In the news:
CRASH: TSX OFF 800, DOWN DOWN 500
Day Twenty-two
Is the middle class an endangered species?
After the middle of October, if there’s a Stephen Harper government, the odds of this rise. Here’s why.
No plan.
Stephen Harper has tabled no plan for the way ahead. No blueprint. Even though we’re in the midst of a financial crisis, with the American middle class being decimated by the worst housing crisis since the Depression. Massive bank failures are forecast in the US, and the chances of us escaping unscathed are zero. Economists see danger to family finances, savings and jobs. And yet in the middle of an election, the governing party has not respected voters enough to give them a roadmap. Maybe there isn’t one. I think that should concern you.
Spending junkies.
A shock for life-long fiscal conservatives like me has been to see Harper wallow in public funds. I never expected a Tory government to increase spending at twice the rate of inflation, to spend more than Liberals, to reduce a surplus to a deficit, or guarantee income taxes will not be coming down. In the past two years, Ottawa has mushroomed its spending by 14%. Here’s what this means…
Financial squeeze.
High levels of government spending are inflationary. In fact, the cost of living, augmented by rising energy costs, jumped substantially last month. Already mortgage rates are rising, since we are feeling the ill wind of the US credit crunch. This comes when the real estate market is already losing altitude, and herein lies the greatest threat to the middle class.
Your home.
Harper ignored warnings we were headed down the same road that led to the American housing mess. In fact, with the creation of 40-year mortgages, our equivalent of subprimes, his government paved the way for today’s emerging real estate decline. The middle class has more than 80% of its wealth in houses. There is nothing more important than having a government that gets it. If we let the US housing contagion come here, we’re screwed. But that seems to be happening.
Your cash flow.
Income taxes have not come down a dime since Harper came to power. In fact, he raised them in his first budget. GST is lower, but who has the cash to buy much right now? Gas prices have shot up, and Harper’s refused to lift a finger to reduce federal tax or to collar gougers. He’s rejected income-splitting for families and he even threw out legislation Parliament passed to let you deduct RESP payments from your taxable income. This guy just doesn’t get it.
There’s more, but here’s the bottom line: Financial insecurity has grown steadily over the past two years. The economy has dropped off. House prices have fallen. Job prospects have dimmed. The cost of living has increased, but family income has not. The world is a less certain place than it was when Harper took office back in the first few weeks of 2006. He likes to call himself an economist (university trained, never employed), but this is not going in the right direction.
Surely we need an election based on more than “leadership.” Where’s the plan?
Here are ten-plus-one commitments the middle class needs to hear from any politician asking for your vote.
• A big income tax cut. You pay enough already.
• Tax-deductible green mortgages
• More child care spaces, more monthly cash
• Serious action on gasoline price gouging
• Justice for income trust investors
• Financial help to buy hybrids, and retrofit your home
• Sustainable new manufacturing jobs
• More roads, less congestion, more public transit
• Help to protect your real estate equity
• A climate change strategy we can afford
• A plan, fully-costed, no deficit, no tax increases, no lies.
There is only one group offering this. There is only one party that can stop Stephen Harper’s damage. If you are middle class, I’d say it’s time to get engaged.
* * *
Prediction du jour
Conservative “is beyond incompetent and has no hope of beating Garth Turner.”
93 comments ↓
What expertise does Mr. Laforet actually bring to the issue? His bio is a little skimpy on details, apart from being a Liberal and having a blog.
Yep – Harper has run the biggest spending government in Canadian history and has, at the same time, dismantled and hobbled vital programs. Bread and butter programmes such as health care.
That’s how THEY (?balance?) the budget. Taxes don’t go down though. Nope – the NEW Conservative government just passes the expenses on down to the bottom of the totem pole and forces the Canadian taxpayer to now pay more for less and less and less in return – and now, at this juncture, with the job losses, theft of savings, and declining value of real assets while necessities rise in price and mortgage rates rise and municipal taxes increase – while at the same time the federal LIBERAL budget surplus is all but depleted. Two classes of citizens is the result – rich and poor. Elite and NON-elite. That’s how THEY have leveled the playing field. Current state of Canada’sdemocracy – death by a thousand cuts.
When the Liberal party is helping the people buy Hybrids and retrofitting their houses, the people will be saving 2% off the GST on their purchases.
I want to know why someone has not hit harpo with the 19 deaths (so far) from listieriosis since it was a DIRECT result of HIS POLICIES.
Why is he getting such a free ride?????
Hey Orimston you are some journalist. You can attack for a “staged” street scene but not word one about these deaths.
Are you like buffy the neo-con senator wanna be.
If harpo wins you will be out of a job since he is going to sell off the CBC.
Bet on it!
I guess one can take comfort in the knowledge the fiscal meltdown is occurring throughout most of the western world, and it comes from a few sources:
Sheer greed combined with a matching level of stupidity (bonanza financial and other gifts), along with a complete lack of self-discipline (knowing when one has enough and is content).
This is a repeat of the Decade Of Greed (the ’80s), except this one is going to hurt a lot more folk than anticipated.
The UK’s finance whiz said that their downturn is the worst in 60 years, when WWII was in full swing.
Spain’s economy collapsed toward the end of August. France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Portugal and many other European countries are dwindling.
Supposedly, they are in ‘debt’, but to whom do they owe this ‘debt’? Better yet, who are the money lenders?
The lenders are the ones who charge exorbitant interest rates, but sheeple don’t complain — they grumble under their breath, that’s all.
Did anyone see Paulson on 60 Minutes Sunday night? He and Mark Carney worked at Goldman Sachs.
Now both are in charge of their respective countries’ finances, and both are like butter in a hot pan — melting quickly and turning into nothingness.
Either rense.com or wrh.com had a report a few days ago, which said that The Great(er) Depression — this one — would hang around for at least a decade, because most individuals live high off the hog, don’t have any idea of what it’s like to be on the other side of the coin.
Well, it’s begun now, and there’s not a darn thing anyone can do about it.
Except for the money lenders, so “follow the money” and all will be revealed.
Not harpo and dimdumb — they are middle men, or fall guys. But they’re not money lenders.
http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2008/09/29/MediaReform/
I’m not alone on this media issue. Its a mother of an issue, perhaps thee issue if the free media picks up on it and I’ll do my best to make that happen.
Arragh!!! (lol) Rewrites. My earlier post here still needs work. I should have something sharp and edgy within 24 hrs to spam out to the weekly’s and we’ll go from there!
Harper has made a deal with the wealthy corporate super-elites.
Brain your post on the last thread is very much appreciated, from: 09.28.08 at 8:07 PM and 9:58 PM
Brain’s posts prove that his media coalition is pumping a propaganda campaign. For that, Harper will wipe out CBC and Harper’s partners get the market share as their reward.
For now, they are divying up time and positive spin on the Harper/Layton campaign, while at the same time fixing their non- “journalism” to push a negative agenda’d portrait of the Liberals, and apparently propaganda and spin like that can and does influence voters. Brain’s analysis shows that.
Propaganda plus dictator — yup, it’s 1933 and we need to talk.. and email, and phone.
For Harper he hopes to reward himself by eliminating the one media he can’t control, CBC.
The one media that doesn’t play into the hands of the wealthy media moguls.
The one media that he fears — free speech and truthful journalism.
If this tyrant and his billion dollar media houses get away with a majority, ALL social safety nets and humanitarian institutions in Canada will be ended. That will be the death nell to the quality of anything Canadian.
And he will get rid of the child care benefit because in his own words, he mocks “welfare states”. That benefit will be the first to go I bet. It was a gimmick his handlers made him put up last election. It’ll be gone pronto if Harper gets a majority.
“A big income tax cut. You pay enough already”
I’ve got the Green Shift injecting over $70B beyond the optimal project investment level yielding a positive $100B swing in fuel spending compared to Turning the Screws by end of the project.
before inflation.
and that doesn’t account for the additional fuel that will be burned under the Turning the Screws carbon capture program.
you?
September 25 – Bloomberg (Alexandre Deslongchamps): “The Canadian housing market is headed for a meltdown because households finances are in even worse shape than in the U.S. or the U.K., said David Wolf, chief strategist at Merrill Lynch & Co. Canada. Wolf said in a report published today that Canadian families in 2007 carried an average net debt load that was 6.3% of their disposable income, more than in the U.K. and ‘not far off’ from the 2005 peak in the U.S.”
