The Common Sense Conservative

The place for common sense conservative talk. Conservative way of thinking should not be looked upon by the masses and especially by the mainstream media as some evil. In fact most people still believe they are conservative in nature but do not align themselves with the far right agenda that has crept into our political systems. Nor do they feel they fall under the far left agenda, so a new way of thinking is emerging, called Common Sense Conservatism!

Sunday, 31 July 2011

Is a Deal Close?

White House, Republicans inching toward debt deal

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is pursued by a reporter as he arrives at his office on Capitol Hill in Washington Sunday, July 31, 2011, after speaking about ongoing debt negotiations on Sunday talk shows. (AP / Harry Hamburg)

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Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, left, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, appear at a news conference as the debt crisis goes unresolved on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, July 30, 2011. (AP / J. Scott Applewhite)

Updated: Sun Jul. 31 2011 09:48:30

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Washington politicians appear to be inching closer to an agreement that could end the bitter dispute over the debt ceiling and avert a federal default, but long-term problems remain for the U.S. economy.

The White House and congressional Republicans are, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, discussing a deal that would see the U.S. debt ceiling raised by about $2.4 trillion in two steps while cutting federal spending by slightly more than that amount.

The first step, which would take effect immediately, cuts spending by about $1 trillion,. The remainder would be trimmed before the end of the year.

Senate Majority Leader Mitchell McConnell said on Sunday he was very close to recommending a tentative agreement to Republicans in the upper chamber.

The agreement would contain none of the tax increases sought by U.S. President Barack Obama and would introduce a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced budget, said McConnell. Republicans have been resisting any talk of tax hikes while Obama wants a deal that will stand until after the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

A senior White House adviser later said both sides are in general agreement on a deal, though key details still need to be worked out.

Without a compromise in place by Tuesday, Aug. 2, officials say the Treasury will run out of funds to pay all the nation's bills. Such event is seen as a looming catastrophe that threatens to scuttle America's financial status and send economic shockwaves around the world. The political standoff has been marked by late-night negotiations and heated rhetoric on both sides of the aisle.

But even if the talks are successful, author and radio commentator Peter Schiff says the U.S. economy still faces challenges.

Schiff said the U.S economy is largely helpless to the lending ceiling of other countries, most notably China.

"The real ceiling is the one we can't raise," Schiff told CTV News Channel on Sunday.

"What happens when people lending [the U.S.] money say they've loaned too much to us and that they don't think we can pay it back?"

The bad news for the U.S. would be good news for China, Schiff added. "The Chinese economy will boom when they stop buying our debt but ours will collapse."

Schiff says individuals can protect themselves by "limiting their exposure" to the U.S. greenback. He says Canadians are relatively safe because of the strong loonie in relation to the U.S. dollar. Ottawa, however, should raise its interest rates to curb the Canadian dollar's downward slide against other world currencies.

"Hopefully Canada will come to its senses and raise rates," he said.

U.S. investors, meanwhile, should turn to the commodities market, precious metals such as gold and silver, and currencies and bonds from other nations to gird their own portfolios, he said.

With files from Associated Press

Thursday, 28 July 2011

Africa Needs Your Help!

Donations are being matched dollar for dollar by the Canadian Government. So please, donate today as there could be as many as 500,000 children dead of starvation by September. UN has finally moved in to keep the Islamic rebels away so hopefully all aid will get to where it needs. $10 can feed a child for 10 days, so give what you can and spread the word to family and friends.

Red Cross Canada www.redcross.ca
Red Cross USA www.redcross.org

Horn of Africa Drought

A cycle of severe droughts has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa (which includes Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Uganda). It is estimated that nearly 11 million people have been affected, many fleeing their homes and are now left with limited access to food, clean water and shelter.

Humanitarian assistance is urgently needed as alarming levels of acute malnutrition and death continue to rise among vulnerable groups including children under five and pregnant mothers.

The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has a strong presence in the Horn of Africa and is actively scaling up operations to meet the urgent needs of affected communities. But it is now in an extreme situation and more funds are urgently needed to address this growing crisis.

