Wideleft

While Cheney apparently cares deeply about American Democracy (or probably just hates Trump - look at her record on voting rights), she is in no way the least worst option and far from a moderate Conservative.

It would be a gamble, but the first 3 McCarthy voters could support Jeffries to force the MAGAnuts' hands. I'd love to see it happen, though.

Cathy Cox not seeking re-election either: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23564784-message-from-cathy-cox-mla

Updated List (MBB Free Agent Tracker): Bomber Free Agents: Quarterback Dakota Prukop (A) Fullback Mike Miller (N) Receiver Rasheed Bailey (A) Nic Demski (N) Greg Ellingson (A) Janarion Grant (A) Timothy Knuettel (G) Greg McCrae (A) Luke McMillan (N) Offensive line Stanley Bryant (A) Re-signed Michael Couture (N) Jermarcus Hardrick (A) Patrick Neufeld (N) Re-signed Eric Lofton (A) Tyler Witt (A) Defensive line Keion Adams (A) Jackson Jeffcoat (A) Willie Jefferson (A) Re-signed Casey Sayles (A) Jake Thomas (N) Re-Signed Linebacker Adam Bighill (A) Re-signed Jesse Briggs (N) Shayne Gauthier (N) Les Maruo (G) Kyrie Wilson (A) Re-signed DeJuan Cooper (A) Defensive back Alden Darby (A) Desmond Lawrence (A) Re-signed Mercy Maston (A) Winston Rose (A) Re-signed Nick Taylor (A) Souleymane Karamoko (G) Cedric Lavigne (N) Donald Rutledge Jr. (A) Left for USFL Kicker Ali Mourtada (A) Long snapper Mike Benson (N) Re-Signed

This is all I could find, but I'll bet JCon knows: MLA PENSION PLAN AND ALTERNATIVE RRSP PLAN The Legislative Assembly Pension Plan (LAPP) was registered with Canada Revenue Agency effective December 7, 2005. Effective January 1, 2018 LAPP active Member contribution is to be increased by 2% to 9%. Increases are to be one-half (1/2%) over 4 years. As an on-going alternative to the MLA Pension Plan, a Member may contribute up to 7% of his or her total pay to one or more RRSPs of the Member's choice, including a spousal RRSP. A matching contribution is made by the Crown. Total pay includes the Member's basic Salary and any additional indemnities paid to the Member. SEVERANCE/TRANSITION ALLOWANCE - Effective October 5, 2011 Newly elected Members on April 25th, 1995, and in subsequent elections, are eligible for the Severance/Transition Allowance. Members who resign, retire or are defeated are entitled to receive the equivalent of one month's salary for each year of service and pro-rated for part of each year of service. The minimum transition payment is three (3) months' pay and the maximum is twelve (12) months' pay. Members have the option of receiving the transition allowance as bi-weekly payments, unless the outgoing Member makes a written request for the amount to be paid as a lump sum. If that request is made, the allowance is payable as a lump sum severance benefit. A Member is not eligible to receive the Transition Allowance if the Member is drawing from the LAPP during the period of transition. https://www.reviewcommissioner.mb.ca/mla-retirement-benefits-2022.html

Easy to identify the GOP members who have dedicated their careers to petulance.

I'm really surprised that there aren't at least 10 GOP who can tell Jeffries and Donalds apart. Good thing they have to say the name and not point.

Looks like it's going to be strike 4 for McCarthy.

