Right-wingers must have did a spit take with their orange juice this morning when one of their favorite whipping boys, the Associated Press, had a positive story on another of their favorite whipping boys, Canada, called “Canada's economy is suddenly the envy of the world.”
The conservative AP reports our best friend to the north’s economy grew at a 6.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of this year, the housing market is three-quarters of the 400,000 jobs lost during the recession have been recovered. Not only that, every Canadian citizens has access to quality health care.
“The banks are stable because, in part, they're more regulated. As the U.S. and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries over the last 15 years, Canada refused to do so. The banks also aren't as leveraged as their U.S. or European peers. There was no mortgage meltdown or subprime crisis in Canada. Banks don't package mortgages and sell them to the private market, so they need to be sure their borrowers can pay back the loans.”
No one is saying, despite claims by right-wingers, that Canada is the model the U.S. should follow in regard to financial reform, but there is no doubt we should take them as an example of a success story.
They are also using the story to blame the victims and the Democrats for the economic meltdown while ignoring the role of Wall Street, unscrupulous bankers, brokers and secondary market people who made a fortune off of the misery of many hard-working Americans.
They are blaming the National Homeownership Strategy passed under President Clinton, and the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act passed under President Carter.
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