Be Careful of What You Wish For Iffy

Iffy thinks he has the perfect ballot question that he thinks he can win on which is really poached from  former US President Ronald Reagan.  The question is "Are you better off than you were 5 years ago?"   L Ian MacDonald states  that the Liberal leader is no Ronald Reagan. and that it was a much different ball game in the US then than we have now in Canada.

Ignatieff is no Ronald Reagan, but leaving that aside, his question needs context.
For example, the Wall Street Journal recently ran a comparative chart on its front page on the Canadian and U.S. housing sectors. Between 2005 and 2010, the price of housing in six major Canadian cities increased by 44 per cent. Over the same period, the home index in the U.S. fell by 18 per cent, and is projected by the New York Times to fall a further five per cent this year. Six million American families have lost their homes. Noted the Journal: "One difference: Canada never embraced sub-prime mortgages."
Canada has done much better than the U.S. in two other key measurements -fiscal frameworks and the health of our financial-services industry, rated the best in the world by the World Economic Forum for the last three years. While Wall St. needed a $700-billion bailout from Washington to get through the 2008-09 financial crisis, Canadian banks never drew down a nickel of $150 billion of standby credit in the 2009 budget. And while U.S. banks have shrunk in both market capitalization and asset value, four of the Big Five Canadian banks now rank in the Top 10 in North America.

L Ian Macdonald says if you ask a question like that, you may not like the answer.

Ask a question and you get an answer, though not necessarily the one you want.

Like this answer from  a survey taken last fall by Farm Credit Canada that asked that same question to farmers.

While we await results from the rest of the country and a possible election, farmers have already spoken. An annual survey of farmers for Farm Credit Canada, a government agency, asked farmers whether they are better off now than they were five years ago and whether they will be better off in five years.
The answer is yes on both counts and the numbers are increasing.
67% of respondents believe that they are better off now than they were five years ago. This is a significant shift from last year (2009: 60%).
55% of producers are planning to expand and/or diversify their farm or business in the next five years.
76% of respondents said that their farm will be better off in five years time.
The online panel survey of nearly 4,900 farmers was conducted last fall.

If farmers are better off, I'm willing to bet most other Canadians are better off too than they were 5 years ago.  Go ahead Iffy, ask that question, you may not like the results! 

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.

Pre-Election Election

It feels like an election campaign without the writ being dropped with the Waffle already on another one of his tours and Jack Layton on a tour too,    Gillies Duceppe starts his today.  The opposition coalition  leaders with their chests puffed out talking tough making their demands on the budget or they'll vote it down. 

Fine then. PM Harper has made it perfectly clear the Conservatives will not bow down to the demands of any of the coalition partners yesterday in an interview with the National Post and when there is an election they will campaign on killing the $2 a vote political party subsidy.  Amen!

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he will campaign in the next election to kill direct public financing for political parties, which last year cost taxpayers $27-million.
In an exclusive interview with Postmedia News on Wednesday, Mr. Harper also warned he will not bend to opposition demands to back down on corporate tax cuts, which he said are essential for the Canadian economy.
“I won’t kid you, and I think it’s one of the reasons why I don’t think a minority will go on forever — this government will not make compromises that it believes are damaging to the Canadian economy,” Mr. Harper said.
“We have made it a fundamental principle of our government since we got into office that we would have a competitive tax structure for job creators, for employers in this country.”

He also made it clear the coalition will rear it's ugly face again should the Conservatives be returned with a minority.

Mr. Harper also said he is convinced that if he wins the next election with a minority, the three main opposition parties will move “the next day” to form a coalition government to replace him.

I do think he's right. If voters don't for a Conservative majority, the coalition will rise and try and take power.  I believe they are that power hungry. I can see it happening again.  We must not and cannot allow that to happen. PM Harper and his government eventhough not perfect has done a darn good job governing the last five years when you consider all the obstacles they've had to face.  A minority government with a hostile opposition, a hostile media, all the faux scandals, an economic downturn that was the worst in decades, they've done pretty well. Just think if they what they could accomplish  if they didn't have all that to face and had a majority.  They certainly deserve one that's for sure.

