An email from Jack Etkin

I may disagree with Jack Etkin a lot of stuff in politics but I like his passion and he is a decent guy that is putting a lot of effort into all things political.  Here is an email I got from him the other day:

THE PEOPLE OF B.C. ARE BEING LIED TO ABOUT THE DEFICIT.

I understand why The Liberals and The Media are lying to us about the deficit, because I know they work for Big Business.

But it's very disappointing that The Unions and The NDP are lying too.

In my opinion, the unions and NDP are lying 'by omission' -

the NDP and unions refuse to speak the truth, so many of us believe what we do hear, which is that there is a big deficit, and therefore no money for schools or hospitals or senior citizens or the homeless and also no money for public sector workers,

even the thousands making $14 or $15 an hour.

THERE IS A DEFICIT, YES ... but that is only part of the story, and because we only know PART of the story, those who control the story are able to manipulate us.

We are told there is no money for schools or hospitals or public sector workers because there is a deficit.  But WE ARE NOT TOLD THAT THE DEFICIT WAS CAUSED BY TAX CUTS for the richest people and biggest corporations in the province.   If we were told this second part of the story, we might say ... let's reverse some of the tax cuts and put the money where it will do the most good.

And that's why 'they' don't want us to know the facts;

that's why they keep us uninformed.

The tax cuts put in place by the Liberal Government since 2001

 are now costing the provincial government

about $6 BILLION a year.

If the tax cuts were erased,

BC WOULD HAVE MULTI -BILLION DOLLAR SURPLUSES EVERY YEAR.

There would be a lot of money to do a lot of things that our society needs, like maybe pushing some of it DOWN the ladder to where it will help all of us the most.

If you believe in democracy then you must believe that the citizens should know what is going on.  And yet the entire 'leadership' of this province seems determined that we will not be allowed to hear the truth about tax cuts causing the deficit.

There is something VERY WRONG when our union leaders - WHO WE PAY - will not tell us this simple truth, even as they put their workers out on strike.  The union leaderships know the truth, but by keeping silent they are allowing the media and the government to say:  'Oh, there is A Big Deficit, so you are being  GREEDY by asking to keep up with inflation, and you are greedy to ask for a living wage which many union workers in British Columbia ARE NOT GETTING.

And something is very wrong when the leadership of the NDP will not tell the people of BC that  THE DEFICIT WAS CAUSED BY TAX CUTS.

Why won't the unions or the NDP ask the following question:

WHY SHOULD WE TAKE MONEY FROM OUR SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS AND SENIOR CITIZENS - AND USE THAT MONEY TO GIVE TAX CUTS TO THE 1%???

I think that's an important question, and I think it's important to know why the unions and NDP will not ask that question, or tell the people of BC the truth.

I think this is important because it asks the question ... do we have a democracy in Canada?  

And if we don't, then what is really going on here?

If our politicians are betraying us, if the media is betraying us, if our unions are betraying us ... then what is OUR next step?

jack etkin

jetkino@yahoo.ca