Open Prison Canada

Matthew Green in a Nutshell

Well, not just Matthew Green. These criticisms broadly apply to most politicians, especially those of a communist, or "liberal," bent.

But since Mr. Green seems to enjoy the publicity he gets when squirting his virtue signals on every political hydrant he can find, to bolster his self-image as some kind of hero for the marginalized, I will use him as an example in this analysis.

He just got more digital ink on (where else?) the CBC website.

Now he's pretending to care about people who, for whatever reason, choose to patronize payday loan places. He claims, "he's tired of what he says is a predatory industry that preys on Hamilton's most vulnerable." And by this, he is not referring to that predatory industry that pays his salary at the expense of the tax vulnerable customers of the Corporation of the City of Hamilton. (You know, like the people who are being forced to pay for engineered gridlock on Hamilton's downtown streets.)

Nope. He's talking about expanding the market for his own business. I.E. Government Inc. The bigger Government Inc. gets, the more secure Mr. Green et. al.'s careers become. And he wants it all done without lifting a finger, or spending a penny of his own. Just like his soul brother in Queen's Park.

What does Mr. Green want?

Here is the list from the CBC report:

• For the mayor to write to the province asking it to strengthen the Payday Loans Act.

• For the letter to include a request to let municipalities limit the number of payday loan businesses in their cities, and to regulate the locations.

• For city staff to research the feasibility of establishing a licence for payday loan outlets.

• For city staff to map out payday loan and check-cashing outlets and report back on possible "alternative accessible financial services."

Let's go over these one by one.

1 - For the mayor to write to the province asking it to strengthen the Payday Loans Act.

Brilliant. Make it more difficult for payday loan places to operate, and expect that the price of their services will go .... down. This kind of economic thinking is all too comon. Also common, is that those advocating the policy do basically nothing more than advocate it. No personal risk or expense is involved.

2 - For the letter to include a request to let municipalities limit the number of payday loan businesses in their cities, and to regulate the locations.

Sure. Brilliant idea Mr. Green. Limit the number of payday loan businesses, thus limiting competition among them, and expect the price to go ... down.

Not to mention that, limiting the number of payday outlets only makes it harder for the people whom Mr. Green pretends to care about to access the services they value. Duh!

Not to mention it will cost Mr. Green $0.

3 - For city staff to research the feasibility of establishing a licence for payday loan outlets.

To do what, exactly? To give people like Mr. Green more power in manipulating the market? To, for example, mandate the rates that will be charged?

But what if Uber decides to get into the payday loan game? Just tap an app and poof! There goes up to 50% of your digital paycheck. Will Uber get an exemption just like the one they got with taxi licenses?

With this current crew of politicians on city council, anything is possible.

How much would this "solution" cost Mr. Green? Zip. Zero. Zilch.

Would Mr. Green end up with a seat on the licensing tribunal, with the power of life or death for people caught in its net? I'd be willing to bet that he would.

Politicians, man. Their motives and incentives are so blazinlgy transparent. Government is a business, just like any other. And it's officers and employees are governed by the exact same forces as govern those in the non-exempt sectors.

If they figure out a way to rip you off, they'll do it.

4 - For city staff to map out payday loan and check-cashing outlets and report back on possible "alternative accessible financial services."

Again, such imbecility from the Pavlovian mentality of a politician. If there were possible "alternative accessible financial services," the people who are being ripped off would already know about them. By the time "city staff" ever got around to identifying any of these "alternative accessible financial services," the world would have already changed, rendering their discoveries worthless.

But again, none of this pissing away of public resources would cost Mr. Green one red cent. If it turns out to be a wild goose chase, no one will even know about it. And if, by some remarkable anomaly, it returns something of value, Mr. Green will be happy to take credit.

Politics is so easy to understand.

My advice is, don't buy it.