Blue Like You

Archive for the ‘Liberal machine’ Category

I have to agree with Warren Kinsella on this one - much better to have Iggy squirreled away writing his book, than to be disrupting our Christmas.

In fact, if the Count would prefer to continue making his memoir-writing a priority, we over here at BLY promise to buy the whole set.

You’re welcome.

(H/T National Newswatch)

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Afternoon Update: Chris Selley’s Full Pundit (lots of good stuff here):

…The Globe’s Lawrence Martin accuses Michael Ignatieff of excessive quietude since his investiture atop the Big Red Machine, particularly when it comes to the lefty coalition of which his predecessor was so fond. “If Iggy really wants to keep this option open, he should be loudly making the case” for coalitions as legitimate, practicable, democratic options, and for “how the Bloc Québécois could be kept at arm’s length with no veto power.” (We wouldn’t mind hearing about that, too. Considering the balance of power in the House, it sounds like a pretty cool trick!) If he’s as tepid to The Madness as he seems, however, then Martin advises him to “cut bait” as soon as possible…

ChuckerCanuk - Obama where art thou? (Warning - Comments are x-rated):

…The Iggheads are more frightening - from Mr. Ignatieff himself to his surrogates like Warren Kinsella - they have advocated tax increases. Specifically, they would like to see the GST go up to 7% or higher. Give people more money, so Liberal-think goes, and they waste it. Wise spending can only be done by a wise man, like Michael “I’ve never invested a penny of my money - thank god for juicy pensions” Ignatieff…

Finally, this is a great read by Preston Manning - Don’t hesitate to tell your MPs what you think (Record)

The story here is that this story has barely caused a whimper in MSM:

COURTS sometimes deliver justice by mysterious and unexpected routes. That’s certainly the case in the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision that Jean Chretien’s govenment (sic) made a legal boo-boo when it gave cabinet the power to set Employment Insurance premium rates, without any guidelines, for the years 2002, 2003 and 2005…

And so a past Liberal government collected EI premiums ‘unlawfully,’ and the present Conservative government will have to deal with the fallout.  But the editorial spin here seems to be more of a warning that EI premiums had better not be raised, than any blame being flung at the Liberal Chretien government.

But why isn’t the story itself out there more?

I wonder how much media play this would have been given  if the situation had been reversed, and it was the Conservatives that had acted unlawfully?

Where’s the bump that the Liberals should have been getting in the polls after Iggy’s coronation? Shouldn’t he be enjoying a honeymoon right now? What went wrong?

According to Conrad Winn, president of COMPAS Research, the Conservatives are well into majority territory at 43%, and the Liberals are where they were in 2006 at only  30%. (H/T to Calgary Junkie in comments from previous post. To listen to the audio file see CFRA Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - Ignatieff in the Polls.)

Discussing the results of the poll done for Canadian Business online, Winn suggests that one of the reasons that the Liberals didn’t get that expected bump may be the way Iggy was parachuted into the leadership position.

He also says that Canadians are not happy with the coalition and don’t see a great difference between Iggy and Dion based on policies.

Winn says Harper is more trusted when it comes to the economy.

Ignatieff is between a rock and a hard place right now. He can’t shake the coalition loose for fear of alienating the left wing of the party, but if he doesn’t do it soon, he risks alienating the majority of Canadians. Things should get very interesting indeed towards the end of January.

Oh, yeah. And remind me again Lawrence Martin, why Stephen Harper would want to quit?

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Update: H/T to Alberta Girl in comments for this Ipsos poll result, which confirms that Stephen Harper is still Canada’s favourite!!!

“Is there Ignatieff-mania breaking out across the country? The answer is no,” Bricker said. “Harper hasn’t crashed and Ignatieff has not taken off.”

More at Capital C.

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Saturday Update: Welcome SDA Readers!!!

A big welcome also to Jack’s Newswatch readers!!

That’s what Iggy would do. A regular reader just sent me a link to Stephen Taylor’s latest post - Bombshell: PM Ignatieff may hike the GST in the future.

Of course, the only ‘bombshell’ here is that the Count’s political acumen may not be as elevated as his worshippers were hoping. We all know that Liberals love to spend, pad the public service and raise taxes. That part is a no-brainer.

However, City News reporter Richard Madan seemed a bit more politically savvy than Sir Iggy, when he marveled at the revelation on his blog:

…but there is political danger for him by even suggesting it.

The Conservative spin machine could pick up on these comments and paint Ignatieff as a modern-day tax-hiker who can’t be trusted to keep taxes down. Ignatieff risks being defined by Conservatives before he has a chance to define himself.

Yes, Richard. That could very well happen.

I suppose when you’re a professor you don’t have to worry about thinking three steps ahead - like maybe if you end up leader of the Coalition of Catastrophic Results.

All you really need is a calm, quiet, determined determination to get through to the commoners.

I only have one question - How are they going to pin this one on Harper?

Just imagine the mental gyrations going on right now in Liberal party HQ and MSM outlets.

(H/T Alberta Girl)

More at Secrets of Vancouver - Supreme Court rules against the Liberals.

