A big rain area is approaching New Brunswick and that is no good as I have to drive the Motor Home to Machias to get our wind shield checked out.  While the motor home has been parked I discovered that the right half of the wind shield had moved out of the gasket leaving an open gap between the body frame and the glass. That must have happened because the motor home has been jacked up on the rear left side, causing too much pressure on the windshield. Luckily it didn’t crack, so my hope is that it can be re-set into the gasket. I must say that I was surprised that the body wasn’t more stiff than that. Bea has finished a gigantic cleaning of the motor home and I must say everything looks like brand new. If I on my part could just locate those heating pipe valves I’d be a happy camper. The fact that our hot water boiler receives heating tells me that the valves should be open, unless it has an entirely separate loop. The heater at the front wall is an enclosed block which seems totally inaccessible to me. I couldn’t even find any hint in the coach literature to find out what brand of heater we have. I would probably have to call Damon Motor Coaches for information. What else has happened? The Province of British Columbia has finally decided to abolish the 2010 implemented HST (harmonized sales tax) of 12%. The HST substituted the GST (5% federal Goods-and-sales tax)) and the PST (provincial sales tax) That happened after large parts of the population revolted against the new tax which would have included a series of services and products not being taxed under the former GST/PST. It is an outstanding example of a working democracy, and that it can pay off not to accept everything which comes down from the government. The first provinces implementing the HST were the maritime provinces. New Brunswick is currently sporting a whooping 13% while the neighbouring Province of Nova Scotia is ‘enjoying’ 15% HST. Ontario also did the change-over to the HST in 2010. It doesn’t take an expert to see that the new taxes will be hurting the tourism industry. Our neighbours south of the border have a much finer feeling for raised taxes and I just can’t see a good reason, why Americans would travel to Canada when the U.S. economy is still weak. I wonder how much longer our governments are allowed to spend taxpayers money without any responsibility for the consequences. If States like Oregon and Montana can manage without any sales tax, it is strange that other governments are going broke under two-digit sales taxes. Sorry for the rant folks but stuff like that is eating me. Let’s hope for a break in the rain tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by! |
Monday, May 14, 2012
Look what’s coming
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
And a break in the taxes as well.
ReplyDeleteBatten down those hatches and good luck staying dry. Hope that windshield is an easy fix. Montanans pay a pretty steep property tax but it's better than a 10% sales tax on everything.
ReplyDeletegood luck with the weather and windshield repair!..hope it is an easy inexpensive fix!
ReplyDeleteI'm of the view that we in Canada do not pay higher taxes than residents of the U.S. When you add what the average American pays in Health Care costs and premiums to their taxes, we here in Canada come out looking pretty good.
ReplyDeleteRick, I do not envy the Americans. I know about their outragous health care costs. But these are not taxes. Their health care insurance premiums are the result of a scrupulous insurance industry. If the Americans wanted to change that they can go and get it done. Sales tax, however, hurts businesses and large families. We have come over from Norway where sales tax is at 25%. We just didn't want to pay that anymore. New Brunswick considers to go to 15%HST because they are BROKE. How can it be that a government goes broke if a responsible spending is in place? The more taxes are applied the less I can spend on goods and services ending up as a "bad" consumer. And THAT in turn hurts businesses.
DeleteGood luck with the windshield repair. We have found that the body on our coach does flex a surprising amount with the windshield shifting and even the entry door some times sticking.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about Montana but I can tell you that Oregon does it's share of taxing their residents with a very high state income tax and very high property taxes. One way or another every state is going to get their tax dollars however they can. Washington and Texas have sales taxes but they do not have an income tax and their property taxes are pretty low. Oregon has tried to get the voters to pass a sales tax and Washington and Texas have tried to get their voters to pass an income tax. These states have indicated the rates would be low but everyone knows once a new tax gets in it will just go up. The rest of my opinion would "only" be discussed around a campfire! :-}
ReplyDeleteI rather enjoy the fact that here in Alberta we have no provincial sales tax, and pretty good income and property tax rates. Guess it helps to have a robust industry helping out with funding. I am with Rick on the US taxes, some of our friends pay property tax on everything including their motor homes which makes my 80.00 odd dollars a year licensing fees look paltry in comparision. As for the health care costs it matters little to me whether I pay taxes or premiums it is all taken out of my pocket. Until something better comes along I will take our tax system over theirs.
ReplyDeleteSure, JB. Like I already said I am not envious about the US tax system. My "rant" was about responsible spending contra wasteful spending. Alberta has no sales tax and that is good. But for how many more years? When we lived in AB there was no deficit. Now they are proud to make less than 1bill in deficit for 2012/12. Ralph Klein had so much money that he gave $400 away to every AB-resident. That's never gonna happem again, and I'm not even sure whether that was a wise thing to do. We are kind of lucky living less than 3miles from the border and have no gas station here. We have to fill in the US at currently $1.00/liter. In New Brunswick gas costs about $1.30/liter. I think there is something wrong if the Province of Nova Scotia has to take 15% sales tax on everything, except basic foods. Look at Europe too. Sales tax is anywhere between 19-25% and yet they struggle with the expenditures.
Delete