To all the people who laughed at PMSH’s statement that now is perhaps a good time to pick up some bargain stock: you think this is a party leader who is “out of touch” with the electorate and doesn’t know what the electorate wants to hear. I tell you this: these words came from a Prime Minister who holds a Masters’ Degree in Economics. These words did not come from a party leader who wants to be re-elected (although that is naturally what he wants). Mr. Harper is an economist first, politician second. As an economist AND PM you have to avoid panic in the stock market at all cost. In times of economic uncertainty, when stock markets are crashing, the best thing to do is to try to get people to BUY stock, not SELL them. Selling your stock will just increase the rate the stock market will go down. The only way to reverse a massive sell off of stock (ie: the market going down) is to BUY stock (ie. market going up). This is BASIC ECONOMICS. Shouting doom off the rooftops saying “We’re tanking!” is extremely irresponsible for a Leader of a country (and isn’t that what our Opposition ‘leaders’ strive to be?) It just creates panic resulting in a massive sell-offs of stock which in turn will make them worth even less. If the opposition leaders would set aside their desire to be elected for a minute, and take into account the well being of all Canadians, they’d have to conclude the same thing: saving this economy is more important that any one individual’s election. Harper is doing what it takes to save this economy, even if it means lower polling numbers. He says it would be irresponsible of him to create a panic even though that is what the electorate wants to hear and would improve his standings.

The fundamentals of the Canadian economy are very strong. They only thing going wrong with our economy currently is that the stock markets are going south (no pun intended). The Canadian People want to hear Harper say what he is going to do about it. Well, the only way to stop a stock market from going down is to MAKE PEOPLE BUY STOCK. Isn’t that what he is saying? If any of the opposition ‘leaders’ had any formal training in economics, and not a week long crash course on it, they would know that. I think they do know that, however, they’ve put their own selfish election chances over the fortunes of the Canadian People. They shout doom and gloom, creating a panic resulting in economic woes, in order to get their own behind into the PM’s chair. PM Harper has done the exact opposite!

If the opposition ‘leaders’ were serious leadership material, they’d realise the PM’s first and foremost responsibility is the stabilizing of the economy.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what Harper has been doing for the past year and a half. That is why we don’t have bail-outs for banks and big investment firms. That is why our inflation is still below 4%. That is why we have a job gain of 87,000 jobs in 2008 so far. That is why the IMF projected Canada to lead the G7 in economic growth next year.  And that, is why we have to continue with his successful strategy.

On CTV.CA the big headline says:

Economists call on gov’t to stimulate economy

It’s a big story about it’s the THIRD letter economists had to send to the government this week urging the government to act on 1) Carbon Taxes are good (Monday), 2) Act on Climate Change by voting strategically (Tuesday) and now 3) Act on the economy.

Basically the story informs us how this country’s economists keep urging Harper to “do something” and that “doing nothing” is not the answer.

Sounds familiar? Oh, these ‘economists’ the story mentions, are the Progressive Economic Forum, a group that describes itself as promoting “alternatives to conservative economic theory and policy.” The letter is signed by Doug Peters, a veteran federal Liberal and former junior minister of state for finance, and Rodrigue Tremblay, who served as Parti Quebecois industry minister of Quebec.

Well, what do you know, Mr. Chretien said in Wednesday’s Globe and Mail:

“While everybody’s in turmoil, Canada is not in turmoil,” Mr. Chrétien explained in a brief interview.

So, Dion and Rae are shouting off the rooftops that the economy is not fine and we need to do something NOW, while Chretien says “Canada is not in turmoil” and effectively proving Mr. Harper is right.

From The Star, December 21, 2007:

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper expects Canada’s economy to suffer next year, buffeted by turmoil south of the border and the “cost” of new climate-change measures here at home.

In a calculated signal to Canadians, Harper said that 2008 will be “more challenging” for his government and the country.

“There remains very serious economic uncertainty in the United States and in other parts of the world, and it’s impossible for me to see how Canada can be entirely immune from those developments,” he said in a year-end interview with the Star.

While Harper has warned of uncertainty before, this is his strongest statement yet that economic problems will hit Canada in what many expect to be an election year.

As a result, Harper said the government is planning a “stand-pat” budget aimed at stability.

“We will have very much a stand-pat fiscal stance focused on stability, focused on paying down debt, which is what families and businesses do when they face a period of some uncertainty,” he said.

