Day 27 - Post (12*12) + 1

According to my sophistimahcated numeracy techniques, I discovered that my last post was number 144, or one gross.  Or 12 squared. Or 3 squared times 4 squared.  Or 3 squared times 2^4, which is a nice prime factorization.  Not too exciting, but I find that I don't have to prime factor as often as I once did and frankly it's pretty fun.  I think I'll have to do it more often, just because.

Today is budget day in Canada - sounds like some kind of cheap game show, but it does produce some fun copy.  One of the reporters on the CBC noted that the country will run a $30 billion+ deficit, which is large, but looks like a rounding error compared to the stimulus package that Barak Obama is running past the House and the Senate in the US.  I think it's appropriate - we've been doing better as a country in the not spending too much department over the past number of years, so it is right that we are at least an order of magnitude smaller in our spending than the US.  After all, they have 10 times the population.  As for the Canadian budget, it looks okay - lots of "stimulus" and some tax cuts, looks helpful.  The large deficits don't look as good, but I think that all governments should contribute attempts to stimulate the economy, so that's fine.  Really I can't frame what a good "stimulus" package would be.  What I remember as a kid is what Trudeau did to stimulate the economy.  That was infrastructure (roads, bridges, sewers, arenas, etc) and government jobs (larger bureaucracy).  The second part didn't work so great, taking 10 or 20 years to get over that I think.  This budget offers money for people who have lost their jobs (EI changes) which I like, but the tax cuts will be hard to swallow when the economy starts to turn around.  Tax cuts, like the previous GST cut and the newer income tax cuts, will have to be reversed to pay off the deficit.  The Conservatives are basically going to let whoever's in power during the recovery do that and pay the political price.

Speaking of political price, I agreed with the reporter on the CBC who discussed what the Liberals will do with this budget.  They're the deciding factor right now - all the other parties have said "we're voting no".  The reporter thought that the Liberals will probably like to have the Conservatives deal with a bad (and worsening) economic picture, because it would be tough for anyone in power.  I agree with that - sort of a reverse of the NDP in Ontario - the Liberals called a snap election, but the NDP got in (a protest vote).  Turned out to be the best move the Liberals could do because the economy went on the skids and the NDP got blamed, ensuring they won't be in power again in living memory in Ontario.  The Liberals would love to pull the same rabbit out of the federal hat with this crisis - be involved on the "everything the Conservatives are doing is wrong" opposition side while the Conservatives are blamed for the job losses and economic badness.  So I think Ignatief will "reluctantly" support the budget and secretly hope for a bad down-turn in 6 months so the Conservatives will bear the brunt of the bad news.

As a bright spot in the layoff news from my workplace, I heard that the people being let go are being treated with a lot of respect.  This is consistent with what I have seen myself and how management have described the transition and what was said at the time.  It's still sad to see anyone let go, but it has still been the most dignified layoff I've ever seen.  We were told that (last week) those involved were given 2 weeks and could keep coming in to tie up loose ends, or not as they saw fit.  Most layoffs I've seen or heard about usually end with the severing of all ties on the day of the announcement with a prison guard, er, staff member escorting the ex-employee back another day to get their things.  It made me feel a little better to know this was being done in a much more respectful manner.  Perhaps these people will become co-workers again soon.