middleofnowhere

Stefan Dion, lame duck and often mocked leader of the Liberal Party of Canada who led his party to one of it’s worst performances in decades in the most recent election is poised to potentially become our next Prime Minister.

There is debate about how realistic this possiblity is but safe to say, he is much, much closer to realizing that goal than he was a few short weeks ago following the election.

In a very short period of time, Stephen Harper has managed to galvinize the opposition parties to the point that there are serious discussions about the formation of an NDP-Liberal coalition government, which would be supported by the Bloc Quebecois. That’s right, even the seperatists are so annoyed, they’d rather try option B.

Now the Conservatives are crying foul saying that shady back room deals shouldn’t overthrow a government that was elected by the people mere weeks ago. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if you formed the government with  37 percent of the popular vote, then the actual will of the people was that you didn’t form the government.

In fact, the NDP and Liberal combined vote surpasses that of the Conserative Party, so a coalition government could argue that they are a truer representation of the people than Harper and his gang. I’m not sure how likely this reality is, but it sure makes for interesting times.

Here we are only a few weeks after our most recent election and the shenanigans of the government seem to be in full effect. Already there are whispers of confidence votes, coalition government or even worse, another election.

In it’s latest statement of the economy, the Conservative Party is proposing that the federal subsidy received by all political parties receiving more than two percent of the vote be cut. In Canada, parties reaching that magical portion of the electorate receive a whopping $1.95 per vote which then goes into their coffers. At first blush this seems like a great idea and in fact it would save the government millions of dollars. which is nothing to sneeze at in the current economic environment. The Conservatives have even pointed out that this is a most noble action on their part, as having received more votes than the other parties, they would stand to lose the most.

What the opposition parties have all pointed out is that while the Conservative Party would lose the most money, proportionately speaking it would have by far the least effect on them. Shocking, isn’t it?

In effect, cutting this subsidy would cripple the opposition parties, each of whom rely far more on this subsidy than the Tories. I suppose some would argue that those parties have no one to blame but themselves when it comes to fundraising. But do you think that if the Tories were as dependent on this subsidy that the idea would ever be floated out there? Of course not.

What this really is, is a poorly veiled attempt by the Conservatives to damage the opposition. It’s actually pretty brilliant because either way, the Tories will improve their standing in some peoples eyes. If it actually passed (which it never will) the opposition parties will all be scrambling to replace these funds. By proposing something that many Canadians would have a knee jerk response to support but that the opposition will kill, they also come out looking good.

If a millionaire gives one hundred dollars to a charity and someone on social assistance gives the same charity twenty dollars, who is making the bigger sacrifice? I’m not saying that I’m a big fan of tax dollars being used to prop up political parties, but I don’t like my government trying to manipulate my perceptions either. I don’t want to hear about how this decision makes the biggest impact on the Tories, because it just isn’t true. I’d have a lot more respect if the honest reasons were given but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Even though my countrymen and I have long since had our thanksgiving turkey with all of the trimmings, I figured I would share with my neighbours to the south some things that I am thankful for when it comes to them.

I am thankful that even in these times of uncertainty, you have decided to vote for change. Many people that I know did not believe that this would happen, as it is quite understandable to stick with what you know in troubled times. That took a lot of courage, so well done.

I am thankful that even though our countries have had our differences, that we still trust each other enough to share as large a border as we do. We don’t agree on everything, but we’ve been able to work things out without armed conflict for quite some time now. Oh, and we’re still sorry some of us came down and burned down the White House once. Our bad.

I am thankful for your sports and entertainment. Oh sure, here in Canada we have some hockey teams, an NBA franchise and a MLB team - and even our own football league. We even produce some decent television and movies, but not with the frequency of the U.S. Heck, even your NCAA games are awesome! No offense to the athletes at Canadian universities, but your college sports are riveting!

Have a safe and happy thanksgiving!

A common cry heard after many elections is that a candidates poor performance was the result of biased media coverage. While there is often some substance to these claims, the real blame lies with the consumer, not the media. As the saying goes, “Don’t Shoot the Messenger”.

