Political Theatrics: Relaxing Party Discipline The Canadian political system is often argued to be controlled by excessive party discipline flowing from the centre of government onto elected members of Parliament. The tendency of political parties, specifically the governing party, to exert rigid discipline over its members has slowly evolved since the early 1900s and consolidated in the latter years of the 1960s under Pierre Trudeau. The centralization of government has only strengthened this phenomenon. Under an executive-centred conception of Canadian government, we see a rise of the “Court Government”. The Prime Minister and a handful of his/her selected “courtiers” in the Prime Minister’s Office act as the ultimate decision-making body, significantly restricting the ability of Members of Parliament to dissent. This now characteristically Canadian style of party discipline emerged from the British parliamentary system and eventually evolved into an even more rigid lever of power. https://mjps.ssmu.ca/2019/04/26/party-discipline/ Once again Quebec more equal than other provinces In the 1992 referendum on the Charlottetown Accord, British Columbians rejected the proposed amendments to Canada’s constitution with the highest “no” vote in the country (68.3%). Also in the “no” camp were Manitoba (61.6%) and then Alberta (60.2%). Four other provinces also turned it down and the package barely passed in Ontario. In B.C. and Alberta, a prime reason why the Charlottetown Accord failed so miserably was fierce opposition to the proposed “distinct society” clause for Quebec. It was a nebulous concept with the potential to continually exempt Quebec’s government from norms applicable to other provinces, including on individual rights. (It is why Pierre Trudeau opposed it). In another Charlottetown section, on the Senate, any issue involving French language and culture would have needed the approval of a majority of Francophone senators, not just a bare majority of all Senators. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/once-again-quebec-more-equal-other-provinces Therapy Dogs Are Helping Capitol Hill Staffers Having a Ruff Time With the Impeachment Saga Stress has hit an all time high on Capitol Hill as Democrats move forward with their impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. It's so stressful that the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) brought a group of therapy dogs to the Hill on Wednesday, the same day public hearings began. “This is a happy accident,” Mike Bober, president of PIJAC, told PEOPLE magazine. “We had this planned for several months, so when they announced the date of the hearings, we thought ‘if there was ever a time for a bipartisan source of comfort and relief, it’s today.'" Pet Par ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QtMpOEA7F4

Biden cancels another $9 billion in student loan debt days after payments restart he Biden administration has approved debt relief for an additional 125,000 student loan borrowers, totaling $9 billion in forgiveness, the White House said Wednesday. The announcement comes just days after federal student loan payments restarted after a three-plus year pause. Though the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s hallmark student loan forgiveness program, which promised up to $20,000 in debt relief for low- and middle-income borrowers, the administration has continued to find other ways to provide debt relief. https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/04/politics/biden-student-loan-debt-forgiveness/index.html Hidden Taxes: How Much do You Really Pay? When politicians debate tax rates they usually focus on federal income taxes. But despite all the attention given to income taxes, they are just a fraction of the total taxes Americans bear. In fact, total personal income taxes represent much less than half (42 percent) of Americans’ tax burden. 1 https://www.ipi.org/ipi_issues/detail/hidden-taxes-how-much-do-you-really-pay CBDC and the fragility of a cashless society The rise of digital assets is a revolution in the digital and financial world; for the first time, consumers can make direct money payments across the globe at the speed of the internet. The widespread use of digital assets would allow consumers to transfer money near-instantaneously rather than rely on a series of intermediaries to conduct a single transaction. The extraordinary promise and rise in popularity of digital assets are prompting lawmakers, regulators, and economists to examine tools such as a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). A CBDC is a profoundly dangerous tool that threatens consumer privacy and security as well as the continued innovation of the digital asset market. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/598837-cbdc-and-the-fragility-of-a-cashless-society/ In a cashless society, banking and tech elites control everything As central bankers and governments around the world move us inexorably towards cashlessness, there remains considerable resistance. In Italy, prime minister Giorgia Meloni tried, much to the displeasure of the European Commission, to enable Italian businesses to refuse card payments for transactions under 60 euros ($64). While in Nigeria, people have taken to the streets to protest cash shortages as the country switches to new currency by February 10 as a step towards encouraging more digital payments. And in Switzerland, an advocacy group recently collected enough signatures to force the authorities to hold a referendum on introducing clauses to ensure the country cannot go entirely cashless. https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/cashless-governments-control/ Trump raises more than $45 million in three months, campaign says — far outpacing DeSantis https://nypost.com/2023/10/05/trump-raises-more-than-45-million-in-three-months-campaign-says/ ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_G-eVwkjCU