Who the Hell is Jack Mintz?

As you know I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I don`t apologize for that, this post I started the other day and I`m not sure what happened but I lost it, hours of work gone, the first edition was better, whatever, who cares, well......

Sometimes I feel as if big media has deliberately targeted me, I wrote some harsh rebukes of Jack Mintz after he wrote that 12 page $12k report on the HST, his apparent flip flop, but more importantly who the hell was Jack Mintz and when did the university of Alberta suddenly become recognized for their economic graduates, during the heat of the HST petition last year not once did Jack Mintz crawl out of his hole and stand up and defend his imaginary 10 year forecast....Yet in this last week alone.....

The same Jack Mintz was on with Michael Smyth on CKNW last Tuesday at 2:00 pm to 2:30pm....I was traveling, I heard the segment at the ferry terminal, I thought wow...Michael Smyth returns to the airwaves, the last radio voice out there that rails against the HST and tells the truth about the hideous tax, so I wait in anticipation of this segment and to my surprise, Jack Mintz wasn`t appearing on the Smyth show to talk about the HST, Mintz was appearing to attack Jack Layton`s plan to cap bank rates on credit cards, Jack Mintz warned of retaliation from the banks if you limited the interest they could charge, Mintz called Jack Layton an idiot and he fear mongered about banks no longer  issuing credit cards, new fees would be put on everything, in other words Jack MIntz was sent out te defend record bank profits while consumers drown in debt, the same Jack Mintz who wrote the 12 page $12k report on the HST, a report made up of predictions and false data.....Even the 12 page Mintz HST report leaves an out, Mintz ends by saying "It will take at least a decade before we see any negligible results from the HST"...

The Mintz/Smyth segment, there was something staged about the segment, number 1...Michael Smyth was slamming Jack Layton over his credit card interest rate cap idea and he agreed lock stock and barrel with Jack Mintz, Smyth didn`t play devils advocate with Mintz he reinforced the corporate record and laughed at the NDP, it was a sick segment, Smyth went even further by blaming consumers, Smyth said ....

"If the interest rate was lower people would be deeper in debt...Don`t people have themselves to blame,....Blaming everything on the big bad banks is typical NDP...

I guess Smyth has never seen all those TV ads promoting credit cards, low starter rates, rewards, no pay til later, all the beautiful people using credit cards, and add the fact that you need a credit card to rent a damn room for the night, who takes cash....Oh indeed, the bad old consumer using credit cards....Real classy garbage Smyth.

Michael Smyth agreed 100% with Jack Mintz on keeping credit card interest rates at what...25%..29%...31%....No, that`s not usury eh Smyth, but what really blew my mind was....Michael Smyth had on his show Jack mintz and Smyth never even mentioned the HST, not even a whisper on the HST, in fact ever since Michael Smyth has returned from his hiatus he has dropped the Christy Clark gloves and forgot about the HST....Bill Good continues to promote the HST and is featuring Falcon tomorrow on the HST....Also Smyth has a war room panel on Mondays(today) and last week, it`s a regular feature through the Federal election, on this panel is no other than Brad zubyk, Christy Clark`s co-campaign manager(The panel consists of three people, one representing each of the big three federal parties)..Zubyk represents the Federal Liberals....

Not once this week or last did Michael Smyth raise the specter that Zubyk(Federal Liberal) was and is still part of Christy Clark`s Provincial campaign team, I guess Michael Smyth doesn`t see a conflict of interest sitting in Christy Clark`s old time slot and featuring Clark`s Campaign manager as a regular guest without making the connection with the general public and BC Conservative voters....And still that Jack Mintz episode lingers in my mind, what happened to Michael Smyth on his hiatus, since his return he has defended high interest from the big banks, he`s attacked teachers, he just hammered and mocked the Federal NDP, he let Jack Mintz off the hook and never even asked him a single word about the HST.....I guess what I wrote about Smyth when he was on holidays was true...Remember this ..
Michael Smyth has been sent to the Goebells school of mind retraining and depending on the success of purging Smyth`s cognitive brain cells and replacing them with NDP hatred and BC Liberal talking points will determine whether or not his voice returns to the airwaves...
Ok, let`s give Smyth the benefit of the doubt, he forgot who Zubyk works for and he didn`t know who Jack Mintz was......When pigs fly.....Last night I turned on the CBC National, they have some fact checking thing on election promises made by the parties, yesterday the Federal Liberals brought out their platform.....And to my amazement, the CBC presented no other economist but Jack Mintz to bash Iggy`s family plan.....The same Ahole who wrote a dime store HST report, the same bozo who defends 20% plus bank interest rates is put forward as a ligit economist...

