why are you so stupid? 

 Is Toronto getting more than its fair share of public funds then?

 Try less, much less. Toronto gets billions less each year from the province and the federal government than it pays in taxes.

 without tapping the rest of the country for money other people generated.

That's priceless. We're paying a big chunk of your bills out there, folks. Meanwhile places like Saskatchewan, which have been receiving equalization money for years, want to have their cake and eat it too. Nobody begrudges the rest of the country a fair deal in equalization money, but 

Craig writes:

<i>Maybe if the city properly managed their budget in the first place then these issues wouldn't happen. I find it quite ammusing that the mayor starts complaining that we have to start counting pennies when he goes and spends millions on renovating his office.</i>

 Yawn. "Maybe if the city properly managed their [budget]." This just goes to show that you have no idea what you're talking about. This city is run pretty darn efficiently, and there's no way to get more than $500 million out of the city's budget in "efficiencies." It's just not possible. And when cuts are suggested, people complain. WELL, WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT?

As for the renovations to Miller's office, they were cancelled.

<i>You are right that the city deserves more money from the Province. But slamming public transit? The streets are already congested enough, now you want to take away transit services so people have to be forced to use cars?</i>

 It has nothing to do with slamming transit. The city is more than $500 million in the hole and it needs to make cuts somewhere. Transit is, unfortunately, one of the few places where it has the ability to make cuts in operating budgets. Where else - police? firefighters? Those have been asked to make cuts too. Half the city's budget is mandated by the province and is not under city control.

<i>I think a better idea would be to establish tolls on the inner city highways, etc. That would generate quite a significant amount of revenue, and also discourage vehicle use.</i>

Do you really think that the councillors who voted against the motor registration fees and the land transfer tax would vote for road tolls? Even if they did, getting a road toll system in place on inner city highways would take some time; it would require an up-front expense and wouldn't generate money until the toll system is in place. And what if council voted against road tolls? Then where would it get money? The city would still need to make cuts.

<i>There's no need to be calling people "stupid" just because your opinion differs from someone else. I can't believe how ignorant some people like you are in this city.</i>

People who think $570 million can be sucessfully cut out of $4 billion in non-mandated spending simply by reducing waste are in fact stupid. It's people like you who think that the city is not in a huge fiscal crisis and who think that this is just grandstanding who are ignorant. 

Seriously, I can't believe that people think this is actually Miller's retaliation for not getting his way.  He didn't want to increase the taxes in the first place.  

This is what happens when we have a hick running our country.  Harper and the old farts in Ottawa can't relate to us city-folk, so they're doing nothing to support our growth since there's no oil involved.  Maybe this will get people to get off their asses and vote next time?