MONEY MONEY MONEY

Well, it seems we've set new standards for picking the taxpayers pocket. Our provincial government has just voted itself a 25% wage increase. Yup, that's right. Twenty five percent in one fell swoop. Thank God they passed the raise in time for Christmas. I can't imagine them having to scrape by on the $88 plus thousand, plus perks, they were getting before.

In fairness, the Conservatives voted for it too, but nonetheless it was brought about under the Liberal party watch. Liberals are known for throwing money at problems in the hope that this will make them go away. I don't think throwing this kind of money at government will make it go away though.

Dalton McGuinty rightly said there was no good time to do something like this, so he just bit the bullet and passed the bill. He's willing to take a hit for the good of the troops.

I went through my pay stubs and looked for the last time I got a 25% raise all at once. And there it was. NEVER! My raises are more on the order of between 1.5 to 2% at the best of times. It takes me between 12 to 25 years to get what they got overnight.

McGuinty makes a big point out of his brother being a backbencher in federal politics. Seems he makes more than a provincial cabinet member makes. This leads to people wanting to get into federal, rather than provincial, politics. You can figure out how happy I am with the fed's pay packages and all the perks they get.

There is some noise from McGuinty saying not all members have to take the raise. They are free to decline it if they wish. I'm as sure of anyone refusing the raise as I am that I can sell you ocean side property in Arizona. Some MPP's are saying they will donate the raise to charity. How noble. Only one has come forward thus far to say this.

I wish I could vote myself a raise.

Not only does the timing suck big time, but they didn't even have the decency to say, okay, after the next election the pay rate will be X amount. I think Mr. McGuinty knows his ass is going to be kicked in the next election, what with all his blatantly broken promises, but now that his snout is in the trough, he doesn't want to face retirement on a measly pension, indexed to inflation mind you, based on his last 6 years in office.

I might have a better idea. If the politicos find they can make more money in private industry, let them. Get rid of the whole bunch of lawyers and economists that are so far out of touch with the working man. Seventy grand is a good paycheck in anybodies book. Give them that salary for the 180 days a year they show up at work and don't reimburse any expenses that aren't accompanied by a legitimate receipt. This will get those who earn $20,000 or $30,000 a year interested and maybe we'd see some sensible legislation come from the House instead of the nonsense that's currently foisted upon us.