Rob Ford's Toronto

[tkip]

Are you that clueless? Why do you think Miller had to spend so much money?
Why do you refuse to believe that all these cuts will cost more in the long term.
Had Harris not cut cut cut you think Miller would have had to spend.
Sometimes i get so pissed off at Miller for not running fo reelection. I feel like he quit on the city and the big plans and vision he had for Toronto. Only to have some whack job come and set us 10 years back. I can only imagine what Toronto's congestion will be like in 2020 if we somehow get the Olympics.

Go back and reread my post. I said that I didn't agree entirely with the proposed cuts, including Ford's wish to privatize everything. Miller overspent and Ford will cut too deep.

 

[sixrings]

I can only imagine what Toronto's congestion will be like in 2020 if we somehow get the Olympics.

I agree with your entire post BUT in response to this quote specifically, I actually believe that the 2020 Olympics could be the saviour to Torontos infrastructure problems.. It would give the city federal money to spend on transit (ideally a DRL). It would make sure that Toronto at least address its congestion issue and it would probably continue to be downtwon centric which would continue to cause people to rethink what the future of Toronto will look like. Instead of people seeing us as a town we drive to for work maybe we will finally embrace the manhatinization thats happening.

 

[freshcutgrass]

with a huge deficit looming, the city has to look to the private sector to get involved and help shoulder the burden, he said.

The private sector is always involved...who do you think hires the government and provides for their budgets? You raise the taxes needed to perform the services required by the people who hired you...you don't ask them to do YOUR job. That's the problem with attitudes of politicians like the Fords....they have no concept of what the term civil SERVANT means.

We all know for example that the police budget is grossly inflated and Toronto doesn't need this amount of officers.

We all know this do we? Seems like your boy Rob doesn't know this, as he ran on a platform of increasing the number of police. That's the problem with many Ford supporters....they are so blazingly uninformed, that they vote for the exact opposite of what they want.

But a big part of this fiscal fiasco we've found ourselves in lies at Miller's feet.

And what fiasco is that? Miller kept our head above water, while at the same time actually improving the city. Ford will sink us, and at the same time city building will come to a grinding halt.

Again...more Ford supporters who can't see what is there in plain site. Ford based his whole platform on the notion that "We don't have a revenue problem...we have a spending problem".

And what did he do....he decreased revenue and increased spending.

You can try and tap-dance around that fact all you like....he LIED. And what's worse...you don't care.

He's going to do what Harris did back in the 90's.

Yes he is. Only this time, it's our own mayor who is going to screw us over royally.

 

[Torontovibe]

I think people liked things like cutting the red tape and making things simpler at City Hall. We all hated how the street food cart fiasco unfolded. It was too micro-managed. Stupidity like that pissed off a lot of people, including me. Zoning restrictions with bars and patios are just too much, people want to see things more relaxed and Ford seemed to be the guy to do that. Christ, you can't even open a proper dance club anywhere in this city.

Few people realized all the changes Ford was going to bring about. I also want less red tape and fewer restrictions but I don't want to see this city nickelled and dimed to death.

Let me make it clear, I did NOT vote for Ford.

 

[Torontovibe]

Then people are fools. I won't mince words here. People collectively at times are easily deceived because they want to believe a lie.

When you hear that the city is hundreds of millions of dollars in shortfall for it's budget and someone promises to balances the books somehow, if you even pay attention to history then you know instantly that without raising taxes, you have to cut spending and services. It's not rocket science.

But people are sheep and most don't think things through. But as I always say, this is basic human nature. We're hardwired to only think short-term.

Just look to the USA, to see how easily people are lead by Republicans, to vote against their own best interests. (sponsored, of course, by big business) It's not too hard to play on people's fear and play spin doctor with the facts. It happens all the time. Those with the money and power, also control the message. Ford's wealth, connections and power are what brought him to his position. It sure wasn't new ideas or his speaking abilities.

If Ford was a plumber, without his daddy's company, is there anyone here who thinks he would be the mayor, right now?

 

[syn]

Then people are fools. I won't mince words here. People collectively at times are easily deceived because they want to believe a lie.

