Time to Circle the Wagons?

Well.

I'm apparently irritating a few fellow conservatives by questioning the party that I hold a card with, the party that I donate to, and the party that I vote for.

Alberta Girl, today, took some issue with my suggestion that the Prime Minister wasn't taking the high ground on this "robo-gate" fiasco...  and finished her thoughts with this:

This witch hunt is bad enough coming from the opps and media. I am frustrated to see it coming from supposed supporters.

"Witch hunt"? Because I suggested the Prime Minister was over-reaching in Commons today, essentially guaranteeing that the problem didn't arise from any conduct of the Conservative party?

The suggestion, I suppose, is that we should be circling the wagons.

Interesting expression, that...  "circling the wagons".

I've always thought about that simply in the sense of commencing a defensive posture.

But the usage of this idiom as described in the Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms is perhaps more instructive:

...to stop communicating with people not in your group to avoid their ideas or beliefs

"Americans are feeling it is an especially good time to spend time with family, to circle the wagons."

Is this what we want in times of some stress?

To avoid ideas or beliefs that aren't "like ours".

Well.  I'd prefer to keep an open mind, myself.  I like to consider myself free to examine the evidence on my own terms, and to come to my own opinions, unshackled by what some might see as an obligation to drink the party kool-aid.

Maybe the whole fiasco is over-blown.  But there seems to be at least some substance, based upon the reports that I can see, suggesting at least some deluded supporter thought he or she was helping the party.

I would like to know more.

I'm fascinated by what the truth of this matter might be - as whoever it was, Conservative, Liberal, NDP or otherwise, I think I would like to see them put in jail for a while to understand just how offensive it is to attempt to distort the election process in my country.

But I guess that puts me outside the circle.

Oh well.

Que sera sera.

The High Road.. Just a Thought

So.

Robogate, or whatever we want to call it, doesn't seem to be going away soon.

The tossing of mud about the house of commons has commenced in earnest, belying the fundamental seriousness of the issue.

Perhaps there was one over-zealous staffer who made a monumentally stupid decision to put his own small-minded zeal ahead of the interests of the democratic process.

And perhaps he acted on the direction or at least with the knowledge of other party members. Or maybe not.

But - regardless - the idea that on election day, we might have an effort in THIS country of someone seeking to interfere with the voting process is more than a little disconcerting.  This is Canada.  We are more than some second-rate banana republic rife with political zealots willing to do whatever it takes to achieve election victory.

Now.

Lord knows that in the absence of a real leader, and in the absence of something concrete to offer by way of positive policy input, the tendency of the opposition is to seek to make mountains of mole hills - and this could be one of those situations.

However.

Just a thought.

What if our Prime Minister, instead of blowing off the issue as a trivial annoyance, or a "smear campaign" by opposition members - chose to take the high road:

"This office views the allegations made regarding effort at electoral interference in the most serious of terms. While we are cautious at jumping to conclusions based upon mere allegations of opposition party members, it appears that at last one member of an election staff acted in a manner which is abhorrent to the fundamental principals of our party - which is honesty and a deep respect for the democratic process.

We are seeking the assistance of Elections Canada and the RCMP to complete a full investigation into this matter, and I have directed all MP's and their staffs to cooperate fully with this investigation. I will assure this parliament that any members of this party who might be found to have engaged in any inappropriate conduct will be dealt with swiftly and assuredly, regardless of their status in this party.

Pending completion of that investigation, it would be pointless and a waste of time to sit in this house and debate suspicions and hearsay, and as such, until that investigation is complete, this Government intends to get on with the business of tending to the needs of Canadians."

While Mr. Harper has provided assurances that "the party" has had no role in this, in fact, he could not possibly know that.  I've worked on campaigns before - the leader, and the party administration can't possibly know everything that goes on with every constituency.  It may be unlikely, but it is highly possible that several workers, or even an MP, could engage in questionable or even illegal conduct.

So.

Mr. Harper - just be straight.  Acknowledge the issue, commit to cooperating to discover the source of the problem - and stop with the political posturing.  And if the opposition wants to bark in Commons thereafter, let them.  Canadians, by and large, have no stomach for wasteful "inquiries" that drag on for years - unless or until charges are laid - in which case, an inquiry would be highly appropriate.

Just a thought.

Warrantless Strip Searches... They're Not for Everyone

Ok..  so maybe GERALD is comfortable with the odd strip search...

but the rest of us would as soon do without one.

