Adam Lambert performs during the closing act of the 37th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009, in Los Angeles.Matt Sayles
Andrew Coyne (not surprisingly) provides the tightest, most cogent argument yet on why the harmonized sales tax is the right policy perscription for Ontario and British Columbia.
Meanwhile, on the off chance anyone was starting to see Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak as a potential premier in waiting, he made sure to correct any mistaken impressions this week.
Walking out of Question Period, Tim? Really? That's your game changer? Elect me and I promise to stay in QP the entire hour? I'm so mad that the Premier won't let me talk about the HST for another few weeks - the same HST that we have been talking about non-stop for six months at this point - that I'm going to leave the House, head back to the office and finish my Yahtzee game with Hillier instead? Really?
In stunts gone wrong this week, Hudak's silly antics don't quite rank up there with Adam Lambert's appearance on the AMAs but only because Tim wasn't wearing thick eye-make up while performing.
As interestingly, Hudak has once again ruled out repealing the HST if he takes office. The thing is going to ruin the Ontario economy, says Hudak. Devastate families. Biggest tax grab in the history of historic tax grabs, goes his rhetoric. But repeal it? Um, hey, how about that crazy Adam Lambert kid?
As Coyne aptly puts it: "that stripped of its rhetoric, is what the opposition amounts to: a numb devotion to the status quo, no matter how grotesque; and an appeal to the ignorant fear that any change must, by definition, make things worse. But change in this case amounts only to unwinding the worst features of the current regime."
But maybe Andrew and I aren't being fair to Hudak. Maybe he really does have a substantive argument that amounts to more than an "appeal to ... ignorant fear".
If that's the case, I welcome Hudak or anyone in his office to send me a line-by-line refutation of Coyne's argument set out in the column linked above. If I get it, I promise to publish it without snarky comments from me (or at least the snarky comments will come after I publish an unedited version of their refutation).
Much like Adam Lambert appearing on next year's American Music Awards show, I'm not holding my breath but who knows.
(Photo:The Associated Press)