{"id":11507,"date":"2018-04-02T08:18:33","date_gmt":"2018-04-02T12:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=11507"},"modified":"2019-05-27T09:25:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-27T13:25:18","slug":"news-from-the-park-vote-grabbing-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/02\/news-from-the-park-vote-grabbing-hype\/","title":{"rendered":"Vote-Grabbing Hype"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apr 2, 2018 @ 08:18<\/b><\/p>\n

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Well, in terms of putting on a great show with lots of sparkle and dazzle, the Wynne Liberals came through, if you look at it from a salesmanship angle.\u00a0 But in terms of having any meaningful impact on improving the lives of Ontarians, Wynne\u2019s final budget is a disappointing, last-ditch pitch for votes \u2013 with the details failing to live up to her vote-grabbing hype. And that\u2019s the only way I can describe it – just plain vote-grabbing hype.<\/p>\n

As I sat in the Legislature listening to Finance Minister Charles Sousa giving his budget a high-buff sales job, I suddenly had the sounds and images of a comical song released by renowned comedic actor and imitator Billy Crystal. Those of you who are familiar with Crystal\u2019s work in the 80s and 90s may remember a huge hit song he performed, \u201cYou Look Marvelous<\/em>.\u201d For those who are too young or can\u2019t remember, look it up on YouTube for some fun. Crystal imitates the voice, accent and mannerisms of Cuban actor Desi Arnaz of \u201cI Love Lucy<\/em>\u201d fame.<\/p>\n

In the song, Crystal sings to his lady friend. But in my mind I pictured Sousa singing to Wynne as she descended the staircase into to his arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cDarling, I got to tell you something, And I don\u2019t say this to everybody.<\/em><\/p>\n

You look Marvelous<\/strong>. Absolutely Marvelous<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

You know, my dear, My father used to say to me<\/em>
\nNando, don’t be a schnook<\/em>
\nIt’s not how you feel,<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s how you look.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The incredible thing about the Liberal\u2019s plan is that they really believe people are going to fall for their \u2018glam\u2019 budget and promises.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the budget speech, Andrea Horwath stated, \u201cIt\u2019s clear that Kathleen Wynne believes it\u2019s more important for her to look good than for people to feel good. Wynne\u2019s prescription drug and dental promise turns out to be capped at $50 per child for dental and $300 for mom or dad\u2019s drug and dental combined. $50 won\u2019t cover one dental check-up, let alone a filling.\u201d<\/p>\n

A section on affordability turns out to include not a single word about making housing more affordable for renters or buyers, and nothing new to ease the pain of sky-high hydro bills, expected to rise again<\/em> after the election.<\/p>\n

And after short-changing hospitals by $300 million in 2017-18, given the chance, Wynne would short-change hospitals again by $100 million in 2018-19 \u2013 leaving patients waiting in hallways in overcrowded hospitals.<\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s choosing not to offer universal<\/u><\/em> pharmacare. She\u2019s choosing not to offer complete<\/u><\/em> dental coverage. She\u2019s choosing not to offer a plan for a more affordable life for everyone.<\/p>\n

New Democrats have a better idea that will help all Ontarians. Our Dental Care for Everyone<\/em><\/strong> will publicly fund dental coverage for millions of people, including those on social assistance and seniors who don\u2019t have retirement benefits. And for all employed people \u2013 including part-time workers, contractors, freelancers and people working in non-traditional settings \u2013 businesses will participate in the new publicly administered Ontario Benefits program, or choose a comparable workplace benefits plan.<\/p>\n

The NDP has also released a Pharmacare for Everyone<\/em><\/strong> plan \u2013 which will provide prescription drug coverage for all Ontarians<\/u><\/em>, regardless of age, income, employment or health status. We have made tackling hospital overcrowding and the hallway medicine crisis a top priority. We have committed to funding that keeps up with inflation, population growth and the unique needs of each community in Ontario.<\/p>\n

Ontarians don\u2019t have to just settle for what they get.<\/p>\n

Clearly people are disappointed with the leadership we have endured for 15 years in Ontario. It\u2019s no wonder people are cynical about politics. And this is why Ontarians are looking forward to electing a new premier in June. It\u2019s time to replace that cynicism with hope \u2013 with a premier that will deliver better health care, and a more affordable life for everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apr 2, 2018 @ 08:18 Well, in terms of putting on a great show with lots of sparkle and dazzle, the Wynne Liberals came through, if you look at it from a salesmanship angle.\u00a0 But in terms of having any meaningful impact on improving the lives of Ontarians, Wynne\u2019s final budget is a disappointing, last-ditch …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":4519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[1018],"class_list":["post-11507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","tag-mike-mantha"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 05:42:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11507"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21642,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11507\/revisions\/21642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}