Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Translink Referendum Shuffle...Bonfire Of The Flack Hackeries Revisited.

HeadsTheyWin
TailsWeLoseVille


As we have noted before, there is one group whose members will most certainly come out winners no matter what the outcome of the Translink plebiscite.

And that group is the local flack-hackery.

So.

Imagine our surprise when Lotusland's hardest working proMedia member, Bob Mackin, identified a new winner:

...(Christy Clark's former chief of staff and campaign manager Mike) McDonald is involved with another campaign these days with Kirk and Co., the BC Liberal-connected communications company that scored a plum gig with TransLink to convince the public to vote yes to a sales tax hike that would help fund the expansion of TransLink. That’s right, the manager of the BC Liberal 2013 campaign that promised a vote on TransLink expansion is working as a consultant to TransLink to “get you to yes.”...


The flames in that bonfire are starting getting pretty high, eh?


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And, ya, I did see Mr. Smith of the GStraight's bit....Post coming...


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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"It is a real Liberal inside family," Corrigan said outside the house. "It is Liberal-appointed boards of the universities and colleges who are employing Liberal insiders to lobby the Liberal government. It just goes round and round."

http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/02/25/BC-Universities-Lobbyists/

Anonymous said...

BC liberal(s) clucking like chickens?

http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/02/24/ndps-chicken-clucking-raises-fowl-tone-in-b-c-over-liberal-lobbyists/

Lew said...

These parasitic flacks are at no time any more than half a standard puckering unit’s distance from a public tit. They’d starve to death otherwise.

Anonymous said...

http://nor-re.blogspot.ca/2015/02/they-own-him.html

Ron S. said...

The flames are getting pretty high and so is the BS and the smell coming from it.

spartikus said...

The issue I’m having, Ross, is our transparency crusaders are increasingly only focused on certain cosy links while ignoring or are incurious about other cosy links and thus their readership are getting a skewed view of cosyness.

Mike McDonald is running Yes (perhaps it was he who advised Christy to say Translink is under the control of the Mayor, in which case you have to wonder if he was hired to lose the plebiscite).

But then Jordan Bateman was the leader of Get Moving BC, the lobbying force behind the now $3 billion and counting in the hole Port Mann Bridge. Funny how we hear nothing from him on that. Or from our transparency crusaders on his links to the B.C. Liberals whom, I’m sad to say, seem to spend more energy on deploying Jordan Bateman’s talking points than figuring out what his angle is.

And yes, *you* noted it, there’s No runner Hamish Marshall, formerly of Ethical Oil, formerly of Wildrose, formerly of Harper’s PMO. “Uncle” Bob? Not so much? He’s busy holding power to account. Well selective aspects of power, anyway.

So we have Yes vs. No, which through one filter can be viewed as some sort of blue vs. blue scenario, though in fact it’s blue + orange + red + green vs. blue. What does it all mean, then?

I’m partial to Gordon Price’s theory:

Senior governments defund or download traditional responsibilities like housing and transportation. Those municipalities that pick them up with local dollars are then targets of the anti tax-and-spend lobby. No debate on merit of expenditure. Just “No More Taxes.”

Meanwhile, savings by senior governments are then used for tax cuts. This case is particularly blatant: money to be raised within region for transportation thru sales tax = about $230 million. Provincial revenue shifted at end of year to those earning over $150,000 (top 2 percent) = about $230 million.


Are we talking about the merits of public transit? What it means for transit users who are predominantly low income groups like new immigrants, students and the elderly? Or what defunding transit will mean to the economy?

No, of course not, Channel changed, mission accomplished.

*Jordan Bateman/CTF was happy to attack education spending during the teacher’s strike too, though he’s not very concerned about the taxpayer’s interest in the rise in government funding for private schools.

RossK said...

Thanks Spart--

Excellent, thoughtful analysis, and the data certainly do support Mr. Price's hypothesis.

I'll have more to say about Mr. Bateman's old turf toe soon...

I think we'd all be interested to know why you think Mr. Mackin is being selective.

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spartikus said...

I think we'd all be interested to know why you think Mr. Mackin is being selective..

I think the simplest explanation is someone finds a niche or an angle and sticks with it...when they perhaps they should take the opportunity to grow.

I'm reminded of Vivian Krause, in this regard.

Today Bob tweeted this: https://twitter.com/bobmackin/status/571362794236284928

@CityofVancouver news release sez Kinder Morgan fails to answer or provide info half the time. Just like how Vision treats media.

Now I know he's got long-running issues with Vision but the operations of Kinder Morgan are also of concern to citizens. Maybe KM's lack of answers are worth more to the public interest than as an opportunity to take a potshot at VV.