September 23 – Bloomberg (Alexandre Deslongchamps): “Canada’s annual inflation rate rose to the highest in more than five years in August as prices for gasoline and food surged. Consumer prices rose 3.5% from a year earlier…”
This is an email I received from Michael Moore this morning.
Friends,
Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies — who must soon vacate the White House — are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.
No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday’s New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:
“Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.
“Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.
“At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.
“Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury’s proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions.”
Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to “consult” in the bailout.
The problem is, nobody truly knows what this “collapse” is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn’t know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can’t figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone.
And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Falling for whom? NOTHING in this “bailout” package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.
Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What’s this got to do with the Wall Street collapse?
It has everything to do with it. This so-called “collapse” was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people’s home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it’s because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn’t afford. Here’s the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage “crisis” may never have happened.
This bailout’s mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated in the last eight years. It’s to protect the top shareholders who own and control corporate America. It’s to make sure their yachts and mansions and “way of life” go uninterrupted while the rest of America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all another half-trillion dollars!
I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something — NOW! Here’s what you can do immediately:
1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama. Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up Bush and Cheney and the mess they’ve made. Tell him we know he has the smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what’s the best route to take. Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons of Wall Street.
2. Take to the streets. Participate in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC).
3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (click here to find their phone numbers). Tell them what you told Senator Obama.
When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on a silver platter. No more! Not again!
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again.
P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we’ll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the crime of the century. You have to call them now and say “NO!” If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get anything good done when President Obama is in the White House. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL CONGRESS NOW.
“The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning”
Michael Moore’s jaundiced look at the bailout at http://michaelmoore.com/
Garth, Where are the Liberal TV ads. I think I’ve seen a couple run since the election was called, but I’ve seen dozens from the NDP?
How about one featuring the list of broken promises to emphasize Harper’s word is worth about as much as a pile of crap!
Arragh!!! (lol) Rewrites. My earlier post here still needs work. I should have something sharp and edgy within 24 hrs to spam out to the weekly’s and we’ll go from there!
By brain on 09.29.08 3:09 am
Brain I’m glad you are working on rewriting, because while your information is bang-on, and you are an excellent writer, your articles are too long. Peoples’ attention span aren’t very long. Your message is important, but you tend to repeat yourself–maybe try point form.
I hope you take this advice in the spirit it is intended, because I totally support you in your efforts.
Ol’ Stevie sure likes war and the aggressive stance, doesn’t he? Did somebody beat him up when he was a kid or something?
The incomparable Scott Taylor from Esprit de Corps on Sept. 26th points out one of Stevie’s quotes that seem to have disappeared into the memory hole.
With the “one in, all in” insanity of NATO, and the provocation of Russia to justify its existence, when, if anybody sane had been running things at the time, NATO would have been disbanded when the USSR fell apart, Harper seems to think that if the U.S. plant in Georgia, Saakashvili, decided to provoke Russia, then Canada should have been right there, backing “plucky little Georgia” up, instead of whacking “stupid little Georgia” up the side of the head.
War with Russia? Brilliant, Mr. Harper, considering it lies just across the melting Arctic Ocean from our northern borders, and we don’t have Arctic patrol vessels. Good move.
A truly significant quote gets overlooked
http://www.espritdecorps.ca/Ontarget%20080926.htm
“…[s]ome of the more significant comments that have been made on the campaign trail have been completely overlooked by the press corps.
“…For instance, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was quoted as saying NATO’s failure to accept Georgia into the alliance at last April’s summit led directly to the armed clashes with Russia in August.
“…I think if we had taken a stronger position on the membership of [Georgia and Ukraine], we would not have had the Russian aggression,” said Harper, adding, “I think that showing weakness or hesitation encourages this type of behaviour on the part of Russia.”
“…As events unfolded during the summer, the caution of the European NATO countries proved well founded. On Aug. 8, following a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili launched a bold military attack to overwhelm South Ossetia. As the world’s attention was focussed on the opening ceremonies of the Bejiing Olympics, Georgian tanks rolled into the disputed territory. ”
‘…[A]merica is playing a dangerous game by provoking a revitalized Russian Bear at the very entrance of his own den. By blindly supporting George Bush’s position in this developing drama, Stephen Harper is making a grave mistake.”
“As an endnote to his comments on the Georgia crisis, Prime Minister Harper declared “Russia does not have a right to dictate decisions outside its own borders.”
Given our lack of independent intelligence in the Caucusus, I humbly suggest that the same could be said of Canada in this instance.”
For Ontarians, it’s back to the future
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/507391
Common Sense Revolution II. Don’t make the same mistake twice Ontario.
Ah, Monday and the MELTDOWN continues. But, fear not because the FUNNYMENTALS are sound. We know because we have been told they are by the ‘experts.’
After a weekend with the fusion powered grandsons I finally got to sit down and watch the ‘Debate’ from Friday between Senators Obama and McCain.
Key points noted:
1. McCain, the Big, Bad Jet Jock War Hero didn’t have the balls to look Obama in the eye even ONE TIME! This is a leader? This is a negotiator of world stability? I think not. This man is an ego driven FRAUD!
2. The tit-for-tat exchange proved that Obama is not only the superior intellect, but by far true Presidential quality. He won hands down despite McCain’s constant false accusations and rudeness in allowing Obama to rebut him.
3. Jim Lehrer did a great job moderating, but should have silenced McCain a couple of times.
Next up will be the decimation of the Not Ready for Prime Time ‘Hockey Mom’ by Senator Joe Biden.
When are our so-called debates coming? (Yawn!) Will they be another QP Kindergarten of worthless words or will Elizabeth May show them what a REAL DEBATE is?
Let’s pull out their Permanent Records and do a REAL comparison of Promises Made versus Promises Broken! Oh, wait, I’m so sorry, this is Canada where such issues are non-relevant. Let’s just listen to how much of OUR money we will be getting if we elect a particular schmuck’s party.
Man, we are one cheap date. They count on it too much I think. HEY! Look, THERE, a shiny new poll to tell you what you think!
Funny, I define a democracy, and just to make it accurate, a Republic (Representative Government), as a nation wherein the people elect and send their representative to the capitol to REPRESENT the PEOPLE’s views and desires. Guess Canada still hasn’t quite grasped how it works because most want to vote in a surrogate manner for some one they have never met, and never will, who speaks for the locals representative just like the Master.
Oh, and in Canada where someone is from is more important than what they have to say, their real position on issues the People care about, etc. Carry on!
further to that, turn the economy back on and inflation at 2% we’re talking about a $290B difference in plan-to-plan sales and the Green Shift leaving $50B to free range the economy.
I can see Harper wanting to avoid that.
Why is the U.S. Defense Department operating out of an Ottawa location? And why didn’t I hear about it before now? It happened on September 15th.
Well, I know why, but do Canadians realize they’re hosting a branch plant of the U.S. war machine?
Silly question.
Capt. Eric Wilson said the break-in and arson at the Ottawa office made him “feel violated”.
No kidding. You ain’t the only one, buddy.
Arson at U.S. agency
Police investigating after Bank St. offices of U.S. Defense Department agency ransacked and torched
“…It was news to the building’s landlord that the entire second floor was home to a satellite office of the U.S. Defense Contract Management Agency, a wing of the Department of Defense that handles $90 billion in military contracts worldwide.”
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/09/27/6898736-sun.html
D-Day Tomorrow
Martin D. Weiss, MONEY MARKETS 09-29-08
PYOTR PETROBITCH on 09.29.08 9:27 am
wow, the`ve gone from predicting the present to predicting the past.
“we’re recommending that you shift the proceeds of your sales to cash, parking most of it in the safest, most liquid place possible: Treasury bills or Treasury-only money market funds”
It was last year when I said park your money in safe long term paper and ended many posts with `cash is good`.
What happened to their recent advice that commodity prices were going to come back with a roar?
Here`s one they missed.
The 40/0 mortgage that was passed by a minority government in a red hot housing market will let go like an over wound clock spring by the end of October.
Here`s another, the 40/0 will bring down our elected federal government.
As usual,
no justice, no investment
The crucial question now is, “Will Stephane Dion be able to hold his own in the debates, and look prime ministerial?” What say you?
