Sunday, November 30, 2008

Back to School Time for Tories

After listening to the Harper Government, it's representatives and supporters the only thing I can suggest is that they all go back to school. Things like simple math, logic problems and civics all seem to be lost on them.

Harper claims that Dion does not have the right to form a government without an election but, under a parliamentary system, he most certainly does - if he can put together a coalition of other parties strong enough to outvote the minority Conservatives.

Harper's supporters claim that this is a (I kid you not) 'coup d'etat' , demonstrating that they don't know what that means. A coup is a military overthrow of the government.

The same supporters claim that the will of the Canadian people is being subverted but only 37% voted for Harper. That means that 63% voted for other parties. If, in a minority situation, the government is so bad at compromise that they can't appease any of the other parties, those parties (representing 63% of the electorate) may band together and put forward a more democratically popular agenda.

Harper and his supporters claim that they are being forced to subsidize parties they don't like, but under the current system a party gets $1.95 for each vote they get. So each person is subsidizing the party they vote for and only the party they vote for. This insures that the popular support of the electorate is more important than the support of interest groups, large corporations and the very wealthy. Apparently this doesn't sit will with Conservatives.

Mr. Flaherty claims that the government is running a balanced budget, but in order to achieve that they have to sell 10 billion dollars worth of government assets. The government paid small fortunes for those assets and would be selling into a seriously depressed market. Does buy high sell low sound like good economics? Also remember that when Mr. Flaherty was working for Mike Harris the incoming McGuinty government was told that the books were in balance, only to find on taking office that they were several billion dollars in the hole. Sadly the Conservative finance minister doesn't even seem to have basic math skills.

It is time for conservative supporters, their party and their representatives to take a break from politics until they get a firm grasp on basic math, civics, parliamentary government and democracy.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great article, all very true. Did you catch the clip of Ed Broadbent talking with reporters? He got a little frustrated with questions about an "un-elected and un-democratic" coalition and flatly pointed out that in many countries around the world Harper and the Conservatives would be in opposition. It is indeed time for Tories to go back to school! Time to learn about our current system and maybe a few new ones.

Dwight Williams said...

URL for the Broadbent clip, please?

Anonymous said...

I saw it on CPAC. It dosen't seem to be online. If anyone finds it, let me know.

Anonymous said...

only Harper supporters?? I know and have seen hundreds of comments from Lib, NDP, and BLOC supporters who are just as outraged with this. Get a grip and stop talking like you know what people who did not vote for Harper wanted! I for one am Liberal, up until this point anyway, and like a shit load of other Liberals I am just as outraged as Harper supporters!

Justin Beach said...

Nice try Anonymous, you're a harper supporter trying to sound like an outraged Liberal.

Dwight Williams said...

Craig: I'll try to track it down later, then.

Justin: Seeing the claims of some people who voted for Everyone But Harper to be outraged by this turn of events...well, it's surprised me. Floored me. I should honestly be surprised, though, that there would not be a few such voters.

Maybe I'm gullible. I don't yet know.

Anonymous said...

Wow I love how you seem to believe you know what is best for the people. I love how you seem to think that only the tories are idiots though you plant to let these Bleeding-heart, seperatist, unrealists solve our economic problems though they shun the center of the economy; big business. So have fun being an arrogant prick Her Commandant Adolf

Justin Beach said...

I barely have to respond to that. You need to get back to school in a hurry. I lay out a bunch of inaccuracies in Conservative logic and you come back with "You're like Hitler, trying to make us know math and the constitution and stuff." Go quickly, find a book (ask a librarian, they can show you what a book looks like)