I Am A Conservative… BUT

Doing What's Right, General Chit Chat, Politics

Shock isn’t it? But in all honesty I think I am a conservative in the real sense of the word, not in the sense that it has been bastardsized by George Bush and Stephen Harper.

I believe in the old values that they espouse such as Honor, Honesty, Integrity, Compassion, Fiscal Restraint, and so on.

What I find though is that while people like George Bush and his sidekick Stephen Harper talk about old fashioned values, they certainly don’t back it up with policy or action. And that is certainly not in my mind what a Conservative does.

I think that pork barrelling is wrong. I’d love to see a proper law to eliminate the ability of ANY POLITICIAN from favoring their supporters, but that isn’t really gonna happen too quickly. I mean look Bush went to war to pay off Haliburton and we have Stephen Harper who wants to join in that war. Sure makes sense to me and makes me wonder just how much money has the Harper Conservatives gotten from the religious right? (given how he opposes same sex marraige, abortion, etc.)

Hell I recall the stink from the Mulroney era where he was appointing ambassadors while on his way to Government House to watch Kim Campbell get sworn in. Or how about his patronization kick back for the airport deal and the low level radar system? Sound familiar?

I truly believe in restraint and making every penny count so how can Harper be a Conservative? He wants to give everyone who has a kid under 6 a $100 a month for daycare expenses. Now sounds good but uh, first off, daycare costs a damn site more than $100 a month and if you bothered to listen to his announcement, you would know that you get this $100 to spend on whatever you want, whether its daycare, babysitter, or neighbour or whoever… so like yeah, that’s gonna help low income families isn’t it?

To me a real day care program would involve making it more affordable to those who need it the most, not those who can afford it as well. Seriously, it is the single working parent who needs the help here and not in some paltry sum either. Either you want to make a difference or you don’t. This sure as hell doesn’t even make a dent in the cost for a working single parent.

And there is also my concern as to who we let look after these kids. I mean if we give out $100 a month to everyone, instead of covering more of the actual costs, how can we be certain that those entrusted with daycare aren’t some freaks or some child molestors?

Think its being paranoid?

Remember the daycare nonsense in California a few decades back?

So to me, being conservative would mean insuring that only responsible, well monitored programs would be acceptible for federal funding and renumeration and not giving the money helter skelter to all parents of kids under 6. So again, how does the daycare initiative of Stephen Harper meet the conservative criteria? IT DOESN’T!

Accountability is another big Conservative catch word. So again I think it fits me and makes me a conservative because I believe that our federal and provincial governments need to be accountable for their actions and in how they handle our money.

Funny thing is that somehow the more I read about Stephen Harper plans I see less public accountability from him than from the Liberals or even the NDP. Oh he does talk about being more accountable but in reality with his programs he actually becomes less accountable than we could even imagine.

Good example is his two tier health care program. Without having control over the private sector, how can he make them accountable? How can he insure that all citizens get equal coverage and access to needed medical treatment? He can’t because simply put, it no longer is the governments responsibility.

The States have a two tier system and let’s face it, their public health services sucks big time. Too many people are falling into the cracks because they simply don’t earn enough to pay for the private care plans and earn too much to qualify for the public version. The result is way too many are uninsured but there is ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY by the US Government.

Instead George Bush is able to deflect the anger towards the private sector, making him less accountable than if he was managing health care as we do now. So once more, Stephen Harper talks about accountability but in reality his programs make him less accountable. That is NOT being a Conservative!

Now a big part of what makes one a Conservative is how you manage money. So let’s take a look at the comparison again of George Bush and Stephen Harper conservatism. The USA is heading for record levels of deficit funding, in fact unless a new limit is set for the debt, the USA Federal government will run out of money in less than two months.

Under Brian Mulroney we ran record deficits of nearly 60 billion dollars in his last year. Under Mulroney and even back under Diefenbacher we had trade deficits and record low exchange rates on the Canadian dollar. Pressure on our economy was terrific and we had record Bankruptcies under Mulroney, something that has swung around under the Liberal governments of Chretien and Martin.

Now some will say that won’t happen if we elect Stephen Harper but look at the campaign promises being made. He wants us to spend money on daycare, $100 a parent universally, he wants to establish tax cuts for people who ride a bus and he wants to spend billions on national defence upgrades right away. He also wants to add more police and increase the prison population.

Anyone know what it costs to house one prisoner? Try over $100 a day.

So let me see, where is the fiscal restraint here? I mean okay some areas shouldn’t make a profit but at least the Liberals are demanding accountability from the provinces in regards to increased health spending, so that the real problems of health care are tackled. They aren’t abandoning the system like Harper seems to be promoting.

By promoting alternatives to mandatory prison terms we are attempting to at least resolve the returning rate of criminal behaviour which keeps our justice costs down. Now isn’t that more responsible than simply locking people up for set periods of time? Isn’t that in the long run safer for us all than making law breakers into hardened criminals?

I am sorry, I am a conservative but how in the heck can Stephen Harper lay claim to that title with the policies he promotes? Seriously, since when did believing in a set of old fashioned values mean ignoring alternative beliefs? Does being a conservative mean you no longer hold the value of Christian charity or brotherhood in importance?

If you believe in the Harper definition of being a conservative then you abandon Christian charity, christian compassion for the less fortunate because his policies are geared to favor the wealthy, not the less fortunate. His policies clearly show less compassion than Attilla the Hun’s actions in some instances.

I am a conservative but really, how does ignoring the needs of the poor and increasing the burden on them make you a Conservative?

I am not a Christian, I am Jewish but I know this. I know that if you keep oppressing any minority that eventually they will rise up in anger and tear you down. I know that if you keep focusing on the differences between you and others that you instill a fear and hostility among different cultures that eventually explode into violence. And no that isn’t a theorhetical bit of nonsense because we simply have to look south to the United States to see the truth of what I have said.

Everyone there carries a gun, and according to some statistics there are like 3 to 5 guns for every man, woman, and child in that country and that’s just the legal weapons. Seriously who in the hell needs a M-16 that lives anywhere? Does the farmer? How about your neighbour? Does he?

So excuse me if I don’t see the need for weapons and that the more we remove them legally, the less accessible they become to the criminal element. That makes a whole lot more sense than simply increasing police personnel or prison guards. It also makes more sense to give Judges more room to manouvre than to limit them. Justice is not black and white, why should the Judges be hamstrung simply for some political ploy that plays on people’s fears?

The whole nonsense of Harper and his platform reminds me of a quote from a movie, where the leader talks about how this is a time for serious people with serious answers to serious problems. All I am seeing here from Stephen Harper is bland cliches that play on our fear instead of dealing with the real issues plaguing our country.

Where is the true conservative spirit? George Bush talked about how the Gay Agenda was threatening American Morals, he talked about how the Evil Terrorists were threatening American Values and yet while he condemned them both, he enacted the Patriot Act I and II and tried to get a constitutional amendment to deny equal rights to a minority of his citizens. Stephen Harper is promising no less of a program!.

By making our health care two tiered, many citizens will suddenly have their entire medical history open to snooping from the USA. Yes they will because under the Patriot Act a company must turn over all information if requested to by an agent of the FBI without notifying the party involved. If they do tell you they go to jail and by the way, the information request does not require a Judge’s signature or even have to be presented to any higher authority group. A single agent can determine if they want or need that info and so how much safer will you be? And that isn’t even taking into account the cost of such a plan!

So yes I am a Conservative, too bad Stephen Harper isn’t.

Ian @ January 6, 2006