21 Replies to “More Evidence”

  1. I enjoyed that little rant by Olaf. I agree with the entire entry.
    I’m an adult. I learn to deal with any problems life throws my way and I can make my own decisions. I don’t need to be coddled by politicians and have them hold my hand my entire life.

  3. I just voted in that poll – the fact that the Liberals are winning at this point tells me that Liz May was right.
    I think they need a bit of help to show that some of us are actually doing some critical thinking instead of jumping to the next 30 second sound byte or partisan headline.

  4. Down east in dipperland, we have masses of fingers pointing south and saying “See what Bush did to the economy? Harper will do that to us.” Far be it from me to lump people into one catagory but there are a fair number of entitlement people who figure the government owes them. They are also the same kind who figure a Sociologist is the best answer to problems with the economy, never mind that even socialist counties in Europe are also in financial trouble.

  5. Just posted this on Paul Wells Blog in response to his and the Liberals referring to Sweden as a model of a green tax working, remembering that their previous socialist government implemented it many years ago.
    Paul, sorry to burst your bubble on Sweden, not!
    “On August 1, 2008, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Sweden.1
    Background
    A center-right government took office in 2006 and is boosting labor participation and reducing reliance on the welfare state. The government has cut some income taxes and reduced benefit and active labor market programs. It is continuing strong fiscal policies to reduce debt;
    Swedish banks have been resilient to global financial turmoil, but risks are rising. Share prices have dropped, and CDS spreads have widened, especially for those banks exposed to the slowing Baltic economies. Vulnerabilities have been mitigated by strong conditions in the Swedish economy, so far, even though Swedish house prices also warrant monitoring.”

  6. Good article Kate!
    It is so true, most people’s lives, especially when it comes to physical needs like food, clothing and shelter are rarely in doubt. They then feel the need to invent problems and crisis’s to become worried about.
    When many of those considered under the “poverty line” are still able to afford their own car and have satellite tv along with cell phones etc.
    Do we have any concept of what real problems are?

  7. I caught the local financial guy from an investment bank doing his hourly financial report on the radio this AM. He was talking to the host who said that PM Harper was right and today would be a good day to go shopping for stocks that are now on sale. The financial guy then went on a rant about how Harper was whistling past the grave yard and that he should be guaranteeing every deposit in Canada because financial guy’s bank held some asset backed commercial paper and was about lose 3-4 Billion dollars. For some strange reason I couldn’t sympathize with him. If the bank make wads of cash off that same “asset” would they turn 100% of the profits over to the government? If the answer is no then why should the tax payers of Canada care about a bad investment made by some bank that should have known better. The alarm bells have been ringing over this fiasco for several decades now and just because you’re a banker doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t look at the assets you are holding and decide if you want to hold them or not. I much prefer due diligence to government bail out.

  8. Nice to see you in the NP again Kate.
    Timely, and well written.
    I wish you’d do more writing for them.

  9. Good point G…but Kate ‘s article is from February…
    What are the chance NP would post it again before Oct. 14?

  11. Harper’s mistake all along has been to create and expectation that taxpayers’ loot will be forthcoming to anyone who wants it, especially those who live in Quebec.
    Ever since he became PM, federal spending has frankly exploded. That doesn’t sound like a very conservative policy to me. However, the handouts have created a huge constituency for more handouts, and these recipients are now worried that a recession may mean the end of the gravy train.
    Harper, quite rightly, hesitated to assure them that federal loot will continue to shower on them no matter what happens to the state of federal finances.
    Having created that expectation in the first place, he’s now paying the price.

  12. Harper’s mistake all along has been to create and expectation that taxpayers’ loot will be forthcoming to anyone who wants it, especially those who live in Quebec.
    Ever since he became PM, federal spending has frankly exploded. That doesn’t sound like a very conservative policy to me. However, the handouts have created a huge constituency for more handouts, and these recipients are now worried that a recession may mean the end of the gravy train.
    Harper, quite rightly, hesitated to assure them that federal loot will continue to shower on them no matter what happens to the state of federal finances.
    Having created that expectation in the first place, he’s now paying the price for taking away the punch bowl in the middle of the party.

