Musings —03.17.2010 07:42 AM
—Take no prisoners
David Olive, one of the best writers around, wonders about me.
Meanwhile, Warren – who doesn’t like anything he has ever written – heads to the Big Apple for St. Patrick’s day. Wonderful.
The interior of the airport-bound cab. Note the timely St. Patrick’s Day display, lower left. Classic.
Painting everyone to the right of centre with the same brush is pretty narrow-minded – although par for the course for left-wingers, just as painting all left-wingers with the same brush is par for the course for the right. Sigh, the same old politics, from both sides.
As someone who considers himself right-of-centre, I can say that I don’t oppose all government, or even necessarily big government in the proper areas. What I oppose is the “slow creep” that government tends to have under left-of-centre leadership (in which I would include certain Liberal administrations). The government has its role, to be sure, but it needs to remember its purpose and limitations. The government should be in areas that are not well served, or appropriate, for the private sector. Police, education, foreign relations, conservation/environment, securities regulation, etc..
Government should decidedly NOT be in areas like transportation (the former Air Canada), energy retailing (the former Petro Canada), grain sales (Canadian Wheat Board), alcohol sales (LCBO), broadcasting (CBC), and the like. These “corporations” have nothing to do with the true role of government, and instead serve simply as cushy places for unions to bilk the taxpayer, and governments to pander to the outdated and regularly-disproven idea that all companies are evil and only the nanny state truly knows what is best for the simple-minded citizenry.
With the greatest of respect, why do folks like you, who are admittedly right wing often say stuff like: ” … I don’t oppose all government..” then go on to say they don’t like almost any government intervention? I put to you that your point is flawed & disingenuous – at best.
How may one ask, does a country make policy in the public good if from time to time the evil evil government does not do it? The creep that is taking place in the world today is not big bad government, what is taking place is vested interests undermining the ability of governments to take action on issues – climate change is only one example. The premier-before-last in Ontario was in lock step with your POV, & what did we get? A bankrupt province, broken public schools, underfunded health care, abandoned public transit, crumbling infrastructure, tainted meat, poisoned drinking water, municipalities without adequate resources to deliver provincial services and privatized public services. Stuff that will take another decade to fix. So how’s that working out for ya? Oh, I forgot, if you’ve got the dough to pay for all this stuff out of your pocket, you’re doing ok.
Just so you know, if FDR had not rescued capitalism in the 1930’s there would have been a revolution, (Herbert Hoover did call out the army to put down protests by WWI veterans in DC). Why aren’t you just honest & say Capitalism for the poor & Socialism for the rich?
Well, at least someone is finally paying attention to the real right wing agenda…..I’m so tired of genteel middle of the road Tories telling me that they agree with Republican and CPC agendas, and not noticing what they actually stand for these days.
Cause it really isn’t the same as it may have once been…..
Steve T:
If you consider any Canadian Liberal administration to be “centre-left”, then you clearly no zilch about global politics. The Liberals are better suited to ditch the scary (and useless) Reform-Conservatives, but let’s not kid ourselves- they are hardly “left wing”. In the 1990s, Liberal governments (no offense to WK and the well-intentioned Chretien types) adopted many neoliberal solutions to deal with budget deficits, and in the process dramatically cut the Canadian welfare state.
Moreover, Republicans have been trying to shatter the New Deal since its implementation (remember, when FDR saved the United States from crumbling after the Great Depression). The GOP never wanted the extension of housing, education, social security, medicare, conservation (save the crooked Richard Nixon, who would probably think the current types running the GOP are nuts) to be implemented. Time and time again, far-right wing conservatives fought against progressive liberal policies through World War II, the Cold War, and beyond. If you would argue that the right has ever offered anything more than a scrap to the underprivileged, then you clearly have never consulted any documentary record. The GOP attacks on the already weak American welfare state are nothing new, but they are even crazier.
75 percent of your comment is personal opinion. Thankfully, most Canadians would disagree with your public policy suggestions.
Politics are partisan for a reason, pal. The livelihood of millions are at stake. The only think “narrow minded” is Obama’s attempt to cultivate (intransigent) GOP members.
the second last sentence should read “is at stake.” Too bad there is no delete/edit on this comment platform.
The Cons have tried stacking the CWB with their supporters so they can do away with the CWB, and have failed dismally. That tells me that farmers (at least those living more than 100km from the US border) are happy with a mandatory system for wheat. And yes, I’ve been to many liquor stores in Alberta. I can’t compare them to Ontario, but I can to Manitoba, where selection, price and store ambience are a head and shoulders above. In Alberta, deregulation has created a proliferation of either small, shoddy poorly stocked stores or Superstore warehouses, all of them staffed by minimum wager’s who could care less what you want.
Cons want to deny widow of Remy Beauregard from testifying at a Commons committee. This is disgusting.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/782051–tories-aim-to-block-testimony-from-widow-of-rights-group-head?bn=1