Daily Archives: May 15, 2022

The Ontario Liberals and PCs are locked in a war of words over appointments to public roles after a Liberal campaign event called out the Conservative gravy train at Queens Park.

At an announcement Sunday morning, Ontario Liberal candidate Mitzie Hunter said that 40 per cent of 2018 PC candidates that did not win their seats were given patronage appointments by the PC government.

The Liberals said they had identified 16 of the 41 defeated candidates who were given roles in the PC government.

Doug Fords gravy train never stopped it just kept chugging along, Hunter said.

The list of candidates with appointments shared by the Liberals included a range of roles some with salaries worth more than $100,000 and others with per diem payments of less than $200.

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Cameron Montgomery, who ran for the PCs in Orlans, was on the list. He was appointed as chair of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) Board of Directors in 2019, a controversial appointment at the time.

Three former candidates held roles within government ministries working for PC ministers, while five held board seats at places like the Ontario Trillium Foundation or the Ontario Science Centre, according to the Ontario Liberals research.

Others received per diem from the government for their roles.

Neither Doug Ford or Steven Del Duca, the two party leaders, have public events scheduled for Sunday.

Governments appoint thousands of people to positions across the province there are a lot of positions that need to be filled by governments, Tim Abray, a PhD candidate and teaching fellow at Queens University told Global News.

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Abray noted that the sixteen positions in question represent a small portion of what a government would typically hire, and while the practice of patronage hires is not desirable, its commonplace in political settings as long as its not abused.

It is extremely normal behaviour for partisan political parties to choose people they know and trust to fill public positions.

Moreover, Abray criticized all the parties for the constant mudslinging and that they should focus on the policies they can bring to the table to enhance Ontarians lives.

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There are much bigger fish to fry in this campaign, and in many ways, I think this going to trivialize the issue and disillusion people further that the people up for election arent paying election to the most salient issues, he said.

The PCs have hit back, saying the Liberals were trying to distract from their failure to recruit a full slate of candidates.

Hunter did not explain how a Liberal government if elected would ensure roles were not given to people loyal to the party. She said the Liberals believe in transparency and governance and the party appointed people from across the political spectrum while in power.

She estimated that two former Liberal candidates had been handed patronage roles.

However, a 2016 press release from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation recirculated by the PCs said that nine per cent of federal and provincial Liberal candidates who failed, retired, or subsequently won an election between 2007 and 2016 were given an appointment.

Hunter made several references to the resignation of Dean French, who served as Doug Fords chief of staff at the beginning of his term as premier. French resigned after it was reported that two appointments to work for the Ontario government as agents in New York and London, U.K., were linked to him.

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Tyler Albrecht, a friend of Frenchs son, was appointed to a posting in New York, while Taylor Shields, a cousin of Frenchs wife, was appointed to a posting in London, U.K.

Mr. French informed the Premier that he will be returning to the private sector after a successful first year of government, as he had always planned, a spokesperson said at the time.

With files from Global News Ahmar Khan

2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Ontario Liberals accuse PCs of favouring own party in government appointments - Global News

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When members of the Trudeau government insist they relied on advice from police before they brought in the Emergencies Act in February to clear a truckers convoy from downtown Ottawa, theyre, um, not being exactly truthful.

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A quick search of Postmedias archives shows that on at least six occasions during the state of emergency and since, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino has insisted it was only because police asked for special powers that the Liberals suspended Canadians civil liberties and seized the bank accounts and assets of hundreds of people connected with the Freedom Convoy.

But we now have proof Mendicinos claims (and similar claims by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair) were utter hogwash.

This week, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told the joint Commons-Senate committee studying the use of the Emergencies Act that Mounties never recommended the government invoke the most draconian law on Canadas books. Nor, to the best of her knowledge, did any other law enforcement agency.

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In the middle of the state of emergency (which existed from Feb. 14 to 23), Mendicino said, We are listening to law enforcement. According to law enforcement we need the Emergencies Act.

As recently as three weeks ago long after the government had ended the state of emergency Mendicino was backfilling with statements such as, We had to invoke the Emergencies Act and we did so on the basis of non-partisan professional advice from law enforcement, and, It was only after we got advice from law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act.

