Christopher Hitchens Tribute Debate with Tony Blair

Most of you know by now that Christopher Hitchens died today, too young.
The Munk Debates have made available the video of the debate between Hitchens and Blair for the next 72 hours.
HERE.

AGW - Running out of time and support.....

oops

Have you ever been so engrossed in your work that you are oblivious of your surroundings? It frequently happens to Wile E. Coyote of Looney Tunes fame. Poor coyote doesn't realize he is not supported by anything until, well....until he realizes it, then it's too late.

So it is with the people that brought you the global warming catastrophe and how to prevent it, the IPCC. Their recent meeting in Durban South Africa is over now, and to hear and read their reports, the planet has been saved for our children and so on. Well, if I were them, I'd say its time to look around for their support if they can find it.

Last year at Cancun, that climate conference "kicked-the-Kyoto-can-down-the-road." This year, the Kyoto Accord is being abandoned, kicked out, as it should be. Canada, an early adopter of Kyoto back in 1997, is one of the first to dump it, saying that it would do so this week. Russia and Japan are also not renewing their Kyoto vows. The US was never part of it, and China and India were excused because they had a "note" that stated they are underdeveloped. Right. Who's left? Europe, and they are in good shape, aren't they?

In fact climate change has become money exchange, and really it has always been just that. The battle to save the world from impending climate doom has really morphed into the something the South African hosts called, "Climate justice." And Climate justice is a euphemism for taking from rich countries (that produce wealth and a byproduct called CO2) and giving to poor countries (that can only produce shit apparently). Giving how much? How about $100-Billion a year to expiate our guilt for working hard, establishing good trade rules, and having a descent standard of living. That's right, the whole Durban thing ended with an agreement to keep the Kyoto idea alive by "promising to fund a Green Climate Fund to the tune of $100-billion per year as a farewell gift ............to appease their own citizens."

I am not appeased, but unfortunately Canada has signed on to this fund. The good news is that few agreements of this sort are ever honoured. This article in the National Post suggests that the $10 Billion fund to help save Haiti, (remember that?) is still owing. The rest of the "deal" signed in Durban pushes everything significant off to 2020. What is saved for now, is the next conference in Qatar. Most of today's politicians will be long gone by 2020, and if nothing significant happens that can be pinned onto climate change or global warming, well, the rest of us will forget about it too. Can't happen soon enough.

When does the war on terror end?

.......and how will we know?

Unintended Consequences - Schiff Radio

Why does post-secondary education cost so much? Why is poverty increasing if it is always being so actively fought? Why is there so much unemployment despite so many attempts to reduce it? Why do disabled people have difficulty finding jobs?

There is a common thread here, and Peter Schiff does a pretty good job of explaining the 'whys'. Have a look....

Jolly Green Gouging

There are few things more annoying than being billed for services or items never ordered or never wanted. The hassle of calling the biller, claiming ignorance of the charge, then asking for it to be removed always feels a bit like claiming innocence in a courtroom.

This past week consumers of electricity and taxpayers in Ontario, were told by the provicial Auditor General, that they are being gouged for services that very few of them would have chosen voluntarily. Unfortunately, there is no biller to call, the corrective 'fix' will not be simple, and the rip-off of Ontario's consumers will continue into the foreseeable future.

"Billions of dollars of new wind and solar power projects were approved without many of the usual planning, regulatory, and oversight processes....While this helped these projects get off the ground quickly, their high cost will add significantly to rate-payers’ electricity bills in the future.” That is from a media release by Auditor General Jim McCarter from his 2011 Annual Report.

In another media release, Jim McCarter points out that:“Because we all use electricity, and because the sector operates in a near monopoly, effective oversight...........has historically been crucial.” No kidding, and of course the Auditor's office is the last resort for oversight. You might wonder why the haste in getting these projects going, why skip over planning, consultation etc.? Never does McCarter suggest a reason for the haste and lack of oversight, because at the heart of his report he really does support and depend the government.

