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Jun. 9th, 2005 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
felis_ultharusTaking a break from my other political worries, now a nasty Medicare decision has been handed down by the Supreme Court here in Quebec.
While it's probably not the end of health care in the country, or even the province, it's a step in that direction. The Court opened the door to private health care, on the grounds that the health care system has gotten so bad in this province that denying people who can afford it private health care puts their lives at risk.
A valid point, but I can already hear the neo-liberals breaking out the champagne. They've never liked the fact that they have to contribute to a system that helps keep us plebes alive. We're expendable, and that money could be better spent on their third SUV or a second home somewhere tropical.
The reason our health care is in such bad shape is because those same people who've been arguing for a private system have been spending a lot of money on lobbying to have the system starved for cash. That way, they can say, "Well, it never worked, so we can scrap it."
Well, of course there's a secret to having universal health care. YOU NEED TO PUT MONEY IN IT. It's doesn't work otherwise. Honestly, how stupid do they think we are? Are they trying to convince us that tongue-depressor fairies and plasma gnomes and IV needle goblins will supply all our health needs now that the money's gone? What's public health care going to look like ten years from now? Some guy, sitting by your bedside, telling you to think happy thoughts?
They keep feeding us the same bullshit line about there being no money. Meanwhile, in the ten years since he became finance minister, Paul Martin's corporation has received $160 million in cash from the government. His ships don't even fly the Canadian flag, so they can keep their workers in miserable working conditions. Millions upon millions evaporated in the sponsorship disaster, and Jane Stewart lost a million in her department some time ago.
In fact, until the NDP asked for it to be removed, there were millions in corporate tax cuts for the next budget. No one in this country wants corporate tax cuts except the corporations, the Liberals, the Conservatives -- and the The Globe and Mail, our supposed national newspaper, which ran a story on the scrapped corporate tax cuts the other day without ever interviewing anyone who was opposed to the cuts. No one. Even though the majority of Canadians don't want tax cuts, the paper didn't feel the need to ask anyone with that majority point of view. It made my party seem like idiots for representing the public's views and the country's long-term interests.
In the 1950s and early 60s, corporations took between 30-40% of the tax burden. By the 70s, it was down to 10-15%. Now it's probably much lower. We keep getting told that if we tax the corporations, they'll leave. Good. Open space for small, local businesses -- which keep getting driven under by the big players -- and tell the multinationals not to bump their asses on the way out.
I'm just sick of this and frustrated. Where the hell is our country? In poll after poll, most people say that they want stronger health care, education, social programs, and would rather have those things than low taxes. But the right has used lobby groups, Trojan-horse candidates (like Martin himself, who promised to end Free Trade and the GST), vote-splitting, and manipulated regional differences to catapult itself into power and unmake our country.
I've been a lifelong pacifist, but it is really hard to keep my anger down under these circumstances. There has to be some way to derail this anti-democratic coalition of right-wing Christians and megacorporations, and I'm open to any suggestions at this point.
While it's probably not the end of health care in the country, or even the province, it's a step in that direction. The Court opened the door to private health care, on the grounds that the health care system has gotten so bad in this province that denying people who can afford it private health care puts their lives at risk.
A valid point, but I can already hear the neo-liberals breaking out the champagne. They've never liked the fact that they have to contribute to a system that helps keep us plebes alive. We're expendable, and that money could be better spent on their third SUV or a second home somewhere tropical.
The reason our health care is in such bad shape is because those same people who've been arguing for a private system have been spending a lot of money on lobbying to have the system starved for cash. That way, they can say, "Well, it never worked, so we can scrap it."
Well, of course there's a secret to having universal health care. YOU NEED TO PUT MONEY IN IT. It's doesn't work otherwise. Honestly, how stupid do they think we are? Are they trying to convince us that tongue-depressor fairies and plasma gnomes and IV needle goblins will supply all our health needs now that the money's gone? What's public health care going to look like ten years from now? Some guy, sitting by your bedside, telling you to think happy thoughts?
They keep feeding us the same bullshit line about there being no money. Meanwhile, in the ten years since he became finance minister, Paul Martin's corporation has received $160 million in cash from the government. His ships don't even fly the Canadian flag, so they can keep their workers in miserable working conditions. Millions upon millions evaporated in the sponsorship disaster, and Jane Stewart lost a million in her department some time ago.
In fact, until the NDP asked for it to be removed, there were millions in corporate tax cuts for the next budget. No one in this country wants corporate tax cuts except the corporations, the Liberals, the Conservatives -- and the The Globe and Mail, our supposed national newspaper, which ran a story on the scrapped corporate tax cuts the other day without ever interviewing anyone who was opposed to the cuts. No one. Even though the majority of Canadians don't want tax cuts, the paper didn't feel the need to ask anyone with that majority point of view. It made my party seem like idiots for representing the public's views and the country's long-term interests.
In the 1950s and early 60s, corporations took between 30-40% of the tax burden. By the 70s, it was down to 10-15%. Now it's probably much lower. We keep getting told that if we tax the corporations, they'll leave. Good. Open space for small, local businesses -- which keep getting driven under by the big players -- and tell the multinationals not to bump their asses on the way out.
I'm just sick of this and frustrated. Where the hell is our country? In poll after poll, most people say that they want stronger health care, education, social programs, and would rather have those things than low taxes. But the right has used lobby groups, Trojan-horse candidates (like Martin himself, who promised to end Free Trade and the GST), vote-splitting, and manipulated regional differences to catapult itself into power and unmake our country.
I've been a lifelong pacifist, but it is really hard to keep my anger down under these circumstances. There has to be some way to derail this anti-democratic coalition of right-wing Christians and megacorporations, and I'm open to any suggestions at this point.
