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Bush's Willing Accomplice
Isolated, repudiated by his people and even shunned by his own party, George W. Bush – the lamest of lame ducks – still seems able to count on the support of at least one world leader: Stephen Harper.
And so it was on the weekend, as it has so often been in the past two years, that our prime minister provided rare support for Bush as the soon-to-be former president battled against a chorus of world leaders urgently calling for a set of badly needed reforms.
Just as Harper backed Bush's effort to block global progress on climate change, this time he helped Bush stymie European-led efforts at the G20 summit in Washington to restore regulations to international financial markets.
It was the rollback of these regulations that allowed Wall Street to transform itself into a giant casino where tycoons made billions playing fast and loose with the life savings of ordinary citizens.
Harper's resistance to European calls for tighter regulations is ironic, since he has the luxury of presiding over a country that's been spared the worst of the financial meltdown, largely because of the Canadian tradition of tighter domestic financial regulations.
This has allowed Harper to ride out the current financial storm politically unscathed, even gaining re-election in the middle of it.
In fact, although Harper's record on this has received little attention, his government had started to push Canada down the dangerous road toward looser financial regulation.
In its first budget in 2006, the Harper government changed the rules in ways that effectively opened up the Canadian mortgage market to U.S. insurers. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty noted that these "new players" would bring "greater choice and innovation" to the Canadian mortgage market. Unfortunately, they did just that. They introduced risky products – like mortgages amortized over 40 years with little or no down-payments.
The new mortgages quickly caught on. With their lower monthly payments, they made houses seem more affordable. In reality, however, they dramatically increased the cost of a home, roughly tripling it.
As the implosion of the U.S. housing market provided a vivid example of the pitfalls of looser mortgage regulations, Flaherty finally intervened last summer, tightening CMHC's rules.
The Harper government has been even more aggressive pushing financial deregulation on developing countries.
Ellen Gould, a Vancouver-based trade consultant, notes that Ottawa has pressed developing nations to open their economies to the "supposedly superior services" offered by the financial institutions of the advanced world.
At the World Trade Organization negotiations in 2006, Canada played a leading role in pushing developing nations to accept rules that would allow their domestic banks and insurance companies to be taken over by foreign financial institutions – like the ones that have been collapsing on Wall Street recently.
The Canadian push for "financial liberalization" predates Harper. It was keenly advocated by Liberal governments as well. But the Harper government has continued to push for this sort of deregulation long after it should have known better, as recently as the WTO ministerial in July 2008.
One can draw solace perhaps from the realization that Canada doesn't shape the course of world events. Still, it's disappointing to realize that we're using what little influence we have at organizations like the G20 to help the exiting Bush administration do this last bit of disservice to the world.
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23 Comments so far
Show AllI don't know about Mister Harper but if he keeps this up the Loonie is going to be a lame duck.
Unfortunately, the recent freefall of the Canadian dollar cannot be stayed by Harper or anyone else in the country's government or financial sector.
It's the result of investors bailing on the stock market and moving their money into U.S. Treasury Bonds, thereby driving up the "value" of the U.S. dollar. Apropos to nothing happening in Canada, the loonie falls in relative "value."
That said, Harper's propensity toward amassing of federal power, government secrecy, tax breaks for the resource-extraction community and push for privatized health care have a disturbingly familiar ring.
In addition to doing a "last bit of disservice to the world" in his few remaining lame duck weeks, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the latest revisions of the already revised $700 billion federal bail out package Congress passed just before the November elections is morphing back into a blank check for Bush's favored crony capitalists, a brazen diversion of public funds into the private financial sector that created the credit crisis to begin with. It's one last long suck on the hind teat before the neo-con party finally ends in mid-January.
Naomi Klein characterizes the theft taking place in broad daylight as naked disaster capitalism at work. Billions in funds having been breathlessly appropriated right before the sky was set to fall in, the executive branch in the waning days of the Bush/Cheney era is now basically goading and daring the Congress to try to enforce its own restrictions, written into law, upon how this giant infusion of federal tax money is supposed to be spent.
