What is Bob Rae Thinking?

I guess Bob Rae has taken it upon himself to take a trip to the UAE to meddle in the spat over the issue of the UAE wanting more landing flights to our airports. What in the heck is he thinking? He's caught the ire of the PMO  and now Air Canada as well.

Is Bob acting without his party's approval? He seems to be at odds with at least Liberal Senator Colin Kenny who says that we should "drop the gloves" and calls the UAE "pompous thugs."

Why would I want to drop the gloves in dealing with the UAE? Because I think they're essentially a bunch of pompous thugs behaving like Canadians need them. We don't, and somebody should show them they can't treat us like the second-class citizens they hire to do virtually all the work in their seven fiefdoms.

How does his leader the Waffle feel?  We haven't heard boo from him.Where does he stand? Does he agree with the Senator or does he approve of Bob's approach? Did Bob get the OK from the Waffle to do this or his going rogue?  All you cracker jack investigative journalists out there, track the Waffle down and ask him. You would if the shoe was on the other foot.  You'd be howling that the opposition shouldn't be interfering directly in  government foreign affairs and crowing about divisions within  the Tory party.
Anyway, all what Bob is doing is making matters worse. It's going to be all the harder now for the government to deal with the UAE and find a solution to this problem.  Not only that but he's not helping out his party either.

One Young Liberal Sees the Writing on The Wall

John Lennard, a McGill law student and Young Liberal activist writing a piece in the National Post giving the Waffle seems to see the writing on the wall.

While watching coverage of the United States congressional race last fall, a friend asked if the Republicans' momentum would affect progressives north of the border.
"Two words", I answered: "Rob Ford."
And the rest, as they say, is history -- or will be for Canadian Liberals, unless we pay attention to what these elections (as well as Dalton McGuinty and Michael Ignatieff's dismal poll numbers) are telling us.
Quite simply, in 2011, voters aren't buying the goods so-called "progressives" are selling.
As a federal Liberal (and a young one, to boot), I take this lesson to heart. Putting a new coat of paint on old policy planks won't cut it. It's time for Liberals to get back to the basics.
We've plugged plenty of "feel-good" spending projects over the years. Subsidies for this, strategic investments in that. But all of these programs have costs, and they're getting heavier by the day. Burdening my generation with debt is no way to build a just society.

I agree with most everything  except  this part. I disagree. Those are not the Prime Minister's priorities.  The economy, jobs and keeping us safe are his priorities.

Planes, prisons, fake lakes and billboards. That sums up Prime Minister Stephen Harper's priorities.

I agree fully agree with him on this. He wants to get rid of the $2 voter tax.

And while we're at it, let's end that irritating $2 per vote subsidy for political parties. If the Liberal party wants me to fork over some dough, it should have the grit to ask me personally.

Amen,but if he remembers, the PM and Minister Flaherty tried to get rid of this tax shortly after the election in 2008 in their fiscal update but it almost caused a constitutional crisis with the troika of the stooges that included his party and his leader's signature on the coalition document that included the Bloc.

If he wants to see those solutions that he advocates he's better off supporting PM Harper and the Conservatives where he's more likely to see them come to pass especially the elimination of the  $2 voter tax if voters give them a majority next election.

 

He doubts whether the Waffle will follow his advise.

The only question is whether he has the courage to do it. 

 To me this young man seems bright and perceptive and sees what is most likely coming down the pipe. I looks to me like he's trying to save his leader and his party  before the ship goes down. I don't think his leader is going to listen to him though either.
 Kudo's to this young Liberal for presenting some common sense.  It's almost as rare as hen's teeth anymore.

Good News for Canada, Bad News for Liberals

The top priority for Canadians right now is jobs and the economy and that is logical. Well there was good news last month,even though the economy remains shaky and fragile, 22,000 more Canadians went back to work last month. That's an increase in jobs for the last three months in row and our unemployment rate held steady at 7.6%.  In fact the job creation was better than expected which is good news for Canada and bad news for Liberals.

