Olympics Pro or No ?

[uncleg]

When first announced I was pro Olympics, but as the bills ran up and the VANOC dictatorship took hold I quickly switched to the the No side. The final nail in the coffin was the transportation plan. B.C. Ferries couldn't properly handle the breakdown of one ship over the Thanksgiving weekend, yet we are supposed to believe they will be able to move thousands of people and vehicles between Darrell Bay and Horseshoe Bay, if the highway is closed.
On the weekend a guy kills himself at 09:30 on the Sea to Sky, it takes the police till 15:00; to get the highway open again. Picture that during the Olympics. If they have a way to investigate faster during the Olympics, why aren't they using that method now?

While I would hate to see Vancouver get a black eye over this, I do hope something f**ks up royally and VANOC gets shown up as the ignorant, arrogant twits they really are.

 

[TheGuy]

It is expensive and there are better ways to spend all of that money but it should be good for Vancouver in the long run!

 

[MissingOne]

I was against it. However, it's coming, so there's no point in being a sourpuss about it now.

 

[bcneil]

We will all pay taxes til the day we die anyways.
I am really looking forward to the games.
I plan to take time off work, and go to as many events as I can.

I went to the Atlanta games, and loved it.
Went to the SLC games, and loved it.

My sister is one of those people that hate it, and all that stuff.
Money should go to the poor or whatever.
Her 15 year old son plans to come stay with me, as he wants to enjoy it too

 

[kafka555]

Most of the money has already been spent, and the Olympics are going ahead even if hell freezes over, so that any activities that reduce attendence, sponsorship etc will only increase the tab that taxpayers will have to pick up.

 

[Cock Throppled]

Fucked up little tyrants come to town and tell the citty, province and country what they want and how they want it and we bend over and ask how deep they're going.

The tab is up to $7.2 billion so far for everything associated with this cluster fuck and we're supposed to be grateful.

Meanwhile Gordo is increasing costs for pensioners in care, closing hospital beds, after-school activities, etc. Yeah, the Olympics really put places on the map.

Can anyone quickly remember where the last five winter Olympics have been held? It doesn't put any place on the map. Skiers already know where Whistler is, it consistenly ranks as one of the best resorts.

For $7.2 billion we could have run one hell of an advertising campaign worldwide for 20 years inviting people here instead of a six week window of exposure.

 

[hunsperger]

...

We will all pay taxes til the day we die anyways.

are you serious...

what a bizarre statement...

this is the same guy that shops for lines on $100 bet...

but apparently has no issue with being taxed to death...

 

[Yman]

I've always loved the Olympics and I was very supportive of the bid and all the potential for the province. I have to say I've become totally disenchanted with the IOC and all of their BS and rules. I hope the athletes take it back from the greedy people at the helm.

 

[Cock Throppled]

I actually feel sorry for the athletes - they are almost forgotten in all the hype and advertising feeding frenzy.
The Olympic dream has been so corrupted by cheating, professionalism and money it is barely recognizeable.
Toss in the corrupt and bloated inbred European dinosaurs running the show and it's about as fucked as possible.
No - I won't be going unless it's to get arrested for putting an anti-Olympic sign in my downtown window.

 

[festealth]

I totally support the Olympics, since without it, a lot of things won't be done.
Rav-line, sea-to-sky, plus a lot of other more local upgrades.... if Vancouver isn't hosting 2010, we'd still be talking about how it's a good idea to expand the skytrain still.

Of course, that being said, I believe that the entire event has been managed poorly. I dunno whether it's from up top, middle-men trying to earn a quick buck, politicians... whoever....
I'm worried that maybe the Olympic village is built to Mexican standards or maybe some infrastructure designs might be flawed.... we'll be in a whole world of hurt if things end up badly.

I just know that they should have had someone like a Jim Pattison to run things. With someone extremely reputable and savvy with business, we wouldn't be hearing about cost overrun and mismanagements.

 

[Shakerod]

You can blame that on Richard Jewel!

Moral of the story:You don't have to be an athelete,to realize Olympic Fame.

Englebert Humperdink

Richard Jewel was cleared of any wrongdoing regarding the Olympic bombing.

 

[niteowl]

It's all over-priced and over-rated.
Give it at least 30 years to be paid off.

Olympic Champion is bigger than World Champion? I suppose considering you MAY have only one shot at the Olympics.

 

[treveller]

What's Wrong With This Picture?

$30 Million in bonuses for Vanoc employees? No problem. The spending will stimulate the economy, same as all the rest of the Olympic spending.

Mean while, back at the ranch, we have cuts to health care, education and every other service in order to reduce taxes.

Has anyone considered cutting the Olympics to reduce taxes and spending more on health care, education and services to stimulate the economy?

It was only Vancouver residents who were given a vote on the olympics. They voted yes. Is there any way it could be just them who pay the taxes for it?

 

[Yman]

Mean while, back at the ranch, we have cuts to health care, education and every other service in order to reduce taxes.

Has anyone considered cutting the Olympics to reduce taxes and spending more on health care, education and services to stimulate the economy?

