Affording Democracy - "Morning In Canada"

So, it's "Morning in America" again. The Republicans and the Tea Party recently celebrated what would have been Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday by calling on the country to finish the revolution he started. This wouldn't only be devastating for an America struggling under so many loads, it would also be an exercise in the grand illusion.To be sure, the 40th president cut a larger-than-life profile and engendered great sentimentality in the process. Yet it's true that all that warm apparition only masks those pivotal years when the United States began losing its way - and its bank account. Like Stephen Harper, he saw government as the great obstacle to prosperity and freedom. Where Franklin Roosevelt saved capitalism from its greedy self, Reagan pictured himself saving government from its wasted bulk. And like our Prime Minister, Reagan called himself a true conservative and his followers still believe that till this day. They are engaged in a vigorous effort to alter history to correspond to their view.But that's the great thing about history: yes, it's usually written by the victors, but in the end truth eventually emerges. Reagan's supporters are having to fight through a number of inconvenient truths. As a self-proclaimed tax-cutter, how come he raised taxes in 7 of his 8 years in office? Capturing power by claiming he would eliminate the deficit, he eventually tripled it in less than a decade. Ronald Reagan accomplished a number of important things, but reigning as a true conservative was never one of them.In what must be the greatest irony of all, he claimed to champion the cause of the middle-class worker, primarily male, and they believed him - in the millions. Yet he waged a war on unions and Reaganomics has become synonymous with the more brutal side of the free market. But more than that, Reagan's policies proved devastating to average citizens and an absolute boon the wealthiest of Americans and their companies. Moreover, the plight of the poor under his watch went from struggling to devastating in 8 short years. His son Ronald stated on the anniversary of his father's birthday that the president was "vulnerable to the idea that poor people were somehow poor because it was their fault." Reagan's view of those struggling in poverty was revealed when he stated, "The homeless who are homeless, you might say, are there because of choice."Economists have come to define the Reagan years as a time when the rich got very rich and the rest became ... well, poorer. Average middle-class income slumped during his two terms, while the wealth of the elites soared through the roof. This is the true and abiding legacy of the Reagan years, where the machinery of government not only grew but tilted itself heavily away from paving a progressive economic course for the middle-class and opened the floodgates for the wealthiest in America. The legacy was so effective that no American president has been able to reverse its most debilitating aspects. Bankruptcy now appears permanent and they can't climb out of their own hole because it is systemic.Stephen Harper has become the Reagan of the North. Like the former president, he distrusts government in all its aspects except for its ability to reward military procurements and wealth creation only for the upper 10% of Canadians and the companies they own or direct. Since 2006, the Conservatives increased federal spending by three times the rate of inflation. They wiped out the contingency reserves meant to act as shock absorbers during difficult times. They implemented payroll taxes worth $1.3 billion this year that will impinge on average Canadian families, and they have declined to invest in family care, early childhood development or the escalating costs of post-secondary education. Tax cuts for corporations isn't such a bad idea, but not in a time when the cupboard is bare and the deficit stands at some $56 billion dollars.Their announced corporate tax cuts will provide $6 billion per year to only the wealthiest of companies - small and medium-sized businesses stand outside of the benefits. As with Reagan himself, prisons and fighter jets become an obsession.All of this is to say that neither Ronald Reagan nor Stephen Harper have proved to be true conservatives. Like the cultured landowners of Britain a century ago, they give the air of competence at the same time as their holdings have disappeared. It's enough to be seen as an able manager despite opposing realities. In a word, our beleaguered Canadian democracy has become unsustainable by design. Middle-class families are feeling it all slipping away - slowly at first, then with increasing speed. Our food bank numbers increase, permanent jobs are receding, health care is on the verge of being unaffordable. environmental reform is nowhere, and, worst of all, Canadians don't want an election despite the slippage. Government has become bloated, but only to provide more troops to push resources upward to those already in possession of great wealth. This is the new Canada - good morning.