Stephane Dion is making heavy weather of opposing Stephen Harper's repellant, police-state, Bush-loving, pro-North-American-Union minority government.
So here, strictly in the national interest, we offer a modest proposal on how Stephie can turn the tables on Stevie and take the smirk off Iggy's face at the same time.
First, and without delay, defeat the minority Tory government on a confidence motion and bring about a national election.
Second, notify the usual crowd of self-serving Liberal Party backers and funders -- the newspaper proprietors and broadcasters, the tax lawyers and accountants, the stockbrokers and investment advisors, the advertising agencies and communications consultants, the hotel owners and golf course operators of Shenanigan, Quebec, that they're all outa luck and should see what the Tories will do for them.
Then announce the following program.
(1) To end immediately, Canada's millitary role in Afghanistan.
(2) To implement Stevie Harper's broken promises for the defense of Canada's Arctic territories.
(3) To raise the basic personal exemption from income tax to $20,000.00, since no democratic government of a rich country should tax the incomes of working people in poverty.
(4) To set a flat tax of 10% on all other income with zero exemptions, and print the T1 General tax form on a post card.
(5) To put an end to the tiresome debate about Kyoto and climate change; the Soviet-style centrally directed Green Plans for caps and quotas on greenhouse gas emissions by automobiles, steel makers and oil producers; the pork-barrel schemes to enrich Ontario farmers with environmentally destructive subsidies for corn-based ethanol; the preposterous K-12 environmentalist propaganda.
All this to be achieved by the simple means of a carbon emissions tax at an initial rate of 1 cent per kilogram, rising yearly until Canada's total carbon emissions fall into line with Canada's international commitments.
(6) To introduce a capital tax of 0.20%, with a basic personal exemption of $500,000.00, the rate to increase yearly to a limit of 1% after four years, the revenue raised to be applied to the progressive elimination of the Federal income tax.
Clearly, like any normally intelligent person, if I gave this another ten minutes I could add a dozen other proposals that would improve the quality of life for most Canadians, while causing only trivial cost or inconvenience to the plutocratic elite that normally dictates public policy. A free press law, for example, which limited individual or corporate ownership to a single newspaper or a single regionally limited broadcasting license would be good, since it would create the possibility of a real democracy.
But politicians have short attention spans, and the six points enumerated above will undoubtedly suffice to send the Tories to oblivion and ensure Stephie Dion a decent term in office.
