He sounds like just the right dunce to lead Canada at this tumultuous time. He won't even have to wreck the economy himself this time.

Lorrie Goldstein (Sun papers) has an insightful piece today regarding Bob Rae.

The Power Corporation connection makes one wonder as well.

But the most memorable journalistic insight to Rae was written by Barbara Amiel in the Toronto Sun during Rae's Ontario Premier days, referring to him as a 'crypto-communist'.

Bob Rae will have difficulty polishing his time as ND leader in Ontario while Iggy hopes his Liberals-like-Puffins analogy is forgotten.

Where is Martha-Hall when you need her, eh?

Imagine if we had an election with Mr. Deficit Rae against Mr. Deficit Harper. At least Rae never lied about Ontario's deficit the way Harper and Flaherty did during this past election (we know now from Harper's own budget chief appointee that the deficit was caused by the Conservatives and NOT the economy, and lied about it) and as Flaherty did when he was writing budgets for Ontario.

With those two fiscal incompetents facing off, God help us but Canadians might actually look to Layton for some semblence of fiscal prudence. At least he's the only one of them who hasn't screwed up Canada yet.

It'll only be official when the winner has his face on a TTC pass.

I know, slightly OT but too funny to overlook.

..I might suggest, for the moment, we consider Iggy as a potential ally in getting a reasoned response to the problem with Section 13 of the Human Rights Act.. a la Ezra's Post and my own..

http://ezralevant.com/2008/11/what-about-michael-ignatieff.html

http://searchingforliberty.blogspot.com/2008/11/warren-kinsella-iggy-said-what.html

Not suggesting that you vote Liberal in the next election, but our vitriol may be better leveled at Bob Rae.. though, it may well be that it would be abundantly more easy to beat Rae in an election than Ignatieff..

Gotta laugh at the Liberal Stool Pigeons. When there is a surplus, they cry 'over taxation' of the people. When there is a deficit, there should have been as surplus.

Ted . . toooo funny.

What are you taking ?

Ted, you are delusional. As of this moment there is no deficit in the federal government. Chairman Moa tse Jack might be accomplished enough to run for coffee but I am sure could not run this country as he assumes all monies generated by citizens is the property of the federal government to be doled out as the dippers see fit. They are sceaming for taxpayers to keep plants and factories running producing product that cannot be sold.

"What are you taking?"

Now living South of the 49th, I'd like to know as well, only for therapeutic purposes.

Ted the only way you could be dumber is if you were bigger.

Ted: "Imagine if we had an election with Mr. Deficit Rae against Mr. Deficit Harper. "

Harper has paid down over $35 billion in federal debt since seizing power and is about to deliver a third consecutive surplus.

He is currently in talks with Dion to freeze spending, meaning a 4th surplus is likely.

Really, is Harper such an awesome PM that his critics need to conjure up imaginary deficits in order for their arguments to make sense? That seems to be the most likely explanation.

Stephen Harper's record of delivering surpluses and paying down debt exceeds both Chretien's and Martin's. While I'm not crazy about the latest deficit talk coming out of Harper's mouth, I'm not going to criticize him for stuff he hasn't even done yet.

Unemployment in Canada is at a 30 year low, inflation and interest rates are low, the banks are among the most solid in the world, the economy grew last quarter, government is in surplus, demand for Canada's commodities will increase from India and China. I'm going to see something more than media hype to convince me that either the economy or the deficit is an immediate issue or even an imminent issue worthy of the hype.

Is that not the whitest party in Canada? So much for Liberal diversity.
I really don't think Rae hurts the Libs that much in Ontario. He's no worse than Dion or Mayor Miller and Toronto still voted Liberal. I don't see that changing any time soon.

Rae is counting on the fact that the people now in their thirties were in their early teens during his disastrous era. He's also counting on his ties to PowerCorp for funding and for in-kind workers on his campaign.

As for Ted, well, someone who can't tell the different between fact and fiction is in serious mental trouble.

Ted, the facts are that Rae ran a deficit. The facts are that Harper has not run a deficit.

A few further facts: the Liberals ran a surplus because they overtaxed Canadians. Get it? Harper has cut taxes drastically, leaving more money in the hands of Canadians and their choices. The Liberals view people as too 'beer and popcorn' dumb to be allowed to make choices about their own money.

Furthermore, Harper has used the surpluses to cut down the federal debt - something that the Liberals kept in the back room and ignored. That saves us and our future a lot of interest.

Fiction? That the Liberals were good at managing the economy; that the Liberals achieved a surplus only because they 'were good at managing the economy'.
Fiction? That the 'budget officer' is unbiased and knows what he's doing.

So, ted, there's a difference between fact and fiction. You may not know this.

What's depressing to me is that the LP has yet again left the idea of party reconstruction through policy development behind to chase power via the most shallow of methods - a new (sort of) coat of paint on the broken-down lemon of a party. Attack dog tactics from the likes of Kinsella will not put the CP out of power all by themselves - the public especially in these nervous economic times want a plan. Neither of the two primary leadship candidates have any credibility on economic issues.

Ted, I am not a money man. But I'm watching CNBC Fast Money today, and the nice lady who has been awarded "Technical Analyst of the Year" four years running says we are looking at equities and bonds heading for 1980's levels. As in, Real Soon.

Oil broke $50 today. Alberta just backed off their royalties yesterday. Ontario is receiving equalization instead of paying it. Its a fricking meltdown.

Mr. Harper inherited the most bloated, over stuffed government Canada has EVER had. Ever. Every time they cut -anything- Ted, anything at all, people like you raise all kinds of ruckus and the MSM go crazy and the Opposition swears they are going to bring down the government.

