Puff spending for PMO and life-endangering cuts to Transport.

À propos of corporate greed in the US, we asked if this was the type of economics Harper believed in.

From the Canadian Press, we learn more about Stevie Spiteful's choices, as to where to spend taxpayers' money.

The cost of running the Prime Minister’s Office will jump by more than $1-million this year, mostly because of communications expenses. [...] The Canadian Press has learned it will hit about $9.89-million, compared to last year’s $8.15-million on spending.

The PMO has hired another 20 people in the last year, including more staff to handle regional and ethnic media, as well as direct government communication, such as the ad blitz on the economic action plan.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister John Baird says he's "deeply disturbed" because airlines may not be following regulations that require boarding agents to check all passengers' faces against their passport photo.

Yet industry concerns about the staffing crisis at Transport Canada - a reported shortage of 98 inspectors - dont appear on Baird's radar. A statement about the dwindling numbers of aviation safety inspectors was made by Yvan-Miville Des Chênes, broadcast in a Radio-Canada interview. Yesterday, as a result of ongoing investigations into recent crashes of Aéropro-operated passenger flights, Transport Canada closed down its operations.

Think about it. Not enough inspectors to ensure that planes are safe to fly. Yet Baird chooses to focus on veiled women because this "poses a serious threat to the security of the air travelling public”.

Perhaps a "fiscal conservative" is someone who hasn't yet enjoyed the skyfall benefits of Stevie Spiteful & his cadre of thugs and trough-feeders' slashing of government inspectors positions.

The Cons are doing exactly what balbulican describes here, in the comments after Dawg' post: "The Harper strain of conservatism believe that governments should not govern. An interim, transitional strategy is to govern really badly."