David Cameron, the British prime minister, came to Washington the other day and did a special relationship, two hip guys having fun number with Barack Obama. Many have commented on the subjects they discussed. But I haven’t seen a lot of comparisons of the way their respective governments are functioning, and their very different approaches to leadership. Too bad. It’s an instructive exercise.
Britain, of course, has a parliamentary system. Usually the party that wins the national election is pretty much free to do whatever it wants. But because no party got an absolute majority last time around, a coalition was necessary — one that brought together the right- leaning conservatives and the left-leaning Liberal Democrats.
Sound impossible? Right- and-left-leaning parties coming together to address a country’s needs? That’s the way it’s usually done in properly functioning democracies where in times of great stress, without forsaking basic principles, parties with very different views do join for the national good — because the need to do so transcends getting and holding power.
Yes, I know. You only follow the American media and this seems impossible. Yet as strange as it seems, there were actually times in this country when parties that purport to love the country and all its people also came together and achieved near marvels. You can check it out if you don’t believe me. At a local library — if the ones in your area are still open.
O.K then. What policies is Mr. Cameron and his con-lib coalition pursuing? Again, you’ll have to have a firm grip on your computer to read what follows. This government is telling its people the truth! Telling them their economy is in such dire straits that a period of austerity (they actually use that word, you can check it out), that some much loved social and benefit programs have to be trimmed. Not eliminated, mind you, but trimmed, and this will hurt a lot of people in very fundamental ways.
Nobody in Wasington dare use the A-word, of course. Mr. Obama did toy with it in his first months in office. But the exceptionally brilliant and self-proclaimed politically super-savy Clinton Administration retreads he continues to listen to no matter what, apparently assured him that the American public is so stupid that all you have to do is repeat the word “recovery” often enough and they won’t notice their own standard of living is declining by the day. And also that it’s not their own policy suggestions that have failed. Because how could they? They came from us.
Well, enough about that crowd. Back to David Cameron.
So a lot of poor and middle class folks are feeling the austerity pinch in Britain. But (again, get a firm grip on your computers) the best and brightest market geniuses who did so much to bring about the present world financial crisis have also been hit with a very big new tax. A tax on their enormous bonuses!
Can you imagine that happening in this country? No, sir. Because if our government had actually done anything but a long-delayed, badly flawed ‘reform’ of Wall Street’s power and done instead anything at all about its mega-perks, if it had given the slightest hints that Wall Sreeters would have to share the pain they did so much to bring about, why the very Republic would crumble. Surely all God-fearing, taxes of any kind hating Americans understand that.
David Cameron is a true conservative. His coalition partner, Nick Clegg, who heads the Liberal Democrats, is a true liberal. I don’t know what to call the crowd running things in this country today. Or the crowd that is now so flagrantly slavering to get its share of power in the next election by pandering to the country’s worst instincts and most foolish misconceptions. We’ll actually I do know what to call them. But this being a family-friendly website, I think I’ll just pass up the opportunity…
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