Silly Little Country

The Vultures Have Landed

In this case it is just the usual rent-seeking suspects at a hearing of the CRTC regarding the 'TV Tax' proposing carriage fees for local television stations on our cable and satellite systems.
The Writers' Guild of Canada put out a cute little video on Youtube documenting the ridiculousness of some of the arguments on this.

Of course the real problem here is that the Writers' Guild is no more interested in a sensible solution to the pseudo-problem being discussed than the broadcasters or cable and satellite companies. You can tell in a number of ways - typical bits of demagoguery ($2.3 Billion dollars profit! with no mention of rate of return or the size of the industry, and the assertion that the fee is not a tax - sounds like Obama versus Stephanopoulos in its ridiculousity). I also love the assertions that Canadians want Canadian TV - if we really did why do we need a government agency to protect them?
Now the word 'Guild' is a pretty word artists use to hide the fact that the group is simply a union, and the pretty word is meant to obscure its pure rent-seeking nature.
You can be sure they are lined up at the table waiting for their piece of the action, and the CBC reported this morning that the actors were as well.
No doubt they will all be on the news tonight, explaining how crucial their getting the money is vital to your future enjoyment of Canadian 'culture'.
The vultures are doing what they do best, exploiting the constant excretion of government regulation upon regulation to gouge the consumer, and trying to find a way to increase their own share of the cadaver.
The creature being eviscerated by the vultures of course is the Canadian television viewer, and the vultures get the full support of the Canadian government. After all, it is awfully hard to just go out and perform so well that ordinary people want to buy your services.
Rent-seeking is a disgusting sight.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 1:14 PM