reamond
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posted on February 16, 2004 08:04:22 AM new
Ronny Reagan " Are you better off than you were four years ago?"
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stopwhining
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posted on February 16, 2004 08:14:34 AM new
yes,i am better off.
things are cheaper now than before.
cheaper house,cheaper car,cheaper household staples,cheaper money.
but not cheaper medical care.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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reamond
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posted on February 16, 2004 09:14:49 AM new
[i]cheaper house,cheaper car,cheaper household staples,cheaper money.
but not cheaper medical care[/i]
Cheaper house ? Our area is at record high prices.
Cheaper car ? Those prices are up too.
The only thing cheaper is interest rates, and not much cheaper that before. But the interest rates are cheap because the rest of the economy is in the toilet.
Have you been to the gas pump lately ? Heating oil and natural gas prices are higher too.
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Linda_K
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posted on February 16, 2004 09:19:39 AM new
Net worth wise, yes.
Most because of increased value of my home and stock portfolio recovery. 
Re-elect President Bush!!
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Helenjw
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posted on February 16, 2004 09:27:54 AM new
I really don't know of a single item or service which has not gone up in price in my area.
We have higher priced houses, rent, food, clothing, utilities, autos, gas and taxes.
Medical care is unaffordable for many
College tuition has been increased so that it is unaffordable by some.
Even some who have a portfolio such as linda are not better off.
Those without a portfolio are certainly not better off.
Helen
[ edited by Helenjw on Feb 16, 2004 10:08 AM ]
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profe51
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posted on February 16, 2004 10:21:16 AM new
My land is more valuable every day. That's not the President's doing. My "stock portfolio" (ha ha) is more like a stock garbage bag. It may smell a tiny bit less foul than it used to, but by comparison, it still stinks.....so, no, I'm not better off in any way that would influence my vote.
___________________________________
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kraftdinner
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posted on February 16, 2004 11:13:28 AM new
Same here. The value of my property has grown, but everyday stuff is expensive. One way I get all the things I want, is to buy stuff on eBay, live with it all for awhile, then sell it. I get bored with things really quickly, so it's perfect. Makes me feel rich.
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Linda_K
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posted on February 16, 2004 11:26:10 AM new
KD - Please forgive me, but since you are a Canadian, I'm having a real hard time understanding how President Bush's economic program would affect your net worth at all.
Re-elect President Bush!!
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kiara
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posted on February 16, 2004 11:50:39 AM new
Linda, I can answer your question about how the American economy affects the Canadian one. Anything the US does has a ripple effect worldwide. Canada and the US are closely linked when it comes to trade and the stock markets. Any policy made by the US affects markets and financial decisions around the world, it's not just an internal issue.
Some may wonder why Canadians are focused on the US and that's one of the main reasons. Some of us even entertain the thought of living across the border and doing business in the US.
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Linda_K
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posted on February 16, 2004 12:08:27 PM new
Kiara - I'd be interested in understanding how you can tell if your own individual worth has increased or decreased by the Bush policies. I wasn't under the impression reamond was asking about how foreign politics apply to our own net worths.....but hey...maybe I'm wrong.
When one looks at their net worth, from year to year, the usually look to see if THEY are worth more or less than they were the year before. In this case, reamond's question was in the last 4 years.
Re-elect President Bush!!
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stopwhining
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posted on February 16, 2004 12:10:39 PM new
you can get a house here with base price of 95k,you wont be ashamed to invite your in laws or you boss over for a visit.
as for interest rate,is it cheap??
yes,if you are a commodity producer borrowing at 2-4 % and expect the price of your commodity rising or stay at today's level.
if you are a electronics manufacturer and prices keep falling,and margin gets thinner and thinner,that interest expense for using other people money will appear more and more expensive as a % of your profit.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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bunnicula
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posted on February 16, 2004 12:40:38 PM new
KD - Please forgive me, but since you are a Canadian, I'm having a real hard time understanding how President Bush's economic program would affect your net worth at al
http://www.refconews.com/cur_cad_f_cp.html
Canada's economy is highly dependent on commodities. The positive correlation between the Canadian dollar and commodity prices is close to 60%. Typically, as commodity prices increase, the CAD$ increases and when commodity prices decrease, the CAD$ declines.
Strong correlation with the US
The US imports 85% of Canada's exports. The Canadian economy is highly sensitive to changes in the US economy.
******
Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
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Linda_K
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posted on February 16, 2004 12:54:03 PM new
Okay bunni - Maybe I took reamond's question in the wrong way.
I thought he was asking if we [personally] were better or worse off since Bush took office.
I understand all countries are connected in an economic way....I thought we were talking about what Reagan was asking us to do....look at our OWN net worth from one period of time to another.
I'd still be intereseted in hearing HOW and WHICH policies Bush has put into place that they know has changed their individual bottom line.
Re-elect President Bush!!
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stopwhining
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posted on February 16, 2004 01:35:57 PM new
bush policies changing individual bottom line??
-tax cut
- dividend tax cut
-cheapen thy dollars so we can export more
-defense spending
hey,we are going to compete with australia and canada and sierre leone by exporting commodties to china.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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kcpick4u
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posted on February 16, 2004 01:54:58 PM new
Are we better off? The crime rate is up, employment is down, the man in office is steadily loosing support. Go Figure!
