All Your Fiscal Stimulus Belong to Me!
Dear Mr. Flaherty – Please send me $20 billion dollars. I have a lot of really good business ideas I would like to pursue with this money, and none of them involve building cars that nobody wants to buy.
Seriously, though, it seems we are about to embark on a “fiscal stimulus” here in Canada. This after scrimping and saving for decades to balance our budget and pay down our debt. Sigh.
As somebody who became a Conservative because of deficits that drove the country to the brink of bankruptcy, the prospect of having a “Conservative” government run a deficit irks me a wee bit. But lets face it, the economic problems that we’re experiencing are not the fault of the Conservative government, and some action is going to be necessary.
If these budget deficits are “temporary” and not a return to “structural, budgeted deficits”, I suppose I can bite my tongue. (I suggest we repay these in fiscal 2011-2012 by selling the CBC, the CMHC, Canada Post, Purolator and AECL. Hey, I can dream!)
But I ask – Instead of sending cash to backward automobile manufacturers with their crappy gas-guzzling cars, power-crazed union bosses, inept management, and unsustainable wages, why not send the money to me!?
All the talk about auto bailouts has other corporate welfare candidates salivating at the possibility of being “bailed out” now, too, since their underlying business sucked before (but suck especially bad now that the economy is in the tank), like the forestry industry, and the ever-teetering “wooden arrows for children” industry.
Let me guess – we are going to attempt to pitch this auto bailout as an “investment” in the “future”? Back the sugar truck up, because this medicine isn’t going down easily.
We might as well dig a hole in the tundra and drive a gold-filled armoured car into it. I suspect the “investment” effect would be the same in the short-term (although in the long term, somebody would dig the armoured car out of the hole, making the gold-filled tundra hole a far better “investment” for the “future”).
I have a small business (and not in forestry or auto manufacturing). Where the hell is my cash?
For that matter, my family is certainly willing and able to spend some money “for the sake of the economy”, if asked politely.
And maybe that’s what Canada should do … send a $600 cheque to every man, woman, child (*and other) in Canada ($20,000,000,000 / 33,390,000 = $598.98).
I can buy an awful lot of beer and popcorn with that kind of cash! Or I could use it towards a down-payment on a quality automobile – like a Nissan Altima or a Honda Accord.
Best of Convention 2008
Talk about fun! 3 days and 6 hours of sleep later, the Convention comes to an end.
DID SOMEBODY SAY PARTIES? Hell ya!
BEST PARTY – Hands down, was Friday’s “Prairie Party” at United Tavern – what a riot!
BEST M.P. TO PARTY WITH, MALE – Andrew Saxton (I would have said Rahim Jaffer, but, uh – well, you know)
BEST M.P. TO PARTY WITH, FEMALE – Helena Guergis
BEST DRESSED M.P., FEMALE – Duh. Too easy – Rona Ambrose
BEST DRESSED M.P., MALE – Jim Prentice – Sharp, Jim – very sharp.
MOST DOWN-TO-EARTH M.P., MALE – Maxime Bernier (again, I would have said Rahim Jaffer, but, ya)
MOST DOWN-TO-EARTH M.P., FEMALE – Diane Ablonczy
GREATEST MOMENT – The 3 minute standing ovation after we passed the policy resolution to CRUSH section 13 of the HRC.
LITTLEST TORY – Trusty Tory’s wee baby! What a cutie.
BEST NATIONAL COUNCIL ELECTION PROMOTION – Don Plett’s scarves – did anyone mention Winnipeg is bloody cold? (Second prize also goes to Don Plett for his promotional window scrapers.)
BEST T-SHIRT – Finally, it was ME. In order to outdo my old friend Andrew (take that, Andrew!), who won in Montreal 2005 with his “I Crush Dissent” shirt, I wore my red “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Kim Jong-Il” shirt to the Prairie Party on Friday. Most people laughed, and some people offered their less approving opinions (nobody hit me). Also, it was my only red shirt, and I did need to wear red to show support for our troops.
BEST THING ABOUT WINNIPEG – United Tavern.
2ND BEST THING ABOUT WINNIPEG – The Royal Canadian Mint (and watching Andrew put his foot through the ice outside the front doors).
WORST THING ABOUT WINNIPEG – Cold like hell in that Capital One credit card commercial.
2ND WORST THING ABOUT WINNIPEG – Blood stains on the streets. (Of course, it shows more because it’s on the ice.)
The “REAL” Convention Stories (according to me)
Party Constitution
I was in the Constitution meeting (after all, policies are just recommendations from “stakeholders”). The real story was the recycled delegate points system, but it got killed before it could go to plenary (but the vote in committee was very, very close). I suspect we’ll be arguing this one for the next 76 conventions, so stay tuned for Convention 2035 and so on. The official argument on both sides is the same – that the change will encourage membership growth in non-traditional ridings, or that the status quo will encourage membership growth in non-traditional ridings. Clearly what we need is “membership growth in non-traditional ridings” to make this debate go away.
