Posted on 12/01/2004 3:15:18 AM PST by goldstategop
RUSH: Here's Matt in Windsor, Canada. Welcome to the program, Matt, nice to have you on with us.
CALLER: Mega dittos from Canada. I just want to say to the Americans that a lot of Canadians are grateful for voting Bush in, and the reason why is because we have a -- you've probably read about our military, or the lack of it. We have 10,000 military personnel for Canada. We have subs that sink, ships that break down and we just bought a bunch, a rusty fleet from England, and we had one sailor killed on bringing them back because the electrical panel blew up and it almost sunk.
But you know, we have 10,000 military personnel, and New York City has 15,000 police officers, I'm told. So... I mean that shows you for 44 million people in Canada (laughing) where we are as a people. We're so far left up here because of Trudeau 30 years ago. I mean, we're paying for it. Like one thing people don't realize. Everybody tries to use Canada as the example of how great everything is if you're just left. On $105,000 me and my wife have to pay $30,000 off the top income tax. Anybody above $115,000 that they make has to pay 45% of that to the government. That's just off the top. Then we have a sales tax that is 15%. Fifteen 15 cents on every dollar you spend, you have to pay to the government.
RUSH: Let me tell you something, this sounds like a paradise for American liberals.
CALLER: (Groans) Oh. Oh!
RUSH: I understand why they're headed that way.
CALLER: Tell 'em to come because (laughing). I mean, they want to pay the tax up here? I worked on the water, and I tried to educate a lot of Americans because I hear all this garbage about how great Canada is from the universities over there. They preach the same crap. Like, Canada is in the position -- Canada is excelled. Where your leftists are, we're about 30 years in advance of where leftism has taken us. We are so taxed. I mean, there's $500 on licensing fees on a car every year. Five hundred! You know, in Canada, Canadian money, that's like a week's pay, two weeks' pay. I mean that's just... Property tax, 1,200 square foot home, $3,000, you've got 24-by-60-foot backyard. It's just everything. I mean, our --
RUSH: And still they have health care for everybody but you've got long lines. You have to wait for things and it doesn't work.
CALLER: Oh, long lines? People were miscarrying in the waiting rooms because... I got a piece of copper in my finger from an injury at work. I waited 15 hours! I could have went home, slept, and come back. Fifteen hours to take a chunk of copper out of my hand.
RUSH: You could probably taken it out of your hand just as well as the doctors there could have.
CALLER: Well, that's exactly what happened. This doctor, she come in wired on coffee; she was a student doctor, and she got a little piece of it. My wife had to take the rest of it home. This is our great health care system. Our health care system, I'll give you an example. By 2025 in Canada we will have a shortage of nurses because they're all retiring and the people aren't going into the field up here because it doesn't pay. They're fleeing to the United States because they capped the wages on doctors and nurses up here.
RUSH: And patients are leaving Canada to be treated in the United States as well.
CALLER: I know -- and one thing I want to say to America, about this. You hear about people coming to get medication to Canada. Well, here's the dirty secret. You guys are doing all the research and product development! We cap the price on you when you bring your drugs in here, you guys pay for all the research and development. We make the profits. We don't research and develop! You guys do all the work. We make the profit off it. We -- we can afford to cap it, lower the prices, because we're not doing anything. We don't do anything! Merck and all these other companies, Wyeth and all these other companies do the work; we bring 'em in here. We rip you guys off with generic drugs and the Americans come in here and they wonder why they're paying less prices. I mean, if people want leftism in the states, like we have one government controlled news agency. It's called the CBC. We conservatives refer to it as the "Communist Broadcasting Company," and the government appoints the head of it.
RUSH: Yeah, we know well the CBC. They're preventing this program being syndicated up there. They always have.
CALLER: I'll tell you. There are a lot of people who listen to (Sean) Hannity, you, Dennis Prager. There are a lot of good conservatives who are just waiting, waiting. I tell you what, they lobby to keep -- you know your satellite dishes? They lobbied the Bell Telephone up here to keep your satellite dishes out because under law called Canada Content, they don't want American news in here. Like for four weeks me and my wife almost vomited. I had to watch -- we didn't have to watch it; we watched it just to be educated on what the liberals and leftists are doing -- they bashed Bush for four weeks. This is the crap that people watch up here!
RUSH: I understand.
CALLER: And they think it's the honest-to-God truth.
RUSH: I know. We know this.
CALLER: I'm just saying: Americans, if you think liberalism is working, police stop using Canada. Every time I hear Canadians used as an example. "Oh, Canada look at how lush and lovely it is!" We're freaking working for the government up here!