With the speed that the financial universe is swallowing its own tail, I will consider it a true miracle if the country doesn't run a deficit for a year or two.

Or we'll have an election again in January. I can't say that prospect fills me with joy.

I wouldn't worry about an election in January.
The Conservatives are the only party that can afford one and everone knows it.
I wonder if Cretien really thought his election finance reforms?

Ted: "we know now from Harper's own budget chief appointee" This is actually not correct. The budget officer was directly hired by the head of the Library of Parliament who is himself a Paul Martin appointee -- so I think we should be very alert to possibly political agendas in whatever he presents. I am not accusing Page of political bias, be he most certainly was not "Harper's apointee".

I wonder if Cretien really thought his election finance reforms?
Posted by: Shannow at November 20, 2008 7:07 PM

Chretien struck me as one who cherished his own power position above the interests of his party, and even of his country. I suspect the knew perfectly well what his campaign finance reforms would do to the LPC, thereby ensuring two things:

1. He would screw over Paul Martin, and

2. Ensure his successors would not match his political accomplishments.

On the topic of deficits:

John Podhoretz recently reported on Hugh Hewitt's show the California is going to have a 40 billion dollar deficit - an unprecedented number. Look for huge cuts in govt spending south of the border and even more political momentum for the implementation of a huge tax cut - a zeroing of the capital gains rate being most likely - at the federal level. If BO resists it he may loose all of his political capital before he even gets started...

It really is rather unfair to call Mickey I. American since most of his self-sought exile was in the UK. He surely is more Brit than Yankee:

"Ignatieff was based in the United Kingdom from 1978 to 2000." That's 22 years. Half his adult life.

Besides which he is the descendant of big-time Russian aristocrats .

That great grand-dad is also a Flashman villain.

Mark
Ottawa

Getting back on topic and away from ted's threadjack, I've heard it said on an earlier post that the Liberals want to go back in time and pretend the 2006 leadership convention never happened. Two+ years later, they stage a do-over with the same two front runners.

Well, let me be the first to predict that if the Liberal party member's feelings about the two front runners hasn't changed, then say hello to the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada: Dominic LeBlanc.

If that happens, I may never be able to stop laughing.

With all due respect the title should be "New Democrat challenges American TO REPLACE FRENCH CITIZEN for leadership of Liberal party..."

Will Dion be running in this race also? LOL. Me thinks that the Liberals are stupid enough to elect this dunce twice.

Jean Chretien's Canadian Legacy.

Being a meat,potatoes and pepper spray kind of guy, Da little thug from Shawinigan new he'd have a tough time leaving Canadians with a credible legacy after his many years of dubious majority gov'ts...especially after the UN found him a little too heavy handed even for their questionable operations.
Feeling snubbed and not really knowing just what he could leave behind as a lasting momento to the beer and popcorn proles of this fair land; he hit on the idea of being the last truly omnipotent leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
It was a perfect plan and besides it would also serve to send the right message to that little schemer Paulie and his band of weasely minions who so covetously forced him to vacate the PM's private washroom Before he was good and ready.

What to do,What to do??

Finally he hit on the brilliant plan of changing the election financing rules, thereby straitjacketing his arch rival steamship Paulie and any other wannabe Lib leader for at least the forseeable future.
It was a stroke of genius he figured since if you dried up the corporate funding to those guys then you stopped 'em dead in their tracks as there was no way they could survive on the meagre pittance that the voters would reluctantly Not want to cough up.
And that folks, according to the way I see it is Little Jean's legacy.
" Hah...da proof is in da proof!"

inquest

"""""if you dried up the corporate funding"""""

would that not kill the knuckledraggingredneck conservative party, as all you ever hear from lieberals is equating corporate to neo-cons?????

It matters not who the Lieberals have as leader? They are, as a collective (heh), bereft of any semblance of policy proposals, the depth of their party is as shallow as dried cracking mud that was once a puddle. They are well on their way to extinction, a comedy of errors and outright stupidity that is breathtaking to behold.

Fact is, you'll find the average Conservative donation is down under $100. Same as in the US, where the majority of Republican donations are small.

If, upon being elected in 1990, the NDP had evacuated every city from Toronto to Windsor and had the Canadian Air Force carpet bomb all of those cities, they would have done LESS damage then their policies did over the next 5 years.
People forget just how poorly the NDP managed Ontario. It was by far the worst run provincial government in the history of the country, if not the world.

"Steamship Paulie", good one inquest!

Paulie did get shafted by Chretien, so did the entire Liberal Party. The Shawinigan Mauler is still soooo beloved by the media, even though his actions robbed them of their easy scoops and free lunch and beer. They don't seem to get the connection, neither do the Liberals, if they did they'd tell him to STFU and get lost.

Wonder who in their right mind would be buying the books these two destroyers of the LPC have penned about their versions of events?

Kate, I like your anti campaign already. "The first American Prime Minister." Classic and strategic.

Wonder who in their right mind would be buying the books these two destroyers of the LPC have penned about their versions of events?

Hadn't thought of it like that. Think that I'll go buy a book or two to support those that destroy the Liberals.

Pat

Gonna need a score card soon.

Old Wornout Democrat party failure challenging a Canadian of convenience to replace a Frenchman as leader of the entitlement party.....

That about right?

speaking of debts and deficits , when are the lieberals going to pay back the adscam money??

Didn't LP's go the way of the dodo with the advent of the CD (conservative dynasty)?

I'm just grateful he's north of the 49th. As you all know, we have more home-grown loony left here than we can shake a stick at.