Are you kidding me..The Univeristy of Calgary....CBC for shame....The Conservative plan that offers a pipedream when the budget is balanced in 5 years while corporations get money now, that`s credible according to Mintz but Federal Liberals plan is fiscal jiberish, .....For Gawds sake, Jack Mintz sits on 1/2 dozens boards of directors, he`s with Shell Oil, Western Forest products and investment companies, his interests are vested, it`s a conflict of interest and CBC should be ashamed of themselves for presenting Jack Mintz as a non-partisan economist...Sheesh!.

Jack Mintz was the self claimed expert on the HST...Now he knows what`s best for YOU and that is sky high bank card rates.......And now his expertise has moved to long term Government projections...There is something wrong when the media of the middle left uses the same economist as the media on the right.

But what I wanted to talk about was the HST and corporate greed, as you know BC has done nothing but shed jobs since the HST, prices up on everything and corporate profits are through the roof, in watching election coverage on CPAC I learned that Electrolux Canada is pulling out of Montreal, they were given huge tax breaks but Memphis has offered more, the key factor for Electrolux leaving is the labour pool, in Memphis they can get skilled labour for $11:50 per hour and less......Montreal has the HST, Electrolux made $14 billion dollars last year and they are still consolidating, Electrolux despite record profits are bailing on towns and communities and fleeing to the cheapest labour pool.....Read the below cut and pasted story,,,,
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 From Robert Gibens, Montreal Gazette

Montreal's loss is Memphis's gain. Electrolux AB, the world's second-biggest home appliance maker, said yesterday its decision to shut its l'Assomption plant by late 2013 and shift production to a new $190-million factory in Tennessee is final.
L'Assomption, off the eastern tip of Montreal Island, loses its principal private-sector employer and 1,300 jobs. Electrolux will hire 1,250 employees in Memphis to produce new-generation built-in and specialty kitchen appliances in a new 700,000 square-foot plant.
Memphis city and county have provided the land in the Frank Pidgeon Industrial Park at no cost. They are putting up $20 million U.S. each for such infrastructure as roads and sewers and the state is kicking in another $92 million, local filings said. Another $400 million will be invested by suppliers.
The new plant, starting up in mid-2012 and slated for full production in 2013, will mesh closely with Electrolux's existing kitchen-range plant in Springfield, Tenn., with a workforce of 3,000.
Kevin Scott, president of Electrolux Major Appliances North America, based in Charlotte, N.C., said the Swedish parent was seeking to reduce its manufacturing costs in North America as part of a six-year global restructuring designed to save $500 million U.S. annually and meet growing competition.
Memphis won out over Mexico and other locations because of its low cost structure, skilled labour pool and favourable logistics, he said.
"Decisions like this are never easy, but this time it was clearcut because of the extensive support we received from state, city and county ... the choice will strengthen our position in North America," he added.
Quebec government sources have indicated they knew in advance of the impending l'Assomption plant closing. Electrolux had owned it for about eight years, sources said.
It once produced aircraft parts before being turned over to kitchen appliances under several different owners. Electrolux narrowed the plant's product line to "slide-in" ranges and several other cooking appliances.
Dave Chartrand, the senior International Union of Machinists and Aerospace Workers official responsible for the l'Assomption workforce, denied charges of union intransigence.
Chartrand was in Quebec City to negotiate provincial help to offset the closing's community impact -worse than the recent Shell Canada refinery shutdown.
"A new manager took over three months ago with promises of improvement, because Electrolux had seriously under-invested there, and we offered to help find ways to pare operating costs," he said.
"On Tuesday, Electrolux executives from North Carolina arrived and abruptly announced the closure, saying it was a head office decision and final ... they wouldn't listen when we met them later."
He said Memphis, in a state hungry for jobs, won mainly because of its low pay structure -reportedly averaging $13.50 an hour, plus benefits.
Electrolux said it announced the closing early to minimize the community impact and will co-operate with the union and the province to set up placement and other services. It said it will take a $124-million charge to cover the Montreal and other closings.
Electrolux had sales of $14 billion U.S. last year -from refrigerators and dishwashers to air-conditioners and vacuum cleaners -and employs 51,000 globally. It announced yesterday it would shed another 800 jobs in Europe within the next two years

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Electrolux+jobs+moving+Memphis/3986071/story.html#ixzz1Ib667eRe
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What happened to the HST creating jobs, Harper wants to slash the corporate tax rates even further, they are already the lowest rates in the G20 There is no HST in Memphis, explain that....And when other Nations continue to match us then what, a race to the bottom, look how much money Electrolux is making, they didn`t even blink an eye when they left Montreal, who can live in Montreal on $10 dollars per hour, the corporate goodwill displayed by Electrolux is shocking.....

