U.S. Neo-Con calls for revenue-neutral gasoline tax

I can't resist bringing attention to this article appearing next week in the neo-conservative journal, "The Weekly Standard". Columnist Charles Krauthammer calls for a "net-zero gas tax", in a rather detailed piece subtitled, "a once-in-a-generation chance". It's ironic, but utterly unsurprising to me, how neo-conservatives (albeit thinking neo-cons) are favouring a policy so close to what Stephen Harper and his supporters tried so hard to trash (Stéphane Dion's Green Shift) this past summer in Canada and during the Canadian election campaign.

When conservatives, liberals, economists, and environmentalists are all pushing for the same thing, you gotta believe there's some validity to it.

Update Dec. 29, 2008: James Hansen calls on Obama to implement a revenue neutral carbon tax at Guardian.co.uk
Update Jan 1, 2009: Financial Times of London uses its first issue of the new year to call on Obama to implement a revenue-neutral carbon tax.
Update Jan 1, 2009: Whoa, so does the Boston Globe in its New Year's wishes.
And even this from an AP story today:

Charles Whittington, chairman of the American Trucking Associations, which supports a fuel tax increase as long as the money goes to highway projects, said Congress may decide to disguise a fuel tax hike as a surcharge to combat climate change.

Transportation is responsible for about a third of all U.S. carbon emissions created by burning fossil fuels. Traffic congestion wastes an estimated 2.9 billion gallons of fuel a year. Less congestion would reduce greenhouse gases and dependence on foreign oil.

"Instead of calling it a gas tax, call it a carbon tax," Whittington said. "As long as we label it as something else we may have the momentum and acceptance to move forward."

Wow - this coming from truckers, the same people who, in Canada, opposed the Green Shift, even with some special provisions for the industry.

One idea for economic growth: fight spam

I'm going to talk about spam. Yes, email. But first a little background:

To get out of this recession, one of the things we need to do is find worthwhile investments. It's only half a strategy for the government to try to stimulate the economy by spending money. If you don't do anything productive with that stimulus money you'll just end up creating inflation down the road. A conservative commentator suggested reducing income taxes to get us out of recession. My reply to that is the same. If there aren't any good investments, people who have income will just hold on to the extra money. No jobs will be created, no investments will be made. That's what's happening right now. Prices are falling. US treasury bills were recently auctioned at 0% interest!

(I'm not saying that the government should not spend until a good investment is identified. Obviously we have to help out families where, say, a job has been lost)

So, let's look for riches that can be unlocked. In history, the availability of new resources such as land, energy sources, technology, or trade opportunities were a source of economic growth. Where is the next big opportunity? I'm not sure, but here is a small one.

Cisco recently put out their 2008 Annual Security Report. They find that spam accounts for 200 billion messages a day, about 90% of all email messages. An enormous amount of time and infrastructure is wasted because of spam.

That's a store of value that can be unlocked, and can serve as a magnet for investment. I'd recommend fighting spam (e.g. figuring out how to implement a charge, say, of 0.1 cents per message) as a worthwhile opportunity to create economic growth. If we can put together a hundred of these ideas, perhaps we'd have a reasonable plan for spending our way out of this recession.

Now, the City of Kingston, Ontario spends $300 million a year on energy. That's $300 million that leaves the Kingston economy every year. Perhaps there's some value to be unlocked there...

Ten weeks later...

Ten weeks ago we read this during the election campaign:

The Conservative official, who refused to speak on the record during a conference call with journalists, accused Liberal leader Stephane Dion of "fear-mongering around the economy for his political gain."

The opposition leaders are "cheering for a recession," the Conservative official charged.

and this

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper accused his Liberal opponent of cheering for a recession as he notched up his appeal for a majority government to run the economy his way.

I've already blogged about how listening to the signals the financial markets are giving is not fear-mongering. Stéphane Dion was willing to listen. Now, long after the signals started flashing red, we have this admission

Stephen Harper has delivered his bleakest forecast yet for the Canadian economy, warning yesterday the future is increasingly hard to read and conceding the possibility of a depression.

"The truth is, I've never seen such uncertainty in terms of looking forward to the future," the Prime Minister told CTV News in Halifax.

"I'm very worried about the Canadian economy."

Get ready for a sweetheart Conservative budget next month!

When Joseph McCarthy took on the U.S. Army...

... it was the beginning of the end.

Here is a letter to the editor that appeared in the Kingston Whig Standard this morning:

Every time I hear about another of our young soldiers being killed in Afghanistan, it breaks my heart. I am so grateful to the young men and women fighting on our behalf to uphold the way of life many of us take for granted. I am also grateful to the families that have raised such dedicated soldiers, and to the wives, husbands and children they leave behind to fight on the side of freedom.

It is mainly for this reason, but certainly not only for this reason, that I am appalled at the way the Canadian opposition in Parliament is trying to take over leadership of Canada.

To unseat the government by way of a coalition is to throw mud in the face of democracy - the same democracy that these young people are dying to protect. It is, therefore, also a slap in the face to the soldiers and their families if we let this happen.

