‘CASEY’ JONES AT THE THROTTLE …

 

On the night of April 30th 1900, ‘Casey’ Jones and his Cannonball Express collided with a stalled freight train on the tracks of the Illinois and Central Railroad.

We in Ontario too have a train wreck in motion and one being engineered by none other than ‘Casey’ Kathleen and her Gritty Crew.

And like the night of April 30th one hundred years ago, things will end in disaster.

But, the Voters of Ontario have spoken and none can later say they were not warned. 

Pundits today, are suggesting that Premier elect, Kathleen Wynne will be forced to be fiscally prudent by the Bond-Raters.

They’d be wrong … they do not realize how inculcated Wynne and her followers are in the obsessive need to spend massive amounts of other people’s money on hair brained schemes and general waste.

The day will come when the party is over – so to speak, but the Liberals will do their best to delay taking meaningful action as long as possible.

So do not expect any quick fixes in the near to medium future and that, dear reader, is what the voters of Ontario are content with in any event.

I do expect Wynne will soon announce a freeze on hiring and salaries but things are so bad economically in Ontario that that would be like spitting in the wind and hoping to put out the fire.

Jobs will continue to be lost with energy rates 3x what they are in neighbouring provinces and states.  Wynne’s new ill advised pension scheme will create even more incentive for businesses to pick up- and go elsewhere.  All, will cause more and more unemployment in all sectors of the economy.

It is for that reason I am not happy with yesterday’s election results but I am happy that the voters were given the opportunity to have their say.

And I am also absolutely delighted by the fact that it is Wynne who, for the next 4 years, will have to live with the disaster created by her Grit forebears over the course of the last decade and more.

So keep your hand on the Throttle dear Kathleen and remember, like the ill fated ‘Casey’, when the crash ultimately occurs … you will be riding right up at the very front of the Train.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Read Them And Weep …

 

The Polls leading up to tomorrow’s Ontario Election that is.

A couple of days ago, in my last ‘let’s pretend it is election day in Ontario’ I pointed out that although it is virtually a dead-heat between the two major parties, the Liberals were apt to win if for no other reason than they have a lock on GTA’s 40 seats.

Now, on the Eve of Election Day, I do not see that anything has changed from then.  If anything, the Grits have pulled slightly ahead over the course of the last two days.

I am not going to recite here the many reasons why Wynne and company deserve a good thrashing nor am I going to list the critical mistakes made during the campaign by the Hudak folks … by this time, you are as well aware of this as I am.

There will be lots of time to review what went wrong post election day.

In the old movie ‘Harvey’, starring Jimmy Stewart, his character Elwood had this to say; “In this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well for years I was smart; I now prefer pleasant”.

So for me I would rather vote for the nice guy who finishes last than for the crook who finishes first. …

I will be casting my vote for Hudak.

The Unions, which have spent millions upon millions of their members dollars to see this win come about will one day soon see their victory tomorrow as hollow since sooner or later even the Liberals will be forced to take steps to clean up the mess they have created for Ontario’s economy.

In that regard, there is justice in the Liberals winning tomorrow … it could not happen to a more deserving bunch.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

One Last Time …

 

Let’s Pretend Today, is Thursday June 12Th, Election Day In Ontario.

So What are the Polls saying?

A Dead Heat:  Tories 36.5; Liberals 36.0; and NDP 20.0 %.

To me, this translates into a minority Liberal Government, with some important caveats.

The Liberals have the lead in core Toronto – 43 to the Tories 31 and with the NDP at only 17% there, it means most if not all of Toronto’s 20 seats will continue to be Red.

The surrounding area of Toronto – the important 905 Region too remains Liberal – but less so – with the Liberals now at 37% to the Tory 30% and the Dippers at 20%.  If that holds to election day the Grits will get the over half of the 905 vote – so they will leave the GTA with at least 30 of the 40 available seats.

They only need 54 seats to form a majority.

Now the caveats:

First, a greater % of Tory Voters say they are committed to going to the polls – so the dead heat numbers above have to be read with that in mind – i.e the Tory vote is firmer.

Second, with such a large lead in Toronto and to a lesser extent in the 905 – many liberal votes there will be wasted as overkill. But they still will most likely come out of those two areas with at least 30 seats.

Third, momentum – the big MO is beginning to turn on the Liberals. In other words, the longer the election goes on – the less overall % they can expect.  In that regard, the Liberals can be thankful that the election is but 3 days away.  - and -

Fourth, the Unionization of the Election is starting to wear thin and is starting to turn voters off.  This will move more voters into the Tory ranks.

Taken together, the above could very well put the Tories in the win category and I will do my final Blog on the June 12th Election – on the 11th and will read the tea leaves as they then present themselves.

Right now though – my read is a slight win for the Liberals.  Their best hope is that more Dippers come their way between now and Thursday as the realization continues to sink in that the NDP really are not serious players in the 2014 Election.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’