The conservative campaign team has done an incredible job of making their party leader and party platform as boring and non-confrontational as possible. I’m exteremely bewildered to see the types of swings that I’ve witnessed throughout this campaign so far.
In 2000, George W Bush ran a campaign that was boring and pretty short on details as well. He convinced the American public that he was pretty much the same as Al Gore, but with a shorter stick stuck up his-ass. Everyone knows how that turned out.
The point of a campaign team is to convince the public to vote for you at all costs. It’s not to educate the public about party platform so that they can make an informed decision. In fact, this recent campaign has been mostly about the conservative team making grandiose annoucements that have very little significance in the grand scheme of things, just so that they can hide the real details about what the party actually stands for.
The reform/alliance neo-con platform is, and always has been to weaken/shrink the federal government, transfer power to the provinces, and equalize taxes so that the poorest members pay proportionally more than the rich (all under the pretense of ‘stimulating economic growth’). This same platform believes that national programs such as healthcare, daycare, pharmacare, or regulations to protect the poor, powerless, and disenfranchised are worthless national goals. This platform is in stark contrast to the Liberal Treadeau Charter of Rights and the NDP Tommy Douglas healtcare system. Thus the conservatives are ABSOLUTELY NOT to be confused with an alternative to the liberals, despite what you think you may have learned by watching the news for the past few weeks.
A campaign is all about marketing and spin. It does not represent truth. When people are complacent and fail to really seek out the truth, the result is chaos. The result is George Bush, the war, the environmental destruction, the growing poverty, the growing numbers of disenrfanchised, increased social tensions, increased crime, rising deficits, an economy that is spirallling out of control.
Despite what many people think about the conservatives having a decent financial plan, it’s JUST NOT TRUE. It’s not supported by economists and it’s not supported by history. Cutting taxes without cutting spending causes deficits. Deficits cause a reduction in confidence in the country, and causes a consequent slowing of growth. Transferring payments to the rich (whether it be by increasing the lowest tax rate from 15% to 16% or cutting the GST) causes money to be transferred from people who will SPEND it to people who will SAVE it. This again slows down the economy. It’s absolutely no coincidence that the US over the last 6 years have had a stagnant economy, record deficits, and have generally been the laughing stock of the financial world – even while they had record low interest rates. All this while the Canadian economy has been chugging right along.
Anyway – Tim’s here – must cut this post short.
Moral: Conservatives are not an alternative to the liberals. Voting conservative is not punishing the liberals. Voting conservative is punishing yourself and punishing your children.
Oh Maneesh. You are such a drama queen. Voting conservative is not a punishment towards oneself or a disregard for future Canadian generations. The truth of the matter is that the Liberals took advantage of Canadian trust through corruption. This action alone speaks volumes and regardless of all other positives that the Liberals have accomplished, it cannot be ignored. The question now becomes, should Canadians vote for political platforms or vote as a reaction to uphold Canadian governmental integrity?Having said that, you\’ve also demonized the Conservative platform. Stating simplistically that there exists a Conservative belief that national healthcare, daycare, pharmacare, etc are worthless national goals is fairly naive. If you have been following the Conservative election campaign, their platform is very similar to the Liberals, and even surprisingly similar to the NDP as well… To be honest, there is very little variance between the right and the left here in Canada.We could attack the issues one by one, but I think you are confusing the Conservative Party with the Republicans in the US. Keep in mind, the Conservatives are right-wing… within Canada… they still believe and strive to achieve the very things Canadians believe. Sure there may be a few social issues thrown in there to mix it up, but the goal is fundamentally the same.Your understanding of the economic implications of Harper\’s tax proposal is also incorrect. The elimination of the GST encourages spending and consumption – and moves Canadians away from saving and investing. This move, in conjunction with higher interest rates, would have almost the same effect in the long-term development of Canada\’s economy. The short-term economic growth would be phenomenal. I am voting Liberal by the way, but the Conservatives have definitely impressed me with a few campaign promises… it\’s just that the Liberals have matched them, and have offered even more.Moral: Vote Liberal.