At Home in Hespeler

I told them [The Liberal Party of Canada] that they should invoke a culture war. Cosmopolitan versus parochialism, secularism versus muralism, Obama versus Palin, tolerance versus racism and homophobia, democracy versus autocracy. If the cranky old men in Alberta don’t like it, they can go south and vote for Palin.

Note the subtext: they’re tolerant, you’re a parochial, racist, homophobic, autocratic, moralistic tea partier. As Conservative Party of Canada president John Walsh asks, “does the [public funded] CBC share Mr. Graves call for a ‘culture war…’”

Silly Liberals, Stephen Harper CBC, EKOS Research Associates, Frank Graves’, John Walsh

…As long as spending is kept under control.

That’s according to Glen Hodgeson, chief economist as the Conference Board of Canada. Despite what opposition leaders and opposition media will tell you, this makes sense. I was never a fan of the stimulus spending. Became less of a fan as I spent hours this summer in stimulus jams on the 401 as they scraped up perfectly good pavement and lay down other, just as good pavement. In fact, my first post at Gerry Nicholls’ LibertyPost was about the economic porn of stimulus spending.

That said, stimulus spending is by it’s nature, temporary spending. The government created a big deficit by spending on re-facing the 401 and other such useful-alities. Once the stimulus spending stops, the budget should return to normal. That is, assuming spending is not increased by, say, introducing a vastly expensive new social program.

The federal Liberals are promising to put a national child-care program at the forefront of the next election campaign and any future government, with leader Michael Ignatieff describing it as a “legacy” item for his party.

“Mr. Ignatieff is making grand promises that he absolutely refuses to cost out, or say how he’ll pay for them,” (Human Resources Minister Diane ) Finley said.

Where will Michael Ignatieff find the money for his new popcorn-and-beer-care? Actually he’s already said where. He has indicated it will take tax hikes to bring the deficit back in line. This is not true, as the economists who met with Jim Flaherty have noted, unless you take the expanded stimulus included budget and consider it the new normal. If your spending doesn’t decrease when the stimulus ends, you need new revenue to pay for all that extra spending.

What we now have is a clear look at Michael Ignatieffs plan. He is going to spend like it’s 2009 by adding daycare to the public budget, and he will blame Stephen Harper for the tax hikes he needs to pay for it.

Silly Liberals, The Count Child Care, Jim Flaherty, Michael Ignatieff, Stimulous

OK, we’ve all seen the Stephen Harper assassination picture and can all agree it’s harmless: not like they had a bird pooping on him or any such major indignity. It was stupid, and the collective MSM yawn in lieu of howls of indignity, as they do every time a Conservative speaks ill of a Liberal, was embarrassing for them. Pity they don’t have the common sense anymore to realize they’re embarrassed.

Remember this picture next time you hear howls of Stephen Harper being a mean spirited, nasty bully.

But the Stephen Harper assassination fantasy/crime, and the Stephen Harper arming a cow (in the not with a gun context) picture aren’t the only graven images in the Liberal Party Stephen Harper Photoshop contest and hate-athon currently underway at Liberanos.ca. There are six finalists now showing and they range from the childish (Harper as Waldo, Harper in a bunny suit) to reasonably clever (Something rotten in the state of Denmark), to the dammed racist if a Republican did it with their President (the monkeys) to the disturbing: one with Harper riding a bomb, and this one

Seeing as Hitler pictures are so darned hard to find and David in Ottawa only had 45 or 50 seconds to do his entry, a quick slice of Harper into the Communist Party poster, because we all know how vile the communists are. Isn’t that clever? Why there’s Lenin. And Stalin and Mao, the two worst mass murderers in the history of the world. Oh, and look, there’s Uncle Fidel in the back…

Uncle Fidel?

Wait a minute, that uncle Fidel? Virtually the only world leader to make an appearance at the last Michael Ignatieff’s funeral? I thought the Liberals liked him. As for Mao, wasn’t last weeks big scandal that Harper can’t get along with Chinese Communists? In fact, if we imagine a party like the one pictured above, wouldn’t MM Chrétien and Trudeau be the Canadians most likely to RSVP in the affirmative?

What exactly is the message the Liberal Party is trying to send with this picture? That Stephen Harper is really a closet Liberal? Well, he did jack up the deficit, increase spending and stuff the senate? But it seems an odd message for the Liberals to be putting out none the less.

Maybe the message is they didn’t think this contest through very well.

