Harper's Errors and US politics

This past week, another minister from the Harper government had to resign over a security breach. The question many ask is why was Maxime Bernier even given the foreign affairs ministry. Unlike some, I think he was a capable person, but mainly on issues relating to domestic economic policy so I though ministry of Industry was far more fitting for him than foreign affairs. In fact he probably only got that ministry to help pacify the strong opposition to the Afghanistan mission in Quebec. Also Harper has been over in Europe trying to sell his environmental policy, which isn't going to well. And contrary to what some think, most European countries have centre-right not centre-left governments at the moment (i.e. France, Germany, and Italy) so hardly the people you would usually suspect to be critical of Harper. In fact I don't know of any right wing party in Europe that is against dealing with climate change. While they may take very different views on immigration, law & order, social policy, and fiscal policy, this seems to be at least one of the few issues that are reasonably united behind. Now it is true that Europe will have an easier time reaching their Kyoto targets as they drive more fuel efficient cars, have better inter-city transportation due to their higher population density, spend less on fuel due to their milder winters, and their cities were built prior to the automobile rather than after, but still we could be making the same level of effort, which we aren't. As for my view on the Bernier scandal, I generally tend to ignore scandals as I believe no matter what party is in power scandals will happen as that is just the way government operates. After all, the sponsorship scandal played no role whatsoever in determining my vote last election. Still, this will definitely hurt the Tories in the short-term and if enough of these happen, eventually one of them will bring them down just as adscam wasn't the first Liberal scandal, but it was the one to bring the party down.

In other domestic news, Dion is promising a carbon tax. This is quite similiar to what is already done in British Columbia. I know this might be a tough sell but I totally support it provided it is revenue neutral, which means the reductions in taxes for those who pollute less are equal or greater than the increases for those who pollute more. If it is just a tax grab like some European countries have done, I don't support it, but I think Dion understands this and won't do this. Pollution is an externality so this is simply putting a price on it and then letting the market take care of the rest as any first year economics student will tell you higher prices mean people cut consumption and lower prices encourage consumption. Now off course, the one problem could be on inelastic goods (for those not familiar with economic terms, this means goods where consumption is not highly affected by price, usually essential items) and in this case it probably won't be the most effective, but still no solution will be perfect.

Continuing on British Columbia, the BC supreme court has ruled that the safe injection site will be able to stay open until at least 2009. While it is unfortunate this case had to go to court and not being lawyer I am not sure the exact legalities behind the decision, I do support keeping the site open. I initially opposed the site when it first opened since it worried it would encourage more drug use and create more crime in the surrounding area, but I am a pragmatist and when the facts showed this assessment was wrong, I changed my views. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about our government. Despite the overwhelming evidence that it works and the strong support of the population, they seem more bent on ideology. Now that is not to say I want to see every city open one up, but the decision to have or not have one should be up to the local community and in Vancouver most support it including the municipal and provincial government who are BTW centre-right although less ideological than the federal Tories.

Turning to US politics, it is pretty clear by now that Obama will be the next Democrat presidential nominee. My suggestion to Hilary Clinton would be to graciously bow out after the primaries finish in under a week and then throw her support behind Obama. Polls have shown that the party is becoming more and more polarized with more and more supporters willing to support McCain if their candidate doesn't win. Now is the time to unite the party. Also, while Obama has many strengths, one of his weaknesses is amongst White Blue collar voters and this vote is quite important in some key states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. If Obama, loses either Michigan or Pennsylvania to McCain, he will not be president and not winning Ohio will make it difficult although not impossible to win in November. As with any leader they need to not just motivate their base to show up, they must also reach out to the fence sitters who could go either way.