I just had a call from the Conservatives re Stephen Harper's "successes"
Thu, 2007-04-05 10:43
#1
I just had a call from the Conservatives re Stephen Harper's "successes"
Thu, 2007-04-05 10:43
#2
Some party hack just called me, (they had my name wrong, by the way) and went into a lengthy list of Harper's so-called accomplishments for Canada. She got to the point of saying "Canada has now regained it's rightful place in the world." I was so angry by this time all I could say was "Canada never lost it's place in the world and all we will get from Stephen Harper is a clone of the Bush Administration in the U.S.A....and then I hung up. Does this look like they are prepping for an election or not?
Thu, 2007-04-05 10:56
#3
No. We do that a lot.
Thu, 2007-04-05 10:57
#4
Cueball
I'd just be delighted to get one of those phones calls. How does one get on the list?
Thu, 2007-04-05 10:59
#5
That I don't know.
Thu, 2007-04-05 11:06
#6
quote:
Originally posted by Cueball:
[b]I'd just be delighted to get one of those phones calls. How does one get on the list?[/b]
They must have got my name from the phone book.
Thu, 2007-04-05 11:55
#7
Well, bless Simple Steve; his team made someone annoyed enough to join Babble!
Welcome, Kathlyna.
How long can Steve keep saying he doesn't want an election and yet be in full pre-election mode? Until such time as he gets a majority, would be my guess...or better yet, turfed. At this point I don't think even the NCC would welcome his return.
Thu, 2007-04-05 12:19
#8
quote:
Originally posted by siren:
[b]Well, bless Simple Steve; his team made someone annoyed enough to join Babble!Welcome, Kathlyna.
How long can Steve keep saying he doesn't want an election and yet be in full pre-election mode? Until such time as he gets a majority, would be my guess...or better yet, turfed. At this point I don't think even the NCC would welcome his return.[/b]
I keep waiting for the Liberals to get a video copy of Harper on Fox TV in the States, when he was opposition leader, apologizing for Canada not being in the Iraq war with them. They could make a lot of hay with that by showing it to Canadians and making them realize we would now be in that war if Harper had been P.M. at the time!...Thanks for the welcome, by the way!
Thu, 2007-04-05 12:21
#9
Lard Tunderin Jeezus
Offensively aggressive fundraising is the modus operendi of the new & neo-Conservative Party. They seem to gather lists for their fundraising drives with absolutely no regard for privacy legislation.
Thu, 2007-04-05 13:10
#10
remind
quote:
Originally posted by Lard Tunderin' Jeezus:
[b]Offensively aggressive fundraising is the modus operendi of the new & neo-Conservative Party. They seem to gather lists for their fundraising drives with absolutely no regard for privacy legislation.[/b]
Well, they have no regards for anyone or anything else, so why would they regard any privacy legislation?
BTW, there is NO privacy in a police state, so we had better get used to it.
Welcome Kathlyna, and gr8 idea, though doubt Fox would allow it to be used after all they are one in the same.
Thu, 2007-04-05 13:23
#11
writer
quote:
How long can Steve keep saying he doesn't want an election and yet be in full pre-election mode?
Good question.
quote:
“Instead of showing off the Conservative election bunker, the government should be explaining to Canada’s hard-working families why our kids have no new child care spaces and why the front line police they promised still haven’t shown up in our communities,” said Layton, who also pointed to the ongoing fight on the fiscal imbalance as evidence that the prime minister needs to get back to work.“The prime minister has said many times he doesn’t want an election. It’s hard to believe him when he rushes half-baked so-called kept promises out the door while simultaneously sending out his deputies to rattle the election cage. We need to get back to work for ordinary Canadians.”
[url=http://www.ndp.ca/page/5115]Layton challenges Harper to cool election fever[/url]
Thu, 2007-04-05 13:37
#12
I'm more concerned about promises harper keeps than one's he breaks.
Thu, 2007-04-05 15:38
#13
remind
Thanks writer, for the link to Jack's calling Harper out!
quote:
“I’m surprised to see the prime minister traveling the country claiming he has kept his promises. He hasn’t. On issue after issue this prime minister has simply claimed he kept his word. The facts tell a very different tale.”Layton cited five specific promises that Harper has failed to live up to:
Thu, 2007-04-05 15:52
#14
Boom Boom
Excellent link, writer. I wish there was a way that link could be forwarded to every federal voter in Canada.
Thu, 2007-04-05 17:38
#15
That press release is a very effective message from Jack and I'll be the first to admit that he isn't wrong with anything.
The wait-times guarantee was a dumb campaign promise given the schmozz that is Canadian health care. While technically it may be an achievement of that promise it's akin to saying that the candle at midnight means that it isn't night anymore.