The only Constitutional amendment to make it to the floor which was terrible, was C-115, an amendment to give the Party President a Board seat on Conservative Fund Canada (which is actually a good idea), with an unfortunate second part that would give all the appointed directors of Conservative Fund Canada automatic voting delegate status. Whoa! Screeeeeech.
Unelected delegates at a convention? What are we, the NDP? I don’t care that we are talking about the good folks at Conservative Fund Canada – open up this door, and what comes next, and where could it stop?
In the committee room, there was a clear consensus to split this into two (C-115A and C-115B), so I proposed it. If this had happened, C-115A would have clearly passed, but C-115B would not have. The chair ruled this out of order and the omnibus resolution managed to garner enough support to pass in committee, so it carried on for consideration at plenary.
At plenary I rose to speak against it, suggesting it was a “referendum on grassroots democracy“. Thankfully, the resolution failed. At least a dozen delegates told me they changed their mind and voted against it based on my address. So score one for grassroots democracy, and my amazing powers of persuasion!
Policy Resolutions and Controversy
What floor policy proposals were actually controversial? And, by this I mean creating an uncomfortable split between members (“members”), or potentially a media problem (“media”). Notably all the arguments falling into the latter had delegates essentially saying, “we can’t do this, or the media will never let us live it down.” To this, I say, too bad. If the Government doesn’t want to enact policies from our convention, they don’t have to – but don’t vote it down because you think it might look bad, vote it down only if it is bad.
- P-113 and P-114 – Dangerous Offender Status and “Killing” the Faint Hope Clause – really just a media controversy – the guy who suggested we would have to “build more prisons”, and that we should focus on “rehabilitation” didn’t seem to win over the masses, despite his passion about the issue.
- P-202 – Affirming the Charter, Notwithstanding Clause and All – Not controversial but poorly worded in both official languages – Lesson #1 for next time: Vive le dictionnaire!
- P-203 – Neutering Human Rights Commissions – media controversy – the members were pretty darn close to 100%, if not 100% in favour (except, perhaps, for those sitting in section 13 … ugh).
- P-207 – Protecting Pregnant Women – media and member controversy – I’m pro-choice and I voted for it – part of a woman’s right to choose is her right to “choose” to keep the baby – if this is taken away by some thug (probably a man) that assaults her, clearly it is not too bold to declare this as a separate crime.
- P-308 – Allowing Union Opt-Out – media controversy – I’m surprised we haven’t heard more on this from the MSM, frankly. This was championed by blogger Derek Fildebrandt.
- P-208 – Updating the Student Loan policy to eliminate the assessment of parental income – member controversy – this was only the case because the proponents did not explain very well what it was about. I have no doubt that if they had explained it properly, this would have passed easily.
- P-209 – Students Don’t Pay E.I. – member controversy – again, not pitched very well by proponents. The “against” argued that this would create a lot of bureaucracy. As a former E.I. recipient, and as a current employer, I disagree – you could just have students claim back E.I. on their tax return (and a little double-check to make sure there was education claims during the year as well).
National Council Elections
The National Councilors for British Columbia are incumbent Menno Froese and newcomer Hamish Marshall. Lois Johson lost by a “rumoured” six votes to Hamish Marshall.
Lesson #2 for next time: The B.C. ballot read “Vote for 2 Candidates“, even though it should have read “Vote for up to 2 Candidates“. I don’t know if this would have definitely changed the outcome or not, but it was an unfortunate error (especially considering there was 1 slate of candidates and 1 independent candidate – presumably some wanted to only vote for the independent, which could have easily caused a different outcome than what might have been intended by voters). I don’t know if the other provincial delegate elections were plagued by the same poorly worded ballots or not.
Convention Countdown: 45 Hours
The week is finally here!
Derek Fildebrandt from Demablog has done up an outstanding convention voting guide. Thanks, Derek.
Look for our blue on white “68 Club” pins, and ask what they’re all about!
I would encourage all B.C. Delegates to vote for Lois Johnson for National Council – she is a hard-worker and dedicated leader who has hands-on experience and a thorough understanding of what it is going to take to win more ridings in B.C. She recently managed our campaign in Vancouver-South where we almost took out Ujjal Dosanjh (so, even if you can’t vote for her, make sure to shake her hand for doing such an awesome job)!
Despite not being an “official” convention blogger (whatever that means), I will be blogging throughout on stuff that I find interesting.
Have fun kids! See you there!