In December of 2000, Laforet joined the Liberal Party of Canada and soon became involved locally with his riding association, first as a Director, and then as President, and is currently serving a second term. He served as the Co-Chair for his MP’s 2006 re-election campaign and continues to be involved with candidates for office who, he believe, speak to the same values he fights for.
The crucial question now is, “Will Stephane Dion be able to hold his own in the debates, and look prime ministerial?” What say you?
By Jake on 09.29.08 9:57 am
I say it’s time for a hail mary.
Not sure if the libs can break through at this point. They’ve missed too many ops to control the message, attack the harper conservatives or change the public dialog.
Call me crazy, but i’d say the libs need a divine intervention. Dion doesn’t think so, though.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/09/29/debates-will-reveal-the-real-liberal-leader-dion-says.aspx
Come on, Ontario, prevent a Harper majority!
How on earth did Mike Harris, assisted by J. Flaherty, J. Baird and T. Clement, manage to run up a huge deficit during good economic times?
Don’t wait for the answer from S. Harper.
Addendum to the U.S. Defense Department break-in:
The landlord didn’t know that the Dept.’s offices were there, and I don’t think the other tenants did either.
Such an obvious target should be moved into the U.S. blast-proof “Battleship on the Rideau” military base…ahem, excuse me, embassy.
They have no right to put unknowing Canadians and others in such danger.
Bailout negotiations:
Who has done the most damage to America’s foundation and that of the world? And they are negotiating with them? Isn’t there a policy against that?
Mr Garth TurnerMP, FYI anyone
The Halton Environmental Network (HEN) is organizing a Solar Fair for Saturday, October 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The Fair will be held in the Auditorium of the Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road (Regional Road 25) in Oakville, just north of the QEW.
Eight solar vendors will be displaying and discussing their solar water heating and photovoltaic (solar electricity) systems.
The first series of public meetings for the HRSP is currently underway, with meetings last week in Oakville and Burlington drawing a total of 175 attendees. Upcoming meetings are scheduled for Wed. Oct. 1 at the Milton Sports Centre and Thurs. Oct. 2 at the Georgetown Cultural Centre. Both meetings start at 7:00 p.m.
For more information on the Halton Residential Solar Project, visit halton.ourpower.ca.
http://halton.ourpower.ca/Portal.aspx?portalid=22
Garth, many times you have mentioned “It’s the Economy” well so it is, markets continue to fall and all the free for all channeled to the rich and powerful has little or no effect. The rich have been gutting the working class for years and to-day they have little or no blood left to be squeezed out. Where is Steve Harper’s plan? where are the spending/costing numbers of Afghanistan? does Steve Harper still want to lock many, many people up at 80-12K per person/year? does Steve Harper still want to continue sole source contracting? does Steve Harper still want to de-regulate many Conservative friendly companies putting Canadians at risk? does Steve Harper still want to control all his elected MP’s and Ministers via vetted words and controls? does Steve Harper want to continue to control the Media by allowing only friendly reporters to ask questions? will Steve Harper continue to have the mike turned down so on his answered are heard and not the initial questions? Will Steve Harper when cornered continue to blame the Liberals rather than answer to the public? and will Steve Harper ever be “Accountable”
Where are so called professional journalist on these questions and many more?
I think it would be pretty neat if Mr. Dion could have a website dedicated to footnotes or full arguments for the debate. This would be good for him since he is much more intelligent than the other leaders, and has an academic background and knows how to argue. This would allow him to, when he gets cut off, be able to reference the rest of the idea. This would work equally well for the positive arguments on why to vote Liberal, and for the negative arguments on why not to vote for the other parties.
CM
The article said the US DoD took up the entire second floor of the building. Assuming they need that much space, likely there wouldn’t be enough room for them in the US embassy.
The secrecy of them being there in such numbers is something the Canadian government needs to explain.
Mr Turner.
Don’t we need to react to the American situation instead of having a hard and fast financial plan. Would that not be the best position to take?
The Pentagon Bailout Fraud at TomDispatch by Chalmers Johnson
We Have the Money
If Only We Didn’t Waste It on the Defense Budget
By Chalmers Johnson
“There has been much moaning, air-sucking, and outrage about the $700 billion that the U.S. government is thinking of throwing away on rich New York bankers who have been ripping us off for the past few years and then letting greed drive their businesses into a variety of ditches…”
“On Wednesday, September 24th, right in the middle of the fight over billions of taxpayer dollars slated to bail out Wall Street, the House of Representatives passed a $612 billion defense authorization bill for 2009 without a murmur of public protest or any meaningful press comment at all. (The New York Times gave the matter only three short paragraphs buried in a story about another appropriations measure.)”
“…In Afghanistan, our historically deaf generals and civilian strategists do not seem to understand that our defeat by the Afghan insurgents is inevitable…We should begin our disengagement from Afghanistan at once. We dislike the Taliban’s fundamentalist religious values, but the Afghan public, with its desperate desire for a return of law and order and the curbing of corruption, knows that the Taliban is the only political force in the country that has ever brought the opium trade under control.”
—–
Time for Canada to go, too.
2011 is too late.
Canada’s $22B for the Afghanistan war? There are lots of better places to spend it.
The harper conservatives wanted this to be about the economy, so i say the libs need to bring it on.
Almost everyone agrees that were in economic trouble, but no other canadian political party can touch the liberals when it comes to proper management of the canadian economy.
like it or not, the libs’ record is out there and so is the conservatives’ record.
canadians need to be reminded that liberal times were prosperos times and that conservative times are hard times, miserable times.
Conservatives–like the harper conservatives–destroyed ontarios economy, conservatives–like the harper conservatives–destroyed the us economy and the harper conservatives are poised to destroy canadas economy.
the libs need to flood the msm with this message from every MP at every point of contact.
WE need more like this, before its to late
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/508115
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080929/election2008_ignatieff_attack_080929/20080929?s_name=election2008
Where are so called professional journalist on these questions and many more?
By David Bakody on 09.29.08 10:32 am
They have been muzzled by the owners that “think?” they will be better off by having the “Leader” of their choice.
You know, the one who is going to “Give” them the CBC and control of the CRTC. Once they have that, no more “Canadian content”. Then it is Total American second hand shows and propaganda. (Thus the cut back to Canadian culture and arts. You don’t need to fund what does not exist.)
Thank you stevan harpo. AKA The Liar.
Don’t you feel so “Freed”?????
I know it’s too late to tell you again that the carpetbaggers dwell among us. Given recent events, I am beginning to seriously ponder if the Head Carpetbaggers are leaving for more fertile gardens which they have already tilled.
In my opinion, Moore may be somewhat conservative with his recent assessments.
So much to say, so little time. I will start here;
These individuals/groups who are now attempting to hold the American People and largely the People of the World at the edge of their blade are Mercenaries. Economic Mercenaries who like all Mercenaries have no country of allegiance and are only loyal to themselves. Like all very wealthy persons, there is no definition for the word enough in their dictionaries. Never was, never will be.
If you examine the financial wiggling of the Canadian government and put it into perspective with the current situation, you better understand the facade of Sovereignty, North American style. We are so interconnected with America that our policy is merely an extension of their policy. Aiding and abetting.
Break from philosophizing momentarily as the previous reminded me of the aspect of the US going Dem, and what are we going to do? Nobody likes a good fight better than me, but fight smart and pick your battles wisely. To be going right while the US is going left is curious at best. I won’t quote any Canadian leaders, but am not abject to considering that Canadians are stupid.
On the flip side, the Liberal Party is arrogant. Not one bit above pork barreling either. So you receive your just deserts.
Back to the melt. I am wondering if these money brokers and Republican impostors are not in fact setting up the People to hand them a huge sum of money and have full intentions of bailing for the new economies of Asia.
I have some ideas on Revolution. Thus my handle. Do you believe me now?
Comrade Okie
By Bonnie L on 09.29.08 7:25 am
“The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning”
Michael Moore’s jaundiced look at the bailout at http://michaelmoore.com/
By Herb on 09.29.08 7:29 am
Bonnie and Herb, here’s another “reality check” comment on the financial crisis. Canadians have got to learn that these new conservative politicians, here and in the US, have an agenda that is designed to only serve the corporate elite.