In this day and age, we should all realize that certain media outlets have certain political leanings. While it is getting more difficult to easily find unbiased coverage, it is certainly not an impossible task.

50 years ago, when there was a finite number of media outlets, newspapers, radio stations, etc., the public was often asked to simply take what was presented at face value. With literally thousands of options available to people, this simpy is not the case anymore.

The only people who are swayed by the particular coverage of an event or candidate are those who choose to be so easily swayed. The bottom line is that if I like candidate or party A, then news coverage I find that shares my views, I will be more inclined to “believe”. If I think candidate or party B is better, then I will be more drawn towards media that shows them in a positive light.

Ultimately, many of the gaffes committed by a politician are what they are. By this I mean that if you’ve goofed, you can bet that your critics are going to pounce all over it, and your supporters will try to downplay it. That’s just the nature of politics, as any politician can attest.

It seems that many people here and on other blogging networks love to write and share their political views for the world to see. I haven’t agreed with everything I have read and I’m sure there are people who have disagreed with me.

However, I do see a lot of people who feel that a viewpoint other than their own is something akin to a sin against nature or something that must be destroyed as soon as possible.

I know that I’m guilty of letting my emotion or personal opinion getting the better of me sometimes, but for the most part I try to keep it on track. Sure, my political leanings are to the left, but I don’t mind taking shots at any place on the political spectrum - show me a politician who hasn’t done something worthy of criticism and I’ll….well, it doesn’t matter what I’ll do, because they don’t exist.

With that in mind, here are some suggestions to keep in mind for entering into a political debate and wanting to be taken seriously, or at least have your opinion heard.

1) No name calling - It’ s one thing to call an opinion “stupid” or worse, it’s another to call the person who has said opinion “stupid” or worse. For example, a lot of people called Sarah Palin stupid for some of the things attributed to her during the campaign. In my opinion, there are many things she said which I believe are misguided, or even wrong. But the woman is far from an idiot. Imagine a friend of yours or even your child saying something to you which you believe wholeheartedly to be incorrect. Would you call them derogatory names? Probably not.

2)Do your research - Whenever I hear something scandalous or astounding coming out about a politician, I do two things.

First, I look at the source. Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh, as two such examples, are both entertaining to certain groups and both have large followings. Both also have well known political leanings and as such, must not simply be believed without question.

The second thing I’ll do is look for an objective opinion, particularly when it comes to political ads. There are plenty of places out there to find out how “truthy” these are, just try googling them. Barring that, look at critiques of ads from both sides and try and judge for yourself.

3) No potty mouth - A lot of times it isn’t the message that I object to (even if I disagree with it), it’s the way the message is being conveyed. Swearing at me doesn’t show me how passionate you are so much as show me how unstable you are.

4) Vote! - You wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve has someone strongly disagree with me, or criticize some politician/political party and when I’ve asked them whether or not they’ve voted, they say they don’t bother.

If you want me to respect and listen to your opinions when it comes to politics, you have to at least be a participant in the process

I know, I know…there’s nothing more exciting than writing about the economy. Unless it’s reading about the economy! Am I right, people?? Huh? Am I?

One of the staples of Canada’s Conservative Party is it’s fiscal responsiblity. Or so they claim. I seem to remember my younger days when Tory governments rang up massive deficits and added to our debt like it was going out of style.

Then, for a few years (after the Tories were out) we had record surpluses, paid down the debt and seemed to be heading in the right direction…mostly.

Now, I’m no big fan of the Liberal Party either, but it did seem for a while that at least in the fiscal sense, we were fairly secure. Some people complain that a surplus means that the governement is taking more of our money than it needs, but to be honest with you, given my track record of taking care of my own money, I’m not sure that’s all bad.

This week a report of the Parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page was released.  Page was appointed by the government to provide independent analysis to Parliament on the state of the government’s finances.

The report states that the federal government would likely post a $13-billion deficit next year, and that future deficits could total as much as $50 billion over the next five years.

Now, given the current state of the world’s economy, one would think that finger pointing would be silly. Except, in his report, Page doesn’t seem to think the answer lies outside of our own government.

