Running out of other People's Money

Margaret Thatcher once famously quipped that the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money to spend.

Greece is in the middle of proving that the people who support the socialist ideal will turn on the government they created as soon as that eventuality comes to fruition.

Robber mentality.

I truly wish more people could see the health care issue this way.

In a related note as was pointed out to me by Mike Davidson on FB, Danny Williams decision to go to Florida in spite of his support for the Canada health act is no more (or less) hypocritical than the robber who locks his own door when he goes out to rob other peoples houses.

The Second Tier

Danny Williams proves what those of us who are paying attention already know. There are two tiers of health care in Canada already.

The first tier is the majority that can only afford to pay 40% of their taxes to Canada's bloated health care mafia and accept the service that provides them. The second tier are those who can afford to do that, and escape the mediocre service of nationalized health care and pay for the best healthcare that money can buy... elsewhere.

I don't begrudge Danny getting the best for him, that's rational. However I'd like to remind everyone that in the future when Danny boy comes out in favor of the Canada health act he is being nothing short of hypocritical.

And We Call it Aid...

*

"Unfortunately, the Europeans' devastating urge to do good can no longer be countered with reason."

The concept is simple, allow the people of Africa to solve their own problems and they will be better off, and will be able to stay better off.

Imagine if you will that suddenly the average Canadian couldn't afford to buy a house so another country decided that they were going to donate as many fully constructed homes to Canada as possible. Think about the repercussions that would have. The Canadian builders couldn't hope to compete with free houses so they would go out of business, which would push construction workers out of work, which would mean less building supplies were needed, which would lead to layoffs in those industries. Markets are all interconnected and all these layoffs would lead to people having less money to build and buy houses which would exacerbate the original problem, not solve it.

Notice in this map that South Africa entirely surrounds the tiny country of Lesotho. Aid is supposed to go to countries suffering from drought or other such serious disasters right? Well, how is it that the entire area surrounding Lesotho requires less than 1% Aid and that country needs between 5 and 10%?

A true plan to revive the economy

Stockwell Day is now Canada's Treasury Minister, and will have to make cuts to government spending amounting to about 8% to reduce spending by $19 billion over the next five years. To make this palatable to voters and the opposition parties, transfer payments are to be considered "untouchable". There is a lot of fat in terms of programs which are either not delivering what is promised, have outlived their usefulness or are mismanaged and can be reorganized to run more efficiently. Consider that large corporations like Canadian Tire or Wal-Mart typically only have five layers of management, while government departments have convoluted structures with multiple layers of management (reputedly as many as 30, but I'll leave that as anecdotal until I see proof)

I think the emphasis on protecting transfers is wrong headed, but that is because I don't see the idea of the State seizing wealth and property from the productive to give to political rent seekers and the non productive as being a proper role for the State.

However, given political reality, cutting transfers to individuals would be electoral suicide, so about $61 billion is untouchable.

We can still look at other areas like transfers to governments (especially governments with their own sources of revenue like offshore oil or hydro), which gives us another $46 billion to work with.

Subsidies should be cut for another @ $30 billion

Crown corporations should be cut as well, since that provides another $8 billion

Adding that up, we can get $84 billion in cuts. Sustained for six years this would allow the entire national debt to be paid off, and if the program is sustained for 12 years then all unfunded liabilities (CPP, pensions, etc.) are also covered.

Not included in this virtuous circle is the possibility of reductions in operating expenses due to the ending of so many programs, and of course the reduction of the $30 billion/year in debt payments. Real tax cuts can be made from the savings here, energizing the economy and in all likelyhood speeding up the entire process through increased tax revenues.

Here is a real program to get behind: don't leave the debt to our grandchildren but pay it off before our children leave school!

Take that Alinsky!

Over the years, the Progressives have infiltrated and taken over mass media and popular culture. Their memes are embedded in virtually any TV show, movie or piece of music, providing an echo chamber of self referential and self re-enforcing themes and ideas. Original and critical thought is not just discouraged, it is simply drowned out.

Or is it?

Take a look at this video which lays out the two main strands of economic thought in an entertaining Rap video:

"Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk

Andrew Breitbart of BigJournalism fame now has a catchy tune for "Retracto the Correction Alpaca" (itself an entertaining meme):

http://bigjournalism.com/retracto/2010/02/09/introducing-the-retracto-the-correction-alpaca-theme-song/

Enjoy, and pass these on.

Facta Non Verba

Remember, Canada's health care system is just as good as any other...

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

W.E. Henley