Too much rash talk about regulatory reform, too many audit strings on the corporate entitlements, too much transparency concerning exactly who's getting exactly how much, and accountability for another stock market downturn/crash or another freezing up of lending by the banking system will - suddenly and magically - all become the Democrats' fault. It's all a great game of chicken.
The fix is in. As Naomi points out, the whole crisis atmosphere rescue plan dance in Washington more and more resembles the behavior of colonial elites in the days just before the reins of government power were scheduled to finally be handed over to the locals. Leave the safe empty so the new accounting team can start from scratch.
Time to take the money and run. Catch me if you can.
Bill from Saginaw
Yep. Excellent comment as usual.
Sioux Rose
BILL: Excellent analysis.
If only the Canadians could learn a thing or two by watching "their next door neighbors." The same bogus crap took place with cable TV deregulation. Anyone remember? We were told we'd get all these great options for a lesser price, when in reality, 80% is commercials/re-runs/B grade movies or worse. This idea of variety never quite plays out as advertised.
Perhaps there is such a thing as a banker caste, and Harper identifies with it. Like so many around Bush, this group has what a psychiatrist I knew in Puerto Rico referred to as a "character disorder." Asking him to elaborate further on the meaning, he said, THEY HAVE NO CONSCIENCE. I presented the example, if such a one got into trouble and went to jail seeing his mother cry, wouldn't he feel badly? I was told he would think his mother was stupid for crying.
As we see the old Clinton players amass around the table of goodies being dispensed to the least conscionable, those who have brought unimagined pain (via war, or the war of economics which Naomi Klein ingeniously labels "Disaster Capitalism") onto others rejoice and now feel they have managed to gain freer rein to do yet more calamitous things. The shrink must be right, for how else can they continue as thus, deaf to the moans of so many broken lives, limbs and livelihoods?
Sioux Rose
Great post.
We are indeed fortunate Harper only acheived a minority governmnet in this last election. He took about 37 percent of the popular vote with the The Liberals and parties to the left of the liberals garnering the rest.
The Green party got nearly 9 percent, albeit not a single seat.
What concerns me is this. The Liberals are having another leadership convention. Strategists are claiming that trying to move to the left will not work as the votes for the NDP , Parti Quebecois and Green parties are too solidly entrenched.
In other words...they think they have to adopt Harper type policies in order to regain support.
Now what the future holds can be telling. It Canada suffers a severe downturn, deficits and job losses it unlikely the people will embrace "more of the same".
Thus the liberals "moving right" could be a bad move.
As to Ignatieff. I dont like this guy at all. He lived most of the past 20 years outside the country and was in fact a republican down in the States. How the heck this guy can call himself a Liberal is beyond me.
PK
"Now what the future holds can be telling. It Canada suffers a severe downturn, deficits and job losses it unlikely the people will embrace "more of the same"."
Absolutely.
Sioux Rose
DANTE: thank you for the compliment.
CHARACTER DISORDER? I guess I fell asleep in Psych 101, but I thought you were describing what we called PSYCHOPATH..now SOCIOPATH rather than 'character disorder'..whatever..its a pathology.
Sioux Rose
Hi. The psychiatrist was in Puerto Rico, but that's what it was referred to, similar to sociopath. Just as when I lived in London as a college student, I became quite ill and was told I had "glandular fever," which turned out to be mono.
None of this requires any great "analysis."
In the US, Republicans generally seem worse for the human race, by and large, than Democrats, but All of these people (politicians) are CRIMINALS >> plain and simple CROOKS!!!!
Great Post Bill. (As usual)
Historically, when the US economy catches a cold, Canada's economy catches pneumonia. Although Canada has thus far not been affected by the current global financial mess, Canada will be feeling the pain in the not too distant future.
Also, when the US sneezes, Canada holds up a handkerchief.