  15. guarenteed food, shelter, heat , mortgages, jobs, stock market returns.
    we are entitled to our entitlements . and Jack Layton will provide even if he has to take it out of your hide.

  16. Yep, nice article
    It also explains in a way why Conservatives/Republicans will face a tough time in upcoming elections. (Northern) North Americans will look to the left to look after them.
    Obama’s strategy has never been complex – scootch up next to his opponent, whomever he or she may be, and then say pretty much the same things, then just outcharm and out-dazzle his opponent.
    So, swallowing our bitter pill just becomes deferred.
    I’ve been telling people for a while; our grandchildren will be amazed by stories about how we ate strawberries in February. (And how some of us threw half of them away, because we bought so many since they were on sale.)
    But I’m a pessimist, so maybe I’m over-reacting

  17. Harper is NOT a communicator (remember Reagan? ‘The Great Communicator’). Most of the anti-CPC sentiment out there is a result of his wanting to be the ONLY CPC voice, and then not bellowing the message from the rooftops. Tough to do, I know, when the media are denying him the exposure he needs; but whose fault is that? Don’t I remember Harper basically shutting the media out of the process way back in the beginning of his term, and commenters here ok’ing that strategy? Chickens coming home…

  18. Daninvan:
    Are you new?
    This is Canada. 90% of the media is owned by Liberal fellators.
    Watch a Harper speech. And the Q and A after.
    Note the direct answers. The humour. The wit. The sensibility.
    Then spend the rest of the day searching the media for same. Good luck.

  19. Margaret Wente, who I usually find a great read, has gone into the other camp. She is accusing Harper with not having enough empathy! We are done and according to the comments following her article he is not warm enough, soft enough, can’t communicate, condescending and on and on. Nothing, zero, nada about the excellent legislation he has brought in and how he has put Canada back on the international map as a world leader. People are praising Dion’s Green Shaft and even children can understand it though his own caucus can’t. The Liberals are the best at managing the economy totally oblivious to the fact that only Conservative led provinces have provided the real money that the Liberals pissed away.
    If Harper can’t win against the rising socialist hordes in this election as the best guy we have had in years Conservatives are done as a political force on the Federal stage and the west should seriously look at seperating before the eastern socialists pull them down with the rest of us.
    When you have a poll as in the Globe, I know its a leftist rag, with over 11,000 people picking the Liberals as the best to handle an economic crisis despite our excellent financial position as rated by economists around the world we have gone from reality to pure socialist ideology. No thinking or fact checking just emotion.

  20. If you want empathy and understanding, hire a psychologist, or go talk to your mummy. Leadership reassures by being a steadying influence, by being consistent, and by resisting the urge to panic.
    Unless, of course, you can scare some people into voting for you. Nice job, folks. Scare the s**t out of people, who naturally think the market is going down further, so they sell into a low market.
    Oh, yes it’s Harper’s fault, because life was sweet and good under the Liberals, and suddenly, under Harper, the planet started to heat up and the financial system imploded. Bring the Liberals back, with their interventionist bent, and we (Liberals) will be happy again.
    Every time a Liberal tells you what Canadians want or what they need, just insert “Liberal” over Canadian, and you will see what they mean.
    If only the correction had been worse, if only a Canadian bank had failed, if only we were in a recession, if only more soldiers weren’t killed in Afghanistan (or better, accused of war crimes), the Liberals could had gained power back, with the access to the trough.
    S**t, no summer jobs for Libs insiders kids, again.

  21. C’mon people, GET A GRIP. We were on the verge of triumph but now it looks shakey. This is not because of Liberal lies, the big, bad MSM, Eastern fecklessness or the fact that most Canadians are weenies and security addicts. It’s because the Cons rolled the dice on a flawed and not terribly well-planned campaign and got bushwacked by a global crisis. Welcome to democracy. He’ll still get most of the votes, will still be PM, is still the most respected leader in the country and we’ll all be back at this sooner than we think or want. What, you think there is some kind of divinely ordained straight line to triumph? Stop feeling sorry for yourselves!
    “Fight on my men, Sir Richard said,
    A little I’m hurt but yet not slain,
    I’ll lay me down and bleed a while,
    And then I’ll rise and fight again.”

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