“The weak fiscal performance to date is due to previous policy decisions as opposed to weakened economic conditions,” Page said in his report.

The Tories’ decision to reduce the GST by two percentage points in 2007 as the main culprit, according to Page. And he wasn’t the only person to jump in on this criticism.

Ralph Goodale, a former Liberal finance minister pointed out that cutting the GST saves the average Canadian less than a dollar a day, but the impact on the treasury is about $13 billion every year.

Stunning stuff.

Politicians make strange bedfellows. This isn’t exactly a new idea, and I certainly can’t take credit for the cliche, but I always find it interesting to see how bitter rivals can become cordial, even working together to make their party, their country and even the world a better place.

While some people scoff at these so-called “turncoats”, “flip-floppers” or “hypocrites”, the truth is that this is how politics should work. During elections, you have to focus on what is different between you and your opponents. This is how people make decisions (hopefully) on who to vote for.

Once the election is over, however, the focus should really be on finding that common ground, negotiating and finding suitable compromises. Finger pointing, name calling and grandstanding, while making wonderful photo ops, do little to actually benefit those whom you are claiming to represent.

Seeing Joe Biden, and potentially Hillary Rodham Clinton, both fairly bitter and critical rivals of Barack Obama, put aside their differences and work with him, certainly shows that it is possible to overcome differences of opinion when working towards the greater good.

Above the 49th parallel, we have seen what happens when a party self-destructs from infighting (Liberal Party, I’m talking to you). In cases when a politician puts their own personal agenda ahead of the good of the party or worse, the people, the results are fairly predictable - a house divided.

It can be frustrating when your representative has fundamental differences of opinion from you. However, the energy you spend tearing them down could better be put to use in building something up. Your family. Your town. Your country. Destruction can happen very quickly, and once it’s done, all you have is rubble. Construction takes time, but when you work together, the result lasts for generations. 

So the latest “story” out there is that several people/groups/whatevers are suing to discover Barack Obama’s citizenship.

Seriously?

It seems to me that some people need to get themselves a hobby. Stamp collecting, maybe?  Or perhaps porcelain dolls? Something, anything….please!

What’s worse is that these lawsuits have certain people excited. I can hear them now…

“Ooooh, I knew it! He weren’t no American! John McCain will win it yet!”

I’ve already read things on the net calling him things like “liar” and ”usurper”, among other things.

Look, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. If the country has been so safe and well protected under Dubya’s guard, do you think Homeland Security or any freaking number of investigative agencies would have missed this small detail?

Come on now….really?

These are the same people who torpedoed (no pun intended) John Kerry’s candidacy with “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” and the best they can come up with is asking whether or not Obama was even eligible?

Bwahahahahahahahahaha.

I’m in debt. Not massive. 6 figures or so, including my mortgage, which I think is fairly average.  But I still worry about bill payments, which seem to be mounting. I still worry about unexpected expenses that always come up and how they will be handled.

So, where is my bailout?

I’ll admit I proabably haven’t been as fiscally prudent as I should have been in years past, but I don’t think I was reckless.

I don’t really understand how multi-million dollar companies can piss away so much money, make poor decisions and then have the nerve to ask for handouts. And then get them!

What really burns me is when you turn around and see the execs still cashing their million dollar cheques, receiving large bonuses and laughing all the way to the bank - one of the banks that didn’t go under, I guess. If you or I ran a business into the ground, we’d be lucky not to be living in a box somewhere.

Once again it looks as though we are going into deficit spending. With countries all over the world making this a regular habit, especially in the current economic environment, many people may not view this as a big deal.

The problem I see is that the Conservatives have been beating us over the head with how fiscally responsible they are and how this situation would never happen hear in Canada. I’m aware that many factors affecting the global economy are beyond our government’s control, but it is still worrisome to me.

One of the reasons our economy has been doing so well has been the sensible approach to income versus spending. The average person cannot spend more than they make and expect this to last in the longterm.

Even if we have a deficit, it is vital for the government to treat this as a one time or short term blip and not the norm. They are entrusted with major decisions and making wise decisions - literally with our money, not theirs. Let’s pay attention and make sure they are held accountable for how they spend it.