It is an interesting question, because under the Republicans & Harper, the emphasis is on Big Business. You know, like General Motors and Volvo, and on Exxon and the big Mining Companies. After all, they do donate the large bucks to the Political Machines like the Republicans & Harper. In fact, they bankroll them to a rather interesting tune, but do they create the most jobs?

Truth be told, it is the small business that does, not the huge mining companies, big auto makers, or oil companies. It is the small outfits, that might employ ten people or twenty, the small retail outlet that might open a second store to sell the clothing made from some designer no one heard of. Those are the people who open the corner stores that stay open to midnight, or have the small little outlet in the local strip malls.

GM has closed plants, and thousands are laid off, and today Volvo is cutting FIVE HUNDRED JOBS IN ONTARIO, to shore up its US Based Operations.

The Volvo group announced Tuesday it would cut about 500 jobs in Ontario, as it moves work from its Goderich, Ont., plant to a U.S. factory. (source – CBC News)

Big Business like Volvo get huge tax breaks from our Elected Government. Even more tax cuts from a Conservative Government, who believes in the supposed trickle down effect, and yet when the economy hits rough patches, these are the first to cut jobs, to downsize, in order to maintain their corporate returns, and hefty CEO salaries. It is the Mom & Pop stores that keep on going, that rarely fire staff, but instead extend hours, work harder, to make a living.

Yet Harper & his conservatives pour BILLIONS INTO CORPORATE COFFERS, only to have MORE CANADIANS PUT OUT OF WORK.

So ask yourself, how does that benefit you? Your prices go up, your big time job with a multi national corporation goes south, or west to Asia. So just how does HARPERNOMICS HELP YOU?

While you sit around the kitchen table, trying to figure out how to pay for the kids tuition at University, worry about how you will afford the mortgage payment, along with the high fuel costs to get to and from work, Harpernomics rewards the Corporations by giving them a pass on protecting our environment, his ministers make jokes while people die from corporate irresponsibility, so really, how does HARPERNOMICS HELP YOU?

THINK ABOUT IT

VOTE ANYONE BUT CONSERVATIVE

So Stevie Boy is going to formally ask that the debates devote an entire hour to the Economy, because it is of importance to Canadians, and due to the shocking collapse yesterday of the Financial Markets in Toronto and New York. And yet just yesterday he was busy telling everyone that what happens in the United States Economy is not relevant to Canada, that it is not important enough to warrant any special meeting, or briefing of Opposition Leaders. Today he wants an entire hour of the debates to focus on the Economy.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Tuesday he will formally ask the television networks staging this week’s leaders’ debates to extend the segments devoted to the economy from 12 minutes to a full hour. (source – CBC News)

Is the sudden switch due to the fact that Canadians wanted answers, according to the polls, to the talk in show call ins? Is this because Harper cares, or is it because an issue he didn’t want discussed, has been forced on him, so now he is trying to capitalize on it, politically? Frankly, I’ll take the latter, as this man has shown he has no concern for the average Canadian, but only for the upper echelon of our Business Elites.

Why else would he give them FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS IN TAX CUTS?

Stephen Harper, like George Bush, is nothing but smoke and mirrors. I mean okay, let us take this rationally. If you do something wrong, make a stupid decision, should you be held accountable? According to most, yes and even Stephen Harper has made that claim, so why is it, that it applies to you and me, but not to the big corporations and banks?

They saw a way to rape people’s pocket book, and now it has come back to haunt them, yet George Bush and his elite gang attempted to bail them out of their mess. A majority in Congress rejected that, for the moment, and now we have Stephen Harper attempting to make political hay out of the mess south, after trying to say it has no bearing. Go figure.

Point is, that the financial markets have not been of benefit to you and me. These so called financial whiz guys have led us to higher inflation, to corrupt banking practices, and mortgages, that are bankrupting the Middle Class, all in the name of PROFITS. Now I have nothing against making a profit, but I do have an objection to making such enormous profits that CEO’s get SIXTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS while their company shut down plants and turf employees into unemployment.

I believe that what is happening South is not a good thing, but I also believe it is a true indicator of what COULD HAPPEN HERE IF WE ELECT A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT. Stephen Harper has the exact same plans as the Bush Republicans, which is to give everything to their corporate friends, and stiff the rest of us. This isn’t supply side economics, this is GREED. So the stock markets fell a ton, yet today they are rebounding a few hundred points, but unless you sold your shares during the feeding frenzy yesterday, you haven’t lost a nickel. And that too is part of the Media’s fault, for creating fear and uncertainty.

If you are investing for your retirement, and are even fifty years old, are you going to sell as the market drops? NO, you are going to pick up more stock, at the lower price, because when things are low, is when you BUY NOT SELL. So why are so many selling, well think about it, who is doing the selling? THOSE BEING PANICKED INTO IT BY THE MEDIA, BY THE GOVERNMENT. Truth is that if you are investing for a quick profit, well then take your lumps. If you are investing for a long term gain, you aren’t being effected at all by what happened yesterday, or this week, or this month. Long Term is spread over years, not days.

So is this crash really about that, or about trying to influence people into running scared, to support a government that rules by polls, by media reports and call in show responses?

WANT ECONOMIC GROWTH, STABILITY

VOTE ANYONE BUT CONSERVATIVE

The stock market dropped how many hundreds of points today? EIGHT HUNDRED ODD POINTS!

Yet Stephen Harper sees no need to brief the other leaders, or to meet to discuss the situation, because it is basically an issue for America. Like tell me that one again George, oh sorry Stephen. Our economies are closely linked, thanks in large part to the Free Trade mantra of Mulroney from years past, continued under Harper, and yes past Liberal governments as well. Though more so today than three years ago, simply because Stephen Harper is George Bush’s yes man & parrot.

Harper responded that he would not participate in or call any such meetings to talk about the economic troubles south of the border.

Financial markets, including Toronto’s, took a nosedive Monday after the U.S. House of Representatives voted down a $700-billion US bill to bail out America’s financial industry. (source – CBC News)

If Stephen Harper is right, WHY DID OUR STOCK MARKET DROP EIGHT HUNDRED PLUS POINTS?

Funny how when it suits him to point to the US, it is natural, but when things are falling apart, how he quickly claims it has no effect here, nor is of any importance. Basically that is what Stephen Harper is saying, when he doesn’t feel the need to discuss the economic ramifications of a US melt down. After all, I am sure George Bush has reassured him that it won’t spill over to Canada. By the way, how much has the Royal Bank written off due to the sub prime mortgage mess in the United States? And the CIBC?

The fact that a lot of our goods are sold to the United States shouldn’t be of concern, because after all, the economy is basically sound, right George, err Stephen? So what goes on down there, it can’t effect us, because the majority of trade is elsewhere, right? Then too, most of the foreign companies that do business in Canada, they aren’t US Owned, now are they? So really, why meet about the little crisis brewing south of our border, not like it will have any effect right Stephen?

Oh by the way, how much is gas today Stephen? I mean the wild crazy ride of Oil Prices south didn’t effect our prices one bit, now did they Stephen? I mean when everyone south was in a tizzy because of Hurricane Ike and the damage it was going to do to the Oil Platforms, well that didn’t cause a big jump of 13¢ a liter up here, now did it Stephen? So I mean why meet to discuss what is going on, when it just has no real effect on Canadians, right Stephen?

So I guess it really doesn’t have any effect, right Stephen?

VOTE ANYONE BUT CONSERVATIVE

The weakened Food Safety Agency is investigating an outbreak of Salmonella, and as of yet, haven’t a clue as to the source of the outbreak. However there are about 20 cases reported in Canada, and bunch more in the United States. The last outbreak was due to imported cantaloupe, and all our watered down food protection agency can do, is issue a warning to wash your hands, cooking utensils, and cutting boards.

The agency is suggesting Canadians take precautions while preparing food, such as washing hands, rinsing food, and ensuring that kitchen utensils and surfaces are properly cleaned. The precautions apply at all times, not just during outbreaks. (source – CBC News)

Until Stephen Harper took power, there weren’t a lot of recalls happening in Canada, nor where there a lot  of safety issues with our food supply. Now some argue that it is simply due to the increased volume of stuff entering Canada, that it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Harper Government’s changes in our Health Protection Agencies, like Food Safety. That it has nothing to do with reporting, or with cutting the number of inspectors out there, that it is simply a fact of life.

BOLLOCKS

If we are importing more, then you don’t cut down on inspections, or inspectors. So the policies of Harper HAS impacted our food safety. Then there is the whole Free Trade mantra, that ALL CONSERVATIVES seem intent on touting. If we allow in cheap goods, WITHOUT INSPECTION, then we are going to see more recalls due to safety issues, than we did before. That is simply math, simple reality.