Silly Liberals Castro, Chrétien, Communist Party, Conservative Party, Fidel, Hitler, Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald, Lenin, Liberal, Mao, Michael Ignatieff, puffin, STalin, Stephen Harper, Trudeau, Where's Waldo

The party base understood in 2006 and Canadian citizens are understanding now. Ignatieff’s supporters didn’t do their homework. They didn’t read his books. They contented themselves with his ability to navigate the cocktail circuit.”
“Some of them are enraged today. I hear: ‘Why didn’t anyone tell us about him?'”
“We told you, loud and clear. You didn’t listen.’

and

 “But they (party members) didn’t accept the 26 per cent (of the popular vote in the last election). Now we’re at 23.”

It’s worth saying that it’s not that they didn’t try and read his books but, like me, they picked up The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror, and slept like a baby for two weeks, unable to keep their poor weary eyes open for more than a page and a half of his pompous drivel.

 Then the front thrusts:

Ross Rebagliati, former Olympic snowboarder with the Clitonesque excuses, now running for the Liberal party in  Okanagan-Coquihalla BC, gives an interview to McLeans:

McL: …did the Liberals approach you, or did you approach them?
RR: They approached me. It came up over lunch and I thought about it for a few minutes, and by the end of the meal, I had decided to do it.

RR:… We’re sending our Canadian soldiers overseas to create a democracy in a foreign land, and a lot of them are paying the ultimate price. And we can’t even bring ourselves to vote here, when we have that right and privilege? To me, that’s unacceptable.
McL: Have you been a regular voter?
RR: No I haven’t.

McL: Are there other politicians you admire?
RR: Sure, Trudeau… he had a cool car and all the girls liked him.

McL: What will you be doing during the Olympics this February?
RR: I’ll be in both Whistler and Vancouver… but I don’t have a single ticket. But as far as I’m concerned I’m just going to flash my gold medal. (Note: he’s entitled to his entitlements).

McL: Are you in favour of legalization?
RR: I’m not really going to go there right now. I think the media obviously has a big opportunity to corner me as a one-issue guy, but I don’t want to be that guy.

McL:…What’s your campaign theme song going to be?
RR: I like the Bob Marley song Get Up, Stand Up.

When your star candidates are this good, what can go wrong?

Silly Liberals, Uncategorized Janine Krieber, Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff, Parliament Pub, Ross Rebagliati, Stephane Dion, Warren Kinsella

You see it every summer, some person undergoing  a physical trial to raise money for a favourite charity. Terry Fox and Rick Hansen come to mind, Fox raising funds for cancer research, Hansen for Spinal Cord injury.  But beyond the celebrated cases, many ordinary engage in trial to raise funds for a good cause. Whether it’s baking cookies to send a deceased bakery employee’s brother to college, a motorcycle ride for big brothers and big sisters or a bike ride, sans motor, to raise money for African wells. In my own sphere of friends and family I know of somebody who did the ride to conquer cancer and another who did the relay for life.

When I read that Liberal Party executive director Rocco Rossi is kayaking the Rideau from Kingston to Ottawa to raise funds, my immediate reaction was good for him. So, who’s Rossi raising money for? Perhaps Breast Cancer (he could use a pink canoe)? Alzheimer’s research (a cause near and dear to my heart)? child amputees? No, no and no. Liberal Party executive director Rocco Rossi is Kayaking the Rideau canal from Kingston to Ottawa to raise money for… The Liberal Party.

Not Rocco Rossi

Starting July 23rd, follow me as I paddle from Kingston to Ottawa, raising funds to help make Michael Ignatieff Canada’s 23rd prime minister. If you can’t meet me along the way, you can still support the adventure by donating $23, multiples of $23, or asking 23 friends to donate, join the Party, or volunteer between now and the next election. Use your imagination, the sky is the limit! —Rocco

Pity Rocco couldn’t use his position to raise money for a real cause. Pity he doesn’t see that he’s officially competing for  funds with various charities around the Province. But we all know he believes electing his friend to a position of absolute power will cure cancer, and the rest of the worlds ills. All, and everybody, will be well, just so long as a Liberal is in charge.

Personally, I respect the physical act he’s performing, and think it’s worth something. Rocco Rossi wants $23 for his efforts, I am going to send $23 to the Alzheimers Society of Cambridge as soon as Rocco completes his journey.

Silly Liberals alzheimer's, Kayak, Liberal Party, relay for life, Ride to conquer cancer, Rideau Canal, Rocco Rossi

There’s an opinion piece in today’s Post by Liberal MP Scott Bryson in which he opines on the value of a good Canadian American relationship and how Stephen Harper has done so much damage to that relationship by… what exactly, Mr. Bryson? Getting along with the American’s?

The Canada-U. S. bond transcends economics and politics. We are friends, neighbours and family. We share common values. We believe in equality, democracy and the rule of law. We face common challenges, whether in security, the environment or economic policy.

We trade $1.5-billion worth of goods and services every day across the Canada-U. S. border, and since 1989, Canada-U. S. trade has more than tripled to over $700-billion this year.

