Condi Visits Canada
Two items struck me in the paper this morning. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to visit Canada and Maude Barlow, national chairperson for the Council Of Canadians, made a speech this weekend in which she warned Canada to avoid following “in the footsteps of President George W. Bush.”
Apparently Rice is planning to ask Canada to help in the rebuilding of Iraq after the security situation there calms down. She is clearly thoroughly on President Bush’s side in all her travels.
Barlow took an entirely different approach. She said that Bush has “bled his people dry’ in order to increase his defense budget. She went on: “90% of Americans are what they call double-poor, which means that if you doubled their income, they would still be poor because they would still be way under the poverty line. By cutting welfare dollars by 13 percent each year he’s been in power”, she said, “Mr. Bush ensures that big business likes energy and defense cash in more than their fair shares.”
I find this statistic almost impossible to believe. America has a huge economy. Perhaps she is just stretching her statistics to make a point, but I would very much like to know what the facts are. If it is, in fact, 90%, then I am amazed that ordinary Americans are standing for it. Americans are so political, so quick to send letters, telegrams, and emails to governments, how can they be putting up with this?
It seems to me that one of out tasks as societies is to care for the disadvantaged and the poor. This is clearly not one of the top priorities of most governments.