WTF? Kevin O'Leary for prime minister?

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      Shark Tank's Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O'Leary, has confirmed that he's considering running for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

      This will be welcomed by ardent right wingers who thought Stephen Harper was a wimp and a cream puff in taking on the size of government.

      How do I know that? Because I interviewed O'Leary when he passed through Vancouver in 2011 while promoting his book, Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life.

      "We need to move this country far more to the right," O'Leary declared.

      At the time, the highest marginal personal-income tax rate in B.C. was 43.7 percent on incomes over $128,000. O'Leary said that maximum personal-income tax rates needed to be brought down to 20 percent.

      "Taxation rates are ridiculously high," O'Leary said.

      He spoke glowingly about libertarian author Ayn Rand and her book, Atlas Shrugged, saying her ideas are "still alive and amongst us". 

      "I want to give as little money as I can to the government 'cause I think it goes there and it's wasted," he stated.

      In O'Leary's opinion, the "only job worth anything is in the private sector".

      I mentioned to O'Leary that the top one percent of income earners in the United States were collecting 24 percent of the national income. Then I noted that the last time the gap was this large was in 1928, prior to the Great Depression.

      At that point, I added that authors like Robert Reich and Linda McQuaig have suggested that growing income inequality elevates the risk of real-estate and stock-market bubbles bursting.

      "I don't agree...I think it's completely incorrect to assume that what happened in the '20s is relevant today in the global economy," O'Leary replied.

      Then he praised the rising share of national income going to the wealthiest people in the country.

      "You talk about the one percent having a significantly larger portion of the wealth. That's true and we should celebrate it because it gives us an example for everybody else to aspire to," O'Leary said. "I want every Canadian to be filthy rich."

      That's because in his mind, "the wealthy carry the rest of society on their backs."

      Find out what O'Leary thinks of the Alberta NDP government in the video below.

      Unions are sheer evil, according to Kevin O'Leary.
      Press Progress

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