Kyoto's Big Problem

American cynic Ambrose Bierce once described a Christian as "one who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin."

I think that description also fits for most people who say they are concerned about the environment --- they believe in environmentalism so long as it's not inconsistent with their lifestyles of fun.

That's why all the pro-Kyoto Accord scientists and politicians and media-types like to downplay the cold hard reality of fighting "climate change": the only way to truly reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to drastically reduce our standard of living.

And nobody really wants that to happen.

Just like developing countries such as China and India won't want to put their plans to improve their standard of living on hold for about 40 years too.

As a story put out by the Reason Foundation puts it, you can't fight poverty and carbon reduction at the same time.

Senate Liberals Go after NCC.

When the Liberals ran the House of Commons they passed an election gag law to stifle the National Citizens Coalition.

Now the Liberals in the Senate think we should register as lobbyists.

It's nice to see our Senators can take time out from taxpayer-funded junkets to Dubai to deal with "pressing" issues like this, but why must Liberals always seek to regulate citizens?

As a friend of mine put it, this latest assault on the NCC is "outrageous yet mundane."

Income Trust Idea

The National Citizens Coalition is urging Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to adjust his proposed Income Trust legislation.

Here's a news release the NCC sent out on Friday:

NCC: Allow Longer Phase In Period for Income Trust Changes

(November 10, 2006)The National Citizens Coalition says the Conservative government should change its proposed Income Trust legislation to allow for a longer phase in period.

“While we support the government’s attempts to fix potential long term problems in the Canadian economy, the proposed income trust changes will have a negative impact on the investment portfolios of seniors and other hard-working Canadians,” says NCC president Peter Coleman.

“That impact could be minimized by increasing the phase in period from four years to ten years, meaning no new taxation on existing income trusts until 2016.”

Coleman says such an increased phase in would not undermine what the government is trying to accomplish with its proposed income trust legislation in terms of preventing tax avoidance, but it would give income trust holders time to make appropriate financial adjustments.

“We hope Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will consider this recommendation before his scheduled November 23rd economic statement,” says Coleman.


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Toto Too?

The Wizard of Oz was on TV tonight.

Of course, it's one of those movies everybody, including me, has seen about a trillion times.

But here's one thing I didn't know: Toto the dog wrote an autobiography, I Toto: The Autobiography of Terry, the Dog who was Toto.

Writes Toto: "I don't mean this to sound full of myself but this Wizard of Oz story? It's all about me!!! I'M IN ALMOST EVERY SCENE IN THE PICTURE!!!"

How true.

I wonder if any of the flying monkeys wrote a book?

Box Score Bonanza

This is really cool.

Here's a site where you can find the box score plus the play by play for every major league game from 1957 until 2006!

OK so maybe you have to be a baseball nut to find it really cool.

But check this out, here's the box score of the very first game I ever saw in old Tigers Stadium on July 3, 1972. (Tigers got killed 15-3). Oh and here is the game where Nolan Ryan no-hit the Tigers in 1973.

I will probably waste a lot time with this.

Horror of Hillary

Maybe it's time to Stop Her Now.

Americans Want Smaller Government

Yesterday I posted part of a McLaughlin & Associates poll on the American mid-term election results.

Well, another part of the poll has even more interesting findings. Here's a press release the pollster just released which explains what I mean:

"It appears that the Republicans have lost their advantage on the philosophical issue of the size of government.

Among the people who voted in this past election, 59% favor a smaller government with fewer services, and only 28% favor a larger government with many services.

Among those who voted for a Republican for Congress, they favor smaller government by a 5-to-1 margin. However, the plurality of voters who voted Democratic also supports smaller government. In the past, these voters wouldn’t consider the Democratic Party an option.

Since the majority of voters voted Democrat and almost half of these Democratic voters prefer smaller government, it's crystal clear that the Republican party has lost their foundational message. They may have lost the middle, but it's a modest middle that wants smaller government.

The battleground for the 110th Congress will be among the independent and dissatisfied voters that had such an impact on the 2006 elections.

Majorities of independent voters (68%) and those who think the country is on the wrong track (52%) favor smaller government.

It will be up to the new Democratic leadership to show if they can back the centrist talk with centrist action. On the other hand, the Republican leadership must rediscover its core principles and remind voters which party will give them smaller government."

"In general, would you say you most favor a smaller government with fewer services, or a larger government with many services?"

(Percentages shown in the format "Smaller gov't / Larger gov't / Don't Know or Refused")

Total 59/28/13

Vote GOP 76/12/12

Vote Dem 45/40/14

Right Direction 72/16/12

Wrong Track 52/35/14

Republican 74/13/13

Democrat 41/45/14

Independent 68/20/12

So the lesson from this is clear: the Republicans alienated their own base. The Conservative Party in Canada should take heed.

Frum Had it Right

American author and former George Bush speech writer David Frum basically predicted last night's American election results last March in Montreal.

Check this old posting to see what I mean.

Survey: Why GOP Lost in '06, Who Could Win in '08

The American polling firm McLaughlin and Associates has released some striking numbers gleaned from U.S. midterm election night.