OTTAWA — Canada's job market performed somewhat better than expected last month, with gains concentrated in full-time, private-sector employment, in industrial sectors and for those younger than 25.
There were 22,000 additional people working in Canada last month, Statistics Canada said Friday. That slightly exceeded economists' expectations for gains of 20,000.
Most experts anticipated a surge in people looking for work would cause the unemployment rate to rise to 7.7 per cent, but it remained steady at 7.6 per cent.

 The corporate tax cuts have just kicked in which should provide even more jobs which will help plus the new Minister of State for Finance,Ted Menzies( who is my MP by the way) announced the other day funding to help create about 3500 summer jobs for students.

When people are working it's good for the economy but the Liberals apparently don't agree.They say they will freeze corporate tax cuts and spend the money on big government social welfare programs. I don't see how that will create jobs. Infact John Ivison points out that a stronger economy actually weakens the Liberalsbecause the lower corporate tax rates are working.

It must all make for grim reading for the Liberals, who are keen to freeze corporate tax rates. When he unveiled his plan to cancel the planned $6-billion in corporate tax cuts last March, Michael Ignatieff pledged to "create fiscal room to realize some dreams" -- that is, finance his own spending plans such as the $1-billion home-care support package.

Even the Americans are noticing.

Now, instead of expanding Canada's welfare state, the conservative government led by Mr. Harper is intent upon building the nation's global competitiveness. Our friends in the Great White North cut their corporate tax rate to 16.5 percent on Jan. 1 and will see it drop to 15 percent next year. That compares to the current U.S.Canada the lowest corporate tax rate among the G-7 nations and an eye-popping advantage for businesses wondering whether to locate on the U.S. or Canadian side of the border.

This indeed is bad new for the Liberals as they were hoping the Canadian economy would just keep spiraling down, down,down and the public would turn on the Conservative government and they would swoop in and take reins of power.  It hasn't turned out that way.  With every piece of good news like this one today, Iffy and the Libs will have a hard time convincing Canadians they are the right ones to create jobs and prosperity. 
The PM and his team have done a good job handling the economy and the public has no appetite to "kick the bums out."

Can the Voter Tax

Do you know how much you gave to the various political parties through the forced contribution voter tax last quarter?  Yup, you've donated $27 million.   That's just last quarter.

 OTTAWA — Canadians have paid more than $27 million in allowance to the country's main political parties, under a public financing system Prime Minister Stephen Harper unsuccessfully tried to eliminate in 2008.

 Elections Canada released fourth-quarter numbers Wednesday, illustrating how Canadian tax dollars continued to tell the story of the federal election held more than two years ago.

Fourth-Quarter    payments:
Bloc Quebecois
$691,289
Conservative Party of Canada
$2,609,418
Green Party of Canada
$469,686
Liberal Party of Canada
$1,819,999
New Democratic Party
$1,260,002

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister tried to eliminate this tax in their fall update shortly after the election in 2008 in which the opposition had a hissy fit and the coalition of the three stooges were exposed and tried to overthrow a recently duly elected government that got more seats than they. Where the separatist party would have had a major say in what goes on in the ROC.  

Kevin Gaudet from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is perfectly right.

"We totally supported Harper when he tried to get rid of it," said Kevin Gaudet, national director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "None of them should get one red cent. Political parties ought to be raising money on their own."
The problems with the allowance run deep, he said, noting that some voters end up giving funds to parties they don't support. All taxpayers subsidize the allowance, but only registered parties that meet voting thresholds qualify to receive funding.
Another longtime source of contention concerning the subsidies involves the "disproportionate amount" of funding the Bloc receives, said Gaudet.