Friends of mine just sold their beautiful lakefront cottage in Kawartha Lakes to a realtor who was going to turn it into an AirBnB. Looks like the realtors are going to have some competition as foreign buyers' options just got tighter. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cruelty is the point. BUILD Inc. shutters Winnipeg job training program after funding negotiations with province fail Daniel Peterson has a blunt answer after being asked where he thinks he would be without the opportunities he received through the job training program at BUILD Inc. "Dead," he said. Peterson is one of about 1,000 people who have gone through the program — which works with people facing barriers to employment and trains them to do interior renovations — over the last 16 years. Now that program is shutting down, after two years of funding negotiations with the provincial government failed to produce an agreement. Peterson first came to the program in 2016, shortly after getting out of prison. He said he struggled with addictions since the age of 12, and had few skills to help him get a job. After several more stints in jail, Peterson has been doing painting and carpentry work for six months. "They took me back again because, thank God … they liked me. They just kept giving me chances and it's really appreciated, because I stayed out of jail." 'Another family' BUILD's training program gave him confidence, he said. "It's like another family," he said. "They've given me a lot — love, compassion, understanding. I get a lot through this." Most of the program participants identify as Indigenous, although Peterson does not. The provincial government funded the program until 2018. It then received funding from the federal government, but that agreement ended in 2020. Executive director Sean Hogan said the training program has struggled for the past two years. Manitoba to commit $2.25M to program that aims to reduce number of Indigenous youth in justice system Manitoba looks to private sector to help reduce youth recidivism through social impact bond They've kept it going by using profits from the business side of the social enterprise, which renovated low-income housing, but Hogan said that isn't sustainable in the long term. "We have people coming in literally every day asking for an opportunity, people who are leaving a gang, people who are leaving jail," he said. "The past couple of years we've had to say no, consistently say no that we don't have anything for them and we're sorry." Negotiations with the province initially focused on trying to secure a grant to fund the program, but that would have required BUILD to stop paying the trainees directly, Hogan said. They then shifted to trying to work out a social impact bond — a method of funding social programs that uses private investment, which is then repaid with interest if the project's goals and cost savings are achieved. Recently, however, the province told Hogan they would only issue the social impact bond if they stopped working with people involved in the justice system. "I expressed that we weren't happy with that, and then about two weeks ago, they told us that they wouldn't be moving forward with us on a social impact bond, or funding." OPINION Social impact bond could not only help at-risk moms, but give Manitoba's government a chance to shine OPINION Social impact bonds: Another attempt at privatizing government? A spokesperson for the province didn't respond to questions about why the province placed those conditions on potential funding agreements with BUILD. Last April, the province gave BUILD $485,000 as a "bridge grant," and recently renewed an agreement for the organization to to be "one of the contractors of choice for repair and maintenance in Manitoba Housing." The spokesperson also said the province has issued a request for proposals for $2 million in training initiatives available in 2023. All organizations, including BUILD, are invited to apply, the spokesperson said. BUILD – which stands for Building Urban Industries for Local Development – was founded in 2006. Its six-month training program includes two months of in-class education followed by four months of on-the-job experience. Many of the participants are people who have been recently incarcerated, as well as youth aging out of Child and Family Services and parents trying to reunite with their children. Renovation business to continue Although the training program will end, BUILD will continue its business renovating low-income housing, Hogan said. "Which is OK, that can exist that way. But … there's going to be 50 to 100 people in this next year that are not going to get an opportunity in Winnipeg's North End, that could have had an opportunity to make a better life for themselves." Hogan's referring to others like Daniel Peterson, who credits the program with saving his life, as well as helping him support his daughter and three grandchildren. "I phoned and asked for a pair of free work boots, because I was going to go to a temp agency. They gave me a job along with the work boots here," he said. "I'd probably be dead if these guys weren't here." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/build-inc-shutting-down-job-training-program-1.6694552

There is simple ignorance, not knowing, and willful ignorance that refuses to know, that covers the light of knowledge with the dark blanket of bias. Elizabeth Moon

Which we should have had in 2005. Thank the Cons and NDP for bringing down the Paul Martin government. The 2005 Canadian Federal Budget during the premiership of Paul Martin, included CA$5 billion over five years for a national day care program similar to Québec's child care system.[12] The federal and provincial governments signed bilateral agreements "Moving Forward on Early Learning and Child Care". This allowed individual provinces to access the new federal funding.[13] Both Saskatchewan and Manitoba signed agreements through which they committed to expanding only in the non-profit sector. Ontario did not.[13] In 2005, the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, said that there needs to be support for "more and better before and after school learning and care opportunities for children 6-12". The Coalition also noted that the agreement was not binding on Ontario in regards to additional funding from the province to child care. Without both federal and provincial funding, longer-term child care is unsustainable in Ontario.[13] When Stephen Harper won the 2006 Canadian federal election, the new government eliminated the bilateral agreements on child care as their first act of power.