"The American people voted not to create change in Washington", says the pollster, "but to vent their frustration with a Republican leadership that has let them down. Key segments of the Republican coalition that has dominated for the past 6 years have left the party in 2006. Among our results":

-- Giuliani, McCain, Clinton, Obama lead in their parties 2008 primaries.

-- Both Giuliani & McCain beat Clinton in 2008 general match-ups.

-- Independents are more likely to vote like Democrats this year.

-- Congressional Republicans lost among moderates, rural voters and Evangelical men.

-- Congressional Republicans barely won churchgoers, tied in the suburbs.

-- Women are more likely to vote Republican than men.

-- Republicans had momentum in the final weeks, as they won among voters who make decisions in the last two weeks and on Election Day.

-- George W. Bush, Reid, Pelosi all have net-negative opinion ratings.

PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTION TEST BALLOTS:

In a hypothetical 2008 Republican presidential primary, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani led the potential field, with Condoleezza Rice, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich filling out second and third tiers.

In the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton dominated all others by 12 points, followed by Barack Obama, Al Gore, John Kerry and John Edwards.

When Independents are added to the primary electorate, however, Clinton's lead over Obama is cut to only 6 points.

GOP Primary: John McCain 26%Rudy Giuliani 22%Condoleezza Rice 12%Mitt Romney 4%Newt Gingrich 4%

Dem Primary:Hillary Clinton 27%Barack Obama 21%Al Gore 9%John Kerry 8%John Edwards 7%

The two leading Republican presidential contenders have decisive leads over Hillary Clinton.

In these match-ups, John McCain does better among moderates than Rudy Giuliani.

John McCain 51%Hillary Clinton 35%Undecided 13% Rudy Giuliani 51%Hillary Clinton 37%Undecided 12%

For more detailed information and breakdowns from this interesting survey go here.

Me on TV

I am appearing tonight as part of a panel on the TV show @issue which airs on the Ichannel at 8:00 PM.

Be sure to tune in as the topic discussed is: "Why the State Inflates".

And yes I know the show is on opposite America's Next Top Model, but surely watching me discuss the evils of big government is more enticing then watching a bunch of beautiful models in skimpy outfits.

Democratic Dilemma

Well the dust has settled in the U.S. election and the Democrats are victorious.

No doubt this is a time of great joy for the Michael Moores and the Dixie Chicks of the world.

And I hope they do enjoy themselves over the next few days because I reckon their happiness will soon be replaced by frustration at least when it comes to how to fight the "War on Terror".

Frustration because there is no way in the world the Democratic controlled legislatures will do much to reverse President George Bush's policies, policies which the left hate.

The Democrats won't vote to open the gates of Guantánamo Bay detainment camp, they won't undo Bush's laws on secret surveillance ; they won't call for a softer stance with Iran or North Korea.

After all, the Democrats are not suicidal.

They realize that even though Americans might be getting fed up with the war in Iraq, they stil place a high premium on national security.

Simply put if the Democrats look as though they are pandering to America's enemies or putting Americans at risk through lax security, well then the Republicans will be back into power faster than you can say Newt Gingrich.

David Frum makes this point in an excellent article in today's National Post (which I can't find on their site) and goes further to suggest the crafty Republicans will put the Democrats on the spot time and time again on this issue.

Writes Frum: "Much of the energy and cunning of the Republican party over the next two years will be devoted to thrusting on the Democrats decisions and votes intended to split the more hawkish class of 2006 away from the more traditional liberals in the safe blue-states."

In other words, politics in the U.S. is about to get a lot more interesting.

For more analysis of last night's election check here and here and here.

Lessons from America

Left-wingers on both sides of the border are licking their chops in glee as they anticipate a Republican slaughter in tonight's American mid-term elections.

Here in Canada, the left also sees the impending Republican wipe out as a possibe harbinger of what will happen in the next Canadian federal election.

Michael Byers, for instance, has a piece in today's Toronto Star suggesting tonight's election will sound a death knell for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's own "neo-con" agenda.

Writes Byers:

Here in Canada, Harper, nostalgic for the past successes of Ronald Reagan and Bush, is still looking backwards. Today, as he glances south, will he see the early signs of his own political rip tide?

Or will ideology prevail over good sense, prompting our neo-conservative Prime Minister to maintain his grip on a failed president, whose only escape from a hostile Congress lies in his constitutionally unfettered capacity to use armed force abroad?

Sounds pretty serious, doesn't it?

Using Byer's logic, Harper's only hope would be to sign an anti-U.S. miltary pact with North Korea, endorse a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, call for the destruction of Israel and implement a environmental policy that would ban the internal combustion engine.

Oh wait, those are NDP policies.

So maybe Harper should try to do something else to avoid the mistakes of the GOP. And one of their mistakes is they didn't govern like true conservatives.

Did the Republicans work to cut back spending? Did they make cutting taxes a major priority? Did they reduce the size and scope of government?

Nope.

By governing like Democrats when it comes to fiscal domestic policies the Republicans have essentially made the unpopular war in Iraq the key issue in 2006.

That's the lesson for Harper. To win the next election, he has to push a truly conservative vision for Canada, one that will distinguish his party from the increasingly left-wing Liberal party and the socialist NDP/Bloc Quebecois.

Update:

Here's a good analysis of what went wrong for the Republicans.

H/T Adam Daifallah

Income Mistrust III

Lorne Gunter makes an excellent point about the Income Trust Issue. (Sorry it’s behind a subscription wall).

Essentially, Gunter makes the point that raising the tax on trusts was not the government’s only option.

“Equity could have been achieved,” writes Gunter, “by lowering the taxes on corporations rather than raising the taxes on trusts . . . rather than slashing billions from the value of trusts, it would have added billions to the value of corporations.”

Makes sense to me.

In fact, it made sense to Stephen Harper before he became Prime Minister.

Here’s what he wrote in a National Post op-ed on October 5, 2005, when the Liberals were thinking about taxing income trusts:

“The government claims that income trusts enjoy an unfair tax advantage over corporate dividends. If they believe this, then the answer is not to shut down a valuable investment vehicle, but to cut the double taxation of dividends. In short, level the playing field and let the market decide between income trusts and dividend-paying companies.”

Anyway, the Conservatives will now have to bear the consequences of their actions.

And among those consequences are blogs like this one.

Hail to the Chef

Here's a story from today's news that caused me to lose my appetite:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has flown his chef to Egypt to "share recipes" and discuss culinary protocol with the chief cooks of 16 other national leaders at a meeting of what has been called "the most exclusive gastronomic club in the world.

"The precedent has been for the last 10 years that the prime ministers have sent their chefs," said a spokesperson with the Prime Minister's Office. It is a form of "professional development," the spokesperson added.

I think the Prime Minister's PR department is in need of some professional development too.

(Thanks to Steve and Marnee)

Kyoto Komix

This cartoon is clipped from a federal government propaganda piece called Superkids.

Note the scare tactics employed. If we don't stop "wasting" oil there won't be enough left to drive a car in ten years.

Well, here's the kicker. This particular Superkids comic was published way back in 1976! Now, I'm no math genius but by my calculation that means we must have run out of gas in 1986.

So much for government predictions.

Makes you wonder what all those doom and gloom predictions about global warming will look like 30 years from now.

H/T Janet Neilson

Income Mistrust II

OK, I am sure there are lots of reasons why it made fiscal sense for the Conservative government to break its promise not to tax income trusts.

So why is Finance Minister Jim Flaherty justifying the government's move with weak left wing arguments that could have come straight out of the NDP or Liberal playbook?

Here's a couple Flaherty quotes to illustrate my point:

* "After all, someone has to pay the taxes for health care and education, all the good things we love as Canadians."

* "If corporations don't pay their fair share of taxes, this tax burden will shift ... This is simply not fair.''

Huh? I thought the Tories were about making taxes lower not fairer.

Sure the editorial board of the Toronto Star might applaud this approach, but when election day comes around they sure as heck won't be voting Tory.

A Brief History of the Universe

Have you ever wondered about the 10th dimension?

No me neither.

In fact, I thought it only went up to the Fifth Dimension.

But check out this cool site, which tries to explain the wonky concepts of quantum physics. (Click the link "Imagining the 10th dimension" on the left hand side of the screen.)

Full confession: I got completely lost after the ant and the newspaper analogy.

Kerry's Gaffe

One of the reasons Senator John Kerry's gaffe, where he seemed to suggest American soldiers in Iraq were uneducated rubes, is that it reminds voters of something, the Democrats would like to keep under the rug: left-wingers generally hold the military in disdain.

It's like that here in Canada too.

Recall during the last federal election those anti-military TV ads the Liberals put together "Soldiers in our streets . . . Soldiers with guns!"

And just as those ads ended up hurting the Liberals, Kerry's idiotic "joke" will end up hurting the Democrats.

But it probably won't be enough to head off what seems to be an impending Republican Götterdämmerung.

Income Mistrusts

Well we are about find out how good the Tories are when it comes to communicating their policies.

Because after their decision to tax income trusts, the Conservatives are going to need all the communicating skills they can muster.

The Liberals, of course, will have a field day accusing the Conservatives of breaking a key election promise and of flip-flopping on an issue that’s extremely important to seniors and Bay Street companies.

The challenge for the Tories will go beyond just convincing voters their change of heart makes fiscal sense, they will also have to work hard to explain why they changed their minds.

It’s what you might call the Dalton McGuinty Syndrome.

Kids and Work

My 14 year old son is at work with me today.

That’s because today is Take Our Kids to Work™ day, a national program which allows “students to job shadow a parent, relative or volunteer host and to experience first hand some of the career options that will be available to them.”

“Job shadow” of course really means your poor kid will be bored out of his skull sitting in some empty boardroom folding company reports into paper airplanes.

As far as I can tell the only benefit of this program is that it will give high school teachers a day off.

Now if you will excuse me I have to go teach my son some valuable workplace lessons – such as how to write cynical blog entries.