Christian Conservative Christian "Independent"

I'm an evangelical Christian, member of the CPC, but presently & unjustly exiled to wander the political wilderness.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Liberals desperate for a "Green Shift"

That is, a "Green Shift" from the wallets of their members, to the coffers of the Party.

That's gist of the quote from the photo caption in John Ivison's article in today's National Post...

"The green shift that the Liberals really need is the one that comes in the form of cash. The party's fiscal situation is not the healthiest."

Ivison also points out that their situation may be so dire, that they may have even asked retiring MP John Godfrey to hold off on his "official" retirement, so that the by-election in his "safe" riding can't be called until mid-September.  Ivison sermises that they may be doing this because they can't afford to run four by-elections at the same time.  I have another theory.

During a by-election, on top of the local campaign's spending limit, the National Party has a $50,000 spending cap per riding involved in the by-election.  The Liberals may be not only trying to save a few of their own bucks, but also may be trying to limit how much the Conservatives and NDP are able to spend, since both of those parties have way more cash on hand for fighting the upcoming by-elections.

h/t to Dr. Roy

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11 Comments:

  • At Wed Jul 09, 08:56:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Remember, it was your party that changed the election financing/spending "rules" in such a way that benefitted you guys and hurt the Liberals and NDP.

    and then AND THEN!!! you have the audacity to paint Dion as a renegger on his debts because he can't raise money according to your "rules"

    Rules that, in my opinion, shouldn't be there to begin with.

    I'm sick and tired of hearing the CPC talk about the Libs lack of money. It's not all their fault.

    There, I'm done venting for one morning

    Mike Wisniewski

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 09:00:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    Mike, there's a very important item in all this that you're missing... the Liberals painted us for years as being the party of "Big Business". Then, when PMJC changed the rules to limit corporate donations, all of a sudden, what happened? The Liberals money started to dry up.

    Now how could that be? If the Tories are supposedly getting their money from "Big Business", why is it the Liberals who now have no money?

    All we did by limiting the donations to $1100 was tighten the screws a little bit, but it was THEIR OWN FORMER PRIME MINISTER that cut off the flow of funds, not us.

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 09:03:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    Sorry Mike, one more question... does that mean you're in favour of "money is no object" American-style campaign financing?

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 09:36:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I've said it before and I'll say it again if a candidate blows $1 Billion on a campaign that in no way shape or form changes his suitability for elected office.

    So, essentially, I guess money is no object in election campaigns.

    Mike Wisniewski

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 09:43:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    It's amusing that Mike doesn't see that the Liberals should take responsibility for the big financial mess they're in.

    The NDP aren't complaining one bit about fundraising/financing rules - their Grassroots are supporting them quite nicely- both in spirit and financially.

    The Bloc aren't complaining about "the rules" and they're struggling just as the Liberals are with raising cash.

    Mike, funnily, is implying that..

    The CPC changed rules that ALL parties must follow because they only readily benefit the CPC and harm the Liberals and other parties.
    The rules are the same. For all. The same rules, Mike. No difference.

    It's not the Liberals fault - it's someone else's fault.

    The rules aren't fair.

    CMAR.
    The Liberals will get no where if they keep up with this victim mentality.

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 09:43:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Holy crap, Mike. That's the biggest pile of BS I've heard regarding financing.

    As CC said, it was the Libs who changed the spending rules to stop corporate donations (party of big business). I'd agree that it benefits the CPC (party of the people), but you did it to yourselves.

    Also, why lump the NDP in with you sorry Libs? Blocking corporate donations didn't hurt the NDP that much--no more than it hurt the CPC, and maybe even less. Obviously the lack of corporate donations took some funds out of all party coffers, but the NDP has never relied on corporations the way you guys did.

    Sorry, you're all on your own on this. You did it to yourselves. And yes, it was stupid. Don't blame Harper for Liberal idiocy!

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 10:03:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger paulsstuff said…

    "There, I'm done venting for one morning

    Mike Wisniewski"

    Good. Now that your done, do some research and get your facts straight. Jean Chretien, remember him, was the one who put the rules in place banning donations from corporations and unions, which accounted for over half Liberal Party funding.

    Be a man and admit you were wrong, and maybe apologize at the same time.

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 10:05:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger paulsstuff said…

    " This is the bitter legacy of Jean Chrétien's campaign finance reforms, which wiped out corporate donations, the source of 50% of Liberal fundraising. "

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 10:14:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Mike: The NDP is in pretty good shape financially. We have long relied primarily on small donors. Could the party use more - absolutely! I would encourage anyone who is unhappy with the direction of the current government to donate or volunteer (either to the federal party or to local Guelph candidate Tom King) since it is the NDP who has been the Effective Opposition if not the Official Opposition to Harper and crew (http://www.ndp.ca/getinvolved).

    The Mulroney era of Prog Cons did get the lion share of their cash from Big Biz but the Harper Cons had the Reform grassroots fundraising lists on which to build post merger so the current incarnation can not be as easily linked to Big Biz. I also agree that it is better to have public financing and rules that require the parties to focus their fundraising efforts on outreach to the electorate they wish to represent.

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 10:50:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I feel bad that the LPC is dying a slow death...


    ...I wish the paramedics would just give up and pull the white sheet over it's head!


    HAHAHAHAHA!!!

    See, we can make cruel jokes too:


    http://stevejanke.com/archives/268145.php


    Grind a Grit

     
  • At Wed Jul 09, 12:40:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Never mind

    Mike Wisniewski

     

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