However, on Tuesday, when Senator Vernon White (himself a former Ottawa police chief) asked Lucki about these claims, the commissioner said No, there was never a question of requesting the Emergencies Act.

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Lucki explained the RCMP had given daily factual reports to the staff of various cabinet ministers, but had never given any specific advice about invoking the successor legislation to the War Measures Act.

Indeed, Lucki went further and explained that during the four blockades by truckers at border crossings including high-profile blockades on Windsors Ambassador Bridge and Coutts, Alberta we successfully used a measured approach and existing legislation to resolve (the) blockades.

Now tie all of the Trudeau-ites obfuscation over whether police asked them to declare a state of emergency with testimony before the same committee two weeks ago.

On that occasion, MPs and senators were told by Liberal Justice Minister David Lametti that he had invoked the Emergencies Act after the CBC reported that foreigners likely Russians and American white nationalists were funding the convoy.

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The RCMP have said they werent telling the government that. Nor were CSIS, Ottawa police or the money-laundering investigators at the Department of Finance.

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Indeed, Finance Canadas specialized forensic investigators specifically told their cabinet bosses that the convoys GoFundMe campaign was pretty much what it appeared to be: thousands of small donors simply wanting to help out the truckers who were protesting continued pandemic restrictions.

In early March, the CBC retracted the false foreign-funded, foreign-controlled story.

What Lamettis testimony shows is that the government believed only what it wanted to hear i.e. false reports from their buds at the CBC. And despite ministers insistence ever since, they never acted on advice or requests by any police agency. (Unless the government means Grade 3 crossing guards in Ottawas trendy Glebe neighbourhood who overheard something on the way to school and reported to their moms and dads who work for cabinet.)

Once again, we have been shown that a combination of elite snobbery, progressive self-delusion, hysteria and misplaced faith in the CBC led to suspension of Canadians civil liberties just to rid our nations capital of truckers with loud horns and bouncy castles.

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GUNTER: Yet more Liberal falsehoods surrounding the convoy have been debunked - Toronto Sun

The Liberal Party has fallen out of love with itself. It is evident; it is unmissable. But a divorce is not necessarily the right answer.

The greatest challenge that the Liberal Party faces at this election is not the Labor Party, but the disaffection of former Liberals to the left and the right. While comment has focused on the fear of moderate Liberals that a teal wave could dislodge many of the factions leading lights, turning the party over to the conservative faction, the danger of soft Liberal voters with other priorities peeling off to a range of non-teal minors is just as destabilising. Even a Liberal Party reduced to a conservative rump may be optimistic as new arrangements of Liberal defectors position themselves to attract the traditional conservative base.

Those on the right who have split with the Liberal Party are coming for the partys conservative voters: George Christensen, Craig Kelly, Campbell Newman, John RuddickCredit:SMH

One-time Queensland Liberal premier Campbell Newman and erstwhile Liberal Party reformer John Ruddick are now courting voters with libertarian leanings as senate candidates for the Liberal Democrats. Then there is the United Australia Party with star candidate and former Liberal member for Hughes Craig Kelly. Resigning Liberal member for Dawson George Christensen has, perhaps venally, aligned himself with Pauline Hansons One Nation. For the sake of convenience, though not accuracy, lets refer to those three groupings as right-wing.

While all these men have niche appeal and low chances of gaining the senate or representative spots they are contesting, the softness of the vote makes them important factors in this election and after it. For one thing, the return of the Morrison government depends on whether the sizeable soft vote favours the major party or creates crazy preference flows with the parties of principle. For another, how the party reconstitutes after polling day will be influenced by their voices.

One thing both the supposedly left-Liberal and right-Liberal defectors have in common is that they believe only they represent real Liberal principles and they are willing to kill the party to save it from others. In the media this is most visible among the supporters of the purportedly Liberal-lite teals, like former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Liberal leader John Hewson (and thanks to the ministrations of these gentlemen, the term moderate Liberal risks becoming synonymous with one who wants anything other than the Liberal Party to win). But by splintering the main party, the right-wing defectors are also destroying an alliance that the Liberal Party depends on for scale as well as representative breadth.