Since we have to go into an austerity period it would be a perfect time to end this tax. Why should we be forced to contribute our tax dollars to political parties that we don't like? The elimination of this tax would hurt all the opposition parties but the hardest hit would be the separatist Bloc and the Liberals the most.   The Bloc is just a regional party that runs candidates in only one province whose one objective is to break up the country. Rest of Canada should not be subsidizing a party like that. It's just not right.

Should it be a part of the up coming budget?  I say yes. The opposition wouldn't like it, they'd defeat the government and off we'd go to the polls.  If not part of the budget, it should at least be a major part of the CPC election platform plank in the next election. How would the other parties explain at the doors why taxpayers should be forced to fund parties they don't like?

Liberal Brand Suffers Severe Damage

A new poll just out has suggested that the Liberal party is suffering severe damage to it's brand. Very few respondents in the poll had few positive things to say about the party.

Based on first mentions, it is clear that the Liberal Party brand is severely damaged and the negativity associated with the party extends beyond Michael Ignatieff’s leadership.
These results suggest that the Sponsorship Scandal continues to hurt the Liberal brand and the residual effect is a lasting association with corruption, arrogance, and dishonesty.
Most troubling for the Liberal Party is that very few respondents mentioned positive phrases or words about the Liberal Party. Instead, comments described the party as having weak leadership, being dishonest and corrupt, and divided.

That is not good if Iffy wants to defeat the government and take us into in an election this spring. On the other hand the same poll also shows the Conservatives and the NDP are in much better shape.

A new Abacus Data National Poll finds that relatively speaking, the Conservative and NDP brands are in a better position heading into a possible spring federal election than the Liberal brand.
Respondents were asked to identify what first came to their minds when they think about each major national party.  The results are displayed in word clouds found below or in the detailed report found here.
“Stephen Harper and Jack Layton dominate their respective brands,” said Abacus Data CEO, Dr. David Coletto.  “The popularity of each party is heavily influenced by how Canadians view the Conservative and NDP leaders.”
While high recognition rates can be a positive factor, dominance by a single leader can also produce problems.
“The good news for the Conservative Party is that many Canadians associate the party with the economic recovery and low taxes,” said Coletto.  “Despite the fact that Canadians continue to worry about the economy and their jobs, the opposition has not been able to dislodge the Conservative advantage on the economy.”
The opposition Liberal Party had the bleakest results.  Very few Canadians mentioned anything positive about the party, with most comments describing the party as lacking good leadership, being corrupt or dishonest.
“Canadians seem to still identify the Liberal party by its past wrongs, perhaps as a result of a lack of direction, internal division, and weaker leadership over the past few years,” said Coletto.  “Weak leadership and internal division is the Liberal brand as they enter 2011.”
Finally, the NDP continues to be a conflicted brand.  The NDP and its leader Jack Layton are well regarded by Canadians but only one in five said would vote for it in Abacus Data’s poll released in early December.
“The NDP is very much a function of Jack Layton,” said Coletto.  “The NDP is seen by Canadians as a caring party that defends the interests of working people but its policies are considered unrealistic my many.”

I think the Liberals should think hard and long before they defeat the government  If they want to go into an election fine but they'll  also suffer the consequences. They badly lost the trust of Canadians and have a long way to go gain it back again and it's not just changing leaders.  It goes way deeper than that.

Probably the best thing for Liberals maybe is an election result with a Conservative majority and NDP as official opposition.  They would then have at least four years to figure out who they are,what they stand for and rebuild from the bottom up. Maybe just maybe there too wouldn't be so much muck raking and making up faux scandals that they would actually work at developing some credible policy and act like an official opposition and government in waiting.  Then maybe they could earn back the public's trust again. Look how long it took Conservatives. It took years before we actually figured things out and got our act together. Thank God we finally did.  The country is better off for it.   It will take Liberals at least that long if not more.

This related from WK 

Far and Wide: Steve V. calls for a cultural change in the Liberal Party, bottom to top.  He says that’s the only thing that’ll make it relevant.  He’s right, of course.  It will also never happen.  Carry on as you were.