Budget 97 :: essays research papers

Budget 97Finance Minister Paul Martin unveiled the Liberal governments 1997budget recently. As most economic and political experts predicted there were truly few surprises, if any. This was a cautious and predicable budget that wasevery bit political as it was economical. With the Liberal government set tocall an election in slow May or early June the Party was very reluctant to rockthe boat further. This is what they have done in the 1997 budget and thesubsequent reactions to the tender budget from both the business and politicalcommunities.In this no-surprises, pre-election budget, Martin said deficit slip of paperis coming to an end and that Canadians, particularly the unemployed, allow soonreap the rewards of 40 months of morose financial management. With the Federaldeficit dropping over the last few years, the Liberals feel that they canbalance the budget in the next two years. This is strategic because it willallow the government to halt their foreign borrowing to financ e the deficit.This greatly helps the credibility of Canada and puts the countrys destiny backinto domestic palms. With this said, Martin announced no raw(a) tax increases,although the raise in the Pension Plan could be considered a hidden tax increase.Martin announced no new spending cuts in this budget although cuts made inprevious budgets are set to slash 3 billion more dollars this year. There wassome extra spending sprinkled into various areas. For starters, a new taxbenefit will be created in co-operation with the provinces, costing the Federalgovernment $600 billion. This program is attempting to help the poor and thiscan be good economically because poor people tend to spend everything theyhave, and they almost always spend it domestically. This program will beintroduced in two the stages, the first of which will begin this July with a$195 million supplement. Instead of benefits being capped at $500 per family,the maximum working income supplement benefit will be increase t o $605 for thefirst child, $405 for the second child and $330 for each additional child. Otherexpenditures will be include tax credits for students, $300 million in newhealth care funding and tax credits for medical expenses of the disabled.Depending on how you look at it, Martin is either spending more or just cuttingless.There have been many contrary viewpoints that economic and politicalleaders have thrown out and most are unsure. It appears that Martin has createda no-brainer budget that doesnt do anything to hurt but does not make Canadiansfeel better either. Martin was expected to put money into job creation in order

Driven to Distraction by Technology :: Pros and Cons of Technology

The past two decades have overwhelmed the human experience with technology, on with all its distractions. The direct relationship between the mind and the bodys ability to adjust from these distractions house be extremely difficult .Further investigate has shown that it has die an addiction for many. Technology has significantly improved our lives as a whole through experiences much(prenominal) as Global Positioning System (GPS), cell phones and brotherly networking allowing us to communicate with different people around the world. These technologies make our daily lives easier and more efficient. However, this also discusses the effects of technology on various aspects of our everyday in the flesh(predicate) experiences both with each other and with the world around us. On the other hand technologies such as cell phones have become a line of work in getting students to focus in class and distracting drivers and thus, resulting in vehicle accidents. Technology is beneficial, but can also become an inescapable distraction in our lives. It is important to view technology as having the ability to make our lives better or worse, yet also as having the ability to change our personal lives and behavioral patterns.The use of technology makes our daily tasks easier, such as a better sense of direction while driving via a GPS, safety features in our cars such as Auto Drive and Auto Park. These technologies have made driving an easier and enjoyable experience as well as reducing our chances of getting into accidents. The research presented in the following article Driven to Distraction in car technology provided surprising conclusions. Professor John D Lee from the University of Iowa states the following issue Technology is ever-changing very quickly. Many of these things coming into the car were not designed to be utilise in it.(Edwards 8). He proves that there are a lot of in car technologies in todays society that can demand our full attention without us eve n knowing, and can lead to tremendous consequences that can become dangerous distractions on the road. Satellite navigation (GPS) makes our lives easier because it can give us the correct directions to a desired address. This is unlike the past where the navigationally challenged would consider it a nightmare to drive to a new location. Furthermore, there are many upsides that technology brings upon students by presenting new ways of learning where technology is being used in the classroom. Within the article Cell phones in schools pros and cons presented by Rujuta Borkar, the advantages of having a cellular phone device in school are through tinge contact, and having a cell phone for security purposes.