This sectarian war is, of course, not new. Before Morrison assumed the prime ministership, the decade of leadership guerilla war and knifings in the Australian Liberal Party reflected a phenomenon that was taking place in similar democracies. The marriage of conservatives and classical liberals was on the rocks. The children had moved out of home, as it were, when the Cold War ended. Mummy and daddy were starting to think they didnt have so much in common anymore.

Rattling around in the philosophical house together, without socialism to jointly oppose, they began to realise each others flaws. As classical liberals celebrated the virtues of globalism, conservatives worried that the liberals breezy acceptance of disruption and globalism had lost sight of the value of tradition and the virtue of nationhood. Conservatives began to posit the notion that the liberal freedom doctrine led not to less state intervention, but to an inevitable requirement that the state regulate all freedoms. As the alliance fell apart and the philosophical alignments came into conflict, liberal scholar Anne Applebaum wrote poignantly about the parting of friends.

But it is, like many late-life break-ups, nonsensical. Rather than a liberation, it is a failure to appreciate that even imperfect relationships make us whole. Thats something that should resonate with conservatives, who seek a return to a more wholistic understanding that society is not built around individual freedom, but around mutual care. If only environmentalist moderates understood this, they might also find a way to connect with conservatives on conservation.

Indeed, the shortcomings of each of the groups that have splintered from the Liberals shows how much they need one another.

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Danger for the Liberal Party coming from the right as well as the teals - Sydney Morning Herald

We're rounding the final bend, but the election campaign marathon is now becoming a sprint to the finish, with political parties of all stripes upping their campaign pace and ad spend.

Analysis of social media spending data and the movements of major party leaders suggests neither party vying for government wants to leave anything on the table in their bid to form government in less than a week.

And the data suggests that if you're sick of the campaign already, you might want to switch off social media for the next week, because the advertising is only ramping up.

Data from Facebook's ad library report shows that in the week ending Tuesday, more than $3 million was spent by advertisers in Australia on election, political and social issues.

That's up from about $2 million the week prior.

The figures include not-for-profit groups and other campaigners running ads on issues not explicitly linked to the federal election.

Spending is up everywhere, but when you account for the populations of each state and territory, we see that Tasmanians are getting far more attention than any other Australians.

That reflects the fact that a sizeable chunk of the island state's population lives in a crucial marginal seat, and the narrowing attention on key seats as targets for ads advertising.

The spend may well exceed the levels seen during the Tasmanian state election campaign last year, before the campaign winds up.

While everyone is upping the ante, one party has escalated quicker than the others.

The ABC has categorised each Facebook advertiser that has spent more than $100 in a single day on the platform at any point this year, according to whether they are political in nature, and which party or group they belong to.

Doing this gives a more comprehensive look at spending patterns across the parties than by looking at any individual candidate or party account.

The analysis shows that while the major parties had been in relative lock step through to mid-way through the campaign, Labor has since rapidly increased its spend on the platform.

Most of Labor's spend has been on the national party account, which has also dialed up its negative messaging since the first day of the campaign.

The ABC has looked at the messaging in all ads with at least $200 spent on them on the major party's main account, and classified them as primarily positive, or primarily negative.

Precise dollar figures for each ad are not disclosed by Facebook, but the ads represent, counting very conservatively, at least $1.3 million worth of spending.

The analysis does not consider any ad on any candidate or state party page.

Labor's account started the campaign purely positive, but that quickly shifted.

It swung the dial entirely negative in late April with a barrage of attack ads about Scott Morrison, but has since moderated to the point where roughly half of its ads are negative.

Meanwhile, every single ad the Liberal Party has spent more than $200 on since April 26 has been negative, attacking either Labor, Anthony Albanese, Labor candidates, or independents.

Those are the big ads at least, but both major parties are also running scores of ads with smaller spends, and the messages in those vary.

The Liberals launched a series of ads targeted at individual electorates this week.

The ads promoting "Our Plan"have been running in at least 23 key seats, featuring the party's candidates and MPs.

But the plan changes from seat to seat.