The only one that may be a bad issue to stand on for Jack is the equalization one simply because to the ROC, the provinces that are objecting sound like they want to have their cake and eat it too. Were I in the NDP comms office, I'd say forget using that nationally. Keep it for the local campaigns where it counts.
Thu, 2007-04-05 19:19
#16
My son doesn't work. I don't believe in child labour.
Thu, 2007-04-05 23:10
#17
quote:
The wait-times guarantee was a dumb campaign promise given the schmozz that is Canadian health care.
Interesting comment, considering it is the corporate-brown-nosing Conservative regime of Brian Mulroney, followed by its equally corporate-brown-nosing Liberal Chrйtien-Martin regime, that shmozzed it in the first place.
Wait times were hardly an issue anywhere in Canada before the huge transfer payment cuts, privatization scams, drug patent extensions for pharmaceutical corporations, gutting the Canada Health Act, etc., by the Liar-Con tag-team regimes.
Of course Harper can't keep a promise of wait-time guarantees. As the 2002 [url=http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/care/romanow/hcc0086.html]Romanow Report on Healthcare[/url], among a whole variety of other reports, showed, in order to fulfill such a promise the government would need to re-invest at least two -thirds of the whopping $32 billion a year slashed from the public health care sector by the Liar-Con tag team in the 1980s and 1990s.
We sure ain't gonna see anything remotely close to that by these Harpo-nuts, are we Heywood.
Thu, 2007-04-05 23:28
#18
quote:
Originally posted by Kathlyna:
[b]Some party hack just called me...[/b]
I'd be very surprised if it was a party hack, a real supporter volunteering because she believes in the cause. The Conservatives typically use paid telemarketers. When they call, ask them if they're being paid to say this. Ask them how much they're being paid to say this. Often they are in a demographic well-suited to the NDP, well-educated and under-employed in telemarketing jobs. Ask them if they would consider voting NDP.
I used to get a lot of these calls, because I briefly joined the federal PCs in 1998, just to vote for David Orchard, because I thought would be hilarious if he won the leadership. But because of that, I was on the Con call list through most of the the Harris/Eves years. Sometimes the calls would be brief, with the high point being something like:
Q: [i]Will you be supporting Jim Flaherty for Conservative leader?[/i]
A: Actually, I'd rather crawl 100 kilometers over a trail of broken glass.
On a couple of other calls I would ask if they were telemarketers, and they said yes. Then I would try to convince them to vote NDP. Sometimes they seemed receptive, although unable to be too overt about it. I got the sense that they were not happy about being pimped out to win support for Harrisites, but they had to make a living.
Most who clean toilets don't really enjoy it, either; they just inhale through the nostrils as little as possible, get the job done, and pick up their meager paycheques.
[ 05 April 2007: Message edited by: Albireo ]
Thu, 2007-04-05 23:42
#19
That sounds about right, Albireo. The BC Liberals do the same, or at least they did in the '96 election, when I worked as a BC Liberal "phone poller" for two weeks at minimum wage. The other people there ranged from Liberal partisans, to people who actively disliked the party (some of whom were supporting other parties), to people who were apathetic about politics but looking for work to tide them over. I was interested in politics then as now, and was no fan of the Liberals, but was looking for my first summer job on a break from school.
I like to think that as a bunch of amateurs with no stake in the matter, calling people across the province from a Howe Street office that was rented from Macmillan Bloedel, we helped cost the Liberals the election. But I probably flatter myself. Besides, we got Glen Clark out of the bargain, so I don't really like to brag about it. [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img]
[ 05 April 2007: Message edited by: obscurantist ]
Thu, 2007-04-05 23:51
#20
Scott Piatkowski
I've had two calls on behalf of John Tory... at my office (and I work for a housing co-op). I was pleased to be able to tell them that, not only was I personally not a supporter*, but that anyone who was involved in the co-operative housing movement would be nuts to support a party that unilaterally cancelled 17,000 units of affordable housing as its first act in government.
* Actual conversation (the second time they called was much much shorter):
Caller: I'm calling on behalf of John Tory and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. One of our volunteers has indicated that you may be a supporter of Mr. Tory and the Progressive Conservatives.
Scott: Really? Do you have random drug testing for party volunteers?
Caller: I'm sorry...
Scott: Well the only way that any Conservative Party volunteer could mistake me for a supporter would be if they were high on crack.
Caller: So I'll take that as a No.
Scott: You should take it as the most emphatic No possible. I would eat my ballot before I'd ever support the Conservatives.
Caller: OK, I guess, good bye.