RUSH: (Laughing, applauding)
CALLER: We struggle. And my wife makes good money. We're considered top earners in Canada.
RUSH: What is that, how much do you and your wife earn combined?
CALLER: I'm off for a year with my kids because of the -- well, that's another story, the day care system. But we were making $105,000 a year. Cars up here, $40,000 for a car.
RUSH: Well, wait, wait, wait, wait. What kind of car?
CALLER: A minivan. A Chrysler minivan. On a home we pay $15,000 government sales tax called the GST. (goods and services tax) On a car you pay a GST and PST (provincial sales tax) You pay a ton of tax on the car. The government taxes... Okay, if you sell a car three times, it's taxed three times.
RUSH: What most people are asking as they listen to you is, "Why are you still there?" Why haven't you left?
CALLER: Me and my wife have talked about it. Recently it's gotten so crazy, we're talking about moving down there. I had an issue when I was a younger person, and I got in trouble with the law when I was a young man, and if you were in trouble with the law even once it's hard to move to the United States. I have to pay legal --
RUSH: Noooo, it's not! Just go to Mexico and come up that way.
CALLER: We're talking about moving. I talked about that the other day.
RUSH: (Laughing)
CALLER: I said, "You know what, Cheryl? Let's move, because this is..." and then this lie that everybody hates Bush in Canada? It's not true!
RUSH: I know. I know. That's one of the biggest myths out there, and not just in Canada, but around the world, not just hates Bush but hates America, and it's one of these popular media myths. Bush is so reviled here by the American left that they'll join forces with anybody that hates Bush, and have some sort of alignment with them simply because they're so blinded by their own seething rage and hatred which I think is getting worse, as we predicted, since the election. Well, Matt, I'm glad you called. I appreciate it. Thanks very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, I left him on for a while because I wanted to you hear this. This was utter, raw passion of a man who is fed up with out of control liberalism in his own country, and I wanted you to hear it. We talk about it on this program. We have for quite a while. Here's somebody actually living it, and despises it and hates it. Didn't have any notes, I'm sure, just pure, raw passion flowing out -- and this was all under the guise of calling this program to thank Americans for defending Canada because they don't have but 10,000-man military force, if I heard him correctly, and we got more cops in New York City than they have in their military in Canada. I happen to know -- I didn't have a chance to ask him this but he lives in Windsor -- now, if you get your map out, look and find Windsor in Canada, it's just across a small body of water from New Fallujah, Michigan. That would be Auburn Hills where the Detroit Pistons play. If he feels... (laughing) If he feels safer living that close to New Fallujah, you can imagine how bad it is up there! Anyway, Matt, I appreciate the phone call. Thanks so much.
I like it. Thanks. That should instill terror in the hearts of men. Heh heh heh...
Downside: you just can't get good cheap beer...
Is it true that you guys can't get access to conservative news? I find this surreal.
Moving to the states? When I was young, the Rocky mts were the best, but the west-coast libs have been moving in for the last decade and smelling the place up. Wyoming is great for libertarian values and low taxes, but there's no industry (other than trona, natural gas and oil) and the entire state seems to be stagnating.
Right now we're living in Arizona and it's having a little too much fun with the taxes.
I like Georgia, but it still has the east coast democrat issues.
For my money, I'd say Texas is the best place to live. (Which may be why I'm moving there next year!) As long as you don't live in Travis County, it seems to be fine. Taxes aren't the lowest, but there's NO state income tax and you keep most of what you earn. Homeschooling and gun laws are very flexible. The general attitude of the population seems to be one of "live and let live."
After much thought and research two of my aunts, my mother and five of my cousins have all independently decided to move to Texas. (We all just found out about the other's plans and are quite tickled. Freedom is calling!) Join the migration!
Every single word this caller says is the truth. We as a country are collapsing in on ourselves because of Liberalism, and nothing gets done because the Liberals control everything - the press, the media, the education system, so that they can brainwash Canadians into thinking black is white and wrong is right. We are every bit the soft dictatorship that any number of other countries outside of the free world are. I would even say the Ukraine, with all their problems, have more freedoms than we have up here.
Once you have the sales to pay for both the fixed costs and the variable costs for those sales, any further sales where the price is higher than just the variable cost will give you profit. So the drug companies are happy to get their fixed costs paid for by US sales, and the Canadian sales are just gravy. However, that works fine only as long as your Canadian sales don't eat into your US sales. That's why the drug companies don't want large-scale purchase of drugs from Canada by Americans.
My cousin and her husband live in Halifax and they have horror stories about what is considered "elective" surgery in Canada. They both pray they never get kidney stones or skin cancer because treating them surgically is considered "elective" in Canada.