By Howard Katz
Sep 29 2008 11:09AM
At this writing, the nation is embroiled in a financial “crisis.” All of the newspapers and TV are screaming that the economy is on the edge of “systemic risk.” By this is meant that, if the people of American do not give $700 billion to certain Wall Street firms, our entire economic system will collapse. The source of this dire prediction is one man, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson.
So here is a man who wants to steal $700 billion from us, and he can’t give us any reasons. Further, anyone who has followed Secretary Paulson’s career knows that nothing he does seems to work, and very little that he says makes any sense. He is the Chicken Little of our day shouting, “The sky is falling.” But at least Chicken Little wasn’t hitting us up for money.
What we have before us is a crude attempt to steal from the American people to bail out Wall Street, and the principal question is, do the American people have enough spunk to stand up and vote against this monster? After all, all we have to do is vote. The Founding Fathers were not allowed to vote against the King of England. They had to fight. It is because of them that we get to vote.
So as much as I want the bailout to fail, my political savvy tells me that it will be passed in some form. The establishment has too many weapons. They can threaten a recalcitrant congressman. In 1776, Americans risked their lives. Today they are afraid to risk their perks.
By blondey on 09.29.08 11:27 am
Dion also needs to talk about the past tax cuts that the Liberals made as well.
The Liberals DID reduce the debt in the 90’s and early 00’s – and also cut income taxes, re-index them, etc… He needs to talk about that, and dispell the LIE that the Liberals are only “tax and spend”.
Fourteen-year-olds are such easy targets. How about the big guys? Flaherty says to just leave they poor things alone.
—–
Harper is soft on white-collar crime
“In the U.S., the FBI is pursuing 28 criminal cases against high-ranked corporate executives involved in the great Wall Street swindle that resulted in a financial market meltdown.”
“In stark contrast, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty congratulated Canadian courts on their decision to protect financial executives from prosecution for their part in the asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) fraud in Canada.”
“…[B}ut in Canada, where governments and public entities hold $19 billion of the rotten ABCP investments, taxpayers and workers' pension funds will end up bailing out the financial industry $5 to $9 billion. And for Canadians, there’s no debate. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty didn’t even respond to CUPE’s demand that he appoint someone to represent the public interest in these proceedings.
"...[S]o what’s the difference between white-collar criminals and young offenders? Money, power, and voting age. If teens have to be accountable to Harper’s tough-on-crime agenda, then our corporate criminals should be, too.
http://cupe.ca/economics/Harper-soft-on-white
Something I penned August 26th, 2007.
In this realm, I am an amateur. In the realm of sensing lying weasels, I have much greater acumen.
Old age shall bring to me,
The Vision so clear to thee
Where I have been
Eyes cast within
Lost in some misguided Sin
My days have gone
The storm still strong
If not for such complacency
Wonders stray throughout the course
Foundered on the simple force
Hopes and dreams once held high
Lost amid the blackened sky
We hear the Thunder, not so far
Minds again stand ajar
Think that all is as should be
It is what happens, naturally
Voids are filled with wheat milled
The words seem deep
Our souls to keep
Sleep little Lamb, sleep
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
Where are so called professional journalist on these questions and many more?
By David Bakody on 09.29.08 10:32 am
You`re making things far to complicated when it`s very simple.
In 1993 Chretien promised to end media corruption which he turned into adscam. Media corruption goes hand in hand with 40 years of government corruption.
a system broken by corruption will not fix itself
Not to worry, the 40/0 is the end of our elected federal government so stop worrying about the past and prepare for the future.
The 40/0 unwinding is the end of our elected federal government so stop worrying about the past and prepare for the future.
Which will you choose, a provincially nominated federal government or western separation?
Ron P,
of course the bailout will happen. It is only a question of how many soporifics will be attached to it to produce the necessary number of nods. Think of all the portfolios at risk, starting with Paulson’s Goldman Sachs shares.
I don’t recall who wrote this last week, but his “socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor” is the ultimate judgment on this caper.
Come on, Ontario, prevent a Harper majority!
How on earth did Mike Harris, assisted by J. Flaherty, J. Baird and T. Clement, manage to run up a huge deficit during good economic times?
Don’t wait for the answer from S. Harper.
By Kevin on 09.29.08 10:08 am
…ya, and on borrowed money yet. Unbelievable.
I don’t recall who wrote this last week, but his “socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor” is the ultimate judgment on this caper.
By Herb on 09.29.08 12:17 pm
That is why you are my Comrade.
By buddy, spare a dime? on 09.29.08 12:13 pm
Hey Buds, I strongly suggest that the West stay put because they have never had it so good, perhaps more banks to hold all that cold hard cash you have stuff around the ranch. Perhaps Wall Street would be a good place, or the Bank of Dubya in preparation for your next move with Harper & Co. But do not fear we defeatist here in the East will share what little we have with y’all like we did the last time should things turn south out west.
If you check out the latest Nanos poll at:
Sept. 28 – a pdf file
You will notice that the Con and Libs are within the margin of error in all the country regions except Western Canada (of course), and all have a large section of undecided.
Check the details of the polls and not just the final averages. Nanos is usually the best and most accurate pollster, I believe.
For some reason only a few MSM people seem to report on this fact.
Anything can happen yet.
Read this speech from Michael Ignatieff. I have got to get a copy to send out even though it is long. I couldn’t copy it from this place. Can anyone else do that and post it to this blog so those of us who want to can copy and “spam”:>) it?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6296341/080929-Speech-Ignatieff-Economic-Club-En?from_email_04_friend_send=1
Garth, you took a stand and you were dumped by the Prime Minister.
You are a better MP today.
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts09292008.html
Time you took another stand.
There is a big void in the ten-plus-one list above.
Canada needs leadership in our attitude to the debacle next door.
Can you inspire S. Dion?
Will you be dumped again for taking a stand?
This time the emergency is huge, with little leadership from all major parties.
yea, the bailout will happen, then the toxic debt gets gobbled up by public debt then we will be back on the level playing ground of vapour money that doesn’t exist propping up the Confidence game, then…..
They have to convince someone to buy up that debt – will Hu again come to the rescue?
Who pays off Hu??
Except for the money lenders, so “follow the money” and all will be revealed.
Not harpo and dimdumb — they are middle men, or fall guys. But they’re not money lenders.
By Charles Oxley on 09.29.08 1:22 am,
What most people don’t understand it that it is the “marketplace” that creates “money.” It is the demand that creates the supply in capitalist theory. This is why we are in trouble.
When “money” is created without any standard of “value” all that needs to happen, to topple the system, is for people to lose confidence in the “value” the free market is giving to some asset (in this case it started with real estate).
Financial institutions have been given the “right” or “privilege” to loan out more money then they have in deposits. The system works as long as people are not fully aware of how risky that can be. GDP growth is created through increasing debt.
What eventually happens is that there is far more money created by the system, because it became a commodity in its own right, than there is economic activity to justify it. As inequality increases, the income group unable to meet their debt obligations moves upward and the bubble deflates.
This debt that is out there is not underwritten by either valuable assets or by economic activity (the U.S. no longer has the valuable manufacturing establishments it once had). The economy was operating largely on its financial manipulations rather than on the production of goods.
Harper is trying to tell us that we are immune but that is like telling someone they can walk on water even when it is not frozen. In fact, his argument has been that it was not moving fast enough in the same direction that we needed his “new government.”
Free market capitalism is collapsing around us, while Harper is still claiming that his party is the party of free market capitalism. One of the things you have to admire about Harper is his audacity.
I had a depressing meal the other day with some friends. They are Harper supporters. They believe the brain washing they have been subjected to since Dion became the Liberal leader. They believe the lies Harper’s machine produces right down to the GST raise and child allowance elimination. These are not stupid people, although not highly educated. I explained reality, but they did not want to be confused with the facts as that would unsettle their view of reality (very faith based).
The defamation of Dion started years ago, has been consistent and unrelenting. I believe it should have been stopped when the lies started, through the courts if necessary as the ads appear to meet the tests of defamatory comments. I hope it is not too late now. The final weeks better have a good strong push as Harper’s lies have significant momentum and any one who is willing to lie as he has done is a very scary person.
IFIGURED IT OUT. HERE IS THIS WONDERFUL SPEECH TO SHARE FAR AND WIDE.
http://tinyurl.com/522gfy
September 29, 2008
If Harper succeeds you will wake up in a country you no longer recognize.