Scott: Well, before you go, I'm just wondering who thought it would be a good idea to phone housing co-ops looking for support? The Conservatives cancelled 17,000 units of social housing the second they got into power.
Caller: I'm really not supposed to discuss policy...
Scott: I can see why, if they've given you a list of housing co-ops to call. Why don't you call through the teachers' federations next?
Caller: OK, bye (click)
Fri, 2007-04-06 03:26
#21
so many 800 pound gorillas waltzing in the room....
if sharper's a conservative, then why put out a 'liberal' budget? could it be to con the gullible into voting for them? one thing for sure: a couple years of tory gov has been good for the country, according to the 'news' media. they never talk about the cost of afghanistan 'war' (against backrupt nation lacking any organised army etc) for example, or how the military has been told '1st priority is no more death/injuries! don't look good in the news- avoid conflicts with the afghanis until sharper gets majority, then you can blast the place to hell [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img] ' etc
Fri, 2007-04-06 08:20
#22
remind
quote:
Originally posted by Michelle:
[b]My son doesn't work. I don't believe in child labour.[/b]
Okay, I have looked and looked, and I can't see how this fits Michelle, as such I am just being curious is all.
Fri, 2007-04-06 08:50
#23
She's just mocking the constant refrain of the "working family" from Layton. It's not really a working family if only one person in it is working.
Fri, 2007-04-06 09:17
#24
quote:
Originally posted by Jacob Two-Two:
[b]She's just mocking the constant refrain of the "working family" from Layton.[/b]
While I don't agree with many things Dawn Purvis says,[url=http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/transitional/plenary/070129.htm] her maiden speech in the Northern Ireland Assembly had a good line: "the working and workless classes."[/url]
quote:
East Belfast is a changing constituency. While there is plenty, there is poverty among that plenty. There is an inner city, which is becoming marginalised and apathetic, with demographic changes and declining industries. It is a time of massive change. In such times, as we have seen over the past 10 years, people feel insecure and vulnerable, and it is up to community leaders and politicians, in particular, to manage that change. Managing change is about empowering people and encouraging communities to embrace all that is positive in that change. There are new investments, new developments and new jobs, but there is an increasingly marginalised community that does not have access to them. We need increasing investment in education and skills to empower people to gain that access.As an Assembly Member for East Belfast, I am duty bound to improve the quality of people’s lives. I will continue to provide a service, as David did, to the constituents in East Belfast, especially as regards housing. We have a depleted social housing stock, and people cannot access the adequate housing that they need; year after year we have increasing numbers of people presenting themselves as homeless; and we have those who cannot afford to buy their own homes, and those who are living in the private rental sector. All of those issues need to be considered.
There is also the matter of welfare benefits. Some Members referred to passport benefits with respect to water rates and domestic rates. As long as there are thousands of people who cannot access those benefits, there is a need for help and advice to be given.
As long as there is poverty, and as long as there is inequality in education, health and gender, it will be my duty to articulate the needs of the working and workless classes in East Belfast.
[ 06 April 2007: Message edited by: Wilf Day ]
Fri, 2007-04-06 16:29
#25
American pollster Vic Fingerhut has been in Australia this week with a reassuring message to the labour movement - it's OK to stand up for what you believe in - and it might even win you elections.
That such a message should be a revelation is a sad indication of where left of centre politics has gone in Australia - but it may also be reassuring that in this we are not alone.
Over more than three decades Fingerhut has been researching campaigns for unions and progressive parties in the USA, Canada, Britain and Germany - polling people on their perceptions of issues and the differences between major parties.
And what he has discovered is a sort of immutable truth - there are some issues that belong to the Right and others that belong to the Left and it's not about policy either. It's about language and the way you frame an issue.
As a general rule where the issue is about managing the economy or handling terrorism or keeping taxes low, Republicans and conservatives have a marked advantage, with more than two thirds of voters perceiving they are superior on the issue.
But bring people into the equation, particularly working people, and the numbers swing around. By merely adding the words 'for working people' to the question 'who is better at managing the economy?', Democrats pick up 30 percentage points.
Likewise change the proposition 'keeping taxes down' to 'fighting for fairer taxes for working people' and the issue goes from being a negative for the left to a positive.
It's early days, but the trends seem to translate into Australian politics as well. And if they do they add a new dimension to the 'accepted wisdom' that Labor needs to be stronger on the economy.
As Fingerhut observes, merely going out and engaging in an economic argument - even when you have better arguments than your conservative opponents - does nothing more than shift the debate onto their turf.
In other words, becoming a daily commentator on the current account deficit, employment figures and interest rates might get media, but if you do not draw the connection between economic indicators and people's lives you are not advancing your cause.