MP Pensions, More Cuts, and Friday #Shoutouts Gangnam Style!

This week, Ottawa got back to work (I find that phrase interesting since it sounds like the entire City of Ottawa goes on vacation when Parliament is out, which is not the case). Our diligent MP’s have returned and the nastiness begins fresh for the fall. The debate about MP Pensions (the real gold-plated pensions in Government), with the Liberals complaining that the Tories are going to hide the MP Pension Reforms in an Omnibus bill, which the Liberals will vote against (because of the other stuff in the Big Bill), clever of the Tories to do that. This allows them in their next election ads to say the Liberals voted against MP Pension Reforms (when in fact they were voting against a whole bunch of other stuff too). I love the tactical silliness in politics, makes me proud to be a Canadian (what is the font for sarcasm?).

In Ottawa the real the actual government folks (i.e. the Civil Servants and Contractors) more waves of cuts are cutting through various ministries. Lots of folks very much on the edge thanks to all this fun and excitement. With sinkholes and now more government cutting Ottawa is a very busy place, and the sinkhole bill so far is over $5M, and that is without any lawsuits yet either. A gas leak on Thursday morning snarled traffic as well, for those of you who wish to insert either a joke about Hot Air or Noxious Gases from Ottawa, feel free to do so.

Lots of E.Coli recalls for ground beef as well. My wife and I actually ingested one of the batches before we knew of the recall, but luckily we have another large batch sitting in our freezer (waiting to be thrown out). This and the news that all rice has trace amounts of arsenic in it, just made me want to go out and drink a lot of water (which also might have arsenic in it).

Weekly Recap

Not too many noxious fumes from my side of things this week (well in my opinion at least):

• Less ECAs and Autumn is here includes many of my older posts that I highlighted on my Twitter feed (look for my OBG flag on those tweets.
• Stats Canada pointed out that Tuition costs are up in Canada? Really? Yes, I get a little sarcastic about this topic, since it is painfully obvious to me
• Let’s define Debt-Free since it is a term that is thrown around by bloggers, and even the main stream media, but what does it really mean, I give you my opinion of what it means to be (and NO I am not).
• Is it really that simple? It can be, but overspending or not controlling your spending is harder than you think.
• When should you get out of debt is another sarcastic piece by me, however, it does point out that there is only one good time to start getting out of debt, now.
• Sinkholes, Gas Prices, No Hockey and Friday #Shoutouts THe Infamous Ottawa Sinkhole continues to make news in the nation capital (as do all big holes that suck the life out of us (not a reference to the Federal Government or the Civil Service)).

And thanks to those who added me on Twitter.

Links for the Week

No mention of cartoons that infuriate folks, topless photos of royalty, or the lack of hockey:

• Our financial amigo at The Blunt Bean Counter Celebrates his Second Anniversary on his site. If you don’t read his posts you are missing some excellent advice and commentary (and he does answer messages to him directly).
• Larry MacDonald tackles a ticklish subject in Ontario Freezing Teachers Wages not a Lasting Solution. I have my opinions on this whole thing, but Larry is brave to publish his opinions (especially given the militancy of some of both sides in this conflict).
• Mark at My Own Advisor gives some useful advice on How He Saves Money on Car Insurance, you will have to do a little work, but then again, is anything worthwhile easy?
• One of the more sage money bloggers Michael James gives us a useful piece of advice with Just Close Your Eyes and Swing, the opening statement is quite deep.
• The Canadian Couch Potato gets into the technical side of Foreign Withholding Tax Explained, another writer you should have in your RSS reader.
• Jeremy from Modest Money gives us 7 Considerations for Buying a Cheap Car, cheap is good, economical is better, given gas is at $1.30 a litre in Ottawa.
• Our intrepid consumer advocate Ellen Roseman is cheered with Hurray for Melanie Aitken at the Competition Bureau, who unfortunately is leaving the bureau (so a bittersweet post).
• Preet was on the National on Wednesday night (he was pretty sick, he claims too), however, I can’t find a video that isn’t riddled with commercials, so I’ll simply say look for him on the O network very soon.

What Does the Public Want?

Certainly not a bunch of stodgy economists talking about the end of the financial world, they want PSY ! Yup, there will be a Canadian Financial Bloggers convention coming up, and I am sure this video captures what will be happening there (OK maybe not).

Crass commercialism by me? Maybe, but it is fun…