Festivus Airing of Grievances: Harper

Happy Festivus.

I have grievances to air about Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Stephen Harper has become just like his predecessors.

On foreign policy, he has lost the moral foreground leaving a suspected Canadian terrorist, Khadr, to the U.S. and their suspect instruments much as his predecessors left Maher Arar to the U.S. and their rendition policies. On Afghanistan, Harper wants to abandon the people to whom we have made an implicit moral commitment just as the Liberals want.

On the economy, Harper has become the big spender that Mulroney was. Harper wants to bail out those who failed to run their companies well with the tax dollars of ordinary citizens and companies that did manage themselves well.

On the environment, Harper's baby steps are only a little better than those of Chretien and Martin.

On democratic reform, Harper will play political tricks (prorogation) to save his own skin and has not ushered in an era of multi-partisanship and free votes. He has recently turned his back on parliamentary vetting of judicial nominees by appointing a justice to the supreme court without such vetting.

I am aggrieved at Stephen Harper and his failure to bring real change to Canada. I expected and voted for better.

Now for the feat of strength between Harper and Ignatieff.

Vaulting Ambition, Which O'erleaps Itself

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on the other. - William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Health care reform has always been extraordinarily difficult in the U.S.—we saw how Bill Clinton fared with it. Big reforms in general are difficult: Bush never managed to address social security reform, tax code reform, or immigration reform which were three of his signature policies over 8 years as President, most of which he enjoyed majorities in Congress. Big change does not come easy.

Barack Obama, invoking 1932, is laying out an economic rescue plan that incorporates may huge reforms: health care, education, energy policy, a major shift to addressing global warming, a massive stimulus plan on the order of $500 billion or more on top of the current economic rescue plan, and a bailout of the auto industry with a new omnipotent car czar to single-handedly refashion the American auto sector. A bold agenda, indeed.

But is it too bold? Is Obama trying to do too much too quickly? Can he really accomplish so many improbable reforms simultaneously when there's little money in the economy and so much more to be spent on Wall Street, stimulus, and the auto industry? Can an car czar really rebuild the auto industry—something a diverse group of business people have thusfar failed to do—while czars for everything else (drug war, counterterrorism, etc.) have not been successful?

Most of all, can one man, Barack Obama, really accomplish so much so quickly? Or has he let his ambitious dreams go unchecked?

Hurtling Forward, But What is the Destination?

With the last of Michael Ignatieff's rivals dropping out of the race, he is now all but certain to ascend to the leadership. The Liberal Party will, it is widely agreed, now have a stronger and more credible leader to take on Harper come this fall. Instead of waiting until May, the Liberals are ready to rebuild now.

But what are they going to build?