We build things together. The average North American car crosses the Canada-U. S. border the equivalent of four times before it is completed.

Each province in Canada now trades more with the United States than with other provinces. Our economies are so intertwined that if we were ever to try to separate them, it would be like trying to unscramble an omelette…

During a time of economic crisis, protectionism can turn a downturn turn into a depression.

OK, so far, I agree with everything Scott Bryson just said, and believe me, that is not something I type every century.

There is a strong vein of protectionist sentiment in the U. S. Congress. When American congressmen move forward with protectionist measures, Canada must respond immediately through established relationships. The Conservatives were so focused over the last three years on building relationships with neo-con Republicans that they neglected to build relationships with Democrats. Now that there has been a sea change in the American political landscape, Canada is disadvantaged.

Bipartisan relations that are strong during the good times help protect our joint interests during the tough times. Fixing those relationships now, during an economic crisis, is like trying to fix the roof during a rain storm.

Hold on. They aren’t even in charge anymore and Bryson is blaming the Republicans. Where was all this from Bryson when Liberal governments were calling the President of the United States a moron? Making major foreign policy announcements regarding the Americans before telling the Americans? Blaming George Bush for global warming?

Bryson is dead on, a Canadian government needs to have a bi-partisan approach to relations with American governments. But when the Liberals had the chance, they acted like spoiled, bratty, pouty teenagers.

Stephen Harper is Barack Obama’s first foreign visit, and that visit hasn’t taken place yet. Relationships take little time to destroy, but time and effort to build. Stephen Harper knows this better than some minor Liberal thinker. The Harper Conservatives were not focused on building relationships with neo-cons these last three years, they were focused on repairing the damage done by the Liberals with the sitting President. The fact Bryson spent time bashing the Conservatives for repairing that damage proves how little the Liberals understand the damage they did.

Over the past thirty years, Conservative governments have proven they know how to get along with American administrations while the Liberals, and their public relations arm in the media have mocked, protested and chided the Conservatives for doing so.  It is Liberals who have actually had difficulty getting along.

Mr. Bryson’s comments today read like a teenager scolding his parents. His vitriolic hatred of both Stephen Harper and George Bush shows through in this piece, and renders it unfit for publication in a serious paper like the National Post. It goes without adding, Scott Bryson is equally unfit for a serious position in any government.

Politicians acting badly, Silly Liberals

I have been puzzled by what to say about the reported $35B budget deficit for next year. Flabbergasted begins to explain my reaction, but the larger question is, what was the point of saving the government from the coalition of the economorons? So the Conservatives could outspend them? Harper should have let the opposition take ownership of this kind of deficit, and fought them on it when they cannibalized themselves.

Today, Stephen Harper is queried by Sun Media. Believe it or not he calls this a majority government budget except for, “a couple of things where we’re making concessions to the opposition we wouldn’t normally make…”

Seriously Stephen Harper, economist, you would create a $35B deficit with a majority? Finally we have found that mysterious hidden agenda.

Meanwhile John McCallum was earlier this week blaming the Tories for the upcoming budget deficit because they increased spending and cut taxes in the past couple of years. But hold on, the Liberals are demanding stimulus. Threatened to topple the government because there wasn’t enough stimulus in the fall update. In fact, John McCallum said this recently:

Finally, this government is talking about a real stimulus, which is what other countries have been doing for months.

(And what have other governments been doing John McCallum? In Britain, they cut the VAT, their version of the GST. Is that the tax cut Prime Minister Harper shouldn’t have made? Like the “other countries have been doing…”?)

But, if spending and tax cuts provided stimulus, and the Tories have been spending and cutting taxes, how did we get into a recession. The reason is simple: all that spending doesn’t really provide stimulus, and tax cuts provide some, but minimal. When government spends money, it must first take it out of the economy, there is no stimulus, just money moving from one area of the economy to another, usually from productive to non-productive.

As for the idea of building roads. There are only so many machines capable of building them, so many people capable of operating what machines there are. If you start throwing money into road building what you end up with is not more people working, more roads built, but more expensive roads and the people who work on them making more money.

So Prime Minister Harper, save us the nonsense about stimulus. Let the government fall, let John McCallum tender a $35B deficit budget, and fight them hard when their coalition eventually falls.

pimply minions of bureaucracy, Politicians acting badly, Pompous Igghead, Silly Liberals pimply minions of bureaucracy

True democracy only has one choice. Therefore, Bob Rae is bowing out of the leadership race.

Bob Rae has told his supporters in a conference call Tuesday that he will end his bid for the Liberal leadership, CTV News has learned.

CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife confirmed Tuesday that Rae will not challenge frontrunner Michael Ignatieff — virtually ensuring that Ignatieff will become Liberal leader.

