Recent economic forecasts are a little unsettling.If we had a fiscally conservative government, I might feel a little more comfortable with their handling of the recent economic crisis.
But we don't.
They are Neo-Conservatives and that's a whole different ballgame. In fact, our massive deficit and enormous debt is a good thing to them. There's no way in hell they're going to do anything to reverse that.
So instead of making decisions that will strengthen our economy and create jobs, the current situation will simply be exploited to further their agenda of dismantling the country.
As disciples of Leo Strauss, the lower class can fend for themselves. They believe that if you're poor you are genetically predestined to be, or just lazy. Don't expect any help from neo-Cons. You're the enemy, and they'll just crush you with their heel.
I don't know if many of our country's top economists realize the difference. I'm sure they do but are reluctant to say so.
Eugene Lang, a former senior economist at Finance Canada, and Philip DeMont, an economist, veteran financial journalist and former Ontario government adviser, are co-authors of the book Turning Point: Moving Beyond Neoconservatism; and they know the difference.
In a piece written for the Toronto Star, entitled Big-spender Harper true to his neoconservative roots, they outlined clearly the Harper/Flaherty agenda.
The Harper government has ... remained very true to its ideology. But that ideology is not "conservative." Rather, it is "neoconservative," and this makes a big difference on the question of deficits and fiscal policy. For neoconservatives – the denomination that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s – balanced budgets are not a first-order priority. The overriding objective is to cut taxes; balancing the books comes a distant second or even third on the to-do list. Most neoconservative governments have never gotten around to balancing the budget."
And:
" If we view the Harper government through a neoconservative lens – where tax-cutting and reducing government fiscal capacity are the paramount objectives – then the Harperites are operating in a manner entirely consistent with neoconservative economic philosophy, not to mention the track records of their forerunners in other jurisdictions.
So don't be fooled. There is nothing "liberal" about the Harper government's fiscal and economic policy. They remain true to their ideological roots, and can walk proudly in the footsteps of trailblazers like Ronald Reagan."
Remember when the economic crisis first hit? Harper downplayed it, then dismissed it. Flaherty's first budget, post crisis; had nothing in it to fight the recession, but instead was just partisan homicide. It backfired and they shut down Parliament rather than deal with it. Fortunately the Bank of Canada dropped interest rates to help with the crisis, while Jim Flaherty went skiing.
Now on to Plan B: Spend, spend, spend. See how big they can get the deficit, then drop the hatchet.
This way, they can justify their original plans to cut social programs, and have a little fun doing it. And of course, use up as many taxpayer dollars as possible for Reform-Conservative advertising. This was like Christmas come early.
It's now a year later, and the Reformers continue to exploit the economic crisis, even suggesting that's why they closed down Parliament so they can focus on stage 2. I better not see any of them hanging out at the Olympics when they're supposed to be doing their homework.
Some notes on the newest predictions.
Recession is over, but the future is still grim: experts
The great recession of the decade is behind us now, according to top Canadian economists. But Canadians are being warned there's little relief ahead. A report put out by TD Economics on Dec. 17 predicts the world economy will expand by about 4 per cent by the end of 2010 ....
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