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Liberals: Stop Saying That Trump Will Kill Meals On Wheels Forbes There is much about the Trump administration's actions and decisions that could reasonably concern one. The latest block of information to digest has been the budget blueprint, which is an unrealistic fiction of what the country needs and where to most ... America First - The White HouseThe White House all 255 news articles »

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Liberals: Stop Saying That Trump Will Kill Meals On Wheels - Forbes

The Victorian Liberal Party faces a financial crisis ahead of next year's state election, with leaked documents revealing a string of budget blowouts, rising debtsand lost fundraising revenue from majordonors.

Figures seen by The Age confirm the party is struggling to balance its books, adding to tensions in the already bruising battle for state presidency between Liberal stalwarts Michael Kroger and Peter Reith.

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27-year-old Marcus Bastiaan and his outspoken partner Stephanie Ross have torn like a tornado through the Liberals' Victorian branch, aligning with figures such as Michael Kroger along the way.

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A 22-year-old woman was allegedly raped repeatedly outside the St Vincent's Hospital after the stranger followed her off the tram on Thursday morning. Vision courtesy: Seven News Melbourne.

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63-year-old Channel Seven commentator Bruce McAvaney has revealed he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) over two years ago. Vision courtesy: Seven News Melbourne.

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Nicholas Davison was sentenced to 11 years' in prison on Friday for killing Sydney woman Tanami Nayler, 24, in a hit-run crash in West Melbourne on July 30 last year. Vision courtesy ABC News 24.

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CEO David Herman talks about his plans for Lort Smith, the only animal hospital in Australia, and how he has brought his experience from the private sector to a charity he is passionate about.

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One person has died in a multi-vehicle smash on the Calder as two separate car fires across Melbourne bring peak-hour traffic to a standstill. Courtesy Seven Melbourne.

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Unit Controller John Soles will probably be forced to retire after 18 years working at Australia's dirtiest coal-fired power plant, which officially closes at the end of March.

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A court viewed a YouTube video made by Brendan Davies who was found guilty of five counts of arson, after long and drawn-out trial.

27-year-old Marcus Bastiaan and his outspoken partner Stephanie Ross have torn like a tornado through the Liberals' Victorian branch, aligning with figures such as Michael Kroger along the way.

Internal documents reveal the Victorian branch is expected to clock up about$1.73 million in losses by the end of this financial year, with an expected $1.52 million revenue hit from a major donor, the Cormack Foundation, and a further $233,000 in losses from an Enterprise Victoria fundraisernot being locked in as originally budgeted.

A deficit of $1.16 million was posted in the eight months to February 28, and the Liberals havealso taken on $1.72 million in debt to helpstay afloat with the possibility of more to come.

"We are borrowing to keep the lights on," said one furious Liberal source.

The figures are likely to raise questions about the party's financial management at a time when it should be building an election war chest for Opposition Leader Matthew Guy to fight the Andrews government.

In a sign of the underlying tensions,Mr Guy's parliamentary team have nowsetup their own fundraising account, separate from the administrative wingof the party, which contains almost $250,000 in donated funds to go towards their efforts at next year's poll.

Some insiders have blamed the party's financial woes onMr Kroger, who took on the presidency two years ago promising to shake-up the party's culture, decentralise power from head office to local branches, and significantly improvecampaigning and fundraising.

Since then, his critics argue, the result has been mixed: branches have been plagued by allegations of branch stacking centred on ally Marcus Bastiaan;the Liberals have flirted with the idea of a preference deal with One Nation; and the president has beenlocked in a dispute with the Cormack Foundation over internal governance issues, which has led to the withholding of funds.

State director Simon Frost insisted the party's financial status would not hinder the Liberals' election campaign against Daniel Andrews, saying: "The secretariat is closely monitoring our short-term financial situation. We have in place the systems and personnel to build a substantial war-chest to help make Matthew Guy the premier at the 2018 state election."

While MrKroger declined to comment, his supporters point to the role he played in uncovering the $1.5 million fraud by former Liberal state director Damien Mantach, and the positive federal election result the Liberals had in Victoria last year, where the Turnbull government snatched the seat of Chisholm from Labor.

Insiders say that the party might be able to break even if it can resolve the dispute with the Cormack Foundation andlock in another major fundraiser with the Prime Minister before the end of the financial year.

But the revelations of the Liberals' financial woes are set to intensify the battle for control of the Victorian branch, which will come to a head in April when Mr Kroger defends his presidency from a challenge by Mr Reith, a former industrial relations minister in the Howard government.

The contest has divided the party with federal ministers such as Josh Frydenberg, Michael Sukkar and Alan Tudge backing Mr Kroger to stay in the role, while others, such as Mr Guy, federal Liberals Scott Ryan and Kelly O'Dwyer, and most of the state parliamentary team, endorsing Mr Reith.

Declaring his support for Mr Reith earlier this month, Mr Guy said: "It's a 50-50 ball game in Victoria. We've got to be focused, ready and determined. We need to not, coming into an election, be focused on internal matters."