Well.

Seems like it was just yesterday I was raising concerns over Vic Toews proposed invitation to warrantless invasion of your privacy.  I guess I was in league with the child pornographers.

To quote poster Gerald:

"We need all the protection we can get,and I don't care one iota how our govt. does it."

Yes, Gerald.

Until you are arrested without due cause, detained overnight, bent over, naked, so some stranger can inspect your anal cavity.

Because your child drew a picture of their father as a hero, shooting "bad guys and monsters".

Yes, Gerald.

I'm sure as you would be carted off in front of your children and their friends in handcuffs, as you had your other children apprehended from their mother's care, you would be thinking to yourself, "Hey, if this makes the broader society safer, what's the big deal.  I have nothing up my ass to hide."

Right.

You see, Gerald, the problem is that as we continue to put political pressure on our judges, on our prosecutors and our police to over-react to every wrong in society, to achieve some impossible mythical world where no one, ever, commits a crime - what we do is increase the probability that innocent people will be abused by the system.

Because a Nanny-State created by Conservatives is not less oppressive and offensive than one created by Liberals.

Now.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm no fan of the criminal element.  I have a 9mm semi-automatic kept in my home and, if my family were put at risk of imminent harm, I would have no difficulty using it to protect them.

(He says, only partly in jest wondering if police will be knocking on my door tomorrow to assure that it is properly secured.)

When people commit offenses, we have a system that basically was working just fine until it became polluted with political pressure for police, prosecutors and judges to jump everytime some new political pressure group demanded it.

Crime has been going down.  Thus making us safer, and that safety has an added dividend because it saves us tax dollars in policing, in prosecuting, and in housing criminals in jails.

Problem is - as much as we abhored the gun registry and Ken Dryden's effort at taking over raising all of our children in a national daycare, well, almost the morning after the last federal election, Vic Toews and his friends began to work on a different version of the Nanny State where the strong hand of the state was sought to be put on our shoulder - in this case, however, it's on our right shoulder, not our left.

Feels kinda the same.

The bottom line is that the greatest benefits to the broader society occur in the context of a society which encourages freedom and liberty.

It's not perfect - freedom and liberty creates risk.  It creates risk that not everyone will have the same standard of living, in creates risk that not everyone will be able to have what they want, when they want it - but ultimately, the world has very clearly seen the failure of state-control to deliver that anyway. 

Something to think about.

In the clearest and most consistent example of a police-state in the western hemisphere, Cuba, the rate of murder committed by youths is 15th highest in the world, compared to Canada at 28th.  Our neighbor to the south, by the way, the United States, is 3rd.

Think about that.

A total police state - and 348 youth murders between 1990 and 1999.

Canada - where we "coddle" our criminals - a total of 143 in that same period.

Cuba's population?  About 11.3 million.  Canada's population - 34.1 million.  Three times as many people, less than half as many murders committed by youth.

That's what freedom creates.  Prosperity increases our standard of living and decreases crime.

The impact of an arbitrary and heavy-handed police state on murder rates - relatively negligeable in the face of the impact of the broader influences of society.

So.

Anyway.

The bottom line is that even in Canada we need to be vigilant and on guard against an over-reaching of the state into our lives.

No one should have to endure warrantless and groundless arrest and detention and strip search.

Well...

Except, maybe for Gerald.

Robo-Dialing.. the Theft of Democracy, and the Threat to Conservatism

Freedom..  built to last?

Be wary, fellow conservatives.

After years of toiling in the trenches, amid years and decades of Liberal destruction of Canada, now that Stephen Harper has achieved his elusive majority, Canada and Conservatives are at risk.

At risk of destruction by Conservatives ourselves.

Most conservatives, I believe, have an abiding faith in the concept of freedom - true freedom.

Not some co-opted Utopian vision of freedom where as long as you do everything the government tells you to do, we will all be happy - that is the liberal social-engineering model.

And a conservative - a TRUE conservative would never abide that, would they?

They wouldn't take away the power of a free and open judiciary and, instead, create a statist regime where all decisions are the stuff of statutory direction, would they?

They wouldn't suggest, for a moment, that the secret to a safe society is an empowered police state where privacy becomes a thing of the past, where police can arrest and spy on the citizenry at will, all in the name of some suggested "perfect society" where we are all safe - and if we aren't hiding anything, why worry?

