Lower Taxes ???

[cakadu]

The rationale behind everyone paying for education is the fact that as you indicated Linda, there is a shortage of skilled people . We all need Doctors, Pharmacists, etc. whether or not we have kids or if they have all gone through the system. There is a dire need to have the entire health and education systems revamped and trim the administrative fat. The continuing care review has really given the health regions a black eye when it comes to delivering health care for some of the most fragile of our citizens, imagine how they would rate if their entire delivery of health care were reviewed.
I have a friend who is involved in the review of long term and continuing care facilities and she said that barely 30% of them were administering medications properly to long term care patients. The province has just continued to throw money at health care and its time to start ensuring that there are benchmarks and expected outcomes in return.

I don't begin to understand the education system. We have teachers and teachers aides in the classroom, and then parents are expected to volunteer to assist in the classroom as well. A friend of mine, who has a slight physical handicap, has a teaching degree from another province, she has tried unsuccessfully to get a teaching job with the school division in her community, year after year she submits her resume but isn't considered, and then this fall they had the nerve to contact her and ask her to volunteer to be a teachers aide as an unpaid position !!!

[cowman]

How much of our total tax bill goes for education and health services? How much is too much and where does it end?
I agree with Linda that the trades are where our education dollars should go. We need more people who can actually do something and less beuracratic pencil pushers! We are fast becoming a society where we have way too much dead weight at the top, who in reality just add to the problem? Do we really need more lawyers, accountants, environmental specialists etc.? The tail is wagging the dog!
With all the growth in the education and health fields, are we smarter or healthier? I don't know. Seems to me we have a lot of educated people who are basically useless and a lot of sick people who don't seem to be getting better?
However the doctors are smiling and the teachers are doing okay?
I suspect an increase in the health and education spending wouldn't improve either...but I suspect the wages might go up!
We tend to rant away at the corporations having monopolies and ripping us off, but isn't that exactly the situation in healthcare and education?

[cakadu]

Cowman, health care costs are going up because we are seeing an increase in age in our population and it is older people who need health care services on a more regular and sustained basis. We are living longer and longer all the time (sometimes that depends on your definition of living) and this will increase costs.

There is a lot of spending in both areas that I would question in terms of the administration.

What sort of response do you think that kids are having towards getting into trades? Many of the older generation feel that kids don't want to get their hands dirty or do manual labour. Is this really the case or have kids just not been well enough informed about the benefits of woring at a trade?

I was reading an article the other day about the RCMP/Peace Officers. There are about 1,000 enrolled in various criminology/law enforcement programs and the average intake age at the Calgary Police Service, for example, is 26. They don't really want them any younger than that - they want them to have life experience. The article mentioned that the RCMP will take recruits at a younger age, but it seems like the supply of graduates may outstrip the demand or will it?

The article went on to say that it will take an officer 5 years to reach a salary of over $50,000/year, while the same salary can be achieved in a trade in 2 years.

The demand for skilled technical workers is not going to go away and young people actually have the best chance at it because they have grown up with computers and technology, while many of us are computer illiterate or know just enough to be dangerous.

When would be the best time to "catch" youth and make them aware of the opportunities?

[cakadu]

not only the aging population is responsible for the increasing health care costs, the fact that there have beem huge strides in technology and procedures is also a key factor in the increase.

There are a significant number of people that abuse the system, and abuse their own bodies which results in deterioration of their health both mental and physical.

[Horse]

Emerald I agree we should get rid of cars think of all the health care costs we would save and out with Macdonalds horses would have to go and no more sking.
I heard on the radio the health care budget in Canada I think was 130 billion in wages now if you take back 40% in taxes it drops to 78 billion and a loss of economic growth , so how would you fix it.

[cowman]

When I was a kid there was no medi-care but in reality I don't think we suffered? I remember my mother payed right there if we had to go to the doctor.
When I was about 12 I broke both my arms and was in the hospital for 10 days as well as surgery. My mother was also in the hospital at the time for an operation...I think she was in for 12 days. I clearly remember my dad paying $56 at the hospital desk for both of us!
Of course he had an insurance plan that paid the extra! It was around $20/month and through Alberta Wheat Pool. I think most people had medical insurance?
Medi-care was supposed to be set up so no one would be wiped out if they got sick(as were the private insurance policies)? It wasn't meant to be the irresposible thing it has become? A goldmine for the doctors? Back before medi-care the doctors had to charge a reasonable fee or they didn't get any business...or they didn't get paid!
The federal and provincial governments have proven they are incapable of supplying health care...maybe they should let Mutual of Omaha take it over?

