I read this quote over at Garth Rurner's blog (warning: Turner is has auto-run ads on his blog, so turn your speakers down so as not to be annoyed) and thought it worthy of reproduction here.
Harper has the manner of a man who will drive a car off a cliff, just to prove that he doesn’t need to ask for directions. Is that the kind of person you want to lead this country?Did you hear about Harper's plagiarising speech regarding Iraq in 2003? I'll let the CBC fill you in. (watch the video - about 4 minutes)
UPDATE: Here is the comparison on Youtube (2:53)
Sorry, it is from he Liberal party. I do not endorse any party at this point.
This is on the front pages of newspapers around the world today. The Cons are playing it down, but the rest of the globe is laughing at us. Harper and his government are an embarrassment to this once highly respected country. That is a big deal.
Youtube treatment of the plagiarism. (check some of the other videos too)
Hip Hopping on Harper
I don't get the March 17th reference, but vote anyhow - on October 14.
Amero warning
Musicians don't like NAU/SPP (on the loud side)
8 comments:
I thought this was a real estate blog featuring political issues during the election campaign, not an anti-Conservative blog.
not an anti-Conservative blog
Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems that I am somewhat conflicted on that. I did state quite clearly though (last week), that I was hijacking the blog to an anti-conservative campaign during the writ period, and that I felt strongly about it.
Others (the pope, Rob Chipman, mohican, etc.) cover this week's median price, inventory, financial stuff, humour, etc. quite ably, and in my own very scientific poll, people expressed an interest in reading more of what I'm writing about. I am as much a political junkie as some are financial, sports, whatever. I have been digging deep for many years, but the vast majority of people do not have the luxury of time that I have had. A lot of people do not know a lot about politics - beyond the propagandistic adverts of the parties with the most money. I have provided links to all the platforms of the 4 that we will choose from, with brief commentary. I have also (briefly) critiqued all of the leaders.
I am not advocating any party, but am against the Conservatives. This is because I believe that Conservative policies are bad for Canada - across the board. That includes real estate - as that is comtingent on the health of the national economy, personal economy, bank regulations, health care, etc. I you are bankrupted by health care costs, you will not well be able to afford a mortgage. There is an inter-connectedness in all of this.
I am just sharing my views. I recognize that some are not interested, and your objection is duly noted. I will be back to my regular brand of BS on October 15th. In the meantime, I will still do my best to illustrate why our national politic matters just as much as provincial, or municipal. Maybe even more.
Care to add to the discussion?
How about creating a new blog to feature the anti-Conservative stuff and keeping this one on real estate?
It's of course your choice either way...
Wasn't this entire real estate debacle CREATED by CONSERVATIVE POLITICIANS in the first place?
Just asking.
anon. #1 - I considered your idea (for a separate blog), but I thought that it would be better to keep it here, so that it would not be an extra click-out for people. And, I took a (unscientific) poll to gauge the interest in the topic. The majority of the responses were either interested, or very interested. Some have complained, but most have not. I only wish that there was more discussion - rather than just me beaking off.
I perhaps have not done a great job on connecting politics to the RE market, but I think that it is rather obvious. Further, I was struck by one poster who wrote that they had been planning on voting Conservative, but did not know the background on Harper. I felt that it was important to outline that. Very few people have any awareness of the SPP/NAU either, and that is salient to any discussion on economics/real estate. It would take me a very long time to recount all that I have read, heard, and seen over the last 30 years, and I am doing my best to compress my rationale into this space, and in 3 weeks. Hopefully, at least some readers have been inspired to read further than talking points, or this little blog, and I have provided some useful links and information.
And of that leads to anon. #2's point - Wasn't this entire real estate debacle CREATED by CONSERVATIVE POLITICIANS in the first place? I would have to say "yes". It started with Gordon Campell and his RE/business buddies, and though Campbell may call himself and his party "Liberal", he is anything but. He, and a goodly part of his caucus are recycled Socreds - read: Conservatives. The Federal Conservatives put the icing on that cake with 0%/40 year mortgages.
And, the BoC kept interest rates low, which led to too much exuberance economy-wide, in my view. A higher interest rate would have promoted savings, slowed the RE market, slowed the expansion of debt, made escalating tar sands expansion lesser, which would have helped to tame the higher dollar...
And that is why I am not head of the Bank of Canada!
solopsist "CREATED by CONSERVATIVE POLITICIANS in the first place? I would have to say "yes"." Strange I have looked and looked and really looked and I can't find ONE instance of Martin, Dion or Layton suggesting that the BOC raise rates in the last five years. No doubt you will correct me? :-) Most NDP and LIBERAL Feds are so much on the speculator band wagon I would say thhat not over 10% even today admit they didn't know there ass from a hole in the ground and now need SOMEONE to blame for their mass group ignorance. Union supported Layton is probably the one most amateur speculators support, you know the dumb twits that lined up outside of buildings for hours? :-) The guys selling to the Dumb twits however were likely Conservatives.
can't find ONE instance of Martin, Dion or Layton suggesting that the BOC raise rates in the last five years
Absolutely. To be fair, Dion and Layton have not had much of a chance to influence that, ever. Martin might have entertained that idea three years ago, but the RE market was not so over the top then, or was it? Martin had other things to occupy him as well. I actually liked Martin, but he proved himself to be a damned fool in the end.
In Vancouver, it was "conservative" government (Liberal) that oversaw the rise since 2000, but it was really the Olympic stuff that fed the craze. Was it not? Of course, it was the NDP that started the bid process, and the provincial gov't does not have a lot of say about BoC policy.
It became really obvious (to a lot of people) that the market was becoming over-heated in the last 3 years or so, and the Fed. Cons. implemented and over-saw the 0/40 mortgage mistake. Harper is now offering more help to first-time buyers.
The dollar took off with oil prices, and with the US$ losing strength. The Fed. Cons over-saw that for the last 30 months, and actually talked up the dollar.
I have not a lot of good things to say about Martin, Layton, Dion, except that they elicit much less criticism from me than the Cons do, and the criticism tends to be economic, rather than social.
I realize that it is a lot more complex than all of that. Raising rates tends to push the value of the dollar up, but it also tends to slow economies down. It is hard to be lucid with a 19 month-old jumping all over me, and needing intervention every 30 seconds.
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