Should we be concerned?
Yes. If TP themes - tax cuts and mistrust of government - become the order of the day, we should order a new day.
MacLeod even mentions Joe Fontana of Deforest City in his news article (“Fontana has even promised a four-year tax freeze”), so TP themes are resonating in our own neck of the woods.
Though things are worse in the US, where Sarah Palin (among others) is known for rallying conservatives and Tea party followers and kayaking her way to fame and fortune (and a presidential run in 2012?) in a new TV reality show, a recent survey suggested “about 19% of (Canadian) voters would join a Canadian Tea Party.”
["With the right bait I can catch a big fish"]
Not for the tea. For the tax cuts. To hang out with others who mistrust government in a big way.
Why all this mistrust?
In an earlier post I suggested some ideas.
For example:
Some politicians will embrace TP themes because the tax cut/mistrust message is an easy sell to people who are experiencing financial difficulties and who have heard about growing debt - everywhere - on a regular basis.
Some governments have brought mistrust upon themselves. Government wrongdoing (real and perceived, e.g., via bailouts to banks and industries) has propelled thousands of people into the streets in protest in various European nations recently.
Perhaps confidence in political, economic and financial scenes is weakening in Canada (and mistrust is growing) because of high unemployment numbers, the loss of good full-time jobs and growth in lower paying part-time jobs and the export of jobs to China and India.
The media has had a hand in fanning the fire under TP themes as well.
For example, last summer we couldn’t open a paper without reading about federal government waste related to expenditures.
The number we all read about, however ($540 million annually), was way off the mark because it included legitimate salaries, office expenses and travel costs.
Still, we read about “540 million bucks” at every turn, how it was wasted, how we must trim the fat. That’s like me telling you that every expense you incur related to your daily life is a big waste, whether the expense relates to groceries, clothes, health care, getting to work, paying the mortgage, keeping the lights on, furnace lit, etc.
In 5 seconds or less you’d call me a maroon.
But thanks to the media, more and more people began to pick up “government waste” as a shield and proclaim that the government should clean up its own house before ever asking citizens to pay tax or offer up trust.
“Government waste” is a very flimsy shield.
Even if the federal government could reduce expenses by 10 per cent, i.e., $54 million, the savings would be next-to-invisible when compared to our deficit this year, i.e., $55.6 billion. My gosh, the deficit wins by a factor of 1,000.
Government savings would be entirely invisible compared to Canada’s national debt, i.e., $550 billion (it will pass $600 billion next year). The debt - at present - wins by a factor of 10,000.
In other words, if 10 per cent savings could be achieved and it was applied to the national debt, we would be debt free in the year 12,010, that's 10,000 years in the future.
Somebody pop a balloon for me before turning out the lights.
TP themes are here, more are likely coming, but few are reasonable.
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More to follow.
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