If it's allowed to happen the coalition would undo all the good PM Harper has done, put our recovery in jeopardy, and would be chaotic to say the least.  If the coalition wants  vote against the budget and trigger an election, bring it on.  You know what they say, "Be careful of what you wish for."  

You can watch the  the PM Post Media interview here.

What is Bob Rae Thinking?

I guess Bob Rae has taken it upon himself to take a trip to the UAE to meddle in the spat over the issue of the UAE wanting more landing flights to our airports. What in the heck is he thinking? He's caught the ire of the PMO  and now Air Canada as well.

Is Bob acting without his party's approval? He seems to be at odds with at least Liberal Senator Colin Kenny who says that we should "drop the gloves" and calls the UAE "pompous thugs."

Why would I want to drop the gloves in dealing with the UAE? Because I think they're essentially a bunch of pompous thugs behaving like Canadians need them. We don't, and somebody should show them they can't treat us like the second-class citizens they hire to do virtually all the work in their seven fiefdoms.

How does his leader the Waffle feel?  We haven't heard boo from him.Where does he stand? Does he agree with the Senator or does he approve of Bob's approach? Did Bob get the OK from the Waffle to do this or his going rogue?  All you cracker jack investigative journalists out there, track the Waffle down and ask him. You would if the shoe was on the other foot.  You'd be howling that the opposition shouldn't be interfering directly in  government foreign affairs and crowing about divisions within  the Tory party.
Anyway, all what Bob is doing is making matters worse. It's going to be all the harder now for the government to deal with the UAE and find a solution to this problem.  Not only that but he's not helping out his party either.

One Young Liberal Sees the Writing on The Wall

John Lennard, a McGill law student and Young Liberal activist writing a piece in the National Post giving the Waffle seems to see the writing on the wall.

While watching coverage of the United States congressional race last fall, a friend asked if the Republicans' momentum would affect progressives north of the border.
"Two words", I answered: "Rob Ford."
And the rest, as they say, is history -- or will be for Canadian Liberals, unless we pay attention to what these elections (as well as Dalton McGuinty and Michael Ignatieff's dismal poll numbers) are telling us.
Quite simply, in 2011, voters aren't buying the goods so-called "progressives" are selling.
As a federal Liberal (and a young one, to boot), I take this lesson to heart. Putting a new coat of paint on old policy planks won't cut it. It's time for Liberals to get back to the basics.
We've plugged plenty of "feel-good" spending projects over the years. Subsidies for this, strategic investments in that. But all of these programs have costs, and they're getting heavier by the day. Burdening my generation with debt is no way to build a just society.

I agree with most everything  except  this part. I disagree. Those are not the Prime Minister's priorities.  The economy, jobs and keeping us safe are his priorities.

Planes, prisons, fake lakes and billboards. That sums up Prime Minister Stephen Harper's priorities.

I agree fully agree with him on this. He wants to get rid of the $2 voter tax.

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.

Amen,but if he remembers, the PM and Minister Flaherty tried to get rid of this tax shortly after the election in 2008 in their fiscal update but it almost caused a constitutional crisis with the troika of the stooges that included his party and his leader's signature on the coalition document that included the Bloc.

If he wants to see those solutions that he advocates he's better off supporting PM Harper and the Conservatives where he's more likely to see them come to pass especially the elimination of the  $2 voter tax if voters give them a majority next election.

 

He doubts whether the Waffle will follow his advise.

The only question is whether he has the courage to do it. 

 To me this young man seems bright and perceptive and sees what is most likely coming down the pipe. I looks to me like he's trying to save his leader and his party  before the ship goes down. I don't think his leader is going to listen to him though either.
 Kudo's to this young Liberal for presenting some common sense.  It's almost as rare as hen's teeth anymore.