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kiara
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posted on February 16, 2004 01:58:47 PM new
bunnicula, thanks! That link may explain it to Linda much better than I can even attempt to.
When US companies like Levi Strauss and Zippo start to suffer because of the US economy, they close their plants in Canada. Now it costs us more to bring the products in from the US.
When our dollar increases in value, I get less with the exchange rate when I sell to the US and I rely on US sales for part of my income.
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kraftdinner
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:00:44 PM new
My mistake. I thought the question was a general one.
Linda, 90% of all Canadians live along the Canada/US borderline, so we're almost the same country.
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Linda_K
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:16:54 PM new
I thought the question was a general one. Hey....I said it looks like I took it the wrong way....not you. 
90% of all Canadians live along the Canada/US borderline
Yes but each government makes it's policy decisions that's in it's own best interests. And the decisions Canada's PM has made has, never in my life time, damaged my personal financial bottom line.
But maybe that's why I have read that there were many Canadians making political financial contributions to the Dean campaign. [Illegal to do so]
Re-elect President Bush!!
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Helenjw
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:21:30 PM new
linda,
You seem to forget the millions that Canada contributed to Bush's war.
Helen
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kiara
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:23:53 PM new
Yes but each government makes it's policy decisions that's in it's own best interests. And the decisions Canada's PM has made has, never in my life time, damaged my personal financial bottom line.
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kiara
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:29:02 PM new
Linda, for the simple reason...... look at the difference in population between the two countries.
Canada is, as Twelvepole so eloquently puts it, a POS in the eyes of the US and most of us know it.
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kraftdinner
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:30:25 PM new
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Linda_K
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:33:57 PM new
Kiara - Then why don't you just cut to the chase and answer how any, and which ones, of Bush's economic policies have changed your personal financial position over the last four years?
Re-elect President Bush!!
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kraftdinner
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:43:43 PM new
The war in Afghanistan. The added security measures we have to take in the name of terrorism - 2 off hand that costs us billions.
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rawbunzel
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:50:39 PM new
Canada supplies 60% of our oil. I am quite sure that if they wanted to they could really affect our economy.
Am I better off? No. Our home has increased in value dramaticaly...our little 1 bedroom house is now worth ,on our market, well over $225000. Our real estate taxes go up every year in response. Soon we will HAVE to move because the taxes are more than our mortgage payment a month.Of course, I want to move so it isn't totally bad...except that we will have to move to timbuktoo to afford a place.
Every time a federaly funded program loses funding in the state the state makes up for it by raising a different local tax. The governor here is talking about raising the sales tax by another percent to help pay for higher education...we already pay 8.8 percent.We just had a 5 cent gas tax added to the cost of a gallon of gas...we already pay some of the highest gas taxes in the nation.Every time I go to the grocery the prices have gone up.$1.99 for a head of romaine lettuce.Nothing here costs less.Except jeans...I did notice that jeans have come down in price. I imagine that has to do with them all being made in other parts of the world.
So no, I am not doing better.
All religions are equally right
[ edited by rawbunzel on Feb 16, 2004 02:52 PM ]
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Linda_K
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:52:50 PM new
I'm still not in agreement that's what Reagan was referring to when he asked that question.
And you know you pay much less than you would have been paying if your country had to pay for a large military of it's own, for it's own protection.
Your country making the decision to assist America in Afghanistan was not something Bush did that changed your economic status. Blame that cost of that decision on your OWN elected representatives, the decision was in their hands.
Re-elect President Bush!!
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plsmith
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posted on February 16, 2004 02:57:05 PM new
"And you know you pay much less than you would have been paying if your country had to pay for a large military of it's own, for it's own protection."
Maybe if Bush gets another four years Canada will decide it needs one...
By the by, what's that horse-hockey up there about Dean? You been reading some bund ragsheet again, Lindapoo?
[ edited by plsmith on Feb 16, 2004 03:00 PM ]
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kiara
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posted on February 16, 2004 03:00:47 PM new
Linda, I've already said it above. It affects some of the products I was selling to make a profit, to earn an income. If I'm getting that product from the US and the price goes up there, it goes up here.
Many people are losing their jobs in your country and some have less money to spend so they no longer shop in Canada so that affects me too.
Lots of money on both sides of the border is going into Afghanistan and Iraq. The money has to come from somewhere so taxes increase. If Canada didn't participate the border would have been shut to everything except for the oil.
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kraftdinner
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posted on February 16, 2004 03:03:20 PM new
Linda, I wasn't trying to justify anything. I was just giving you a couple of examples of how these 2 things have become an added expense since Bush has been President. Actually, our economy is doing really well, it's just me that's no better off.
P.S. BTW, I agree that Canada is very lucky to have the U.S. as a neighbour.
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Helenjw
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posted on February 16, 2004 03:08:15 PM new
Linda, You are not making any sense and furthermore you are being a major AH.
It' cost Canada billions to protect their country from a threat created by the president of this country.
Ninety percent of Canada's trade is with the United States and when the value of the American dollar drops it affects the economy of Canada and the citizens of that country.
We don't live in a vacuum
Helen
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