We, as Canadians -regardless of which party we voted for in the recent election -must stand up and fight for all that our votes stand for: freedom, democracy and the right to choose how we live our lives. Don't let the loss of 100 Canadian soldiers be in vain.

Laurie Campbell

and here is my letter to the editor in reply (it could use some more work but I don't have a lot of time!):

Dear Editor,

It was disturbing to see the letter from a reader (Coalition scheme is anti-democratic, December 12, 2008) who showed disrespect for our courageous soldiers in Afghanistan by attempting to use them as pawns to advance her political views, and in particular to misrepresent our Westminster system of government. It is one thing to support the political party forming the government in parliament. It is quite another to accuse elected opposition MPs of being anti-democratic and un-patriotic, as the letter writer, certain members of parliament, and a parade of other editorialists have done. How much longer should we allow these people to damage our public institutions? Perhaps it is time to ask them the question, "You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?"

Kingston Liberals/NDP/Greens continue to meet

Following up on a rapidly organized and successful town hall (literally) meeting last weekend in Kingston, Ontario, members of the Kingston and the Islands Liberal Party, New Democratic Party and Green Party met again tonight to discuss how to work together over the next seven weeks (and beyond) to promote the proposed coalition government.

What is most amazing is how well we get along and how smoothly we have worked together (I'll admit I was ready to throttle the NDP over a couple of issues during the recent federal election campaign). Hats off to Mr. Harper and the Conservatives.

Stay tuned for more developments...

Progressive Coalition Event at City Hall, Kingston, Ontario

Progressive Coalition to Host Meet and Greet in Kingston

This Sunday, December 7 at 2:00PM, Kingston's Memorial Hall will play host to a 'Meet and Greet' in support of the proposed Progressive Coalition Government.

The event has been coordinated by representatives from Kingston's Liberals, Greens and New Democrats, and is supported by the Kingston District Labour Council. It is aimed at helping concerned Kingston and area residents to better understand what is behind the current political crisis and how we can best work together to resolve it. Speakers will include prominent local political figures and an expert on Canadian constitutional practice.

According to Kim McFarlane, President of the local federal Liberal Association, “Only a week ago, all parties signalled their willingness to work with the current Government by accepting its Speech from the Throne. Rather than building on that, Mr. Harper responded with destructive partisanship that irretrievably cost him the confidence of the House. Under our parliamentary system, that requires his resignation. The Coalition Accord represents a sincere effort on the part of the majority of the members of the House of Commons to make this Parliament work for Canadians to deal with the real problem, which is the state of the economy. We fail to understand how Mr. Harper’s move to shut down Parliament for almost two months will help those Canadians facing job losses.”

Eric Walton, the Green candidate in the last election added that “by proroguing Parliament primarily for reasons of self-preservation, Stephen Harper has deeply damaged Canada's democratic system and for that reason alone should be voted out at the first opportunity.”

The local gathering has been designed with a focus on socialization, education, and community spirit. The event is open to the public and refreshments will be provided.

“We all agreed that rather than holding another rally, the wide-range of political support in Kingston might be best-served by a more social event where we can get to know one another and commit to working together on a local level.“ said Daniel Beals, President of the local New Democrats.

It should be noted that Kingston has a history as a site of unification and cooperation, having hosted the first meeting of the Parliament of the united Upper and Lower Canadas on June 13, 1841.

"Now is not the time for political posturing. In the face of an economic crisis it is crucial that we work together for the good of all Canadians. Nobody can question the sincerity that underlines the Coalition Accord." said Debi Wells, President of the Kingston District Labour Council.

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Inquiries: Ron Hartling

Policy Director - Kingston & the Islands Federal Liberal Association

613-384-5710

Daniel Beals

President - Kingston & the Islands New Democrats

613-549-8399 (h)

Eric Walton

International Affairs Critic - Green Party Shadow Cabinet

613-542-9365

Debi Wells

President - Kingston District Labour Council

613-548-4952

A smart comment about Stéphane Dion in the Globe and Mail

Here is a smart comment by one "d s from Canada" in the Globe and Mail.

Let me also add that Stéphane Dion is the go to guy who can make sure some good policies are worked out and ready to go when Canada's new coalition government begins.

Who should lead the coalition?

I don't pretend to know what's going on. I just read the news, cautiously. So when I read these lines from the CBC from a report by Keith Boag on the details of the coalition agreement:

"The real obstacle to this deal going through is still within the Liberal party," Boag said, adding the deal is being negotiated by Dion, who believes he has the right to be prime minister.

But it's unclear whether the party wants him to continue, and the leadership candidates were meeting Sunday evening to discuss the matter, Boag said.

I tend to assume that the reporter is just smelling around for some conflict to report on, as they are wont to do.

But, just in case, I wish to declare that I, as one individual among the many who make up the Liberal party, support Stéphane Dion as our interim leader and the leader of a possible coalition government. The Liberal party's membership should be the ones who choose their next leader.