The Mu

They say those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it.  I have never disagreed with that notion, but I have also never really studied history in as much depth as I probably should.  Still, every once in a while I find a quotation that I swear must have come from last week’s pundits when in fact it was said a very long time ago.  The following is not the best example, since the language is somewhat antiquated, but all the sentiments apply to current events.  Take heed anyone trying to fix our recent economic and social woes:

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.  You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.  You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.  You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.  You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.  You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

While researching this post, I discovered that this quotation is usually attributed to Abraham Lincoln. As it turns out, that is a misattribution. The error apparently originated in a leaflet printed in 1942 by a conservative political organization called the Committee for Constitutional Government. The leaflet’s title was “Lincoln on Limitations”. It contained some genuine Lincoln quotations on one side and the “Ten Cannots” on the other, but the attributions were juxtaposed. Unfortunately that means I haven’t been able to identify the original author of the words, which were likely first published around 1916.

Note that Paul Getty offered a different perspective when he said: “You cannot bring about prosperity without discouraging thrift.”  This is the idea that all of us can help improve the economy by responsibly spending our money and not hiding in our basements with the blanket over our heads, hoarding every penny.

Ontario once again has a majority Liberal government, the first time back-to-back majorities have been won by the Liberal party since 1937. It will be this way until 2011 with the fixed election dates we now have in Ontario. The election reform to mixed member proportional was soundly rejected by the voters as well.

As I queued up for voting, I heard people talking in line about the referendum topic: no one knew what mixed member proportional was. Meanwhile, voter turnout was the lowest in history, despite extended voting hours and lots of advance polls.

My conclusion: an ill-informed minority of people are voting. Through apathy or ignorance, we get what’s coming to us.

Teach the public curriculum, you’ll get the public money. Don’t, you won’t.

The “separate school” system already exists; fairness and inclusiveness demands that we figure something out for faiths other than the Catholic one.  Other provinces have already done so.

It couldn’t be simpler, yet the message has been twisted into one of social divisiveness and exclusion.

Today it is anticipated that John Tory will tweak his message: offering a free vote instead of demanding that his members toe the party line.  For a guy whose slogan is “Leadership Matters”, this spells defeat. One way or another, it looks like the issue will cost him the election.

I watched the debate last night with interest. Howard Hampton was suffering from a cold, but most observers say that calmed him down enough to actually make him more effective. I noticed how much more subdued he was, and I liked it right up until his closing remarks when it seemed like he was going to cry. As it turns out, because of his cold, the poor guy could barely breathe. Nevertheless, he was extremely effective in getting his points across.

Big question: where was Frank de Jong? As leader of the Green Party of Ontario, he is just as relevant as Howard Hampton given that the Green Party these days is running only about 2 percentage points behind the NDP in the polls.

Dalton McGuinty was stuck in the middle and, as the incumbent, forced to defend his record. This barrage was well defended with statistics. We all know about statistics and how they can be selectively chosen to illustrate almost any point, but it still was an admirable set of responses to some pretty withering attacks. McGuinty clearly articulated his policies and tried to be reasonably up front about his broken promises. I personally think a promise is sacred, but in a democracy it seems to be necessary to promise people things even if there is no real chance of being able to follow through. If you don’t promise, you will have NO chance to follow through because you won’t be elected. One example of McGuinty’s slightly lacking defense was when asked about his broken promise to eliminate the $1500 clawback for children. He said that his government did “something better” in their Child Tax Benefit of $1100. I am sure for a tax accountant it could be demonstrated how one is better than the other (probably because of the difference between post-tax and pre-tax dollars). But to me, it just came across as a $400 discrepancy speaking against his action.

I have the bias you can see from my previous post, but I believe John Tory won the debate, if only by a very small margin. The key areas were on the “privatization” and “segregation” of both education and health care. I think that getting the kids currently enrolled in private faith-based schools to adhere to the public school curriculum is a laudable goal. It is being done in other provinces. I have a huge amount of skepticism about it, but again I turn to Tory’s integrity and have to believe that he is rationally and ethically motivated, as well as being capable enough to potentially surprise us with results. On the health care side, having private clinics which you pay for through your OHIP card is not materially different from the current model of having your doctor bill OHIP for your visit. The doctors are essentially independent businesspeople anyway.

What it comes down to is: which leader most effectively spoke to the things you care most about? In that, I am undecided. More than anything, I hate paying taxes and having my government waste the money they collect. I didn’t get a strong sense from ANY of the leaders that they will treat my money with miserly care.

I rarely voice my opinion about a particular candidate, but in the upcoming provincial election, I must say I will be putting my support behind John Tory (and with much less gusto, his party).

Having said that, here is what we will see if he wins:

• just as much government waste (in different areas)
• fewer broken promises (but not zero like we should expect)
• faith-based schools funded out of the public purse but with way less control over curriculum than Tory promises (governments can’t even ensure our drinking water is safe, how will they regulate how much intolerance is being spewed by religious fanatics posing as teachers? — it happens already in the public system and that’s without a curriculum that makes room for faith and beliefs being taught as fact)

So, am I an idiot for voting for a man who will expose us to such peril?  Look at the alternatives and also look at John Tory the man.  Those who know him personally will all tell you he is a good person, honestly intent on doing the right thing.  In politics that counts for EVERYTHING.

A recent news story surfaced and then disappeared: Over the past two years, the Ontario government has handed out over $32 million dollars to various groups for capital projects.  Apparently, there was almost no audit trail of who asked for what, why they were asking, and then what they were actually given.  In a classic example, the auditor uncovered a request for $150,000 from the Ontario Cricket Association; the government gave them $1 million.

Governments at all levels continue to explain with growing exasperation to the stupid public that you can’t expect the same level of service without paying more every year.  After all, costs are rising.  What proves that they can’t manage a damn thing is that they are making this case to plead a tax rate increase — not just a total revenue increase. It is laughable to see governments perpetually wringing their hands about the lack of funds, yet to so frequently hear about financial mismanagement and lack of fiscal responsibility like this.

The overall tax burden is at well over fifty percent and climbing.  Perhaps we could give all our money to the government; we might be okay for a while, but based on their record, they would still run out eventually.

The Ontario Ombudsman’s report is in: at least $100 million was fraudulently won by lottery insiders (including ticket retailers) between 1999 and 2006.

The ombudsman, Andre Marin, said that the OLG had “turned a blind eye to allegations of crime for many years.”

In New Brunswick and British Columbia there are similar problems with the lotteries.

Good grief.

This is the time of year when people start doing their taxes.  Like the time leading up to Christmas, we hear about those strange go-getters who are already finished and we shake our heads in wonder.

For those, like me, who make a show of doing their taxes without really doing them yet, I like to call that the Income Tax Act.

Meanwhile, the Canada Revenue Agency has a nifty website that helps you figure out everything you need to know for filing and planning for taxes.  Everything, that is, except a sort of crucial piece of legislation that is actually called “The Income Tax Act”.  How are savvy accountants supposed to find loopholes in the legal language without easy access to the words themselves?  Amusingly, if you do a search for Income Tax Act on the CRA site, the only link to the Act takes you to the Justice Department.  There, a devious little message says that “The Income Tax Act is currently not included on this website.”

It is a cunning use of smoke and mirrors.  In my dreams, I pound on the table and shout: “What have they got to hide, people?  Surely we cannot sit idly by while political cronies line their wallets and the military-industrial complex robs us blind!”  In reality, I just start rifling through my office to gather up all the paperwork I’ll need to file my taxes by the deadline.