[Horse]

Cowman you may have had insurance but we did not I do rember people being turned away from the hospital because they didnt have the $5( i think) to be admited . There was people that lost everything because of acident or ilness. There was a child died in the parking lot of the Red Deer hospital of apendacitis because the didnt have the admiting fee, after that things changed to bad it took a tradigy to bring on change.

[cowman]

Well I never heard about that one but it might have happened. The concept that the poor never had access to medical services is not really correct? The Alberta government always had a sort of "medi care" for welfare people and the destitute?
We all make choices in this world of where we want to spend our money? The government has a social safety net that provides a minimum level of life, so for instance no one starves to death in Canada?
Consider this scenario: Private health care through a regulated mandatory insurance policy? You get to choose the level of deductible and policies basically tailored to your income? The governments role would be to "top up" those not able to afford the insurance.
So no welfare mommas or poor seniors etc. would be left without medical services? I would think a $500 deductible for most people should be the absolute minimum?
So you have a problem. Off to the doctor and you pay him...at least up to $500...then your insurance kicks in!
To keep the doctors on the level there would probably have to be some sort of regulation on what they charge.
Also why do we provide a working place for private corporation doctors... support staff, shop supplies, etc.? If the doctor wants to put you in the hospital then it shouldn't be the taxpayer paying for that?
Good health would mean a lower insurance premium...just like good drivers get a lower car insurance premium? Why should the taxpayer be picking up the tab for people who want to abuse their health?
The privatization of medical services would bring back responsibility to the system? It would make us responsible for our own health and our own lives! Theres no such thing as a free lunch in this old world.

[cowman]

When I had my sons we did not have any health care and paid for all doctors office visits and deliveries ourselves. Now, we were very fortunate in that both our sons were healthy, no surgeries, nothing more serious than getting the odd stitch once in awhile. I can remember my parents paying the doctor $5 whenever they needed to go and see one which was very seldom. Medications were paid for by the patients, in fact during the years our kids were growing up we did not have Blue Cross so paid all prescription medications ourselves.

I do feel that there needs to be a controlled form of private insurance or we will all pay higher and higher fees because of the costs of delivering the system to all, similar to vehicle insurance.

This post was about lower taxes so I do want to add the following. I had lunch with an individual in senior administration in a central AB County the other day and we were discussing the inequity in the property tax system.
He has a huge dairy in his county, they pay $250 a year in property tax on a property that is worth millions.
Conversly there is a large implement dealer in his county that pays nearly $50,000 annually in property tax on a property that is worth approximately the same amount.

The dairy pounds the heck out of the roads hauling silage, manure etc. and yet the rest of the taxpayers pick up the tab. If the implement dealer were to damage the roads they would have to pay for gravel, grading etc. to repair them.

I am hearing that from a lot of municipalities, as the larger feeding operations continue to develop. Custom manure haulers come into an area and pound the heck out of local roads, create dust that neighbours have to contend with etc., and yet the counties cannot recoup enough property tax to pay for the added cost of maintenance. If the oil industry damages roads they pay for gravel, and costs of county equipment to repair the road, and usually on a rig move they are required to have a water truck along to ensure that dust does not become a problem.

The average ma and pa farming operation doesn't fall into the above category as most of them live in a fairly decent house and pay taxes on their house and three acre site as well as farm land tax, but many of the confined feeding operations just have a older mobile home onsite for a worker to reside in, and the farm buildings are not taxed.

I don't advocate taxing all farm buildings so please don't read that into this post but there certainly has to be a way of taxing big farm business so the rest of the tax base does not have to pay the shot.

[TOM4CWB]

Emrald1;

Taxing farm buildings:

The Alberta gov. has already past amendments in some Counties requireing this; but why would you endorse this?

DO i build a shop to fix things, just to have the gov. tax my repair facility... making it less economical and increasing my costs... when many times I can't repair new equip now anyway my self?

Why on earth do you want to help destroy farmers by taxing us; isn't this kicking farmers when they are down and hurting?