That couldn't be considered a "conservative" agenda, could it?

Surely, after enduring a never-ending parade of Liberal social-engineering projects, in a noble, but ignorant and misguided effort at creating Canatopia we couldn't possibly be so ignorant as to embark upon the same misguided and ignorant effort as Conservatives, could we?

I fear we are.

And it's not, contrary to what Liberals would suggest, some "secret agenda" or devious effort to hurt society - it's for the exact same (some might say "noble") reasons that the Liberals introduced the Gun Registry and that Ontario introduced universal daycare.

To make things better.

To achieve their vision of utopia.

And - sadly - if we are not careful, and do not exhibit some modicum of hubris - we, as conservatives, will fall into the same trap.  Taking the reigns of government, and assuming that now having power, we ought to exercise it.

To make laws to make things better - by exerting greater control by the state over the individual.

But - and here's the thing of it - as Conservatives we should be ashamed. 

The Liberals never denied their goals, their philosophy - that by the study of social relationships, they believe they can modify human behavior through a combination of forced education and coercion to make society, well, "perfect".  So, then - for a Liberal to engage in social engineering is expected.

What to make of Conservatives doing the same thing?

And worse, this past week, what to make of people involved with the conservatives undertaking misleading phone-calling efforts to lie to electors hoping to achieve electoral victory through subterfuge and deceit.

As Conservatives, not only should we not seek to defend that apparent effort to undermine free democracy, we should root it out, and seek to make an example of the staffer - and if it comes to it - the MP or MP's who were aware of the effort.

Because no only does it undermine our party - it undermines free democracy.

We cannot allow the Conservative Party of Canada to creep into some ugly version of Nixon Republicanism where the "ends justify the means". 

If we are going to have regard to the American experience, I might suggest going back a little farther into the Republican family tree to Abraham Lincoln.  Imagine that - a Republican, a conservative, who fought for freedom and liberty of all people.

And who understood, intimately, that the enemy which ultimately posed a risk to western freedom did not come without - it came, potentially, from within.

As Lincoln stated in his Lyceum Address:

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

Our most fearsome enemy isn't Al Quaeda, it isn't some army of child pornographers, it isn't the drug cartels - it's US.  It is the misguided idea that freedom should be bartered away for safety.  That dirty political dealings, whether Conservative phone-dialing scams, or Liberal ad-scams, are justified to give us power to "do good".  That if we build enough jails and pass strong enough sentences, we'll be safer.  That if we just take away guns, there will be no more murder.  That if we allow the state to take care of our children, we will have no racism, no sexism, no hate.  That if we ban all drinking and driving there will be no traffic accidents causing injury and death.  That if we just pass enough laws and give the state enough control.. we'll be happier.

Pretty arrogant and pretty simple-minded.

Liberals can't help themselves.

But as Conservatives, we should know better.

Alberta: Lies, damn lies, and Statistics

For those of you who keep an open mind about whether or not your vote might change based upon the fundamental dishonesty of a government, let me share a few things.

As Mark Twain once said, 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'

I offer, for your consideration, what might fairly be described as all three kinds of lies coming from our Premier and her government.

Firstly - following the most recent budget unveiled by Alison Redford, she was proud to proclaim continued funding of most programs at absurd levels, including a healthy increase for teachers - but no tax increases.  As printed in the Edmonton Journal:

Tories spend big, but promise no tax hikes

An assortment of similar headlines were all over Alberta, suggesting that, yes, we are going to run a continuing deficit, but, hey, at least there's no hike in our taxes.

Now.

How they do that when, also announced, is a further $107 million being paid to teachers who are already the highest paid educators in North America is an interesting question, but certainly our Premier and her party wouldn't LIE to us about this, would they?

And just to help us digest and understand this, in the Alberta Education website, they explain, cheerfully, that our taxes for education have actually been dropping, and to support this, they point out that  this budget marks "the 18^th straight year that the education property tax mill rate has been lowered or frozen. In fact, since assuming responsibility for education property taxes, the province has cut residential education property tax rates by 64.7 per cent."

Well.

How about that, now?

Not only no new taxes, but in fact our taxes have gone down for education, including this past year, and have been frozen or dropped for 18 straight years.

Well.

Don't I have egg on my face for complaining over the Redford purchase of teacher votes to the tune of $107 million?

But wait...

How to understand these headlines then?