I always get peturbed when I constantly hear these statements. Somehow there is a belief by a few out there that the Olympics is responsible for the cuts in health care and education. The reason we're seeing cuts to these areas is the drop in provincial revenues due to the global recession and not the Olympics. The government is experiencing huge shortfalls in funds they collect from the resource based industries. Some economists will actually argue that many people in BC were kept employed during the last year with Olympic related business. BC felt the pain of this recession much less than other provinces like oil rich Alberta or Ontario.

Reduce taxes ??? I don't know about you but I haven't seen or felt any reduction in taxes ? What about the coming HST ?

The concept of spending money on education, health care and larger government to stimulate an economy is the FAILED strategy of the NDP and the majority of people are too wise this antiquated approach. You can't put the horse before the cart to get results ! Big and small business is what propels forward the overall prosperity of the province.

 

[treveller]

Yman et al

I think you have been sucked in by a persuasive con along with most people.

The less money we are forced to spend on services like health care, education, peace, order and good government, the more money we have left to spend on the toys that Jim Pattison and his friends at the Vancouver Club want to sell us.

The problem is that when your tax money is well spent on those services (and I acknowledge that only a portion is well spent) the whole society benefits.

Conversely, when we lose those services because selfserving business interests with inappropriate influence over our politicians want higher profits, we are all screwed.

The bottom line is, over the past 20 years the wealthiest fraction of the population has become substantially wealthier and better off while everyons else, including you, have lost ground.

This year's deficit is a short term issue. Consider the longer term and a broader economic view and you will come up with different priorities.

 

[hunsperger]

I always get peturbed when I constantly hear these statements. Somehow there is a belief by a few out there that the Olympics is responsible for the cuts in health care and education. The reason we're seeing cuts to these areas is the drop in provincial revenues due to the global recession and not the Olympics. The government is experiencing huge shortfalls in funds they collect from the resource based industries. Some economists will actually argue that many people in BC were kept employed during the last year with Olympic related business. BC felt the pain of this recession much less than other provinces like oil rich Alberta or Ontario.

Reduce taxes ??? I don't know about you but I haven't seen or felt any reduction in taxes ? What about the coming HST ?

The concept of spending money on education, health care and larger government to stimulate an economy is the FAILED strategy of the NDP and the majority of people are too wise this antiquated approach. You can't put the horse before the cart to get results ! Big and small business is what propels forward the overall prosperity of the province.

"this ad was paid for by the BC Liberal party"...

helping us help you...

 

[uncleg]

The concept of spending money on education, health care and larger government to stimulate an economy is the FAILED strategy of the NDP and the majority of people are too wise this antiquated approach. You can't put the horse before the cart to get results ! Big and small business is what propels forward the overall prosperity of the province.

The problem though is that when you are in a regulated industry, and you have morons as the regulators, it is difficult to find prosperity. The industry I am in is regulated by fools, unfortunately we don't have the political clout to change things. However, if enough of the people in the industry get pissed over these games, we can bring them to a standstill. I don't know if enough people to be effective will step up, but unless some changes are made in the next couple of months there just might be. I'm hoping.

 

[Yman]

Haha, nice one.

P.S. Yman I noticed and felt when the GST came down. The HST is bollocks and I really hope it doesn't go as planned.

Just a reminder that the GST is a federal tax and not provincial. The reduction in the GST came to us via Harper and the Conservatives...not the BC Liberal Party

 

[Yman]

I think you have been sucked in by a persuasive con along with most people.

The less money we are forced to spend on services like health care, education, peace, order and good government, the more money we have left to spend on the toys that Jim Pattison and his friends at the Vancouver Club want to sell us.

The problem is that when your tax money is well spent on those services (and I acknowledge that only a portion is well spent) the whole society benefits.

Conversely, when we lose those services because selfserving business interests with inappropriate influence over our politicians want higher profits, we are all screwed.

The bottom line is, over the past 20 years the wealthiest fraction of the population has become substantially wealthier and better off while everyons else, including you, have lost ground.

I remember when things in BC were pretty terrible across the board and the ruler of the day in this province was the NDP. Of course, if you had a government job you could rely on fat contracts and job security for less work and less creativity. Meanwhile the majority of citizens footed the bill for the inefficiency and waste. While the rest of Canada and America prospered, BC was in the toilet. Unions furthermore made us less competitive with the rest of the world. Large corporations moved their offices elsewhere and the resource industry tanked under ridiculous regulation and bureaucracy. There were fewer jobs and we were swimming in debt. People started leaving BC to find jobs and opportunity elsewhere.

We saw a reversal of fortune when the liberals took office. Unfortunately power and success has corrupted and they suck now too. Unfortunately we don't have a reasonable alternative.

So, please stop with saying my remarks are BC Liberal advertisement nonsense. If someone offered something better to Liberals I would happily vote in that direction. Unfortunately, Carol James is a total idiot and the Green party has yet to develop a platform that they could actually run a government.

 

[TheGuy]

I don't think it does much for the city when it comes down to it. Atlanta is not really any better than it was before the summer Olympics in 96.

Good point! Atlanta really isn't that much different than before.