Making everybody happy

Ilya Somin at the Volokh Conspiracy has an interesting article on Quebec separatism and Conservatives in Canada:

Canadian Conservatives prefer relatively pro-market policies. Quebec is the most statist province in the country and its political influence drives Canada's economic policies well to the left of where they would be in a separate anglophone Canada. Canadian Conservatives hate paying for federal government subsidies to Quebec (Quebec is a major net recipient of transfer payments from the federal government). Obviously, there would be no such subsidies if Quebec were an independent nation. In the long run, secession might even lead to relatively more market-oriented policies within Quebec itself, since an independent Quebec government could no longer rely on Ottawa transfer payments to finance its statism. Finally, Quebec secession would be a major political boon for the Conservative Party. In the recent election, the Conservatives won 133 of 233 parliament seats in the anglophone provinces, but only 10 of 75 in Quebec. The Tories won't necessarily do this well in the "rest of Canada" every time; but their odds of getting a majority would be greatly improved if Quebec were to secede.

One of the readers at the Volokh conspiracy answers Ilya's question by saying:

Being a "federalist" party in the Canadian sense (that is, anti-secessionist) is the sine qua non for support in English Canada. There might be some number of western voters who would cheer Quebec's departure and be happy that the ideological median in their new country had moved a long way right. But the Conservatives would sacrifice something close to all their votes in Ontario (the largest province)-- many of whom have no identity-commitment to being Conservative but have a massive investment in the idea of Canada.... Ontario is far from solidly conservative or culturally conservative, and it would electorally cut off at the knees any party that abandoned federalism. Whatever Conservative leaders might wish in their hearts, it's a political non-starter.

How about America, Canada, Conservatives and Liberals come together and give everybody a little of what they want? Quebec gets its own nation. Liberals get a nation made up of the following Canadian provinces and American states: Ontario, Newfoundland and Labradour, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii. Conservative get a nation made up of the following Canadian provinces and American states: Alaska, Yukon Territories, Northwest Territories, Nunavet, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. The following American states would go with whatever nation they prefer to join: Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri.


I know it is not going to happen, but it would be a solution that should leave everybody better off.

Fred Barnes' Crystal Ball

Fred Barnes has seen the future, and it is not pretty:

...the worst case scenario is now a distinct possibility: a Democrat in the White House, a Democratic Senate with a filibuster-proof majority, and a Democratic House with a bolstered majority.

If this scenario unfolds, Washington would become a solidly liberal town
again for the first time in decades. And the prospects of passing the liberal
agenda--nearly all of it--would be bright. Enacting major parts of it would be
even brighter.

...permit organized labor to unionize the private sector without winning a
certification election by secret ballot....

...Democrats might go after.... right-to-work laws....

...killing conservative talk radio--[via] the so-called fairness doctrine--would stand an excellent chance of becoming law....

...Obama would nominate liberals to fill Supreme Court vacancies....

...free trade agreements would become a thing of the past...

...[Obama's] described [his health care plan] as step or two away from a single payer, government-run health system like Canada's....

...Obama has called for increasing the tax rate on capital gains, dividends, and the income of top earners, and raising the cap on payroll taxes. But tax hikes would worsen, not stimulate, a weak economy....

...cap and trade.... would drive up the cost of energy, another downer for the economy....

...a quick troop exit from Iraq and presidential-level talks with anti-American
dictators.

Unfortunately, my crystal ball does not look any better than Fred Barnes.

Thank you John McCain

Jake Tapper reports:

On Saturday, advisers to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the Politico's Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin that McCain was "considering additional economic measures aimed directly at the middle class that are likely to be rolled out this week...

Late Sunday, McCain decided no new economic proposals would be forthcoming after all.

John McCain, my friend, thank you for getting my hopes up that you were actually going to attempt to explain to the American people why conservative policies are better than liberal policies for the economy.

Moral Humility

A speech by Jonathan Haidt

America's future

America's future is at stake. The bailout has changed America's financial standing, and both sides of the ideological spectrum need to adjust their arguments to these new conditions. Larry Summers (via Glenn Reynolds) is offering the liberal position on how America should move forward:

A time when confidence is lagging in the consumer, financial and business sectors is not a time for government to step back.

Well-designed policies are essential to support the economy and, given the seriousness of health-care, energy, education and inequality issues, can make a longer-term contribution as well.

Where is the new conservative vision for America? Here is my vision, but I am blogging in obscurity.

Update: Howard Fineman is also espousing the new liberal view that capitalism in America is dead. If conservatives do not stand up and fight for capitalism, it might very well die.

Update II: Howard Fineman wrote "The era of cowboy capitalism has died, largely of self-inflicted wounds." The video belows shows that Howard Fineman does not know what he is talking about. For those who are unaware, Fannie May and Fredie Mac are not free market institutions. They are government created and subsidized institutions.


The video is via Glenn Reynolds.