From the Lethbridge Herald, Feb. 22, 2012:

Tax Bills to Take  Hefty Jump

Contrary to provincial promises, Lethbridge homeowners are facing an unexpected tax hike.  The Conservative government's decision to boost its education levy means the city's "average" property tax bill could increase as much as $120 this year, city council learned Tuesday.

From the St. Albert Leader, Feb. 23, 2012:

Education tax jumps

According to figures released over the weekend, the education requisition increase for St. Albert in 2012 will jump by more than $2 million, or 9.54 per cent, over 2011.

 From the Edmonton Journal, Feb. 11, 2012:

Property tax increase could hit 7.2%Province wants extra $120 million from education tax

A jump in the amount Alberta takes from education property taxes means the levy on a typical Edmonton home could go up at the highest rate in three years.

From the Calgary Herald, Feb. 10, 2012:

Budget binds council's hands

Although the Redford government boasts about no tax increases or new levies in the budget, its take of education property taxes this year grows more sharply than at any time in the last two decades.

Alberta taxpayers will shell out $1.8 billion in education property taxes to the province, an increase of more than $107 million over the 2011 total.

From the City of Red Deer news release, Feb. 13, 2012:

Province Delivers the Largest Education Property Tax increase in 20 years 

The Alberta provincial education property tax revenue is forecast at $1.8 billion in 2012-13. The main source of education revenue is municipal property taxes. For 2012, there will be an increase of more than $107 million over the 2011 tax year – the largest increase The Province has made in 20 years.

 

You like apples?  How 'bout them apples.

Alison Redfrod and Ron Liepert proudly unveil the pre-election budget, proclaiming, "No new taxes", and after spending an additional $107 million on already pampered and spoiled teachers, they publish statistics on their Education Website that explain that our taxes are actually going down...

And yet, article after article explaining how home-owners are going to pay, yes, MORE taxes to help pay for the promises Alison Redford made to purchase her Premiership.

How to reconcile this apparent bald-faced lie?

Well, it goes like this.

You are, say, a senior citizen.

And you live in a modest little property in Alberta, a two bedroom bungalow for example.

And while you live on a fixed income, other expenses go up annually - but, thankfully, your mortgage is paid off, and you own your home.

Problem is, your house has gone up in value from, say, $75,000.00 ten or fifteen years ago, to some $200,000.00 today.  Same house.  Same water heater that needs to be replaced, and shingles that hopefully will hold out for another year or two.  But the house is worth more.

Here's the rub.

Alberta property taxes are based upon market value - not your income.

An application of mill-rate to home value.  A percentage based upon the "thousands of dollars" a home is worth.  So - to explain, Alberta education is proud to say, "We've dropped your mill rate from 2.93 to 2.7 percent."

In other words, if your home value is at a constant, and was worth, say $200,000.00, that would drop the education portion of your taxes from $586.00 to $540.00.  Sweet!

But here's the rub.

When your property goes from $75,000.00 in value to $200,000.00 - your "tax decrease" (as described by the Alberta government) goes from $219.75 to $540.00.

So.



Lies.

Damned lies.

And statistics.

Make sure to think about that at ballot time.

Sharing Oil Dollars?

Topic of the day.

If a product is denied export through another Province, or should another Province go to Copenhagen to complain about that product, because of environmental concerns, would it be appropriate to disentitle that Province to share in the tax and royalty dollars generated by that product?

Talk amongst yourselves...

Minister Toews.. Another Brick in the Wall?

Call me a nut.. but I thought the fall of the Berlin Wall was a good thing...

Well.

Apparently if you have reservations over bigger government having a free hand in poking into your privacy without the need for a warrant, you are "with the child pornographers", according to Vic Toews.

As most Canadians should be aware, we do not (yet) live in a police state where the police can tap your phone and intercept your mail without a warrant from the Courts.

The recent effort of our government would allow police broad discretion to inquire as to your online activity and to force internet service providers to disclose your personal information upon their request - all without oversight or warrant.

Just like the arbitrary detention of drivers was only to be used to stop impaired drivers.. err.. people not wearing seat belts, people smoking in their car with children, people eating cheese burgers while driving, changing stations on their radio.. etc...

Once the government obtains authority, the ability to expand that authority is not only much more possible, but much more likely.

Witness Alberta and British Columbia's efforts to make it an offense to "almost be impaired".

Of course the proposed bill will only be used for finding pedophiles. And, really, seeing as most children are abused by family members in their homes, why not just install cameras in all homes where children are living or cared for.