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Victorian Liberals face financial crisis ahead of state election - The Age

Brian Gallant and Karine Lavoie aren't the only ones getting engaged.

The New Brunswick Liberal party is using the news of the premier's impending marriage to "engage" with voters by gathering their email addresses.

But it's not to invite them to the wedding. It's to send them pro-Liberal messages.

The party is asking people to use a form on the Liberal website to "join us in congratulating" the premier on getting engaged to Lavoie.

The form doesn't work unless the well-wishers submit their email address, and Liberal party president Joel Reed acknowledged Thursday it's so the party can send them Liberal promotional material in the future.

"It's probably evident that if you submit your email address voluntarily to a political party, we're going to assume that you're interested in our activities and try to stay in touch with you," Reed said.

Reed said "all parties" place a lot of importance on gathering email addresses.

He noted that Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau have both used "these sorts of outreach tools quite effectively and extensively. Gathering information is now vital to everyone's campaign strategy."

Reed also said most visitors to the Liberal website "are most likely supporters, or at least interested in the party. A very significant proportion would be existing members, and this allows us a quick and convenient way to update their contact information."

The web page includes a photo of Gallant lifting Lavoie off the ground in an apple orchard, the same photo he tweeted on March 13 when he revealed the couple was engaged. There's no date yet for the wedding.

The request doesn't break any rules, and it doesn't use any government funding.

Liberal party president Joel Reed said all political parties place a lot of importance on gathering email addresses. (LinkedIn)

The page also has a link to the party's privacy policy, which clearly says an email address can be used "to communicate with you about the New Brunswick Liberal Party and its activities, as well as to provide you with news and information."

Reed said people who submit engagement congratulations can also unsubscribe from the Liberal emails once they start getting them.

He said the premier's office wasn't involved in the decision to solicit the congratulations and emails but said Gallant was probably asked for permission.

A few hours after the New Brunswick Liberal party tweeted a link to the congratulations page, Gallant used his own Twitter account to thank people who had sent their best wishes. He didn't link to the Liberal web page.

Author Susan Delacourt says Gallant is "following in the path of many other political leaders who do this."

In 2014, the president of the federal Liberal party went online to ask for congratulatory messages for Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie on the birth of their third child messages that required the senders' email addresses.

And then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper invited visitors to the Conservative party website to wish his wife Laureen a happy mother's day in 2013, while submitting their email addresses and postal codes.

"It's all about the same thing. It's about collecting email addresses, which are way more valuable to political parties than membership fees," said Delacourt, the author of Shopping for Votes, a book about how political parties have adopted retail marketing technique.

"Once you've got an email address, you've got a foot in the door to their lives," she said.

Journalist Susan Delacourt believes Canadians' relationship with their politicians has changed since the consumer boom of the 1950s. Consumers have wants, she says. Citizens have needs - a theme she explores in her book Shopping For Votes. (Adam Scotti)

Delacourt said parties are especially interested in engaging with voters with only a passing interest in politics, because they're easier to sway with direct, targeted messages.

"Often email and Facebook and all those places are where politicians are finding people," she said.

Reed said he didn't have any numbers on how many people have used the web page.

Delacourt said people who wish Gallant and Lavoie a lifetime of happiness are likely to receive a lifetime of emails from the Liberals, including requests for donations, notices of what Gallant is doing as premier, and information on his election platform next year.

"Data is now the way people win elections, and email addresses are the way they collect that data," she said.

And despite Reed's assertion that recipients will be able to unsubscribe to the emails, Delacourt said "it takes a lot to get off" party email lists once you're on them.

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Premier's engagement used by Liberals to woo email addresses - CBC.ca

Published 8:03 a.m. ET March 16, 2017 | Updated 24 hours ago

In todays turbulent political climate, its more important than ever that you stay on top of the issues of the day and become engaged in those you care about. Toward that end, we present Stay Informed, Get Engaged." Wochit | Randy Bergmann

The more hysterical liberals become about Russia, the more your antennae should go up.

Their selective misgivings with Russia are just like their selective alarm with (our ally) Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the nationalist Chinese government, and (our ally) Ngo Dinh Diem, president of South Vietnam.

As explained in lavish detail in Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, liberals instinctively lunge toward treason.

They say Putin is a thug and a bully who kills journalists. Liberals never used to mind Russian leaders killing journalists. Nor millions of scientists, writers, Christians, Jews, kulaks, Ukrainians and the entire 1980 Soviet Olympic hockey team.

Have you guys heard of the Evil Empire? Now Democrats are hypersensitive to a Russian leaders flaws?

Liberals were cool with the show trials, the alliance with Hitler, the gulags, the forced starvations, the shooting down of American planes and goose-stepping through Eastern Europe.

But that was when the Russian leader was Joseph Stalin or Nikita Khrushchev not the beast Putin!

Back then, liberals were spying for Stalin (Julius Rosenbergs code name: Liberal), the U.S. president was calling the bloodthirsty dictator Uncle Joe, and The New York Times was covering up Stalins infamous crimes. In the storied history of fake news, the Times Walter Duranty won a Pulitzer Prize for his false reports denying the Ukrainian famine, in which more than 7 million people were deliberately starved to death.