Humbaba November 18th, 2008 1:24 pm
"I don't know about Mister Harper but if he keeps this up the Loonie is going to be a lame duck."
lol ... well put Humbaba
Prime Minister Harper is simply a Bush wannabe with a minority government up here in Canada. Our chief neo-con . (Bush lite)
Yeah that Harper dude is a real tool, now look at what they are lining up for Canada at Camp LPC, Bob Rae and Michael Ignatief the first a proven incompetent and the second a mole for the wrecking crew.
Jack Layton take a bow!
... and Dominic LeBlanc, who I'll probably vote for.
“Milton Friedman’s misfortune is that his policies have been tried.”
---John Kenneth Galbraith
Harper is an embarassment to Canada. He is the worst of all kinds of Canadians,...a wannabe Yankee.
It usually takes a year for things to trickle up from the USA. At the moment, the real estate market has stopped cold, nothing is selling. New developments are being put on hold across the country. People have stopped buying homes, and the construction industry is on the verge of collapse.
thanks George W Harper!
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
So why the hell did you people vote for this guy? You use paper ballots, it's not like he stole the election like Bush did twice. I thought Canadians had more sense but they seem to be getting stupid lately.
"In Tuesday's Oct.14th 2008) federal election, the Conservatives (Harper) logged 37.6 percent of the popular vote ahead of the Liberals with 26.2 percent, Elections Canada reported.
The socialist New Democratic Party logged 18.2 percent support and, although it only ran in Quebec, the separatist Bloc Quebecois garnered 10 percent of the vote. The Green Party attracted 6.8 percent of the popular vote but didn't manage to secure a seat in the 308-seat House."
As you can see the first past the post system is not good. Harper forms a government (minority) with only 37.6% of the popular vote. The good news is that the opposition (who are in the majority) can take this government down whenever it sees fit. (Vote of non-confidence.. generally on money bills)
Minority governments seem to be in vogue in this country where we don't seem to trust anyone with absolute legislative control. In a way a Prime Minister with a minority government is a lame duck from the get go. Or better stated, at times, a sitting duck.(lol) I tend to prefer minority governments to majority governments because this condition generally forces the Members of The House Commons to work together. In this situation, every vote counts.
As you can see from the numbers I posted above, 62% of the Canadian voting public did not vote for Prime Minister Harper but in a multi-party system the vote is split, in this case, over five political parties.
" thought Canadians had more sense but they seem to be getting stupid lately"
We reserve the right to be as stupid as anyone else whenever we so chose. (lol)
It is really hard to continue to watch our Harpie kneepad to Bush on all things related to oil and neoliberalism. I know that I was not an accomplice to his continuance as Canada's leader.
He makes me as sick to watch and hear talk as Bush does (both: very). I am glad that Obama is the pres-elect, but I don't expect that he will do much to change the direction in which the G-7, G-8 or G-20 go. These are all entrenched free marketeers who have forgotten that it is the people who keep the economies (and governments) going and that when there is not enough food on the table to feed their families, consumerism is gone and that all economies based on it (consumerism) and invisible money/goods are gone too.
Working with economically disadvantaged persons in my city, I am seeing more and more "middle class" workers coming in to use our services. If they can't afford food, how are they expected to keep the economy rolling? Just keep "bailing out" that sinking ship, Harper, to please your failed master, Bush: it's your own political grave you're digging.
Bring America Back !!!! TKU to the Toronto Star for pointing up that PM Harper is such a Bush Neocon supporter. !!
****Could we then amicably and in accord with good conservative standing, ask Harper and Ottowa for a simple Loan of about 800 or 900 Billion $$$$--to which we will gladly give premium dollar points to the Canadian dollars, rather than
the usual discount points.
****It seems before Harper's friend Bush gets out of town, his Neocon friends
and vast economic base seem to feel they are entitled to Bailouts and Golden parachutes in view of their service to Americans and our Nation !!
****Please Canadians, loan us these Billions, we sure could use the big bucks!
After all we let you guys play baseball, football, and hockey with us Yanks !!