Chretien's record was a warning By BOB MacDONALD -- Toronto Sun--Dec. 10, 2000 The more things change, the more they stay the same. It seems that way these days in three important situations: The emergence of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's hidden agenda now that he's won a third majority election; that never-ending rollercoaster ride called the U.S. presidential election; and the increasing threat of Russia returning to the symbols and anti-western stands of the communist Soviet Union. In Chretien's case, he's arrogantly safe with his majority power, mostly thanks to winning 100 of Ontario's 103 seats. So, the word now is that he's planning to impose on Canada a complete cradle-to-the-grave social welfare system. The idea is to create a tax-financed guaranteed wage and support program in place from birth to death. Canada's complete social welfare state, imposed in part by previous governments -- mostly Liberal -- would finally arrive. The word now is that Chretien is assembling a feasibility study committee to start the ball rolling on the costly enterprise. So much for the prime minister's election campaign promises about tax cuts and getting rid of the horrendous $580-billion federal debt that eats a third of every tax dollar just to pay the interest charges. The prospect of such a plan -- Chretien's political legacy -- is also probably meant to smokescreen such things as the ongoing RCMP investigations and charges against friends of the PM in his Quebec riding. Two of his longtime political supporters were charged this past week with misusing between $200,000 and $300,000 of federal grants in his riding. Paul Lemire and Mario Pepin face theft and fraud charges. They follow an election campaign issue where Chretien was criticized for pressuring a federal government bank to loan $615,000 to a man with a criminal record who had bought a hotel partly owned by the PM. Oh well, it's not as if Chretien's record wasn't a warning. Remember this is the same guy who won the 1993 election by promising to get rid of the GST sales tax. Once elected, he double-crossed voters and promptly forgot his promise. In the case of the U.S. presidential election vote counting, that soap-opera battle is now into its second month and the only people doing well are the lawyers. Even though he's been behind in every vote count since late on election night, Democrat Al Gore and his team led by Chicago political fixer Bill Daley have been forcing recount after recount. When they finally get one that puts them ahead, then they'll likely declare that's enough counting. However, a U.S Supreme Court ruling yesterday granted Republican George W. Bush's request to stop a new recount until arguments can be heard by the court tomorrow. And Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that a majority of the justices "believe that the petitioner (Bush) has a substantial probability of success" in having them order the vote recounting be halted permanently. That would mean Florida's deciding 25 electoral votes would make Bush president. Failing that, the battle could even end up being decided by Congress where the Republicans have a thin majority. But nevertheless a majority. Around and around we go. In Russia, President Vladimir Putin -- a former KGB agent -- must be wondering about this democracy thing. After all, he's allowing the elected Russian parliament -- still loaded with Communists -- to reinstate the old Soviet national anthem of the murderous Joe Stalin. Same tune, new lyrics. And the Russian armed forces, which recently had fighter planes buzz U.S. warships in the Pacific, get a new red flag -- the same colour as that of the Soviet Red Army. Ah yes, and Putin is making a state visit this week to an old Soviet client state -- Castro's Cuba. Boris Yeltsin, his predecessor, refused to go near communist Cuba -- once heavily armed and directed militarily by Moscow. Yes, it seems the world of politics -- nationally and internationally -- is doomed to repeat itself. Learning new, better ways seems nearly impossible for mere humans.