So what drives the decision making of the Ontario government because they will ignore this report? I suggest you spend a few moments listening and watching this short video. In it, David Suzuki hero of environmental concerns, clues us all in to whom he has been talking to about Ontario's new green energy future. What's most interesting is Suzuki's concern for sound economics, and how he uses Europe as the model for our green future; the video is slightly dated. Well, we all can see what's happening to Europe today, and the McGuinty Liberals are doing the same sorts of things right here in Ontario.

McGuinty and his Liberals have swallowed hook-line-and-sinker, the idea that humans are the cause of global warming, and Ontarian's in particular. Under the direction of the Premier, cheap coal fired thermal generation stations have been, and are being closed across the province and replaced with costly and uneconomic wind and solar power. Programs like the FIT and MicroFIT are being used to prop up these alternative sources of energy, all at huge cost, according to the Auditor's report.

In an editorial this week, the National Post pulls no punches in lambasting the McGuinty Liberals for its failed energy and environmental policy. Libertarians are frequently criticized for their ideological bias in politics and economics. This of course is a bit like criticizing a tiger for eating meat. No one in the media dares call the Liberal government ideologically driven, no-siree, but of course it is no less ideological than are Libertarians. Spend a few minutes listening to McGuinty's mentor Suzuki, then tell me there is no ideology there.

Strangely, on the same day as the Auditor's report, our Federal Conservative government has decided that it will not renew its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol. Ontario seems to be going one way, while the Feds are going the other. Why is Ontario being burdened with huge costs from a monopoly service determined to cut carbon emissions, while the rest of the country seems to be ignoring the issue? Why are the citizens of Ontario being gouged in their monthly electricity bills? Why has McGuinty not yet resigned for incompetence? It's not too late.  

Auditor-General vs. Government / Wolf vs. Sheepdog

The 2011 Ontario Auditor-General's annual report was released yesterday, two months after the Oct. 6th election when it actually might have had an impact on government. The timing of this report also serves government interests, because Christmas is coming, and soon the report details will be overwhelmed by good cheer and tinsel, and then ultimately ignored. Nothing will kill a conversation at a Holiday Party quicker than: "So what did-ja think of the A-G's report, eh?"

The report itself is written by bureaucrats whose job depends entirely on the foibles of big government. Sure the Auditor and staff must have some integrity, because their report is invariably critical of government and its excesses, and there is so much to be critical about. But it's really just a game. The actors in this report reminds me of the Looney Tunes cartoon where the apparent arch rivals, Ralph E. Wolf, and Sam Sheepdog, punch-in every morning at the same time-clock with friendly greetings. While on the job they are brutal adversaries, but outside of work they actually live together. So it is with the Office of the Auditor-General and its partner the Government, both are sucking from the same taxpayer's teat. To push my imperfect metaphor to its limits, someone is getting fleeced, can you guess who?

 

The report itself is 460 pages long, and is replete with the major boondoggles that the Ontario Provincial government considers part of its mandate and purview. Government waste and ineptitude are everywhere, and people like me, have ammunition for months and months. Where to start? Here are a few issues from the report:

-  Ontario's electricity monopoly, prices have risen 65% since 1999 and are expected to rise another 46% over the next five years,

- Billions of dollars of wind and solar power projects were approved without the usual planning, regulatory, and oversight processes

- Ontario drivers, particularly those in the GTA, generally pay much higher auto insurance premiums than other Canadian drivers

- Ontarians have been paying a special charge to retire an electricity debt, though the remaining debt is never disclosed

- LCBO is one of the biggest purchasers of alcohol in the world is more concerned with restricting the use of alcohol than getting the best price for Ontarians

As critical of the government as these issues seem to be, the Auditor offers pathetically poor suggestions to repair to the problems, always suggesting that somehow government can become more efficient, more responsible, more accountable, and never considering that the size and scope of government itself, is the problem. Why would he? He is part of the game and he will punch-in next year at the same time, happy in his work.