Rae is expected to formally confirm his withdrawal from the race at a press conference at 3 p.m. ET in Ottawa.

I don’t like Bob Rae, and Michael Ignatieff may be the best choice for leader. But if I’m a Liberal today, I wonder what happened to my party that a guy who lived and worked in the United States his entire adult life, is the only guy in the race to lead my party.

Frankly, the Liberals talk about renewal, but without the debate that a leadership race brings, how do you achieve renewal?

History may show that Stéphane Dion did far more damage to the Liberal party than can currently be imagined.

Michael Ignatieff, Silly Liberals, Stephane Dion

Discounting the results of an election held two months ago, that’s fine, but an immediate vote to allow the Liberal caucus to elect a temporary leader?:

The idea of taking away the vote from tens of thousands of grassroots activists in every part of Canada, and reducing the franchise to just 76 men and women seems so out-of-step with the modern world. It makes you shake your head. Here’s just a quick, off-the-cuff list of things that struck me as wrong about this idea…

It’s up to us to put a stop to this hasty, ill-considered idea for electing our leader. I am raising my voice publicly for your right to vote. Please help me by raising yours as well.

Well Bob, last week you didn’t give a rats ass about my right to vote. But now that it goes against you, that’s undemocratic?

As for Bob Rae complaining about things coming from left field:

I thought I’d seen a lot of politics over 30 years of public service, but this one really came from left field.

Your the Fu*&ing left fielder, you moron.

He got one thing right though, the Liberal caucus is “out-of-step with the modern world.” Alas, Bob Rae is out of step with reality, so he’s not really one to judge.

h/t Freedom is my Nationality

Silly Liberals

… please don’t call.

While I fundamentally agree with Kinsella that if the Liberals want to start doing better then they need to stop talking about the green shift. But if you are campaigning on a fundamental change to tax policy, literally a completely new way to do business, how can you decide not to talk about that policy? The green shift is a huge change in Canadian governance, with massive implications to the everyday life of Canadians, and Kinsella wants to hush it up?

Who has the scary hidden agenda now?

Silly Liberals

Thanks to Justice Max Teitelbaum who has declared John Gomery was biased against Jean Chrétien and therefore, his conclusion that Chrétien, and his chief of staff Jean Pelletier, bore some responsibility was wrong. Chrétien was said to be “very very pleased. Chrétien ran a $100 million program in which up to $40 million is said to have gone missing. He is either responsible, or extremely incompetent. As he cannot be responsible, isn’t Justice Teitelbaum just declaring Chrétien incompetent? So again, thanks to Justice Teitelbaum for clearing that up.

Actually, as Justice Teitelbaum makes Justice Gomery’s findings invalid, and as it’s probably an election year, Prime Minister Harper should call a new enquiry into the sponsorship scandal. Think another enquiry would find the Prime Minister had no responsibility when $400M in malfeasance was happening under his watch? And it can’t hurt Harpers re-election chances.

Oh, to the person who’s going to comment that Gomery cost more to conduct than was stolen and it would be a waste to spend it again: I accept that argument as soon as you show me where you made the same argument re: Brian Mulroney.

pimply minions of bureaucracy, Silly Liberals

When a protocol is in place and the protocol has been breached there will be consequences. If that consequence is that everyone is made aware there is a protocol and it is to be followed – that is a consequence.

This “da proof is da proof” moment brought to you by Education Minister Kathleen Wynne.

The truth, Ms. Wynne, is that if a principle doesn’t know that not OK for 2 thirteen year old boys to ambush and beat a grade one boy with a belt, all the memos in the world aren’t going to give him the tools necessary to be an effective principle.

Silly Liberals

Now that the people in charge of “advertising in gas stations from oil companies” have rejected the Conservative’s Dion’s Tax On Everything ads, can we take it as read that the Liberal Party is “working hand and glove with the oil companies?”

Silly Liberals, Stephane Dion

Every once in a while someone pulls out a TV camera or a microphone, and he rails about about some indignity, large or small, perceived or real, ancient history or yesterdays news. Threats are made, breath is held, then he crawls into some cave and hides.

Silly Liberals, Stephane Dion

Yesterday I ranted somewhat about how completely useless our Provincial politicians have been lately. Today comes a series of videos by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant standing around Caledonia with a Tim Horton’s coffee talking about the unrest there, and saying things like “here’s the bridge; there’s the river.”

Kinsella calls it a smart use of new technology, but really shouldn’t smart use of any technology involve professionalism. The wind blown microphones, Bryant speaks with more “umms” than a Paris Hilton video and jerks around, shrugging and pointing all over the place. This could be smart use of new technology if it was done better (hire a teenager with a cell phone, they’ll tell you how to do it) and the subject matter wasn’t the complete abdication of the rule of law.

Silly Liberals, Silly Politicians