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Update: Speaking of spin, this one should get some kind of award! Warren Kinsella cherry-picks a single phrase out of a whole Ivison column dripping with sarcasm about Ignatieff, as part of his Iggy-Media Lovefest post:

"…the Liberal leader has been in frontline politics for three years now and has learned the language appropriate for a political leader…"

Obviously Kinsella is hoping you don’t read the whole thing and has conveniently forgotten to supply the next little bit and a link:

…But the Liberal leader has been in frontline politics for three years now and has learned the language appropriate for a political leader. Indignation, self-belief and resoluteness are in; anxiety, doubt and indecision are out.

He also understands the value of a heartwarming anecdote when you have nothing constructive to say on an issue. When he was asked about his plans for rural Canada, he launched into a rambling soliloquy about how he grew up in his uncle’s barn in Quebec — "born in a manger, no doubt," quipped one cynic …

I’m in a good mood today and ever so happy to help fill in the gaps.

From his first presser as the newly installed Liberal leader:

"He must not doubt my calm, quiet, determined determination that he has to walk back down the hill,"

When I watched that bit yesterday, I could see him clearly stumbling for a noun to insert after the adjective ‘determined’.  It’s totally understandable though. He’s been away from those ivy-league halls for a few years now.

Now just to demonstrate that we’re not totally partisan here at Blue Like You, I’m offering the professor a selection of synonyms to inject the next appropriate opportunity:

Synonyms: strength of mind, willpower, resolve, purpose, fortitude, grit, strength of character

Antonym: weakness

So just try practising that before the mirror my good Count. I’m sure you’re there several times a day anyway.

BTW, you made a few other little gaffes too, but never mind. The ignorant masses will never pick it up.

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Update: Erwin Gerrits was impressed with the Professor’s oratory skills too!

So Count Igula has been coronated.

Where does that leave the coalition? This is important on a number of critical levels. The more Canada’s political future is perceived to be in a state of crisis and flux, the worse for our economy.

Also as J. L. Granatstein points out, our whole relationship with Obama and the new U.S. administration could be in serious jeopardy if the Coalition were to take power, and then send out a message that the Afghanistan mission will not be properly funded in terms of equipment and government support.

Iggy seems cool to the coalition idea for the moment, but the two other heads of the hydra are reminding him of his signature on that document.

Ignatieff is now in the unenviable position of having to square his own concerns about the Coalition with the fact that his signature is on that piece of paper. And he is intelligent enough to understand that most Canadians are not in support of government comprised of a Bloc-backed Coalition government whose Liberal component denied the concept as unworkable and out of the question during the last election campaign.

So now it all comes down to an issue of trust. Whatever decision the Count eventually makes, someone is going to feel betrayed - It will either be the Bloc, the NDP and the radical left-wing element of the LPC, or Canadian voters.

Meanwhile, donations to the Conservative Party are pouring in to fight the Coalition threat:

The prospect or fear of a coalition government has fired up the Conservative base so much so that the party raised $600,000 on [sic] one day last week alone.

(All of which is somewhat ironic considering the opposition’s outrage to the original poison pill in the economic statement regarding taxpayer-funded party subsidies.)

Maybe Dion was right after all. You think it’s easy to make priorities?

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Update: Welcome, Jack’s Newswatch readers!

Iggy’s first day - Andrew Coyne:

…Put it all together — a centrist party, open to compromise with the government, reluctant to defeat it, focused on rebuilding, respectful of the West — and it sits uneasily, to say the least, with the ambitions of its coalition partners. Which is to say: the coalition is now a polite fiction. It exists solely on paper. He has no intention of becoming Jack Layton’s puppet. To which I say: huzzah.

Well personally, I don’t think Jack will give up on his dream that easily.

More evidence re: the above on MDL tonight - Joy MacPhail :

… and so I say hurrah to Mr. Ignatieff joining with the BQ and the NDP. Now let’s get on with it …"

Over to you, Count Iggy.

Welcome, Newsbeat 1 readers!

Via Halls of Macadamia - a link to a great Lorrie Goldstein column:

Last week, they said Dion was fit to be our prime minister. This week, they say he’s not even fit to be their leader.

But party solidarity before country, right?

Because you can’t threaten the Prime Minister of Canada and then hide behind "Freedom of the Press".

Scott Reid, take note.

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Update: Apparently Stephen Harper is also responsible for sore ovaries. Is there any evil in the history of the whole world that can’t be directly attributed to Stephen Harper?

Tim Powers’ blog post says it all - The coalition (cabal) unmasked. (Globe)  It’s not about the economy at all.

Thank you Scott Reid for making that fact crystal clear to Canadian voters:

"…Their imperative could not be more clear: kill him. Kill him dead…"

Popcorn and beer, anyone?

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Update: I’ve just decided that no, I don’t think Harper should prorogue Parliament. That would be too merciful. It would allow the Liberals to slither out of this one, all the while flinging mudballs back at the Harper Government.

Let them stew in their own slimy juices.

Afternoon Update: Conservatives to deliver early budget - CBC.

*** TORIES RELENT ON PUBLIC SECTOR STRIKE BAN! - CP. Now what?

…You can get a full 3 hours of her tomorrow on Newstalk 570. She’s going to be filling in as guest host for Jeff Allan. First topic looks right up her ally: Liberal Leadership Candidates.

I’ll be passing thank you very much, but please fill me in if you can handle it.