We are left with a report, which I believe is truthful, that should send citizens running into the streets screaming because they are literally being robbed, but that won't happen, not yet anyway. I will have more to say. 

One hundred watt ban - Stossel

ReasonTV Nanny of the Month - November 2011

Capitalism is required to pay for a communist government

"All governments are communist....... What I mean is that all governments expect to be recompensed, not according to the value of their contributions to society, but according to their needs." That's George Jonas in an op-ed piece in today's National Post called The McGuinty paradox. Mr. Jonas goes on to explain: "Wealth that hasn't been created cannot be redistributed, no matter how much a government needs it."  

Of course like all Western governments, in order to stay in power for as long as possible, they buy your votes, they spend "future wealth," wealth that has yet to be created. They assume, things will go merrily on as before, and their over spending will somehow have no effect on the wealth creators.  

As Mr. Jonas points out, the McGuinty Liberals in Ontario are a quarter-trillion dollars in the hole. How can that continue without consequences? Will they be held to account? Most importantly, how did we let that happen and can we prevent it from happening again?

Mr. Jonas doesn't say it, but the implication is there, its time to change the way we do government. Government should be there to protect citizens, not to protect the jobs of politicians.

Canada's bloated health care monopoly

"When countries with smaller workforces accomplish what those with larger ones struggle to achieve, we need to know the reasons," says Matthew Lister in a National Post article Health care needs to get lean. Mr. Lister was comparing the ratio of healthcare administration employees (federal and provincial) in Canada to that in Germany. It turns out that the Germans are remarkably more efficient. One healthcare administrative employee services about 1,415 Canadians. In Germany, with a similar system organized in states (provinces in Canada), it takes one healthcare administrative employee to service 15,545 Germans, more than ten times the Canadian ratio! Furthermore Mr. Lister compared Berlin's State healthcare employees to Alberta's, both have about the same population. Berlin's State has 104 employees compared to Alberta's Ministry of Health with 708 people. Yes, Alberta is huge in comparison to the German State, but it's the populations that are similar and that use the healthcare - not even close.

The chart above is from a comparison of healthcare outcomes for seven OECD countries. Canada is 6th, and Germany is 4th, but Canada is dead last in quality care, effective care and timeliness of care, while spending more money per capita.

Canadians most frequently compare our healthcare system to that of the US. According to the chart, they are similar, but only in outcomes. Canada is 6th, the US is 7th, but look at the difference in per capita cost. According to that chart, US costs are almost double Canada's per capita cost. Based on that, Canada should properly be compared to the other countries because the systems are more similar and so are the costs.

An article by Tom Blackwell in the Post, Look past U.S. for health-care fixes: study, agrees that the US is not a good comparison for us. The other countries have similar systems to Canada's, but with much better outcomes and similar or lower costs. Why?

The answer seems to be related to competition and choice in these other countries, ideas that even last week were squelched by the McGuinty Liberals in Ontario. These countries haved shifted into "a 'consumer-driven' culture that gives patients more choice in medical services." Patients are allowed to pick and choose the services they get through private health insurance companies.

One of the doctors involved in the study said: "What I felt was quite striking across a number of these other countries is the role of consumer choice. As soon as consumers start to select and choose ... then you introduce into those systems some element of competition. Then the providers for those services suddenly need to respond to consumer demand, or lack thereof."

Of course this would be a start, a move in the right direction toward a truly competitive healthcare system. But can it really happen? An article in the Post by Lorne Gunter: We're all addicted to big government, suggests just how difficult this might be.

Mr. Gunter examines a StatsCan report that says:"Fully one-in-five Canadians (20.2%) now work for one level of government or another, for a Crown corporation or for a publicly funded institution such as a school or hospital. That’s more than 3.6 million out of a total of about 18 million working Canadians." Add to that families, and extended families, and people that depend on government largess (from taxpayers), and you start to see how many votes are cast in favour of big government. It's a bit depressing. "We’ve all got our ladles in the pot, which is why it is so difficult to find a constituency for broad cuts to government and significant tax reduction," says Mr. Gunter.