Speech to the Economic Club of Toronto
By Michael Ignatieff, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Member of Parliament Etobicoke-Lakeshore
Good morning.
Thanks for being here. We are at a turning point in this election. Canadians are paying attention now. They’re listening carefully. They know they have a big decision to make. Pundits, pollsters and prognosticators notwithstanding, they haven’t made up their minds yet. The question they’re asking is: who should they trust when times are tough? On October 14, Canadians are not just choosing a party. They’re choosing a government. Only two serious choices remain: Liberal or Conservative. Only two teams remain contenders. It’s decision time. This isn’t a choice between personalities. This isn’t a choice between sweaters. This is a choice between records, a choice not between promise but between accomplishment. Canadians have long political memories. They remember the Conservative record, not just for this government but for the ones stretching back into the past. The other day I was talking to a senior in a retirement residence who came up to me and said, “Young man — I liked that part — I’m old enough to remember every Conservative government we’ve ever had. I remember Mr. Bennett during the Depression. I remember Mr. Diefenbaker, Mr. Clark and Mr. Mulroney. There wasn’t one of them that didn’t leave this country dead broke. That’s all I got to say.
” Canadians remember. Tory times are tough times. It’s in the folklore of our country. They remember that Brian Mulroney left them with a 42-billion dollar deficit. They remember that when the Liberals were elected in 1993, they had to roll up their sleeves, take out a shovel and dig us out. The man who dug us out of deficit, the man who restored the public finances of Canada is here this morning. Paul Martin. Thanks to his leadership and Jean Chretien’s steady hand, the Liberals left this country with the best public finances of any country in the G 8: • • • • • A 12-billion dollar surplus. The world’s best-educated workforce. A trade surplus. A current account surplus. Straight A’s across the board.
Where do we stand today? After two years of Harper. • • • • • • The worst performance in the G8. Negative growth in GDP through the first half of this year. Government accounts on the brink of deficit. No contingency left in the budget. No margin for error. The worst productivity picture in 18 years — productivity growth has been negative this year. Stephen Harper is the first Prime Minister in 50 years to preside over an actual decline in Canadian productivity.
The litany of failure goes on.
Almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs lost in Canada since Stephen Harper took power and most of them here in Ontario. Thousands of jobs lost in hard-working middle class ridings like Etobicoke-Lakeshore, at Stackpole, Arvin Meritor, Corning, Alberto Culver and other good companies like Chrysler hanging on by a thread. In July alone, the single biggest Canadian monthly job loss in 17 years. Unemployed workers in Windsor and Winnipeg, Oshawa, Welland, Drummondville and Smith Falls, in town after town, riding after riding.
I happened to be in Wellandlast week and I asked workers what they think of Mr. Harper. John Deere has just shut down the plant with a loss of 1, 000 jobs and what does Harper talk about when he comes to Welland? Selling coloured cigarettes to children. Not a word for those workers. Not a syllable. That’s where we are, folks, an economy in difficulty with a Prime Minister in denial. Central Canada is facing the most serious crisis in the manufacturing sector in living memory, facing it with a government who says: Don’t invest in Ontario.
Worst of all, we are facing the crisis with a government that doesn’t actually believe in government. Harper loves power — he wants as much of it as he can get his hands on — but he doesn’t like government. He fires nuclear regulators who get in his way. He dismantles the inspections that keep our food safe. He wants to shrink government, weaken it at exactly the moment when the whole world is turning to government to dig us out of this financial mess. Mr. Harper loves power and he wants to consolidate it, but he wants to weaken government at the same time as the whole world is turning to their governments to protect them from the financial disasters on Wall Street. Canadians don’t want big government, they want smart compassionate governments to ensure that their mortgages are secure, their food is safe, their jobs have a future. They want a government that appeals to their dreams instead of pandering to their fears, a government that has a plan, not an ideology, a government that is as sensible, middle of the road and as decent as most Canadians are.
A Liberal government. This election is a battle for the center ground of Canadian life. Mr. Harper wants you to believe our party has abandoned the center ground. He wants you to believe we have swung left. He’s wrong. The party I joined in 1965, the party of Mike Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin is a party of the center. Always has been. Always will be. Liberals believe in sound money, balanced budgets, low taxes, personal responsibility. What separates us from the NDP and the Greens is that we believe in a competitive market economy. What separates us from the Conservatives is that we believe you can’t have an efficient economy without a just society.
A just society — where every citizen is equal; where we succeed together, because we look after each other; where no Canadian goes to the wall when times are tough; where no Canadian has to walk the lonely road of poverty or ill health alone. A market economy demands a just and equal society. You can’t have an efficient economy, without a just and equal society. This is the key idea behind Canadian liberalism. That’s not Harper’s Canada. That’s a Liberal Canada. This election is a battle joined for the center ground, a battle between two competing ideas of what our country is. This election is a battle for the centre, a battle between different visions for our country. Where we Liberals planted the stake defined the center of our national life. We defined the common ground that Canadians could call their own. Thanks to us, Canada has a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, a flag and an anthem.
We are proud of that tradition, and we can justly claim as a party, that we’ve done our part to build this country. We won’t let Stephen Harper dismantle it. Mr. Harper doesn’t have a secret agenda. There’s no secret at all. He wants to dislodge the Liberal Party from the center of Canadian public life and replace it with the Conservative Party as the party of government. Then he wants to move the center of gravity of Canada one two three, ten degrees to the right. He wants to create a Canada less equal, less tolerant, less fair, less just and less united. He’s already told Canadians that when he’s finished with the place, they won’t recognize it.
If Mr. Harper is elected, you will wake up in a country that Canadians will no longer recognize as their own. We must not let this happen. That is what this election is about. Harper wants to tell you this election is about leadership. Since when does he have the right to define what leadership is? Certainly not economic leadership. The man who devastated the savings of millions when he wiped out income trusts. That’s not leadership. It was vandalism. The man who inherited a 12-billion dollar surplus and frittered it down to deficit. That’s not leadership. It’s irresponsibility. The man who has stood by and watched the Canadian manufacturing sector bleed in the water. That’s not leadership. It’s callousness. The man who’s picked a fight with at least four provinces. That’s not leadership. That’s divisiveness. The man who says all’s well with the Canadian economy. That’s not leadership. It’s willful self-delusion.
It may be something worse. This Prime Minister broke his own fixed election promise to force an election now, so he can sneak back into power, without Canadians realizing just how bad the economic situation is. That’s not leadership. That’s manipulation. Canadians will not be manipulated. They will not be fooled. Mr. Harper is trying to win an election without admitting we are in a difficult economic situation and he doesn’t have a plan to address the crisis. That’s not leadership. That’s manipulation. Canadians know something is wrong. They know Mr. Harper has no plan. He’s been surfing for two and a half years on the surpluses and sound fiscal management Paul Martin left behind. Now Harper’s surfboard has stranded him on the shingle and he doesn’t know what to do. He’s staring at: • • • • • • a looming deficit, a credit crunch, an American economy in recession, surging energy prices, rising inflation, falling productivity.
He has no plan. No idea. No clue. But he does have an ideology, and when you have no plan, a man like Harper falls back on his deepest instincts. We’ve already seen where his instincts lead him: cuts to arts and culture — run against artists, brand them as elitist snobs. Cuts to women’s programs—brand women as just another liberal interest group. 52 per cent of the country an interest group?
These cuts, remember, happened while we were in surplus. Imagine the cuts that are coming when he leads us into deficit. If he were to win this election, there will be cuts to health care, to unemployment insurance, to pensions, higher tuition fees. Cuts that will devastate the middle class of our country, at exactly the moment when they turn to their government for help. There is method in this madness. He likes power, but he is in power to devastate government, to reduce its capacity to protect Canadians in time of trouble. We’ve been here before. It was called the Common Sense Revolution. Four of his ministers are veterans of the Mike Harris government. Few governments in modern Canadian life were more disliked when they left power, and what they left behind took years to clean up: a five-billion dollar deficit.