When I heard this Electrolux story my ears started tingling, a Deja Vu type thing was happening, where did I hear this story before, I was sure Electrolux pulled this crap before and then....Yes, I remember, Electrolux had a major operation in the state of Michigan, in Greeneville Michigan, the state offered Electrolux $80 million dollars per year in tax breaks if they would stay but Electrolux said...NOT ENOUGH...They left, Electrolux pulled up stakes and moved to Tijuana Mexico, the labour was so cheap Electrolux couldn`t afford not to move, to HELL with Michigan...Read the cut and pasted dirt below from that 2005 Electrloux stab in the back(shocking story)

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UAW and state offer the farm to Electrolux – which closes its factory anyway

Electrolux, the world's largest manufacturer of household appliances, announced in mid-January that it would close its Greenville, Michigan, factory in 2005 and would move production to South Carolina and Mexico.
Workers in this small Western Michigan town have been producing refrigerators and earlier, iceboxes, for 127 years. A few years back, Electrolux bought the company. Now, with the stroke of a pen, this profitable plant will throw 2700 workers out in the street, devastating an entire community.
According to Electrolux's own financial records, the Greenville factory was profitable. But Electrolux wasn't getting the higher than six per cent return on investment Electrolux has declared it must have.
The company had toyed with the union and with state officials. It demanded tax breaks in excess of legal limits in Michigan. It demanded concessions of $24,000 per worker per year, which could only have been achieved by violating federal minimum wage laws.
The UAW tentatively agreed for workers to give up $12,600 per person a year. This proposal never came to a vote, since the company had already decided to close the Michigan plant.
Giving up concessions was not going to save jobs. It never does. Michigan had already given "incentives" of 8.7 million dollars to Electrolux for "job creation" in the past. Despite the announced 2,700 job cuts, not one state official has asked for that $8.7 million in "job creation" money back!
Instead the state, which claims to be in a budget crisis, "found" still more money to offer Electrolux: 121.2 million dollars more in tax breaks and grants.
Since 1998, Electrolux, with headquarters in Sweden, has cut over 40,000 jobs – one third of its workforce. It has closed or sold 29 factories and 50 warehouses – some in the U.S. in New Jersey and Colorado, others in Europe.
The CEO of Electrolux explains: "We have grown through acquisitions over the last 30 years or so and bought 450 companies. ...We had duplicate facilities and redundant personnel."
This is the real story – using the profits made off workers' labor, the company bought up hundreds of other companies, then combined the work and shut some down. And, of course, in all of this, they squeeze more work out of fewer workers. When the shift of Michigan jobs is done, Electrolux plans for the same work to be done by 700 fewer workers!
The downward spiral won't stop until the day workers attacked like this decide to dig in their feet.
During the period that negotiations were going on to keep the jobs from leaving Michigan, the UAW and state officials kept all of the outrageous details secret. This prevented the possibility of workers organizing a determined fight against these monstrous demands made by the company.
Now that the news is out, it will take at least 2 years for the process of closing the plant to be completed. The workers in Greenville can still decide to make a courageous fight against this company's decision. In Western Michigan, since 2000, nearly 20,000 layoffs have been announced. The Electrolux workers have allies who could join them to stop business as usual.
Giving in to Electrolux's demands didn't stop them – but a determined fight could

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There is more on that 2005 betrayal here......Why is no one talking about the big picture, manufacturers are fleeing to the lowest common denominator, CHEAP LABOUR.....Big new investment in resource extraction doesn`t equate to more jobs, it equates big modern robotic hardware that eliminates human productivity,  BC has lost jobs and when I hear Pat Bell on the radio today....He just returned from China, well guess what, China wants to buy more BC Coal, but China doesn`t want a middleman, China wants to create two major underground coal mines in BC, they want to own them and operate them, we don`t have any underground coal mines in BC, China has hundreds, they also have the mining deaths, why doesn`t China only want to secure the supply, the answer is money and control and also it would result in job losses.....Another step towards foreign National governments running and controlling resource extraction in our country, the Canada line with its foreign workers, the tree planters in the interior and now Pat Bell musing about china setting up shop in BC extracting vast tracts of coal....And what carbon tax are the Chinese paying?

Why isn`t our legislature sitting, shouldn`t someone be talking about the day after the HST referendum, shouldn`t someone be asking Harper about what happens when BC says no, when are we really going to discuss the job killing consumer tax, the vote will come, the tax will be voted gone and the BC Government will do exactly what and when...

Lie after corporate lie from big business on the HST, you see the pattern, the public falls deeper in debt, taxes raised through guile, all around the world Governments are taking from the people while lowering corporate rates, and as their $trillions pile up with yearly record profits, well, one by one the voices of dissent are consumed by the powers that be, no, I won`t look into the light....

Someone needs to ask that question of christy Clark, someone needs to remind Michael Smyth who Jack Mintz and Brad Zubyk are.......

Or perhaps Michael Smyth thinks he can fake it and toe the line.........Ah, but who`s paying attention Smyth?

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open