AIG vs. Canada – A Financial Comparison
So we have word today that the US Government is bailing out AIG to the tune of US$150 BILLION DOLLARS.
Our federal debt was C$457.6 billion at the end of 2007-08, or US$383.2 BILLION DOLLARS.
In other words, the US Government is bailing out AIG to the tune of 39% of our entire (much dreaded and until recently ominous) national debt!
AIG posted a third-quarter loss of US$24.47 billion. AIG now has a “budget deficit” that is well over double what Canada’s highest ever was (C$42 billion in 1993 – approximately C$10.5 billion per quarter).
So, somebody tell me: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? These numbers are totally insane.
And to think, in 1993, I was terrified that Canada was on the brink of bankruptcy. Thanks to some pressures to balance the books, grow the economy and run surpluses, the debt-to-GDP ratio has gone down considerably.
In 1995-96, debt-to-GDP stood at 73.9%. In 2007-2008, it was 33.6%.
Nominally, our debt hasn’t changed a whole lot (it has come down a bit, but most of the change reflects our GDP growth). The federal debt stood at $457.6 billion at the end of 2007–08, down $105.2 billion from its peak of $562.9 billion in 1996–97.
Eleven years of surpluses, and all we get is a mere $105.2 billion – peanuts compared to what the US Government gives away to one financial company.
John McCain: A Class Act
This is John McCain’s concession speech. This man is nothing but class.
Wouldn’t it be nice to hear a concession speech in Canada like this?
Instead we get stuff like this:
Work together for our great country? Uh, no.
Election Night Predictions: 100% Correct … so far.
Just in case anyone was doubting my awesomeness, I’ve rehashed my election night predictions and added witty comments about just how crazily correct they were!
- Obama wins. – Well, duh.
- Obama wins with over 300 Electoral Votes. – OK, this was a serious UNDERSTATEMENT.
- Obama wins in at least one state which was NOT considered to be in play for the Democrats (something really surprising like Georgia, Indiana or North Dakota). – Still waiting on Indiana – if it goes McCain, can I point to Colorado? You decide.
- Democrat’s Senate seat total after the election is 59. – Still waiting, 56 with 4 too close to call.
- Bye-bye to the “better” Dole. – Done.
- Al Franken wins in Minnesota, but with less than 45% of the vote. Norm Coleman finishes in low 40s. Minnesota, man, what a weird place. – 3 out of 3, so far. Franken is ahead with 42%, and Norm Coleman is in the low 40s with 42%. Uh, the only remaining question is who actually wins. Of course, a correct prediction on this negatively affects a correct prediction on number 4.
- Ted Stevens holds Alaskan Senate Seat with a comfortable margin. – Is 3% a comfortable margin.
OK, so, if all goes well, I’ll be 100% correct. Good night.
Prediction: Obama Wins Presidency, 59 Democrats in Senate
This is an “historic” election, we are being told again and again and again. What the hell does that mean? I’d argue that, in fact, this is a “current” election, and won’t be “historic” until after it’s over.
It is interesting for a few reasons, though:
- There are two amazingly likable candidates. On one side, you have an intelligent, inspirational speaker talking about “change”, and we know that’s always good. On the other side, you have a straight-talking grandfather-type who tells it like he sees it. Think about it – when was the last time both sides had “likable” candidates. Hell, it’s been years since one side had a likable candidate – Gore, Kerry, Bush, Clinton (OK, somewhat likable, but a bit creepy), Dole, the older Bush, Mondale, Carter, Nixon – you get the idea.
- We have absolutely no idea what any of these guys will do. Will Obama tear up NAFTA and go all protectionist? Will Obama repair relations with the rest of the world, or come across as a weakling to America’s enemies? What will John McCain do on the economy? Will John McCain be seen by the world as a “Bush 2″ hardliner that won’t repair relations with the rest of the world? Hell, will John McCain live all four years? Obama has had a free ride by the media – I said “change”, let’s leave it at that. And McCain, largely, has been ignored by the media (because Obama is such a star).
(Funniest thing I heard recently (on the Fox News “Red Eye” show) by one of the guests: Obama is a celebrity, like Bono, only not as political.)
So, here’s my prediction (I’m usually wrong, for those who don’t know how awful my batting record is):
- Obama wins.
- Obama wins with over 300 Electoral Votes.
- Obama wins in at least one state which was NOT considered to be in play for the Democrats (something really surprising like Georgia, Indiana or North Dakota).
- Democrat’s Senate seat total after the election is 59.
- Bye-bye to the “better” Dole.
- Al Franken wins in Minnesota, but with less than 45% of the vote. Norm Coleman finishes in low 40s. Minnesota, man, what a weird place.
- Ted Stevens holds Alaskan Senate Seat with a comfortable margin.
See you tomorrow.
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