There Is Enough Blame To Go Around

The banks and financial institutions are a good target but I don't hear anything from the automakers and their unions about taking cuts in salary and perks.....

So let's get this straight.

To help out our banks in the ongoing economic crisis, Canadians, through our federal government, are buying up to $75 billion in mortgages they hold and guaranteeing up to $218 billion of commercial debt.

And the thanks we get is that the banks are STILL jacking up their usurious interest rates on credit cards?

What ever happened to the old "give and take" between neighbours who help each other out in tough times?

Isn't "give and take" one of those nice, family values Prime Minister Stephen Harper used to talk about when he was wearing his blue sweater?

Ditto Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, absent the sweater.

So, how come with our banks it's always we give and they take?

NDP Leader Jack Layton makes a valid point when he asks what are we getting in return from the banks for the billions of dollars we just put up to help them?

We can think of a slew of outrageous credit card interest rates and ATM and other service fees the banks should be required to lower in return.

Was any of this discussed while our self-styled public and private sector masters of the universe were crafting these deals?

Sure, the goal is to free up credit, which will help out consumers and the economy in the long run.

And granted, assuming the Canadian housing market doesn't tank the way the American one has, taxpayers could make a profit over the long term.

But let's not pretend there isn't a potential downside. There's always risk when you invest in real estate or backstop debt.

Ask anyone who still remembers when the TSX hit 15,000 in May.

As for Layton, sure he's a chronic bank-basher and a socialist, but isn't government intervention in the banking sector on this scale sort of ... um ... socialist, anyway?

So how about having Harper and Flaherty lean on the banks to demonstrate a little "Solidarity Forever" -- with us -- for a change?

The CAW must give ground

McParland: It's possible to sympathize with the position of the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) when the crisis in the auto industry is viewed solely from their perspective. CAW president Ken Lewenza said yesterday he would "absolutely not".. MORE...