While everyone's being told the Liberals will deliver "More Jobs", "Lower Taxes", "Better Health"and "Better Roads", the fifth plank of the plan varies.

In 16 seats, including Corangamite, Pearce, and Braddon, "Stronger Defence"is being promised.

But in other seats, including those like Kooyong and Goldstein being challenged by teal independents, voters are being told about the plan for a "Cleaner Environment".

The other seats that the Liberals clearly feel like the environment is a key issue are Flinders, Curtin, Sturt, Chisholm and Boothby.

The party is also tailoring its message in other parts of the country, like in Canberra, where the local branch of the Liberal Party is chasing the vote of consultants.

"Do you work as a contractor or consultant to the APS," the ad asks.

"Under a Labor-Greens Alliance your job is at serious risk."

It's possibly the only part of the country where they make up a significant enough voting bloc to warrant direct targeting.

This week, Labor has again been running ads to older Australians, stoking fears about the cashless debit card.

One ad bought by Queensland Labor features a pensioner from Bribie Island, who says "I won't risk my pension on Scott Morrison".

Bribie Island is located in the key marginal seat of Longman, currently held by the LNP on a 3.3 per cent margin.

Victorian Labor is also running ads on the topic, promising to "scrap the cashless debit card".

While proving the effectiveness of any individual ad is an impossible task, Google Trends data does reveal a modest increase in search traffic for the term "cashless debit" in those two states in the most recent week.

The same lift has not occurred in other states for which data is available.

Posted14 May 202214 May 2022Sat 14 May 2022 at 7:07pm, updated19h ago19 hours agoSun 15 May 2022 at 7:17am

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What Labor and Liberal Facebook ad spend tells us about where the election campaign is heading - ABC News

The Liberal Democrats have already begun campaigning for the Tiverton and Honiton byelection before its date has even been set, Ed Davey has said, calling his party an anti-Tory campaigning machine which is key to removing Boris Johnson from power.

Winning the Devon seat vacated by the long-serving Tory Neil Parish, who resigned for watching pornography in the Commons, would be another huge coup for the Lib Dems.

Davey said that, while taking the seat would be a huge task, the Lib Dems success in last years North Shropshire byelection another rural seat formerly held by a disgraced Tory showed it was possible.

A further boost came in the local elections where, among the near-200 seats gained by the Lib Dems, they took control of Somerset council from the Conservatives, indicating the party is making a resurgence in its former stronghold of south-west England.

At the next general election, Davey said, the fact that his party was competitive in Conservative-held areas, many in the so-called blue wall of commuter belt seats, meant they would be at the centre of any electoral path which saw Johnson lose office.

I cant remember a time when the Liberal Democrats were more important to getting the Tories out of power, he said. Were on the march. We are scaling that blue wall. My sense is weve got real momentum now.

He added: In the seats where we have a good chance of winning next time, theyre almost all held by the Tories. We are becoming an anti-Tory campaigning machine.

Tiverton and Honiton will be another major test. While the wins in North Shropshire and, earlier in 2021, Chesham and Amersham, have made the Lib Dems the immediate bookmakers favourites, they came a distant third in the seat in the last two general elections.

Lib Dem activists are already in the constituency, knocking on doors, with Davey likely to join them this week. Campaigning will focus on ultra-local issues such as ambulance waiting times and GP numbers.

Were definitely the challengers, Davey said. And after North Shropshire weve proved that in these sorts of rural communities were the ones people will turn to.

But its a bigger mountain than North Shropshire, actually. Its a tougher gig. Weve got the Somerset result on our side, so were going to give it a good fight. But the Tories will know that were on their case, he added.

One advantage for Davey could be if, as he mooted last week, Parish stands as an independent candidate, thus splitting any Tory vote.

An arguably even greater factor is the unspoken decision by Labour to most likely devote minimal resources to Tiverton, instead focusing on the Wakefield byelection, which comes after the Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan was convicted of sexual assault.

Davey dismisses the idea of a pact between his party and Labour, a theory already raised by the Conservatives.

Its what I call rational behaviour. You dont throw money or resources into seats where youve not got much chance of winning, he said.