When you hear that the city is hundreds of millions of dollars in shortfall for it's budget and someone promises to balances the books somehow, if you even pay attention to history then you know instantly that without raising taxes, you have to cut spending and services. It's not rocket science.

But people are sheep and most don't think things through. But as I always say, this is basic human nature. We're hardwired to only think short-term.

It's interesting that you're blaming the citizens for Rob Ford's lies.

I agree people can be idiots - that's why Rob Ford is in power. To not hold him responsible for his own words and actions, however, is kind of silly.

Common sense would indicate that you don't cut revenue and add to the spending when you have a budget shortfall coming up...yet that's what Rob Ford went ahead and did.

 

[Irishmonk]

Does the Mayor really want to cut the Toronto Atmosphere Fund, and if so, why, when it costs the city $0 and potentially saves the city millions in energy efficiencies. Does Edsel 1 just systematically hate anything that sounds vaguely progressive or David Millerish?

 

[tkip]

It's interesting that you're blaming the citizens for Rob Ford's lies.

I agree people can be idiots - that's why Rob Ford is in power. To not hold him responsible for his own words and actions, however, is kind of silly.

Common sense would indicate that you don't cut revenue and add to the spending when you have a budget shortfall coming up...yet that's what Rob Ford went ahead and did.

Where in there did I blame people for Ford's lies? I said people should have known better than to believe that no cuts would occur when also knowing of a massive shortfall in the budget. We're a reactive species, that's why we keep finding ourselves in the same scenerios over and over again. We don't learn from history at all. Hence my hardwired comment.....

 

[taal]

Brampton and Mississauga likely going through the exact same thing:

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1029841--austerity-not-just-a-toronto-issue

Though like most other similar issues, you'll hear almost nothing about it in any of the major newspapers ... that's the great thing about being a subrub here.

You can argue it has negatives, I'm sure it does, but when 80% of all articles are generally negative ... about the current administrator, about the state of city, about how everyone hates ...

 

[spider]

I did vote for Rob Ford, I am not ashamed or disappointed to date. After all the choice was between Ford and Smitherman, Soloman was not on the ballot.
My vote was cast knowing full well that Ford was not an orator or a devious self serving politician but just a simple guy who wanted to see some changes made that I mostly agreed with. The changes are a work in progress but at least there is progress, let's see where it goes, the status quo is not acceptable.

 

[TrickyRicky]

"devious self serving politician"

This is where I think you will be disappointed spider. Ford is an extremist. He is driven by nature to be self serving for his own special interests. You may give him a pass because his self-servings are not financial or petty financial in nature (i.e. perks etc. for himself) Recognize however that a wealthy man doesn't care about using the political office for such financial purposes. He already has money so his self interest is power and power-brokering. This is the trick that he plays on the everyman. He proves he doesn't put his hand in the cookie jar while stealing the kitchen. But the everyman can only see the cookie jar because that is where he spends his time and concern.

 

[RC8]

I did vote for Rob Ford, I am not ashamed or disappointed to date. After all the choice was between Ford and Smitherman, Soloman was not on the ballot.
My vote was cast knowing full well that Ford was not an orator or a devious self serving politician but just a simple guy who wanted to see some changes made that I mostly agreed with. The changes are a work in progress but at least there is progress, let's see where it goes, the status quo is not acceptable.

He is a self-serving politician who just happens to share your interests and absurd beliefs about car-based monocentric cities being sustainable. But hey, more highways will surely ease gridlock.

Worked real well for L.A., and it's working great for the 905 isn't it?

 

[Lansdown]

freshcutgrass you just dont understand that private ownership is ALWAYS more efficient than public and its not worth building anything other than subways, even if the subways are built in the desert.

so pray tell freshcutgrass you are saying that public servants are picked by "shareholders" (citizens) who represent their pocketbooks? what a crazy analogy. we all know the average taxpayer is less rational than the average shareholder/buyer/seller/negotiator/whatever. their completely different things!!

 

[jje1000]

You are the best troll. Please continue.

 

[Torontovibe]

You are the best troll. Please continue.

With the same, old, tired political rhetoric. I'm surprised there are so many Republicanish people on this site.