Headlines You Are Unlikely To Read After Steve Finishes With StatsCan

Crime down last year, continues 10-year trend. The refrain from Conservatives will be "We don't believe it. Show us the statistics. Oh wait, ha, ha, ha."

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Famous Last Words

Wrong Way Peter MacKay, yesterday:

So what happens if the sole engine in the new F-35 Lightning fails?

“It won’t,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay insisted on Friday. It was a bold prediction and one he will be remembered for making.

Two things. First, we won't take delivery of these fighters for several years and Petey may be safely back in the private sector, sucking at the teat of the very defense contractors he is shilling for today by that time. So, it is easy for him to breezily predict perfection in his single engine plane. Second, this plane is being built by the same folks who brought you the F-104 Starfighter. You will note that Canada bought that single engine plane also and we lost a lot of them. Pardon me if I seem a little skeptical about Petey's prediction.

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Stephen Harper's Governing Philosophy

In one sentence: Since Canadians insist on paying their taxes, we must spend the money as wastefully and thoughtlessly as possible until such time as we can convince them that taxes should be abolished.

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What Krugman Said. Part One Billion

From today's column:

But the real news here is the confirmation that Republicans remain committed to deep voodoo, the claim that cutting taxes actually increases revenues.

It’s not true, of course. Ronald Reagan said that his tax cuts would reduce deficits, then presided over a near-tripling of federal debt. When Bill Clinton raised taxes on top incomes, conservatives predicted economic disaster; what actually followed was an economic boom and a remarkable swing from budget deficit to surplus. Then the Bush tax cuts came along, helping turn that surplus into a persistent deficit, even before the crash.

But we’re talking about voodoo economics here, so perhaps it’s not surprising that belief in the magical powers of tax cuts is a zombie doctrine: no matter how many times you kill it with facts, it just keeps coming back. And despite repeated failure in practice, it is, more than ever, the official view of the G.O.P.

Our Conservative government is possessed by the same voodoo fever. I suspect that our finances will be in the same shape as the U.S., if the Conservatives are given enough time.

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Census "Mystery" Solved

There really is no mystery about why the Tories are scrapping the mandatory long form census. Like everything else Harper does, this is about appealing to the looniest members of his base. In this case, Harper is appeasing the black helicopters wing of the party. You know them, they are the same people who believe that long gun registration is the first step toward confiscation. Once you see the issue from that perspective, the Harperites' refusal to review this decision, in spite of overwhelming opposition, is easy to understand.

Update: I just watchec Power and Politics and they speculated that the census also generates data useful to groups asking for government programmes. The thinking is the government wants to turn to these groups and say "Prove it and pay for the study yourself" (unless the group in question are farmers. They will still have government paid for data. The Tories would never alienate the farm wing of their base. Hell, that is most of the base.).

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Fighter Jet Announcement

What we are likely to hear today: "Blah, blah, blah, support the troops. Blah, blah, blah, Liberal and NDP traitors. Blah, blah, blah, 16 billion is a small price to pay to support the troops. Blah, blah blah, we will find the money without raising taxes. Blah, blah, blah, we believe in fiscal restraint. Blah blah, blah, cut wages and pensions in the public service. Blah, blah, blah, farmers needn't worry, agricultural subsidies are safe. Blah, blah blah, however, city infrastructure will have to wait because we all support the troops."

You're welcome.

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Our Modern Media At Work

When dealing with the NDP over the inclusion of the government's former lawyer on the panel of "arbiters" the media must:

1. Treat the NDP member like the representative of the school A/V Club crashing the athletic banquet.

2. Dismiss any possible perceived conflict of interest in appointing a lawyer who until last month was working solely for the government, as impudence.

3. In short, treat the whole affair as yet another he said/he said moment, that has become the mother's milk of Canadian journalism.

It must make the PMO proud as punch to have such a well trained group of monkeys working in the Ottawa press corps.

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