PROGRESS

Obama stickhandled his health care plan through the US House of Representatives today. Despite some vicious, blatant scare-mongering from the far right and corporate special interests, it appears 32 million more Americans will have access to health care that only the rich have taken for granted.
Although the rhetoric about 'government take-over of the health industry' is pure balderdash, the concerns that it may be unaffordable -- considering the sway and power the military interests hold over the national treasury -- is still to be answered.
The media for the most part has covered both sides of the argument with some semblance of balance (FoxNews being the biggest and expected exception). The opponents to Obama's plan have used every level of scurrilous attack possible to pressure and frighten both the general public and the politicians on the hot seat.
Perhaps one of the other reasons the tea partiers have dug deep and dirty is that their braintrust knows its history. The last time a US President undertook a radical, innovative government aid program during a time of economic turmoil, the success and connection with the American voter was enough to lock up the White House for the Democrats for 20 years.
I'm not saying that the health care plan is 2010's version of the New Deal, but certainly some on the right are worried about that. Not only have they not wrestled with their own guilt over the Bush-Cheney mess that was left, both nationally and internationally, they aren't interested in creating new and innovative programs to solve the problems that Americans are facing today. Not when scare tactics work so much cheaper.
Oh, and raspberry to our own CON movement -- remember Stephen Harper's non-committal non-support of Canada's health care system when Republicans tried to use it to paint national health care as a socialist boogieman? Well, at least one CON leader stood up for it, but it wasn't Harper. Was it because in Harper's mind he'd rather side with the tea-baggers?
Again, more proof that the CON man is not a leader.

OBVIOUS OBSERVATION...

Stephen Harper and his CON game wasn't interested in the altruistic spreading of joy after all.

A post-campaign evaluation of the publicity for the tax credit – mandatory for government advertising worth more than $1 million – submitted to the Canada Revenue Agency last December suggests creating positive feelings about the government was one of the goals.

Apparently, the Canada's Action Plan ad campaign was all about making the government look good. Shock. No wonder Canada's fiscal record has hit the skids since Harper took office.
Stephen Harper's government? Only in it for themselves...

FLUSH WITH CASH...

Good thing Canada's fiscal bottom line is tickety-boo.
That means we can afford to waive registration fees, lavish corporate-style increases for our so-called leader, and send mini-ministers on short trips on jets, for say coffee and a timbit.
Nope, I guess the CON team of Stephen Harper is really glad that the previous government left a surplus to splurge with. Otherwise we'd likely have to resort to raising payroll taxes, play 'Boo!' on income trusters, and invent new fees that apply just to the peon classes -- now just to get that government-issue tequila airlifted...

REASON #312...

...why Stephen Harper has to go.
This is no laughing matter, so Ritz has been gagged. It isn't sexy, either, so Raitt has been shushed.
And I think Leona Aglukkaq will make sure there are no premature body bag shipments.
Of course, all but the tinfoil CONbot brigade will recognize a trend here.
But let's try to hope that behind closed doors CON ministers aren't treating this issue with the same cavalier, self-preservation-first motives that were exposed in past health care issues.
Perhaps in between cabinet ministers' airport rage and Supreme Waffler's post-prorogation habit of daily redux platter of flip-flops, the Canadian government can man-up and put together a real plan, other than handing it over to private, profit-oriented industry to take care of the people?

FISCAL FIXERS...

After cutting imaginary jobs with imaginary salaries, the CON's magic budget balancing high-wire act is off to weed out the $1,000 plants and doorbells from the government purchase lists.
Creating a balanced budget won't be the 'sleight of hand' work that constructing a deficit out of a $13-billion surplus was (pre-economic downturn), but be patient. No doubt with the increase in advertising, personal private (ie. none of your beeswax!) Harper matters and long, private air travel to Tim Hortons in a neighbourhood near you -- and far enough away from Parliament to enlist an expense account -- we'll begin to see progress on this file sometime when Stockwell and Stephen grab their brass pension rings.

FLAHERTY'S FAUX DIET...

This week's CON budget showed little signs of a 'recalibration' or 'austerity plan'.
In fact, the thin morsels that flim-flam finance man Jimbo Flaherty painted had all the magic of Avatar by crayola.
Harper's team plans to freeze MPs' salaries at the current level -- oh, that's tough stuff. He's already wearing the most bloated, lethargic cabinet in modern history. I guess perhaps they mean to cut back on Australian speechwriters, or limit focus groups to just one box of timbits. Naturally, partisan advertisement, including the blarney, hatchet-job 10 percenters will continue to fly off the presses, with an increase of $5 million from Jack and Jill Taxpayer; but don't worry, Harper may just off-load the printing work to the U.S., as he did with the 'Economic Action Plan' signage, or maybe a German-U.S. project like Canada's pup-tent Olympic pavilion.
But what's it all mean when Flaherty, to mouth the words 'tough' and 'fiscally responsible' before the cameras, uses the government's Challenger jet -- estimated to cost $9,000 from Ottawa to London Ont. -- to fly for his dollop of photo ops?
Even CON friends from the morose Fraser Institute couldn't help but see the sham in the numbers.