As IF Times

Source: Campaign shifts as Harper looks to protect seats in Ontario | Election 2015

The majority of Americans can be forgiven if they are unaware that an important Federal election is being held in the nation just to the north of them.  Given all of the media hoopla surrounding their own votes just over a year away, the activities in Canada likely don’t register on the GAF meter.

Nonetheless, it is important to Canadians and the results will ultimately affect Americans as well.  Anyone paying attention to the candidates will be struck by the stark similarity to the elections held in the U.S. some years ago.  Presently, the resurgent Liberal party is being led by the scion of a former Prime Minister whose party was summarily tossed out for years of irresponsible fiscal policies.  Justin Trudeau has precisely zero experience in managing or running any kind of enterprise.  He has exhibited all the charm of a rhetorical peacock supported by an army of enablers without regard to his obvious lack of tangible vision.  His position in the Liberal Party is solely due to his famous, or infamous last name.

Didn’t the Americans do the hope and change experiment for the last 7 years…with a person also lacking any life experience beyond academia and  wholly disconnected to reality ( as is now more and more evident ) by marshaling an army of ideological supporters?  How is that working out?

Now, this same campaign slogan for “change” is being purloined for Canadian use since it worked so well in the U.S. If you had the unfortunate occasion to listen to any of Justin’s  speeches, you’d swear you were attending a stand up comedy show as he parodies the rhetoric used by campaigners for hundreds of years everywhere.  It’s as if he was reading from the Campaigning 101 textbook of tired clichés.  Change…for the middle class…lower taxes…unite the people…more jobs…zzzzz.  It’s embarrassingly jejune.

But he’s just one guy.  The alarming aspect is that he’s being supported (apparently) by an enormous segment of the Canadian population who identify with his rhetoric.   The fact that Canada has been singularly an island of stability economically, socially and culturally in the world for the past decade is too much for people to take.  Far too dull and too Canadian.  Let’s have racial and religious strife, militant labor discord, soaring debt and a musical chairs style of government as they do in more interesting nations such as Italy or Greece.

With only a week to go before the formal vote, Trudeau has yet to play his big ace card.  Like the American president, he will reveal his true ability to lead by….speaking on Global Warming!

Canadians are being lured by the siren call of change from a position that is the envy of 99% of the world’s nations.  It’s like trading Tom Brady away for a guy with a better signal calling voice.  Maybe Trudeau isn’t the delusional one.

link: Trump driving migrant debate among GOP field – The Washington Post

Donald Trump continues to dominate the news headlines with his populist rants about what ails the nation.  As noted in earlier pieces, the fact that these numerous festering issues have been brought forward for public discussion is a refreshing change from the PC sensibilities of both political parties and the media in general.

Until Trump, public figures were unable to speak candidly about numerous social and economic topics for fear of negative media characterization.  It’s as if someone had imposed an omerta edict, banning honest discussions on key social issues that could be spoken of in polite company.  Immigration, unemployment and the general fecklessness of the  sitting administration and congress are issues which affect most every citizen. Many likely feel that the America they’ve known is disappearing because of problems created by ill conceived policies.  Until Trump, no one had the cojones to talk about solutions for them in blunt unvarnished terms.  Indeed, at this point in the election process, the combatants appear to be less Republicans vs Democrats and more of the people vs Washington elites.  Trump’s great feat is that he’s able to discern that people hate all politicians,  tapping into that antipathy to become the de-facto spokesman for the silent majority.  Imagine that, Trump speaking for the common man!

Many of his proposed solutions resonate with the average guy since they seem to have some basis of common sense.  Building a wall to protect the southern border may have populist appeal, but we’re not sure if he can do that without hiring low cost Mexican workers.  Union labor rates would cripple the project.  On that note, one of Trump’s other populist notions is to bring back jobs from China.  Hmm…not sure he’s thought this one through.

Over the past few generations, the manufacture and fabrication of virtually all consumer goods has been ceded to China.  Why? Because workers there are cheap, plain and simple.  The result is that the west has grown accustomed to cheap clothes, cheap electronics, cheap iPhones, cheap furniture, even cheap rocks.  So now, that’s Americans’ favorite price point, cheap. But now, let’s say we could mandate that companies use only domestic labor for manufacturing.  That means that the price of everything skyrockets.  Wal Mart would go bust.  So would Costco.  No more buying one suit, getting 3 free at Joseph.A.Banks.

What Trump likely knows and is not revealing is that the real way to rebuild wealth in the west is not to bring back low wage jobs. How much can you pay someone to  put the caps on toothpaste? It’s only by dismantling the obstacles and regulations and taxation constraints that stymie business formation and growth that wealth creation can happen.  The villains aren’t in China or Mexico.  The guys with the twirly mustaches sit in government offices in state and federal capitols in the USA!  If Trump doesn’t make that point clear, then he is catering to populist sensibilities….like the politicians he claims to loathe.

Still, Trump is the right man at the right time. The pendulum of political correctness and progressive policies has swung so far to the left that a catalyst was needed to swing it back.  Trump is like chemo therapy for a cancer patient; strong medicine for a severe ailment.