His warnings came as the International Monetary Fund downgraded its economic growth forecast for Canada to somewhat less than the 2.3 per cent it forecast just three months ago.

In the United States, housing and credit woes have sparked fears of a full-blown recession. Earlier this month, TD economists warned that Canadian economic growth will “slow materially” in the months ahead.

In Canada, a rising loonie has accelerated the loss of thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs. Ontario’s manufacturing sector has been particularly hard hit, with the loss of 44,000 jobs in the first nine months of this year.

Harper also warned that climate-change measures that take effect next year “will start to bite.

“It will hit home the reality that you cannot reduce greenhouse gas – you cannot mandate it – without there being some economic cost in the short term,” Harper said.

“We happen to believe we’ve set it up so that those costs are manageable, so that we provide incentives for firms and sectors to exploit the technology opportunities that this regime requires,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is it will cost.”

The Prime Minister sat down with the Star this week at his official residence at 24 Sussex Drive. Sitting in the living room, a large Christmas tree behind him, he reflected on the year past and the year ahead.

Harper said the Canadian economy is “probably the strongest it’s been in 30 years” with low unemployment and has shown “considerable resiliency in the face of some worrying signs around the world.”

And he argued that his government has tried to put the Canadian economy on a good footing, most recently with the fall economic update that provided cuts to income and business taxes to “strengthen the confidence of consumers and families, and also strengthen Canada’s position as a place to invest.”

But because of fears of a slowdown, Harper said such largesse would not be repeated in the budget expected in February or March.

“This government will be very cautious when it comes to fiscal actions. … As I said we’ve taken our tax measures for the budget … this government will not be throwing billions of dollars around in the spring,” Harper said.

This obviously comes from a man who has been on the pulse of the economy for a very long time. As opposed to Dion, whose idea of a plan for the economy came to him during the English debate (about 24 days into a campaign) where he pledged to have 30 days of meetings to come up with a plan. Some plan. “Harper doesn’t have a plan!”, no, you confused him with you! What you mean to say is that YOU don’t have a plan!

Layton, on the other hand, has a plan, but unfortunately, to pay for his plan he intends to roll back (read: raise) corporate taxes by $50B. Someone ought to sit down with Jack at his kitchen table and tell him that corporations (businesses) are what keep this economy rolling and keep a lot of people employed. Especially the Alberta oil sands. Raising their taxes will surely slow down the economy and lose a lot of jobs.

Little Miss Sunshine from The Green Party want to “green” the economy. Buy less from the US (I am sure they’ll be thrilled with that and cut back the 80% of our products they buy), and re-establish the national dream, that is railroads (I’m not making this up, this is in their “economy” section).

I don’t care what the Bloc says.

There you have it folks, you can chose between a guy who has been seriously talking about the economy for years, versus: 1) a man who needs 30 days to come up with a plan, 2) a man who will tax this economy to a grinding halt, 3) a woman who dreams in green, and 4) a separatist who wants to tear this country apart.

Take your pick. I know who I’m voting for.

Just replace “Climate Change” with “The Economy” and you can just reuse your speeches!

I have found a new way to save some money for the LPC: you can just reuse old speeches by replacing the words “Climate Change (formerly: Global Warming)” with “The Economy”:

You can change:

“In times of the climate change crisis, it is imperative that a government offers a plan to Canadians and takes action,” Mr. Dion told the Montreal Chamber of Commerce. “The risks from inaction are too great. Doing nothing is not an option.”

To:

“In times of economic crisis, it is imperative that a government offers a plan to Canadians and takes action,” Mr. Dion told the Montreal Chamber of Commerce. “The risks from inaction are too great. Doing nothing is not an option.”

You can also change the words “Climate Change” to:

1) Health Care
2) Manufacturing
3) Whatever the current crisis is.

You can fire those writers, you don’t need them anymore.

Since the LPC seems to be a bit short on cash, as well as their leader (paid back that $4300000 yet, Mr. Dion? — Thank you Dr. Roy for keeping us informed) I thought it was time for some action and come up with some frugal ideas to help them out.

Hmm… wonder if that $4,000,000 sponsorship scandal money has been paid back yet…

Dion stated he’s ready to become PM and he’s going to show that to Canadians during the debates.

