North American politics mystify me!

North American politics continue to mystify me.
If either the Canadian or the US government had announced that they were going to nationalize some of the Canadian and American car manufacturers because it was good for the health of the country, everyone would have been up in arms a year ago. However, taking a controlling equity position in Chrysler and General Motors in 2009 has everyone blessing the government. The difference is that they paid to buy those corporations. It still remains nationalization.
The federal opposition political parties first complained that the government was not spending enough on stimulating the economy. Daily the federal opposition parties have been hammering the government that employment insurance has not been big enough nor the payments flowed fast enough.
In Ontario the Conservatives and the New Democrats have been on the heels of the McGinty Liberals to get them to act quicker to provide assistance to the automotive industry and Ontario’s ailing economy.
The truth comes out. The federal deficit is likely to exceed $50 billion up from the $37 billion projected in January. Jim Flaherty had committed that if it took more money to protect Canadians he was prepared to spend it.
Dwight Duncan, Ontario’s treasurer Monday announced that the Ontario deficit was to grow to $18.5 billion up by $4 billion from early projections.
Both the federal conservatives and the provincial liberals are saying much of the increase in deficit has come to save Chrysler and General Motors. And both parties pretty much doubt that they will ever see the money again.
Now the opposition parties in Ottawa and Ontario are claiming shock at the rising deficit. Isn’t amazing how they can both suck and blow at the same time.
I guess if you are the government, you are fiscally irresponsible if you spend too little in a recession and are equally irresponsible when you come back and spend more on people who are forced to take Unemployment Insurance during a recession.
It appears that across the world, every economist and finance minister who has had a crystal ball to predict the future have discovered that it is as accurate a forecast as a television that delivers nothing but snow.
Governments tend to believe that in good times you can’t spend money fast enough and saving for a rainy day has no purpose. And if they are not spending fast enough opposition parties complain.
Now in poor times, governments and opposition parties both believe you can’t spend less than you take in revenue and the bigger the deficit, the better everyone is for it.
And when the recession is over, politicians of all stripes will complain when the spigot that funded all those infrastructure projects in 2009-2010 is turned off passing all those costs back to municipalities and property owners.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher