Entitled to Their Entitilements

I was so pleased the other day when PM Harper said that the next election campaign whenever that may be one of the Conservative platform planks would be to eliminate the $2 a vote taxpayer subsidy,(a tax is what I call it).

As you expect the Libs and Dippers have come out whining and bawling and squawling not to take their entitlements away.  Boo Hoo Hoo!

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s opponents say his plan to campaign on killing direct financing for political parties is irresponsible, arguing the current subsidies are good for democracy.

The Liberals and New Democrats made it clear Thursday they have no intention of agreeing to repeal the subsidies introduced in the past decade, saying they ensure the ideas of voters are represented by vibrant political parties that no longer have to rely on “big money” from the business community.

So they claim to take away their entitlements is not good for democracy, well Tasha Kherriddin disagrees.

The result is not more democracy, as the opposition claims, but less. Taxpayers are forced to subsidize parties for whom they would not vote. They also subsidize incumbency, as parties with the most votes are favoured over parties with the fewest. And the restrictions don’t stamp out business or union influence; corporations in particular end-run them by having their executives make individual donations.

I believe that if enough people like a certain party, what they represent and  support a it with their wallets, that's the way it should be.  If a party can't raise funds on their own then may be that party is not resonating. Thus let the chips fall where they may.  It should certainly not be forced donations like we have now.  We should not be forced to donate to parties we don't like. 

If the PM campaigns on killing this tax, I think it will resonate.  Right now in a time of restraint in our own households, taxpayers expect our politicians and political parties should be doing the same.

So how will the opposition parties campaign on the why they should still be receiving their entitlements?  They're going to have a hard time explaining.  Just the  thought alone of being forced to donate to a party that's hell bent on breaking up the country, voters will agree that entitlement should go.

Parties should raise their own funds and not rely on the taxpayer. If they can't, the public is not interested in them, so they shouldn't exist, just plain and simple. At least one young Liberal agrees.

And while we're at it, let's end that irritating $2 per vote subsidy for political parties. If the Liberal party wants me to fork over some dough, it should have the grit to ask me personally.