The Feds have never said that they wouldn't increase money for healthcare only that the provinces must prove the money is going to improve healthcare. Wanna-B-Fanboy already established that the Feds have this right. Perhaps you can provide evidence that they don't (other than Conservative Premier talking points).

Which is why Alberta has yet to completely privatize health care.

Not a fact. There are different kinds of electoral reform: Proportional Representation, Ranked Balloting etc. Even under PR, the Cons would not have had enough seats to form a coalition with 1/3 of the seats. You must have missed this from a few minutes ago (I'll put it in red so you notice this time): Excluding pandemic costs, the province spent $7.08 billion on health care in 2021-22. That’s an increase of $520 million from the $6.56 billion the province spent in 2017-18 — an average annual increase of only 1.9 per cent. It’s a stingy amount that falls well short of addressing chronic hospital understaffing, long wait lists and a severe doctor shortage, particularly in rural Manitoba. It’s especially inadequate given the province’s aging population, which is putting increased pressure on hospitals, home care and personal-care homes. Ms. Stefanson blames the federal government for that funding shortfall. However, during the same period, health-care transfers from Ottawa to Manitoba increased on average 3.8 per cent a year, bringing the federal contribution to $1.57 billion in 2021-22. That does not include additional federal funding for pandemic relief. It also doesn’t include the $900-million annual boost in equalization payments Manitoba received from Ottawa during that period.

Regarding the public release of Trump's tax returns (from today's Washington Post): In its investigation, the Ways and Means Committee homed in on a little-known provision in the IRS’s internal rules that has mandated tax audits for sitting presidents since 1977. The panel found that the program was effectively dormant under the Trump administration. And after the IRS started an audit in 2019, Trump took steps to try to slow it down, such as seeking information under the Freedom of Information Act, “failing to provide all the facts needed” and other measures. The IRS’s shortage of needed employees also slowed down the audit, the report said.

From today's Free Press editorial: Excluding pandemic costs, the province spent $7.08 billion on health care in 2021-22. That’s an increase of $520 million from the $6.56 billion the province spent in 2017-18 — an average annual increase of only 1.9 per cent. It’s a stingy amount that falls well short of addressing chronic hospital understaffing, long wait lists and a severe doctor shortage, particularly in rural Manitoba. It’s especially inadequate given the province’s aging population, which is putting increased pressure on hospitals, home care and personal-care homes. Ms. Stefanson blames the federal government for that funding shortfall. However, during the same period, health-care transfers from Ottawa to Manitoba increased on average 3.8 per cent a year, bringing the federal contribution to $1.57 billion in 2021-22. That does not include additional federal funding for pandemic relief. It also doesn’t include the $900-million annual boost in equalization payments Manitoba received from Ottawa during that period. Instead of using that funding and other own-source revenues to provide the health-care system with adequate funding, the Tories cut taxes as part of their “$2,020 tax rollback guarantee.” According to Finance Minister Cameron Friesen, total tax cuts since 2016 are worth over $1.1 billion a year.

And Jan. 6 seditionists have their opinions and the FluTruxKlan had their opinions - that doesn't make them right nor does it raise the level of discourse from a deep hole. Don't get upset if your "opinions" aren't challenged and don't get upset if some of us think they're garbage, because even you seemingly can't defend them.

Then I'm going to ask you for a second time: What should Biden be charged with?

You really should answer for this line of discussion. No way anyone will take you seriously if you don't explain it. First of all, the sentences don't square. Secondly, it's a bold statement that requires at least some evidence supporting it.

The ironic thing is Manitoba's Health Transformation initiative was meant to find efficiencies across the province by using the same technologies and processes because it should be easier to support and staff. It would also therefore be easier to plan and budget for on an ongoing basis. In theory, it makes a lot of sense if implemented properly and not in haste. Trudeau isn't really saying anything much different and yet Manitoba is pissing and moaning. If I had a nickel for every time I swore at one of my unintentional merged posts, I'd have many nickels.