[Donny_Brasco]

A few incidents of late have had me thinking. A propane blast in Toronto..a sub-prime crisis in the states. What are the similarities?
1) Conservatives calling for less government interference in business affairs
2) Preventable disasters because of lack of government involvement in regulation of the respective industries noted above – expecting the industries to regulate themselves...
3) Government bail outs and expenditures because of a lack of oversight.
4) Cons blaming the government for their inability to provide adequate protection to prevent these disasters.

What is next? I read the thread about the Natives in Alberta protesting the oil sands in Alberta, as the lakes and rivers and land is being poisoned. All the conservatives are laughing at the Indians and making fun of them...he he ha.
But we all know in 20 or 30 years when northern Alberta has been stripped and exploited and poisoned and ruined – uninhabitable...the cons will be crying that the government is ineffective and responsible for the huge man made ecological disaster .
And then we will all pitch in and cover the costs of repairing the damage this “less government more business” policy has created. In the meantime the companies who made millions and billions raping the land will be long gone with their wallets fat leaving the rest of us to clean up.

Some of us are smart enough to know building propane facilities right beside a residential neighbourhood is not a good idea. Some of us knew that letting the market regulate itself in the sub prime mortgage industry in the states was a bad idea. Conservatives will blame the government for being ineffective and inefficient for letting these things happen, when in fact they were the very people chopping the legs off of any attempt by the government to successfully regulate these practices. And they will take the money doled out to help the people affected by these disasters and again argue that government oversight is ineffective because they let these things happen.

[BartSimpson]

Donny, put the bottle down and go to bed. It's late.

[ManifestDestiny]

Donny_Brasco wrote:

What is next? I read the thread about the Natives in Alberta protesting the oil sands in Alberta, as the lakes and rivers and land is being poisoned. All the conservatives are laughing at the Indians and making fun of them...he he ha.
But we all know in 20 or 30 years when northern Alberta has been stripped and exploited and poisoned and ruined – uninhabitable...the cons will be crying that the government is ineffective and responsible for the huge man made ecological disaster .

Are these the same areas that should have been wiped out by acid rain?

And personly I have yet to recover from Y2K.

[martin14]

So you would like more government and less business then ?

[ManifestDestiny]

martin14 wrote:

So you would like more government and less business then ?

Yeah kinda like China. They are doing a great job with polution

[hurley_108]

Donny, you're exactly right. That's exactly how it happens. The government gives an inch, industry takes a mile, and the people suffer.

[mtbr]

hurley_108 wrote:

Donny, you're exactly right. That's exactly how it happens. The government gives an inch, industry takes a mile, and the people suffer.

Another Albertan who's suffering because of big bad industry.

[Donny_Brasco]

martin14 wrote:

So you would like more government and less business then ?

Quote:

The U.S. subprime and credit crisis has cost the world over $7.7 trillion, says a report released yesterday by Bank of America. The bank estimates 14.7% of the world’s market capitalization has simply vanished since peaking in October

$7,700,000,000,000 less business?

Don't you see the irony? Arguing for less government and more business has opposite effect. When all CEO's care about it and profit/loss at the end of the year how can we expect them to look after the best interests of the industry, environment or regular citizens. Why would a company make less money voluntarily following industry suggested regulations when other companies reap the rewards of operating without regulation in the same industry?

[OPP]

Excellent post, Donny. That's right on the nail.

[Streaker]

Good stuff. I agree wholeheartedly.

[Reverend Blair]

Yup, you nailed it Donny. It's interesting that Harper and Flaherty are preaching less regulation even as their doctrine is leading to a major economic meltdown in the US.

[ridenrain]

Global cooling/warming/Y2k/climate change...
Pine beetle..
Trains crashing..
Tsunamis..
Bad movies...



It's like a roll call for stupidsville.

[RUEZ]

All we've really learned is that over regulation isn't working either.

[Donny_Brasco]

Quote:

DEC 15, 2006 - Profit at Bear Stearns rose 38 percent to a record $562.8 million, and Lehman's earnings rose 22 percent to $1 billion in the quarter ended Nov. 30. While both beat analysts' estimates, they lagged behind Goldman Sachs Group, which reported a better- than-expected 93 percent jump in quarterly profit this week.

I wonder how many more trillion dollars vanished again today?

And how much taxpayer money is going to bail out those fat cats with gold plated signage in their lobbies?

Less the 24 months ago record profits. Today, bankrupt.

Capitalism at its finest.

I wonder how them right wing pro-business anti-regulation hypocrites are going to pin this one on us socialists.

Oh, I forgot, they can't fucking read anything that is not written by Fox.

Didn't some guy on Fox just tell the Obama biographer that the economy was is great shape? lol

[PluggyRug]

[quote="Donny_Brasco
I wonder how them right wing pro-business anti-regulation hypocrites are going to pin this one on us socialists.
[/quote]

If the left wing anti-business pro-regulation hypocrites could convince the electorate their policies are correct we would have had an NDP government forever.

What a relief, saner minds prevail.