Besides the whole mantra of Free Trade is about lowering consumer prices, and improving our job markets. So let me see, prices are UP, and UNEMPLOYMENT IS UP TOO. So just how has this Harper policy of Free Trade helped you? Did you get a raise or laid off from work? The GM plants are closing, the Steel Mills are sold, and the Oil Industry wants to import Mexican Labor for work in the Oil Patch.

Then there is the whole Listeroisis outbreak from Maple Leaf Foods. And now a possible Salmonella Outbreak. Tell me again, how has the Harper Policies protected your kids from tainted cold cuts? How has the Harper Policies insured that your imported food is safe? I mean there aren’t the number of inspectors, but then, who needs them anyway, after all the Corporations who produce the stuff will insure everything is safe and free from disease, RIGHT?

The Bush Bailout of $700 Billion failed to pass in Congress, by about 20 odd votes, and as a result, the TSE and NYSE went into a nosedive.  In Toronto nearly 900 point drop and about 700 in New York. Oil on the other hand also too a nose dive, and is at about $96 a barrel.

Despite pleas by President George W. Bush — who was reported to be calling undecided legislators minutes before the roll call — as well as congressional leaders, Monday afternoon’s vote failed by a margin of 228-205.

Financial markets nosedived in the wake of the rejection of the deal, with the Dow industrial average plummeting as much as 700 points, its biggest single-day drop, and Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index falling as much as 800 points. Both indexes rebounded somewhat. (source - CBC News)

Now I suppose the question is, what the hell does it mean for us, the average person? Does it mean even higher prices, does it mean a further slip into a full blown Depression, or does it really mean zip to us?

If you go back in time a wee bit, to when Gas was rising like a cake on steroid yeast, you will recall that all the pundits called a hedge against a weak economy. Now think about that, and then look at how today, Oil dropped a ton today, when you would have to say the news of a rebounding economy sure wasn’t being talked about. So let’s put things in perspective, and stop the bull.

There are two sub causes to the current crisis, being faced by the World Economies.

ONE is the failed housing market in the United States, thanks to the shady sub prime mortgages. This really was brought about by Wall Street, the Bankers, who saw an easy way to boost their profits, their salaries, by ripping off millions of ordinary folks. When the obvious happened, which was ordinary folks couldn’t pay the crippling hidden fees and rates, foreclosures began to rise, which made these brokers lose money.

TWO is the rise of energy costs. The speculation on the Financial Markets drove the price of Oil sky high, as they took huge profits, based on rumor, innuendo, and speculation. Using fear as a major weapon, they jacked the price of oil upwards, to the point where it effected the cost of virtually everything in our economy.

Now this is the result of the Conservative mantra of Free Trade and of Self Regulation. Both Bush & McCain are advocates of this policy, as is our own Stephen Harper. Right now the USA has spent nearly 900 BILLION DOLLARS ON CORPORATE BAILOUTS. Think about that, when you listen to Stephen Harper and his talk about TAX CUTS.

The U.S. government has already provided $900 billion in relief as part of the financial crisis, including $85 billion to buy out troubled insurer AIG and $200 billion to take over mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (source – CBC News)

What amazes me is that so few don’t see that this is nothing more than a free gift to business that made some rather stupid moves. It doesn’t offer any measure to prevent this from continuing, or happening all over again. Those who voted against this bailout, are now being strong armed, to support it, but why?

Is this about Politics? I mean the people are skeptical, and isn’t the obligation of our elected representatives to pay heed to our concerns, to at least address them? Maybe we do have it wrong, maybe this is the solution, but CONVINCE US! I mean instead of going on the air to tell us HOW this bailout helps, they use FEAR to say it has to be. Just as Stephen Harper continues to attack the opposition, based on FEAR, it still ignores the problem.

All I know is this, that the Conservative tax breaks to business, their fervor in avoiding any type of government oversight or regulation of these industries, has led to this current economic mess. How any person can think otherwise, is simply burying your head in the sand, and avoiding reality. Conservative politics has placed the USA into debt that will take generations to pay back, and that is exactly what Stephen Harper wants for Canada. They promise us fiscal management, but then give the cash away to their corporate supporters, while ignoring our needs. NO wonder we don’t trust them, no wonder we aren’t ready to commit to a huge bailout, without some information.