budget advise

The Prime Minister, The Honorable Stephen Harper:

Please consider this, my voice as to what I consider to be appropriate actions for my government to take, actions to constructively address the current financial instability.

I support a free market solution to the problem. I hold the viewpoint that the country is far better off with less monetary interference by government. I see monetary intervention by the government as an attempt to counter the decisions already made by the market and that the intervention will only exacerbate the problems in the long run. The market, being the response to the accumulated decisions of every acting human being, remains beyond the control of the government and the best that could be done is to help people make wiser decisions.

Firstly, we need to agree that a viable economy is not an accident. The combined, rational, productive actions of a lot of people add up to make a sustainable economy. The current crisis developed because poor decisions were made. We have blamed investment banks and other financial players but these people made their decisions based on the rules that are in place in our society. The rules are made by our governments, mainly to channel the efforts of the citizens into directions that government officialdom deems to be best and when the results don’t measure up to the expectations, the rules are to blame, not the people.

I have yet to see government officials acknowledge any responsibility for making poor rules and that is a complete abdication of truth and responsibility. I cannot see the end of the fiscal debacle until the true causes are openly identified and addressed.

The inappropriate American administration response to the fiscal dilemma is a wasteful path I urge my government to not follow. The billions of dollars distributed in an irresponsible, cavalier attitude must be repaid by the common citizen in taxes or reduced purchasing power. It is criminal to see tin-pot dictatorship tactics taking place in what was once the greatest, freest country in history.

Clearly, the money system is in serious trouble. Governments all around the world have taken on an ever increasing burden of obligations in order to collect votes. Most people know, because there is insufficient revenue from taxation, governments have resorted to fiscal manipulation to make up the shortfall. The less informed people support the entitlement programs because they have been convinced someone else will supply the funds. The wisest people know better and make certain the bulk of their wealth is inaccessible to the government. If this wealth is ever to be available for investment in our country again there are a number of things the government must do.

The government must stop spending taxpayer’s money to prop up institutions and organizations the taxpayer will not fund voluntarily. By that I mean everything from the CBC through to Bombardier. That also includes any bailout for the auto industry.

The government must reduce the number of restrictions it places on business activity. The recycling mandates and other useless environmental restrictions are both costly and discourage the development of resources. Investment discouraging rules drive mobile wealth out of the country.

The government must stabilize the value of our currency. The erratic float of our dollar for the past year has shown us just how unhealthy the investment climate has become. Rational business decisions are impossible without financial and regulatory stability. I realize the Canadian dollar is rather a small time player in the world of currency but I believe that the government is not without power to stabilize our own dollar. Below is a suggestion made by Walter Williams, economic professor, George Mason University, that, if implemented would serve as a solid start.

“ It is not wise for us to permit a few people on the Federal Reserve Board to have life and death power over our economy. My recommendation for reducing some of that power is to repeal legal tender laws and eliminate all taxes on gold, silver and platinum transactions. That way there would be money substitutes and the government money monopoly would be reduced and hence the ability to tax — some people would say steals from — us through inflation.”

Clearly, if we are to retain an affluent society, something must be done to repair the world’s financial system, something beyond the scope of this letter. As a member of the G7, Canada has a voice and I would urge the government to consider the work of Judy Shelton, documented in Money Meltdown, as a thoughtful starting point for a return to financial sanity.

The paper dollars printed by the government are IOU’s on the goods and service offered for sale in this country. The people who produce those goods and services are the only people entitled to hold those dollars, the rest are counterfeit claims to goods and services that have not been earned. If we are to consider the long term viability of Canada, the inflated printing of money must stop and all distributed entitlements must be financed out of taxes. The budgets must balance.

The role of government needs to be redefined. The present mind-set, that the purpose of government is to redistribute the wealth of the land into the hand of all who need it, is wrong and impossible to sustain. The government must provide an atmosphere of trust that investments will be honoured, physical force and fraud will be punished and promise to let the peaceful citizens decide for themselves, how they choose to spend their lives.

The best role is for the government to thoroughly review all the restrictions that have been imposed on the activities of the citizens of this country. By rationalizing laws, a wealth of funding that is now absorbed in the court system could be better employed for economic activity to enrich the lives of people presently defending themselves from bad laws. The various human right commissions come immediately to mind.

I am aware that my suggestions do not coincide with the strident voices urging the government to spend its way out of the financial quagmire but anyone prepared to think, knows the way out of a debt crisis is not by taking on ever more debt. I believe a clear appeal to the thinking public can overcome all the irrational arguments in favour of further destruction of the wealth of our country.



Gary Seinen, seine44@gmail.com