One of the defining features of modern conservatism is shortsightedness (apologies for the ableist descriptor, in search of a good alternative). <rant> - ThreadSky

malomick.bsky.social • 96 days ago

One of the defining features of modern conservatism is shortsightedness (apologies for the ableist descriptor, in search of a good alternative).

Reposted from Max Fawcett

Canada's Conservative premiers love to accuse their opponents of being fiscal spendthrifts.

It's long past time they looked in the mirror. #cdnpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2024/12/06/o...

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malomick.bsky.social•96 days ago

Conservatives can't see past first-order effects, so their budgets are mostly transactional and hyper-focused on individual impacts. The only "strategy" for fiscal responsibility on the right is austerity: harmful cuts and deferrals that always come back to bite us eventually.

malomick.bsky.social•96 days ago

Progressives, on the other hand, know how to spend money to save money. They focus on making *progress* on systemic issues, investing in programs that significantly reduce the size of the biggest budget items by actually changing the underlying structural dynamics.

malomick.bsky.social•96 days ago

For example, Ford's PCs have no plan to significantly shrink the ~40% of our budget we spend on healthcare delivery. They might eke out some "savings" by squeezing healthcare workers' salaries and privatizing certain services, but this inevitably leads to worse/more expensive care.

malomick.bsky.social•96 days ago

Meanwhile, progressive agendas—take your pick from the NDP, Green, and (less so) Liberal platforms—invest in public health, harm reduction, complete communities, early childhood nutrition, etc. to shrink that 40% by reducing the *underlying demand* for healthcare.

malomick.bsky.social•96 days ago

The fiscal benefits of these spending priorities can take multiple election cycles to come to fruition; and in the meantime conservatives typically point and shout—and spread disinformation—about runaway spending. But in the long run, spending to save is the only real path to fiscal responsibility.

malomick.bsky.social•96 days ago

tl;dr:
- Conservative spending = foolish, transactional, fiscally irresponsible, not interested in solving underlying problems
- Progressive spending = smart, strategic, path to fiscal responsibility, invested in solving systemic problems

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