We’ve been warned. We must not let this happen again. Harper struts his leadership, but let me tell you a story about what real leadership is like. A train used to run through the center of a little town in Quebec where I spent some summers, and my father once told me that if you put your ear to the rails you could hear a train before you could see it. And we did. And you could. What my father told me has stayed in my mind as an idea of what a leader is. A leader is someone who hears the train before the rest of us can see it. The train that is coming down the track is a freight train of change. If we don’t hear it coming in time, it’s going to flatten us. If we don’t guide it down the right track, there’s going to be a train wreck. We need an economic plan.
Here it is. First, to guide the train of bad debt onto the right track we need a government that believes in government, that regulates markets, that works to guarantee that our mortgages are safe, our pensions secure, our investments solid and our jobs have a future. A Liberal government has confidence in the institutions that regulate markets in our country—we put most of them in place after all—but after October 14, we will want to review them all to make sure that Canadian mortgages, investments and savings are safe.
Second, to guide the train of surging energy costs onto the right track, we need to flick the green switch now. We need a government that helps every home, business, and factory to cut its energy costs. When you talk to the workers at the Chrysler Casting plant on Brown’s Line in my riding, they tell you, that unless we get our energy costs down, we’re out of business. These workers know that going green is not a luxury. They know that it won’t ruin the economy. Going green now is the key to our ability to compete and gain market share. Only Stephen Harper doesn’t get it. He presents this election as a choice between the status quo and risk. The workers in my riding know the status quo is no longer an option. We are bleeding jobs right no
Third, we need to invest in infrastructure to keep our economy moving: rapid transit, a national energy grid, sewage treatment and clean water.
Fourth, we need to cut taxes on income and capital in order to free up money for investment.
Fifth, we need to put a price on carbon so we can get ahead of energy-wasting competitors. Sixth we need to stop running against the provinces and start working with them. To sum up, Liberals believe in: • • • • • Sound fiscal management. Balanced budgets. Smart regulation of markets. Tax cuts on profits, revenue and income. Putting a price on pollution. • • • •Helping every sector of the economy to use energy more efficiently. Investing in economically critical infrastructure. Investing in education, science and research. Turning the federation from a battlefield into a partnership.
That sounds like a plan to me. That sounds like putting your ear to the rail and throwing the switch before the train jumps the track. Choose the Dion team. We hear the train coming. Stay with Harper and the train wreck happens. And by the way, Jack Layton can’t stop Stephen Harper. Remember, Jack Layton gave us Stephen Harper. The Harper government is the house Jack built. Let’s bring the house down. Let’s get a government we can trust in tough times. A Liberal government. This election finally is about who you trust. Trust goes two ways, you know. We Liberals have always trusted the Canadian people: their imagination, hard work, faith and love of country. We Liberals have worked hard — from Laurier’s time to this —to earn, to deserve the trust of Canadians. You have rewarded us with your trust, election after election, because you know we want you to win; because you know our Canada is your Canada; because you believe what we believe:
That there is no crisis, no challenge, no moment of difficulty which is not also an opportunity, an opportunity to show the world what we Canadians are made of. We are made of good stuff. We’re tough, disciplined, sensible, tolerant, decent, middle of the road people. That’s who we are. That’s what Canadians are looking for in a government on October 14.
Thank you. Merci.
If it is the Harper government, this applies
Official Announcement:
The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from a Maple Leaf to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government’s political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you’re actually being screwed.
Damn, it just doesn’t get more accurate than that!
Ignatieff’s Speech as requested by Bonnie
http://www.liberal.ca/story_15003_e.aspx
If Harper succeeds you will wake up in a country you no longer recognize
Speech to the Economic Club of Toronto
By Michael Ignatieff
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Member of Parliament Etobicoke-Lakeshore
This would be good for him since he is much more intelligent than the other leaders, and has an academic background and knows how to argue. ……..
By Markus D. on 09.29.08 10:45 am
Marcus, you seem to either not know or have forgotten that Jack Layton also is a University Professor, but that the difference is his ideas and ideology are unworkable plus a very big step back in history. Academia and position are not the criteria to judge the leaders on. What must happen is that the electorate inform themselves of both the platforms and the credibility of each of the leaders. If a leader promises everything that the electorate wish to hear but has a track record of reversal, retraction and obfuscation then it becomes obvious that the leader who tells the electorate what the problems are and what the best choice medicine is for that set of problems, then the choice becomes much clearer. The out come of this election hangs on how deep or shallow the average voter thinks and perceives the veracity of the different proposals are. Should We the People buy from the smooth talking best dressed snake oil salesman, or should we review the facts, events, and proposals from the assembled group of finer minds on the issues? Will cuts to cultural programs pay for jailing 14 year olds for life in privately owned and run prisons? Or will rolling back unfair Income Trust Taxation restore investment in job creating manufacturing? Regardless of yours and everyone’s take on ALL of the items on the balance sheets of this election …
you can not convince me that the man who authorized the writing and issuing of a manual on how to disrupt the committee work of Parliament then had it recalled to the PMO, or had the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Comm. FIRED in the night before she was to testify under oath before a Parliamentary Committee is to trusted with and warrants the Prime Ministership of this country! These alone are not enough reason to fire the Prime Minister but they are just two of the examples of the many why this snake oil salesman does not rate the title PM! He and he alone promoted the playboy flake to the position of Foreign Minister of Canada. Then he has the gall to say it is nobody elses business when the actions and discreditable conduct of the minister of ? affairs reflects very negatively for Canada on the World scene.
I personally can tolerate anyone who has difficulty with verbal ennunciation but is willing to listen and discuss what is the best choices for the benefit of all Canadians as opposed to the man who says it is “my way or the highway” to protect the eliteist’s pillaging of the national resources of the government and the people.
My mind has been made up months ago, just like the pols indicate 85% of Canadians are too!
Who pays off Hu??
By PTDBD on 09.29.08 1:07 pm
Classic, absolutely classic!
http://runesmith.blogspot.com/
Monday, September 29, 2008
By Any Means Necessary
It’s come to this.
After all my railing against strategic voting, and after spanking Garth Turner once for even suggesting such a thing, I have found myself spending the past few days on blog after blog actually defending strategic voting. All the while I kept telling myself that this was only me staying open to the idea, or playing devil’s advocate or some damned thing, but after at least half a dozen comments I am forced to admit that I’ve finally crossed the Rubicon.
My name is Jennifer, and I support strategic voting.
I’m still reeling from all this, but let me try to explain my reasoning by collating some of what I’ve said elsewhere this week. This is going to be long and somewhat disjointed, so bear with me.
First off, when I say ’strategic voting’, I’m not talking about that vote-swapping site or candidates dropping out or suggesting that everyone vote Liberal because everything else is a wasted vote. In fact, what has always put me off of the whole notion is that in its crude form it tends towards a two-party system, and that is most definitely not what I want to see. Diversity is one of the great strengths of both our country and our democratic system, and Canada would not be what it is today without the influence of its third and fourth parties.
What has turned my thinking around is the approach – and the numbers – presented on the Vote for Environment website I spoke about in my previous post. Because by voting in the way they suggest – strategically only in close races, for the candidate with the best chance of beating the Conservative regardless of party – we could actually increase the representation by non-Liberal/Conservative MPs by 20%. The NDP alone would potentially pick up a dozen more seats than they would otherwise, and the Greens would have a much better chance of getting a seat for their leader.
Now, I understand there are a number of people out there who seem to think that the Liberal party is almost as bad as the Conservatives and that they could never in good conscience vote for them. My opinion of that assessment is a debate for another day, but all I can say is that if you really feel that way then by all means, don’t vote Liberal. Just understand that not everybody feels that way.
Other than a revulsion for the Liberal Party, the principle argument against strategic voting I’ve been seeing a lot is that democracy only works when people vote for their first choice of representative. While that is true in theory, my first question would be, what factors do you take into account when you make that choice?
There’s the party itself, but how do you judge a party? By their track record? What if they don’t have one, or if they’re going through some significant changes? By their policy platform? Are they actually equipped to enact that platform once in power? By their leader? How are you judging them? Then there’s the local candidate to consider.
Personally, if I were to just go by party platform, the closest to my wishes and beliefs would probably be the NDP. But I’ve seen what happens when a party with no experience governing unexpectedly takes power, and it’s ain’t pretty – plus, I just don’t believe the country could afford everything on Jack’s wish list. The local candidates? Garth rocks, although he’s still got some rather annoying conservative tendencies like his fondness for itty bitty governments. The NDP guy is sweet but slightly naive. And the Green candidate apparently thinks that greenhouse gases cause peanut allergies.
