Well this is refreshing news. Christy Clark's disapproval rating hits highest level. On the front page of today's Vancouver sun it claims that the B.C. Conservatives are 'cannibalizing' Liberals.
If you want to vote for a conservative, do so. Don't vote for a neo con like Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell. The ballooning debt they created within BC Hydro by ripping off consumers was outrageous. Cummins was first elected under the Reform Party banner in 1993. That's a good sign.
"I learned that the best way to get things done is to listen to what the voters are saying," he said Tuesday, "to stand up for what you believe in, and never back down on something you know is right."
In announcing his leadership bid, Cummins revealed one policy of his platform - he wants to see donations for political parties from corporations and unions banned in British Columbia. "If a party cannot raise money from the voters, it has no business representing them in the legislature," he said. That's refreshing.
"The choice between the Liberals and NDP is like a choice between airline food and hospital food," Cummins said. "We can do better. British Colombians deserve a choice they are actually excited to vote for, not two parties they have to hold their noses to support." Feisty too. I like him.
I do want to be clear about a few stereotypes though. Adrian Dix is indeed a hard worker. He does care about crime. Mike Farnsworth as AG would definitely be a breath of fresh air. The liberals keep saying the NDP will tax and spend us into a black hole yet they have been the biggest offenders. John Cummins opposes the gas tax.
When people complain that the NDP get support from the big unions I have to ask what unions? The nurses have a union, the teachers have a Union and CUPE have a union. All the others are fractured splinters of what they once were. The big unions don't exist any more. Now it's all about the big corporations ripping off the consumers. It's getting to the point that it's effecting our sovereignty.
I had a friend who was very involved with the federal reform party and then the provincial reform party. I asked him what the status of the party was and he bowed his head and said all we did is split the vote and let the NDP get elected. We're stuck with the liberals. Well I'm thrilled to finally hear we're not stuck with the liberals any more.
"When people complain that the NDP get support from the big unions I have to ask what unions? The nurses have a union, the teachers have a Union and CUPE have a union."
ReplyDeleteThose are the union's they're talking about when they say that.
No doubt but there used to be a whole lot of unions that represented a whole lot of workers. Now the rest of the unions are absolutely powerless and can do nothing which is quite sad. When the NDP are elected, there really isn't a whole lot they can do for a union like the neo cons do for the banks or wall street. We have anti scab legislation in BC. Or at least we did. I think that was one thing the Campbell government was afraid to change. It's not like the NDP are giving the unions millions of dollars in bail outs like Harper gave the banks when he lied and said he didn't.
ReplyDelete"That was one thing the Campbell government was afraid to change."
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right about that....
"It's not like the NDP are giving the unions millions of dollars in bail outs like Harper gave the banks when he lied and said he didn't."
Agreed. More like the named unions giving political contributions to protect their positions, the money going the other direction. Of course if Cummins has his way, that will be over with. And I would expect to see the unions resist that.
I can see unions resist it as a control of their freedom of affiliation yet I think the idea has merit. The whole problem in the States is the huge amount of financial lobbying the large corporations do. A small number of people buy a large percentage of the vote. I can see the banks and corporations resisting John Cummins proposal more passionately than the unions. I do think it would be good to balance representation. Yet it would mean even more political spam for contributions.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but Christy! is anything but a 'neo-con', she is a lifelong Federal Liberal, she rules from the left, posing as rightist. Those are facts, and Campbell, after his first term, was anything but conservative in his politics. He was an embarassment to anyone with common sense. Carbon tax? Multiple enviro taxes and regulations? That's leftist territory. Truth be told, he was all over the map, ending up pleasing nobody. Good riddance. Now if Christy could take a quick exit, all will be well, her experiment has been a massive failure (and predictable)
ReplyDeleteNyet: Sorry, but Christy Clark is very much a neo con. A neo con does not mean a conservative. It means a con artist who at times makes a conservative sales pitch but their actions are very far from lowering taxes and balancing budgets. All of her MLAs in her party were Gordon Campbell's MLAs. It's the same party. People are finally starting to be able to see that and see through Christy Clark. Who, I might add, was tied to the BC Rail scandal. It wasn't just her brother.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a "liberal" government as in Pierre Trudeau, was supposed to be the best of both worlds i.e. the best of left and the right. Not the worst from both worlds. I.E. fiscal irresponsibility and ruthless cuts to seniors, education and the disabled while lining their own pockets with obscene pay raises and gold plagued pensions. Ironic how Christy Clark's neo con claims that a carbon tax is a left wing idea when the NDP and the BC Conservatives both oppose it.
Man, we gotta get rid of this left vs. right BS, it's just a way to "rope-a-dope" us.
ReplyDeleteSmall government vs. Large, more government control of people's lives vs. less, more taxes vs. less, more freedom vs. less, more scams and theft vs. zero tolerance for it.
I agree we have to look beyond the left and right stereotypes and look at the issues. Less government is good, except when it comes to deregulating the banks. Under the false guise of reducing red tape to help business prosper, they created a climate ripe for criminals to exploit. The same thing with excessive privatization. Privatizing a tax paying dividend producing public corporation just to hide from public accountability wll reduce tax revenue and increase fraud.
ReplyDeleteGot all that covered.... ;-)
ReplyDelete"More scams and theft vs. zero tolerance for it".
Very good. A Christmas consensus. Imagine that.
ReplyDelete