So in order to accomplish that, he’d have to serious brush up on the following areas before the French debate on Wednesday:

1. The Economy (uh, might as well start from the beginning: “An economy is the realized social system of production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of a country or other area.”) 
2. The Environment (why don’t you fight pollution rather than some plant feeding odourless gas)
3. Foreign Policy (nuff said)
4. Reading the Canadian people (“It’s the Economy, Stupid!”)
5. Democracy (Teaming up with Lizzy May and not running candidates in each other’s riding, then getting in bed with the strategic voting crowd is NOT democratic)
6. English (you have an extra day for this one, only due on Thursday)

Layton revealed his feel good platform. It’ll make everyone, except for those nasty corporations, happy! He’ll take the feel good money from those nasty corporations and put it on your kitchen table. Yay. Raising corporate taxes. Yes, nothing says “buy our cheap products” than higher corporate taxes.

Foreigners will pay for the arts, or something

Dion proved that he has no idea how an economy works: he said yesterday that foreigners would pay part of the carbon tax when they buy our products. Uhm, professor? [raises hand] Didn’t we learn in Economy 101 that it is the interest of the country to make our products MORE attractive to foreign buyers? Isn’t making our products more expensive going to turn them off of Canada and turn them to China? Just a question, professor.

Jacky was handing out tax breaks for his artistic friends. If these “artists” were any good, they would be making good money and not need any handouts. If you can’t make it as an artist, find a different line of work. Plumber maybe. They’re badly needed and make good money. Stop living off the public purse. We might as well give tax breaks for all Tim Horton’s employees: it’s a profession that doesn’t pay much either. Layton said “Arts are at the core of our economy”. Really? What about manufacturing, natural resources, exports?

And yes, in addition on getting tougher on young punks, Harper announced today he would scale back the use of house arrests and put the criminals back in jail. Can you imagine that in 2006 over 2700 VIOLENT CRIMINALS were serving a CONDITIONAL sentence? It’s just crazy that these hardened criminals are living among us. That’s from living under 13 years of liberalism where the emphasis was on rehabilitating the criminal rather than sticking up for the victims. The penal code in this country is a joke: judges routinely give out the MINIMUM sentences letting criminals go, by default, when 2/3 of their sentence is up. This has got to change.

We’re in a time of economic woes. The world economy is heading for recession, everybody agrees. You want a steady, strong economic policy. And what do we get from #2 and #3 in the polls?

Layton: “Arts are at the core of our economy”
Dion: “Foreigners will pay part of the carbon tax”

Why anybody would vote for those two, I don’t know.

And we’re spending like drunken sailors!

I complained before Harper is only rolling out small announcements. I am beginning to understand his reasons. These are hard economic times, whether the electorate realises it or not. The recession in the States WILL drag us down, the question is how far. And reckless spending will not help this situation in any way. A measured, controlled spending will be the best thing to do economically. Canadians should realise we’re on the brink of a recession. This is not the time to go spending like drunken sailors.

My only problem is this: does the average Canadian realise that this is the time to be frugal, and we can’t afford to be spending money left and right, or does the average Canadian just want, want, want? Harper is a brilliant economist, but I doubt the average Canadian is.

The Liberals announced $70B for infrastructure that we’re not going to be using after the carbon tax will make everything so expensive we won’t be able to drive on it.

While Harper announced a small but real $150/yr tax credit for seniors, Layton trumped him with a $1B/yr promise to allow more home care. His “As Prime Minister I will…” speech was amusing. Dream on, Jackie. I wonder, though, if this is how one wins elections: just promise in the vicinity of $1B for EVERY GROUP you encounter on the campaign trail. You’re with students: promise $1B for education. You’re with nurses: promise $1B to hire more of them. You’re with auto-workers: promise them $1B to save the plants. You’re with seniors: promise them $1B to allow home care. He has no chance in becoming PM, so he can promise all he wants. That’s his prerogative. What I don’t understand is the people voting for him thinking that he means all of this.

The Green Party rolled out her election platform. What do you know, new taxes, raise taxes. This is not the time to raise taxes, Global Warming or not. People can’t pay their bills as it is. And not just the low income bracket. I’d say most of the middle bracket income earners fear the coming winter, with over $1.10 for a litre of heating oil, that’s $1000 per fill-up. In February, we usually have two fill ups.  Over the winter, from October to April, we usually have 6-7 fill-ups. You do the math.

With apologies to all drunken sailors out there.