I mean, what have you got to hide?


Now.. lest I be labeled as some nansy-pansy liberal, I'm pretty conservative in my views.

I happen to think, and this is just my opinion, that the bringing down of the Berlin Wall was a good thing.

I'm one of those who has actually travelled to the Soviet Union before the Wall fell, and wasn't really all that impressed with the omnipresence and threat of the KGB.

But that's just me.

Oh.

And apparently another nansy-pansy liberal by the name of Ronald Reagan.

We're all aware of his famous demand of General Secretary Gorbachev to "tear down this wall", less well known are later comments in that same speech made from the Reichstag in Berlin, looking upon the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987:

"As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner, 'This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.' Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom."

But, perhaps freedom cannot withstand complacency.
Too many people have sacrificed themselves to provide us with the freedoms we enjoy in this Country.

Too many people have sacrificed themselves in the effort to bring down the wall of fascism abroad.

To blithely allow the state to chip away at our freedoms in the name of the so-called "common good" is not only misguided, it is, in fact, dangerous, and spits in the face of the millions who lost their lives in wars in the support of freedom.

So today, Mr. Toews, I stand with Ronald Reagan, I stand with the 45,400 Canadians who gave their lives in the cause of freedom in World War II, and I say:

Mr. Toews, you can stand with us or with the fascists.

Your call.

Alberta's New Budget: Don Getty Redux

Well.

Nice budget yesterday.

Premised on $99.00 per barrel oil, the new P.C. Budget promises another deficit.

And that's after increasing the education portion of your property taxes by almost 10%, by some $107 million... the largest bump since Don Getty was Premier. Remember Don Getty? Essentially incompetent, he sought to survive his tenure by massive spending that drove the province into the ground.

Well.

Here we go again.

Projecting oil $10 per barrel higher than last year's average and $50 per barrel higher than the average over the last decade, Alison Redford also plans on a 9% increase in the economy to pay for the latest bribe to the Alberta Teacher's Association.

Some are dubbing her "Alison in Wonderland".

As the rest Alberta gets ready to go down the rabbit hole.

**P.S. - from Alberta Ardvark's Blog:

"In 2009 The Sustainability Fund was worth 17 billion dollars and four years and four consecutive deficit PC budgets later it now sits at $3.7 billion. That is 13 billion dollars gone in less than 3 yrs to cover deficit spending by the PCs. "

No problems, right?

Alberta: Here Comes Another Deficit

Well.

The next budget being rendered by the Alberta government promises yet another deficit.

Think about that, just for a moment.

Average price of oil in 2011 was $87.04 per barrel.

The average price of oil between 2000 and 2010 was $47.93 per barrel.

Ignoring inflation, that means that the current price of oil is almost twice it's average price in the last decade. 

And yet.

We are preparing for the third straight deficit, which financial experts suggest will be in the area of $2 billion...  which might be reduced by cancelling capital projects (read refusing to maintain infrastructure).

Incredible.

The most fiscally blessed province in Canada, a government which a scant few years ago was swimming in fiscal surplus, has now run up four consecutive budget deficits.

And yet - we still are promising increases to teachers, to AISH, and others.

As our future savings are depleted by profligate spending, we are told, "Don't worry, we'll balance the budget later.."

Still, Albertans are poised to re-elect the same crew that has made all of this happen.  Presumably, the harsher pill offered up by the Wild Rose Alliance isn't yet palatable to the average Albertan.  Maybe a few more deficits and increased taxes will change their tune in due course.

There is no free lunch.

Every benefit has a cost. 

And the suggestion that we pass it on to "corporations" is extremely naive. 

Because corporations exist to create profit.  As expenses go up, corporations seek to offset that by reducing costs - either increasing prices to the consumer or reducing expenses (wages, benefits). And when those steps aren't successful, they reduce dividends - and that reduces the value of their shares, and that, my friend, reduces the value of your RRSP's. 

So - you can pay the tab now, or pay it later.. but my fellow Albertans, it will be paid.

Me?  I'm closing in on retirement.. so, selfishly, I suppose, we support Ms. Redford, look the other way at continued deficits, and let our children and their children worry about it.

Though one might just wonder how the culture of the entitled might react to a burgeoning retirement population creating a massive social service deficit, and then leaving the tab for the next generation to pay.

Might not be pretty.