Conservatives kiss health care reform good-bye

As this post at The Shotgun puts it,"So much for Canadian 'compassionate conservatism.'" More buckshot here--as I wrote a while ago, "Thank goodness for that second tier".

On the other hand, Dr Dawg, at the Conservatives' policy convention, writes:

The pragmatists won a few battles. P-106, which would have enshrined health care privatization [rather an exaggeration from the Wampant Woofer--read the text], went down because, as Stephen Fletcher said at the mic, passing it would "bring fodder to our enemies." Noting that many medical services are already private, he asked delegates to "let the invisible hand of Adam Smith" take care of medicare. Another opposition speaker asked, "Why feed the press this all-day sucker?"

Now that's really standing economics on its head. Wow. I suppose the Conservatives propose to let some invisible hand allow our health care system approach utter collapse, as it at some point must; then, jump in and propose greater privatization. Rather similar in a perverse and reverse way to the situation in this case (ignore the headline, read the details).

So, for health care, "socialism is necessary but not necessarily socialism"; for the auto industry, "capitalism is necessary but not necessarily capitalism." Or something. Canada certainly is a hard country to govern responsibly. I almost feel a stranger in a strange land, without destination.

Mark C.

Posted by markc at November 18, 2008 09:37 AM