By: Ish Theilheimer, Publisher
KILLALOE, ON: A few years ago I read a wonderful novel about lobbyists by Christopher Buckley. Thank You for Smoking hinged on the zany antics of three self- described merchants of death: a tobacco lobbyist, an alcohol lobbyist, and a firearms lobbyist in Washington, DC.
A key point in the plot is the development of an ad campaign that's supposed to look, for publicity purposes, like it's intended to stop youth smoking. In reality, the message - "Everything your parents told you about smoking is right," had been psychologically tested to produce the reverse effect. Teens hearing it would either conclude smoking was good because parents hated it. Or they'd just hear the last words: smoking is right.
That's how I felt this week hearing the opposition critics blasting the government for its jobs fund scandal. "This fund is being used to benefit Liberal ridings," the critics howl. At last count there were a lot more Liberal ridings than any other kind. No wonder Chretien and his entourage believe they can ride it out. They think they've double-thought the Canadian public.
So what if they throw a few ministers to the lions and sully the good name of government? It seems Jane Stewart's , Petti problems Grew, until she has become Axworthy so it looks like she might get hit by a Rock… the line forms on the right, or is that the left? Never know with Grits.
Greener grass. This week we begin our Myth of Greener Grass research project. Maybe I'm wrong. But I swear my friends and family members make less, work harder, and pay as much or more in the States. And they don't get medicare and lots of other social benefits. But don't take it from me. Check out our contest and send us your data. I'd particularly like to see info on the taxes people pay. Digital camera images of pay stubs would be interesting.
Saving for their retirement. Not yours. Not your kids'. Not mine. But for the benefit of Canada's wealthiest taxpayers, we're being urged to increase the RRSP limit. This costs you money. Say they raise the RRSP limit by $2,000. And the richest 100,000 Canadians take advantage of it. That comes to an extra $200 million in untaxed earning at the highest rate - 41%. That makes an extra $82 million in tax reductions to folks who don't need it. If there are $16 million Canadian taxpayers, that means each of us would be giving five bucks to sweeten the retirements of people who already have it made. Ouch.
Free the Internet. Straight Goods is dedicated to the proposition you don't need a megabuck ad campaign to reach, inform, and involve thousands of Canadians. Robert Labossiere has underlined for us, last Friday and again on Monday, how high the stakes are and how important it is to keep the Web free. The price is a bit of chaos from time to time. The corporate Goliaths we Davids are fighting may not like it. Tough. It's important that people resist the hysteria some would build to crack down on hackers. Watch for who wants us to get hysterical. Chances are they have something to sell.
- Ish Theilheimer
February 14, 2000
Ish Theilheimer has spent most of his 50 years raising hell, attempting to beat the system, organizing in the community, playing fiddle, and running small businesses - welding, bar bands, theatre, organic pork and hot dogs, and, for the last 20 years, freelance wordsmithing. He works and lives with his wife and partner Kathy Eisner in the log home they and their daughter Sandi built in 1979 on an old farm near Killaloe in the upper Ottawa Valley.