As far as the Times is concerned, those were Russias halcyon days!

Back when Russia was actually threatening America with nuclear annihilation, Jimmy Carter warned Americans about their inordinate fear of communism. Sting sang that the Russians love their children, too.

But now liberals are hopping mad with Putin. They could never forgive Russia for giving up communism.

To add insult to injury, Putin embraced the Russian Orthodox Church! This was deeply offensive to fiercely Christophobic liberals.

Russias descent into insanity and madness was clear when Putin refused to allow LGBTQ marches through Red Square. For having the same position on gays as Obama did, circa 2008, Russkies were walking on the fighting side of liberals!

Trumps election victory was the capstone of the lefts rage with Putin. To explain the inexplicable, Putin was made the center of liberals axis of evil, the mastermind of a malevolent plot to steal the election from Hillary Clinton.

Thats how liberals became born-again John Birchers, seeing Russians under every bed. Now, no fear of Russia is inordinate. The Russians do not love their children, too.

We really could have used some of this fighting spirit about 50 years ago when the Soviet Union sought total world domination and Stalins spies were crawling through the U.S. government. But back then, liberals were blackening the names of Whittaker Chambers, Richard Nixon and Sen. Joe McCarthy. (Later proved 100 percent correct by the top-secret Venona Project.)

Russias loss of the lefts esteem happened very quickly. As recently as 2008, The New York Times editorial page was demanding that Obama signal to the Russians that he wants better relations, and complaining of the alarming deterioration of Russian-American relations under Bush.

It was considered the height of statesmanship when Obama was caught on a hot-mic in 2012, telling Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility. I understand you.

To hoots of laughter at the Democratic National Convention, Obama said: You dont call Russia our number one enemy not Al-Qaida, Russia unless youre still stuck in a Cold War mind warp.

MSNBCs Rachel Maddow couldnt contain her hilarity over the GOP offering an extra bonus of threatening Russia.

But today, Democrats (and two especially showboating Republicans) are horrified that Trump wants to get along with Russia.

When the same people who hailed Stalin as a beloved American ally are happy to threaten Putin with thermonuclear war, we may deduce that the lefts newfound Russia-phobia has some seditious objective.

Historically, liberals show their manliness by demanding war with our friends and allies, while methodically undermining Americas ability to fight the wars its already in.

The No. 1 enemy of Western civilization today isnt non-communist Russia. Its Islam.

And who is a key ally in that fight? Russia has been dealing with these troublesome Muslims for centuries. It was Russian officials who tried in vain to warn our blind, incompetent government about the Boston Marathon bombers.

The lefts hysteria about Russia isnt just an attempt to delegitimize Trump. Its the usual Christophobic fifth column rooting for the Islamization of the West.

Ann Coulter is a syndicated columnist.

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COULTER: Liberals singing different tune on Russia - Asbury Park Press

The spring session of the B.C. legislature ended Thursday with the Liberal government failing to pass its own bill to require more frequent reporting of political donations.

The Election Amendment Act, which was introduced Monday, died on the order paper as MLAs left town to prepare for the May9 election campaign.

It was the only piece of government legislation that failed to pass after a session dominated by questions about Liberal fundraising tactics.

Premier Christy Clark had promised the bill in response to persistent criticism of her partys cash-for-access dinners in which donors pay thousands to dine with her and her ministers.

Government house leader Mike de Jong said Thursday that the Liberals had hoped to pass the bill, but were unwilling to use a closure motion to end debate and force a vote.

It was our intention, but we werent going to impose closure, thats for sure, he said, adding: I think, generally speaking, these issues, these statutes, bills deserve to be debated.

Besides, he said the Liberals already practise what the bill would have required by releasing lists of donors every few weeks. Every party can do this if they wish to. We are.

Opponents, however, said the Liberals never had any intention of passing their bill or any of the private members bills to ban corporate and union donations.

Thats how committed they are to election finance reform, said NDP Leader John Horgan.

They were so committed that they left it until the last minute to table a bill that was dead on arrival and theyre not even going to bother to pass it. So that speaks volumes.

Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver called the Liberal bill a cynical ploy to give the appearance of taking action, while doing nothing.

It was a ploy designed solely to try to get British Columbians to believe that theyre taking steps to deal with big money, he said. Its a talking point, but there was no intention that this was ever going to pass. Frankly, the bill doesnt do anything, anyway.

Horgan said he expects fundraising to be a major issue during the campaign because voters have serious concerns about the influence of big money on provincial politics.

They see donors to the B.C. Liberal Party getting government contracts, he said. They have a problem with that. The B.C. Liberals have been doing deals with the same people that have been giving them money for the past 16 years.

But de Jong said the public is more interested in jobs and the economy than the fundraising debate that dominated the legislative session.

Actually, the economy, job prospects, thats all people are talking about, he said.

Its easy over here to become preoccupied with the discussion that takes place back and forth.

lkines@timescolonist.com

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BC Liberals fail to pass their political donations bill - Times Colonist