So, should I vote for my favourite candidate, leader or party?
My point is, nothing is simple, least of all democracy. There are a whole lot of factors that go into deciding who to vote for, and I see no reason why one of those factors shouldn’t be a calculation of the likelihood of defeating the candidate of a party you despise.
Unlike previous elections where calls for strategic voting were coming almost entirely from the parties which stood to benefit (not that some Liberals aren’t above capitalizing on that sort of thing even now), this time it really does appear to be a legitimate and growing grassroots movement. As soon as the Conservatives started edging into majority territory in the polls, it seemed like a dozen initiatives and websites sprang up overnight, from the vote-swapping Facebook page to Danny Williams’ “ABC” website to the highly focused “Vote for Environment” strategy.
And it’s not just the political wonks who are looking for a work-around:
The Star poll found that more than half of Liberal voters (54 per cent), and almost half of NDP (47 per cent), and Green (44 per cent) voters would seriously consider “strategically” switching their votes against their preferred candidate if it looks like another party has a better shot at winning, and could block a Conservative.
Many have suggested that we should be fighting for democratic reform instead of ‘cheating’ like this. The thing is, I have fought for democratic reform in the form of proportional representation and have watched in frustration as the people in my province responded with a resounding yawn. There are other types of reform, of course – Dion has suggested preferential balloting – but in the end, any type of democratic reform is likely to take years or even decades to bring about. Because there is one way in which Canadians are inherently conservative: we are rather stubbornly resistant to institutional change. And frankly, we just don’t have that much time.
Which brings me to the one overriding reason why I am supporting this specific form of strategic voting in this election: Stephen Harper.
I have lived through nine Prime Ministers, including four Conservative ones. I lived through Brian Mulroney. I even lived through the Harris years here in Ontario. I’ve voted Liberal, NDP, Green, and even Progressive Conservative once. And out of all those Prime Ministers and Premiers, some of whom I profoundly disagreed with and even protested against, Stephen Harper is the first one who has actually made me fear for my country.
If Harper’s Conservatives win a majority, I don’t think I want to live here for the next four years. How’s that for a reason?
Posted by Jennifer Smith at 8:42 AM
By Bonnie L on 09.29.08 12:58 pm,
You just do that Bonnie and you will alienate every Canadian that ever voted Progressive Conservative. Bigotry like this may place to the Liberal core but will do nothing to help Dion.
Why do you think Ignatieff is trying to do this? I don’t think Garth could honestly associate with this speech.
You might get the objections I have to this speech but I believe other former Progressive Conservatives will find it offensive.
THE GREEN SHIFT – IT’S GOOD ECO-NOMICS
“For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong“.
H.L. Mencken
TSX Market sheds 700, points in early trading .
The world markets have caught
pneumonia .
Bailout fails .
Now is not the time to put Canada’s economy in the hands of an amateur economist ,and a stupid leprechaun .
seems another response has been trapped in the filter
“your next move with Harper & Co.”
David Bakody on 09.29.08 12:43 pm
We have Harper with his no plan plan which settles in well with Cdns as the less they do the less damage done. We have the GreenST which put more concern over the future of our country than anytime since Dryden said he would create 2 million early learning/day care spaces and now the NDP have topped both with the scarcest plan ever.
We in the west remember the NDP taxing mining into the ground, and not in a good way.
I would think a nominated federal government would be the best choice but if you already feel defeated and forced to support a mandate by an obviously corrupt system then the west might as well separate as we can`t help you unless you want to help yourself.
factor in economic conditions and you`ll see even a Harper majority will not pull the nuts out of the fire till the`re burnt.
choose wisely, vote none of the above
From CNN
Bailout bill fails; Dow plunges
The House of Representatives today rejected a $700 billion plan to bail out the U.S. financial system, putting a roadblock in front of the largest government intervention in the markets since the Great Depression. The next steps were not clear, but supporters were scrambling to salvage the package
Mr. Garth TurnerMP, FYI
Financial Bailout Deal Fails 228-205
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/29/bailout-fails/
There is going to be some pain, but maybe the Congrees can take back control of the USA treasurely for the people?!
On the subject of Comrade Chin, or Hu or whoever, 53,000 babies with kidney disease. I won’t even buy dairy products or derivatives that aren’t local and even then?? They send Alaskan Pollock to China to be converted into mock crab and then ship it all the way to the East Coast of Canada and sell it for 50 cents a pack.
Are you starting to understand what out of control means? Can you imagine how much fuel it took to accomplish that? How much GHG? Do you understand the concept of being swarmed economically? Can you imagine who the enemy is?
Combine Chairman Mao and Richard (the dick) Nixon = the power brokers who reside in and contribute to, both sides of the political spectrum.
Did you see the list of those American Government representatives who are directly involved in crafting this pay off, who received up to millions of dollars in contributions from the very organizations who will benefit from this Corporate Socialism?
And Chavez is a bad guy?
Mr Garth TurnerMP, FYI
This T-shirt seems to go along the lines of were PMSH is trying to take us,
down the road to ‘corporate fascism’,
like Bush has been doing will our freinds to the south.
‘Denver cops’ tshirt depicts their pride in beating protesters (pic)’
http://rawstory.com/images/other/2008dnc-beat-092808.jpg
Seems to reinforce the info. in the movie,
America: Freedom to Fascism – Director’s Authorized Version – 111 min – May 5, 2007
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173&q=America%3A++Freedom+to+Fascism&total=630&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
I have some ideas on Revolution. Thus my handle. Do you believe me now?
Comrade Okie
By Comrade Okie on 09.29.08 11:56
Thems dangerous words you are using! The potential for a successful coup d’ etat in this day and age of high tech security plus para-military might is slight to nil. The only hope of making significant change and improvements is in the ballot box(es) by making you X es in the correct (not right) place(s)!
This election is VITAL to the health and welfare of this nation beyond a shadow of a doubt. Remember what you are asked to do on jury duty? You must vote to convict only if there is no shadow of a doubt of the guilt! The only voice that will be listened to is that of WE the PEOPLE en masse! The time has come to vote your conscience not your wallet! The price of STANDING ON GUARD FOR THEE may just be a little bit more that you think it is!
I am voting to fire the liar!
By NorthernTed on 09.29.08 1:59 pm
That’s what my numbers tell me as well but so far it looks like the Cap and Trade Fascists (CPC/NDP) are going to rule the day.
Hope they do, actually. I’m tired of giving the Canadian collective intelligence the benefit of the doubt.
On the bright side someone else may pick up the model. It IS very clean.
Turning the Screws is the answer to a corporatist’s prayers. In many cases, probably literally.
I am voting to fire the liar!
By Truth B Told on 09.29.08 2:38 pm
I’m voting to fire the stupid SOB out of a canon .
I am voting to fire the liar!
By Truth B Told on 09.29.08 2:38 pm
I’m voting to fire Harper the LIAR!
or just
FIRE THE HARPER LIAR
This would make a great sweat shirt.
By Bonnie L on 09.29.08 1:26 pm
ROFLMAO! How very true!
I’m voting to fire the stupid SOB out of a canon .
By Men With Hats on 09.29.08 3:14 pm
RCAF will use their Chicken Cannon for sure! LMAO!
By Truth B Told on 09.29.08 2:38 pm
We still have ‘V Is for Vendetta’ on DVD to dream about though! LOL
I’m voting to fire the stupid SOB out of a canon .
By Men With Hats on 09.29.08 3:14 pm
RCAF will use their Chicken Cannon for sure! LMAO!
By Bill-Muskoka (not anymore) on 09.29.08 4:11 pm
Yea,that would be dandy .I wonder how many times Harpo has been a target ?
By Truth B Told on 09.29.08 2:38 pm
My version is a quiet, bloodless Revolution. It demands that we eliminate the billionaires from the Democratic selection process.
It demands that the People have the right to offer themselves for public office and are not beaten by sheer weight of money.
On completion of my Revolution, never again would there be an official opposition that would cower due to fears based on lack of finances.
Never again would a sitting Prime Minister wield the axe of the almighty dollar to determine election timing or outcome.