We all chuckle (in a gallows humor sort of way) that the busloads of Americans who go to Canada to get prescription drugs are passing the busloads of Canadians (with private health insurance) who come to America for "elective" surgeries or cancer treatment.
It's true - we had a brief rebellion but that was it. Living up here - surviving the cold all the time has made us passive, you know, we're just trying to make it through the day without freezing our nuts off and Canadians are going to have to thaw out our thick skulls and realise that the Left hijacked this country back in the 60's, and have held power for most of that time, except for 2 terms of our best Prime Minister in my lifetime - Brian Mulroney - who was vilified by the press just as President Reagan used to be, and how President Bush is. What President Bush has to endure is extremely unfair in my opinion, not to mention completely inaccurate. He has an iron will and that is the simple truth of it, and that is what scares the hell out of the leftists.
The Official Languages mandates bi-lingualism. In practice, that means affirmative action for people from Quebec. No wonder English Canada is so resentful.
Sorry. Meant Official Languages Act. A brainchild of the late Pierre Trudeau.
LOL! An all-too-true 'nutshell' of Canadian life!
Bravo!
Let's talk about New Zealand, Kiwi, what are your thoughts about your homeland, it seems to mirror Canada very much in my opinion.
That's why we get most of our news on the Internet. We have one truly conservative paper - the Sun, but everyone who reads it is made fun of as being uneducated, and the lefties denounc e it as a rag. We had another, the National Post, but it's sliding a little to the centre and Mark Steyn was forced out when the new owners took it over.
In Canada there are some decent right wingers. Some are found on CFRB 1010 Radio in Toronto and 580 CFRA in Ottawa. The National Post newspaper is somewhat right and Sun newspapers are pro conservative.
However, I will not kid you. The vast majority of the press in Canada does have a serious left turn including the largest newspaper called the Toronto Star. I guess that is why I like this db and have been around here since 1998. It is a great place to get all of the news and a great place that dissect the news reports - such as that AP "booing" story in the American election.
BTW - there is one other thing I will say that I do disagree with in that caller's comments. He made our medical care sound like we are a third rate country. As a person who has been in hospital for major thoraxic (sp?)(lung) surgery, I completely disagree with the caller. I was well taken care of. Yes there are will likely be waits in Hospital ERs if you are not considered a serious case or if you don't need emergency surgery. And yes we do have issues with doctors leaving for the USA in certain specialties. But all in all it is not as outrageously bad as it sounds by some.
You may want to keep in mind that Canada does not have an universal government run health care system as some suggest. What Canada has is a universal health insurance system run by the provincial governments. Each one is different and covers certain medical assessments and procedures. They must meet the federal Health Act in order to get funds from the Federal government. There are many parts of the Cnadaian system that are already private such as X-ray facilities, sleep clinics and some MRIs. All doctors run private companies but bill the government run insurance system to get paid. Hospitals are corporations but they tend to be not-for-profit corporations with their own boards etc. and separate from the government
Now, which system is better - a fully private or fully government run one is the debate. But, I guess my point is, if you do come here to visit and need hospital, you will be taken care of especially in good hospitals like former Toronto General (now called Toronto Hospital or Toronto Sick Kids Hospital.
Of course we can - it's called Free Republic!! And the sister association in Canukistan called Free Dominion. Plus I listen to Rush every day at my desk. All the usual sources you have - since we get all your MSM television and your papers are generally pretty doggone rotten too for the most part, I'd say we have access to just about the same level of conservative material - with Fox on its way hopefully sometime soon.
-Pelayo
Yes, I knew the Canadian government set the prices with little input from the manufacturers. I appreciate the clarification on why the US drug companies stay there--good old capitalism at work. I wonder when the Canadian government will figure out that that is what is going on? Thanks for your insights.
It is true that every bit is as bad. You won't like our PM Helen Clark whom we call Dear Helen behind her. We are dead Left on almost all major issues, except immigration where we go to the far Right. (I have seen even very leftist Kiwis yelling "You ****ing Chinese, go home!" to Chinese migrants and even ethnic Chinese MP)
Many Kiwis with sense are already in Australia. There is no immigration control - we only need our NZ passports to land, work, and study there.
I asked the person who reprimanded me if I'd have got in trouble for cheering for Kerry. She informed me that opinions were not to be expressed, period. But I did meet several closet American fans, and I've put it down in my book of oddities.
==== I left Atlanta because I was tired of being shot at; I was REALLY tired of being told that all white people are racist and nothing we can do will change that; and I wanted to watch the World Cup. I like my job and I like the average Canadian, who is a lot nicer than the ones you see and hear on the news.
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