The Government of Canada will generously match the donations of individual Canadians from July 6 until September 16, 2011. Government of Canada funds will be placed in a relief fund for East Africa that will be administered by the Government and will support humanitarian efforts in the region. Now is the time to make twice as much of an impact on the lives of many vulnerable people in the Horn of Africa.

Money raised will go to support the work of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in the region, both providing emergency relief and helping people recover their livelihoods. The Horn of Africa Drought Appeal will cover numerous countries in Africa including those currently affected and potentially affected in the future

Africa’s Silent Starvation Crisis

The food crisis in Africa is the world’s “most severe humanitarian emergency,” writes the CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. And yet, she says, it has garnered little attention.

Jul 27, 2011 9:21 PM EDT

How well we recall the jarring broadcasts and heart-rending scenes of orphans in Haiti, whose families and homes were wiped out by the devastating earthquake. These images are deeply etched in our memories, thanks to intensive and sustained world media coverage. As a result, they helped generate an outpouring of support from the public.

Now shift to the Horn of Africa, where more than 2 million children’s lives are in danger as a result of an enormous food crisis, brought on by drought and regional conflict. There is comparatively little media attention. This catastrophe is not on the public agenda. It urgently needs to be.

What is happening in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti is nothing short of a calamity. As a result of the worst drought in 60 years—exacerbated by civil conflict and soaring food and fuel prices—tens of thousands have died, and millions more are malnourished and at risk of death. It is the most severe humanitarian emergency in the world. A massive human dislocation is taking place, with thousands of families trekking across the region to refugee camps in Kenya. Some children are so weakened by malnutrition that they are dying en route to the camps.

But, this time, the world is not watching. Unlike an earthquake, tsunami, or severe storm, this is not the kind of emergency that happened overnight. Those types of disasters, which spring upon us suddenly, have resulted in large-scale media attention, which, quite understandably, can jolt public awareness and response.

Nor is this the type of disaster that can be easily covered. The Horn of Africa is far away from where the cameras are, from where most newspapers and magazines post correspondents or maintain staff. Cutbacks in foreign media coverage over recent years have contributed to a news vacuum in these remote parts of the globe and, in turn, to the public’s unawareness of the scope of human tragedy.

East Africa Famine — Farah Abdi Warsameh / AP Photo

There have not been many images of the nearly 400,000 people in a crowded refugee camp in northern Kenya. And they are the “lucky” ones. Sustained by food, therapeutic nutritional supplies, and clean water provided by UNICEF and other international humanitarian agencies, their chances of survival are far greater than the millions outside the camps who are fighting for their lives every day.

With the support of governments and donors, we can save the lives of children and other victims of this drought. Americans are a generous and compassionate people. The response to the earthquake in Haiti was tremendous. And the media played a huge part.

There have not been many images of the nearly 400,000 people in a crowded refugee camp in northern Kenya.

Now, we need the media to bring home the appalling story of a mother having to make the “Sophie’s choice” of which child to feed—a sickly baby or a still-mobile pre-teen. But despite the misery, there is hope as well to encourage people to take action. There are babies being nursed back to health with a high-protein peanut butter paste provided at UNICEF-supported feeding centers. But let us be clear, those feeding centers and that peanut paste are there due to the generosity of educated donors. Donors who read, listen, and watch the news. Social media can, of course, also provide considerable attention. But those sites, too, have been largely silent as Africa’s worst food crisis in 20 years escalates.

The news media is an indispensable force in marshaling public attention and support for our success as aid organizations in coping with humanitarian crises—but so is everyone who consumes the media. All of our voices need to be heard. The responsibility for action lies not only with media. We all have the power to call attention to this colossal tragedy and try to stop it. And the sooner that happens, the more lives can be saved. A disaster of this magnitude should not have to be sudden, spectacular, or nearby to rise to the top of the world’s agenda.

Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

Caryl Stern is the President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast ateditorial@thedailybeast.com.

Canada's New Lustre in the World

Opinion: Canada's new lustre in the world

Once harsh critics, American conservatives now look north for ideas on governance and public policy. But we shouldn't be smug

BY ADAM DAIFALLAH, SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE JULY 28, 2011 11:01 AM

Karen Hale waves the flag as she walks along the parade route during Canada Day festivities in downtown Vancouver.

