A couple of takeaways from President Obama’s speech last night:
First on climate change. With a nod to his opponents, Obama argued that while there is serious disagreement on the science, working on clean energy is still good policy. As he put it, “even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy-efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do.” I think putting it that way will be compelling for a lot of people. In the absence of details, I don’t disagree with the notion.
A second point of interest for me had to do with taxes. On raising taxes to pay off the burgeoning debt, the president was definitive. Now is not the time for tax hikes. Tax cuts work, and spending restraint will be the way ahead. With that, he announced a 3 year public sector spending freeze. I suspect our Finance Minister was taking notes.
Indeed on taxes, I was particularly interested in what Obama had to say given Gerrard Kennedy’s musings earlier in the day that Canadians were ready for tax hikes. That surprised me and, if reports are correct, it also surprised Mr. Kennedy’s leader. We’ll have to watch how this plays out. In the meantime, the American leader has offered food for thought on a couple of issues that are as relevant to Canadians, as they are to Americans.
