I despair, I really do

The province of NB is looking to save money. The (now) government foolishly considered "saving" $600k by abolishing free flu shots for people with chronic conditions that would likely put them in hospital if they got flu. The expense of that would far exceed the so called saving. Apparently our government didn't consider that.

Another idea they are considering is to double the annual maximum co-payment made by qualifying Seniors for Prescription drugs but not change the individual charge.

Those currently paying the maximum are not just those on the lowest incomes but those in poorer health as well as having greater additional costs because of their conditions such as foot care or extra travel for medical appointments.

But the (now) government wants to raise funds from those poorest among the elderly and sick.

Instead, they could save a similar or greater sum by increasing the individual item (for the first time in 15 years!) by a couple of $$ and spread the cost more evenly while those most sick pay no extra.

But just to rub this stupidity in, a couple of years ago the (then) NB government did away with vehicle registration reminders to save money. It seemed reasonable to have people take a bit of responsibility for themselves; there were any number of ways they could take care of this like a note in a diary or on their computer. They could even sign up for automated email reminders. Free.

Now that people have had over two years to get used to it, the (now) government has decided to bring the reminders back.

At the same cost as which they hoped to save with the flu shot fiasco.

You just couldn't make it up.

Parking meters blown up

I read in the guardian today about some parking meters being blown up in England as part of a campaign against them.

Some protesters will go to any lengths to bring about change.