Photograph by: Stuart Davis, PNG

About 10 years ago, the American conservative magazine National Review ran an issue whose cover featured some Mounties with the word "WIMPS" printed across the page. The cover and the accompanying article by Jonah Goldberg, "Bomb Canada: The Case for War," was a semi-satirical attack piece, taking Canada to task for its perceived anti-Americanism and lack of contribution on the world stage.

Making fun of Canada has long been a U.S. national pastime. Recall the contest held by Michael Kinsley, then editor of the New Republic, to find the world's most boring headline. The winner? "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." As recently as 2006, Goldberg, writing again about Canada, called us "arguably the most deluded" industrialized nation in the world" because "elite Canadians" think "being different than the U.S. and sucking up to the United Nations will buy them grace on the cheap."

Today, no one is laughing at the Great White North - especially Americans - and certainly no one would accuse the Harper government of kowtowing to the UN.

As economic confidence south of the border plunges to a 15-year low and the debt-ceiling fiasco edges toward catastrophe, many U.S. experts are praising Canada as an attractive low-tax environment and a beacon for sound fiscal policy and good governance. The opportunities before us are immense - and the last to take note, as usual, are Canadians themselves. This week, for example, Canadian business titan Peter Munk said that Canada now has the same opportunity to do with the mining sector what Britain did with the financial sector at the turn of the last century - that is, to become its global centre.

What's most surprising about all the plaudits is that much of them are coming from the heretofore most critical corners - particularly from U.S. conservatives.

Fred Barnes, editor of the Weekly Standard, recently took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to argue that the government of Jean Chrétien set the example on how to right an economically failing ship: cut government spending and do not raise taxes. As Barnes noted, between 1995 and 1998 Canada turned a $36.6-billion deficit into a $3-billion surplus.

(The Wall Street Journal was a fitting avenue for the article; in 1995 that newspaper ran an editorial suggesting that Canada was close to bankruptcy. Many credit the attention the editorial received for jolting Chrétien and then-finance minister Paul Martin into action.)

Meanwhile, a surprising new article in Maclean's notes that Canada is emerging as the go-to destination for the world's wealthy. Tax specialists apparently now refer to Canada as the "Great White tax haven" and the "Switzerland of the North." The inflow of high-net-worth individuals to our country (last year, 12,000 people moved here under a special immigration program for the wealthy) is giving Canada a net economic boost of roughly $2-billion a year - and the trend is likely to continue.

The U.S. conservative movement is also looking to the Harper Conservatives for ideas. A consensus has emerged in the U.S. that Canada handled the 2008-2010 economic crisis better than any other western country, and conservatives there have been particularly impressed with the Harper government's campaign strategies of microtargeting defined blocs of voters to broaden its support.

At the moment, everything from our immigration laws to the GST is being praised by Americans as examples of good public policy.

A quick pat on the back is more than deserved, and we should give credit to our successive national governments for the sound economic policies that have led us to this place. But we shouldn't get caught up in self-congratulation either.

It wasn't that long ago that we were battling the brain drain (which has now effectively reversed direction) and paying $1.45 to buy a U.S. dollar.

Canada seems to perform well when the global economy doesn't. Europe and the U.S. are in the gutter, but we are holding our own. When things are going well elsewhere, Canada is perceived as an overregulator, and to a great extent that perception is true.

Canada-enviers ought to tread carefully. They should look to Canada as a model in terms of outcome, not of process. In the past we have too often drifted into over-regulation of the economy. With the continuing emergence of the dynamic and risk-prone economies of the group known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), this is not the time to take the safe route by turning to increased red tape, particularly in the U.S.

We obviously have many challenges ahead of us, but let this international admiration remind us that things in Canada are going extremely well - though we have to work hard to hold on to our status as an enviable economy. That status is, for lack of a better term, worth something.

Adam Daifallah is a partner at Hatley Strategies, a montreal public-affairs firm,and a lecturer at McGill University's Department of North American Studies