It is a common sense Democratic Revolution that I believe in, and all true Comrade’s are welcome. No fake defenders of free speech, no manipulators, no Daughters of Goebbels and no trough dwellers.
But the “Truth” is, they won’t give it up if we simply say please. If the currently proposed economic band aids do not achieve effective results, I expect recruiting will improve significantly.
By Comrade Okie on 09.29.08 4:42 pm
If your revolution is successful, can you see to it that career politicians become extinct. There should be limits on how many times one can run for office.
By Marc on 09.29.08 7:12 pm
I will consult the revolutionary handbook on that one.
Stephen Harper is the first one who has actually made me fear for my country.
By by Jennifer Smith at 8:42 AM or Bonnie L on 09.29.08 1:54 pm
What exactly as Harper done that makes you so fearful?
Was it pension income splitting for seniors?
Was it the 2% cut in GST?
Was it increased pension income deduction?
Was it increased military spending after 40 years of neglect?
Was it tax cuts?
I would really appreciate it if you can be very specific.
Cheers
Maybe it was the increase in income tax in Budget 2006.
Maybe it was taking a $12 billion surplus and turning it into zero.
Maybe it was stealing $20 billion from income trust investors.
Maybe it was increasing spending by 14%.
Maybe it was building the most costly government in history.
Maybe it was letting 19 people die from unsafe food.
Maybe it was firing the nuclear regulator.
Maybe it was cancelling literacy programs.
Maybe it was not creating a single new child care space.
Maybe it was being an enemy of democracy in Halton.
But I only have a moment, so maybe there’s more. — Garth
So…
The $250 million the Feds ship to the provinces to create child care spaces hasn’t created any? That’d be scandalous if it were true.
Maybe it was being an enemy of democracy in Halton.
But I only have a moment, so maybe there’s more. — Garth
By Van on 09.29.08 7:45 pm
Maybe the government should be scared because Garth lets us report on what scares the media.
economic conditions will force the changes required
our economy is on thin ice
the August 2007 numbers will firm up a forecast of gloomy
cash is good
a system broken by corruption will not fix itself
the 40/0 will end this government
the melt is on
the August 2008 numbers will get crushed
and all the years of headlines tied into
no justice, no investment
Few politicians have attracted the none of the above crowd like Garth. That it in itself is the most reform our federal government has been subjected to since live tv.
Definitely the biggest feather for a single MP in all my memory.
We do appreciate
But I only have a moment, so maybe there’s more. — Garth
By Van on 09.29.08 7:45 pm
The most important one you missed is the Manual on Making Parliamentary Committees Dysfunctional and Inoperable.
That one was in my simplistic logic was TREASON! The appointment of the lawyer playboy flake to Foreign Affairs Minister pales beside the Manual, and I do not relegate the Income Trust Tax move to anything less than perjury in the first degree!
If you have a good grip on reality and relativity of ranking of the deeds and tone of this PM and his government, it is more than fear for my country, it is total astonishment at my fellow citizens for lack of keeping abreast of the state of our nation’s democracy. Ignore the daily news and reports to our mutual peril! The tally time is coming and how many bananas have you cut, or the lovely bunches of coconuts?
OTTAWA — The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the Conservative government has made a whopping $19.2 billion worth of pre-election spending announcements since June.
The figure is more than twice the federation’s initial estimate of $8.8 billion.
The federation says the Tories spent about $198 million each day, or more than $8.2 million every hour, between June 2 and Sept. 6, the day before the campaign began.
The group’s new estimate includes $6.2 billion in infrastructure money for Ontario and another $4 billion in spending announced in the days before Sunday’s election call.
The Conservative party is pointing out, however, that none of the spending was new.
A spokesman says the announcements that took place during the time period cited by the federation were based on the 2008 budget and approved by Parliament.
He cited an $80-million repayable loan to Ford announced Sept. 3, which aims to create 757 jobs in Windsor, Ont., noting the money came out of the existing $250-million Auto Innovation Fund.
He said a $27-million repayable loan to Heroux Devtek in Longueuil, Que., for research and development came out of the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative, was created last year.
“This is not new spending over and above the funds approved by Parliament in Budget 2008,” the spokesman said.
Regardless, the federation noted the 2008 Conservative budget set spending growth at 3.4 per cent this fiscal year.
Research director Adam Taylor said the Tory minority government has consistently underestimated spending growth since it took power in January 2006.
The Finance Department reported last month that expenditures grew by 11.1 per cent in June alone and swelled by 8.4 per cent in the first quarter, or two-and-a-half times the 2008 budget plan.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the Conservative government has made a whopping $19.2 billion worth of pre-election spending announcements since June. By Men with hats
And the Liberals have made over 70 billion of election promises.
So what is your point.
Did you just make that up? Because you are wrong. — Garth
>>Garth wrote.
>>Maybe it was the increase in income tax in Budget 2006.
This is was decreased back in 2007/08 FY.
>>Maybe it was taking a $12 billion >>surplus and turning it into zero.
If that is the case then maybe you can explain over a billion surplus in July 2008.
>>Maybe it was stealing $20 billion >>from income trust investors.
Stealing. That is a lie. Taxing income trusts was not stealing unless you are one of those who thinks taxation is stealing. If this is a case then it can be argued that the Green Shift Plan is stealing as well. Sorry Garth you can’t have it both ways.
>>Maybe it was increasing spending by >>14%.
>>Maybe it was building the most costly >>government in history.
For one thing the successive Liberal governments cut the military which was a disgrace. No wonder the Harper government had to spend so much.
The liberals could have prevented it but didn’t. If the Conservatives spending was so bad Why didn’t the Liberals do something about it? Instead they sat on their hands or didn’t show up for confidence votes. That was cowardly Garth and you blood well know it.
>>Maybe it was letting 19 people die >>from unsafe food.
Only a sick person would think such a thing. If there is blame, the Liberals can take equal blame as well because they were the ones who started privatization of thew inspection agency.
>>Maybe it was firing the nuclear >>regulator.
The Liberals once again could have prevented the firing but didn’t.
>>Maybe it was cancelling literacy >>programs.
and Maybe not
>>Maybe it was not creating a single >>new child care space.
Well if that is the case then it is the exact same number that the Liberals created in 13 years. The Conservatives made the money available for the provinces. Of course the Liberals never did care much about provincial jurisdiction did they Garth.
>>Maybe it was being an enemy of >>democracy in Halton.
Is that so. I have only your word for that so I will take it with a grain of salt.
The crucial question now is, “Will Stephane Dion be able to hold his own in the debates, and look prime ministerial?” What say you?
By Jake on 09.29.08 9:57 am
Nope, although he should do better in the French debates.
Actually garth I did make it up and I was wrong. The Liberals election promises actually add up to 80 billion dollars and not the 70 I stated previously. This $80 billion is just for the first 13 days of the election.
That is over $5 billion a day in promises and all this is going to come from the green shift program?.
Source is the National Post. Everyone can view it at : http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/election-2008/story.html?id=808072
The $80 billion includes a $70 billion infrastructure program spaced over ten years and to be financed with the sale of green bonds to the public. Nice tray, but you failed. — Garth
I’ve accounted the societally high ROI 3 year expenditures of all 5 parties; positive externalities like environmental capital costing, R+D, daycare, foreign aid, and mental health + affordable housing programmes to fight homelessness. Rankings are: 1st Greens $172B, 2nd Libs $45B, 3rd NDP $45B, 4th Bloc $15B, 5th Cons $8B.
Ignoring off-the-chart Greens, Liberals have highest environment and R+D totals, NDP best childcare and highest sindustry penalty, and Bloc the best anti-homelessness strategies: http://externalityaccounting.blogspot.com/
The $80 billion includes a $70 billion infrastructure program spaced over ten years and to be financed with the sale of green bonds to the public. Nice tray, but you failed. — Garth
I haven’t failed anything at all. On the contrary you have demonstrated that you speak with a fork tongue.
So it is OK for the Liberals to spread their 80 billion over years and yet when you criticize the Conservative spending you always forget to mention that their spending is spread over years as well. In fact in a previous discussion when I pointed that the government spending was spread over a number of years you dismissed it out of hand. Hum, sounds like an another double standard from the Liberals and yourself once again. Thanks for showing your true colours Garth.
This spending is not financed with tax dollars. Apples and Buicks. — Garth