I certainly think that voters are very focused on getting rid of the Tories. They can just read the numbers. Increasingly, you knock on the doors of people who would otherwise vote Labour or Green and theyre saying, Yes, of course were going to vote for you.

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The Lib Dems are also seeing increasing numbers of more liberal Conservatives turn to them, something Davey acknowledges comes from both his partys efforts and, more significantly, an increasing distaste for Johnson after the mass of fines for illegal parties in Downing Street.

If I was the Tories, this is what Id be most worried about, Davey said. The voters have just woken up. In North Shropshire and Somerset they didnt need persuading. And I dont think in Devon theyll need persuading. They know that to get rid of the Tories, you get behind the Liberal Democrats.

Many such people, Davey says, are embarrassed to have Johnson as PM: Theyre patriots and they want their prime minister to be someone they can respect.

Ive respected prime ministers of all political persuasions. I might disagree with them, but I didnt think they were putting their own personal and party interest, always and everywhere, above the national interest. I think we have a prime minister who doesnt care about the national interest. I think people are seeing through that, and they dont like it.

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Lib Dems already campaigning for Tiverton and Honiton byelection - The Guardian

A battle for hearts, minds and supplemental Medicare dollars is under way on computer screens and in mail boxes of senior citizensacross the country..

Challengers, including one with top executives on Long Island,are leaning on their conservative political credentials to lure older Americans away from AARP.

Washington-based AARP is the market's 600-pound, silver-haired gorilla. The not-for-profitdwarfs its competitors, boasting a paid membership of almost 38 million as of Februaryand revenue of $1.7 billion, according to its 2020 financial statement. That includes royalty revenue of $1 billion, notably $752.4 million from health products and services,for using the group's name and logo to market products.Its biggest co-brandingrelationship is with health insurance provider UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Though AARP,formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, insists it is strictly "nonpartisan," the group came into the crosshairs of conservatives for its stand on the Affordable Care Actmore than a dozen years ago.

By contrast, its rightward-leaning rivals are relatively small: the Association of Mature American Citizens founded by a Long Islander claims2.4 million members, whilethe Florida-based American Seniors Association has 50,000.

AARP's scale is built on a large and growing senior population. In 2019, 65-plus Americans numbered 54.1 million, about 16% of the population, according to a Department of Health and Human Services report. That compares to 4.1% in 1900 and a projected 21.6% in 2040.

The demographics provide a big target for conservative challengers.

PollsterGallup tallied 18 separate polls to find that in 2020 about 36% of Americansidentified as conservative, 35% as moderate and 25% as liberal, roughly the same as in 2019.

A 2019 study by a professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, however, found that Americans' political views tend to migrate toward the right as they age.

The research, using surveys from 1974 to 2018, found that among 25-year-olds, 33.7% identified as liberals, 40.5% as moderates and 25.8% as conservatives. Those percentagesshifted to 24.9% liberal, 39.3% moderate and 35.8% conservative among 45-year-olds. By the time the respondents reached the age of 75, the study found, only 19.8% identified as liberal, while 39.2% identified as moderate and 41% as conservative.

AARP, AMAC and ASA gear their services forAmericansaged 50 and over, but membership is available to younger peoplewho want a headstart toward retirement.

The nation's polarized political discourse provides an added lever for AARP's competitors.

Rebecca Weber is chief executive of the for-profit Association of Mature American Citizens, founded by her father in 2007 as a conservative alternative to AARP.

AMAC's headquarters are in Leesburg, Florida, but sheoversees the organization from offices in Bohemia. Her brother, David Weber, also based in Bohemia, is chief operating officer and chief marketing officer.

"We're clear about who we are," Weber said. "People who join AMAC believe in American values and...the sanctity of life."

Rebecca Weber, CEO of AMAC, says members of the group believe in "American values." Credit: Alejandra Villa Loarca

Alongside car rental, credit card and supplemental Medicare insurance deals, AMAC offers a podcast where Weber interviews conservative figures.

AMAC's website and smartphone app serve up provocativeheadlines aimed at a conservative readership: "The sneering liberalism of [outgoing White House press secretary] Jen Psaki,""The left is terrified of Elon Musk," "COVID-19 authoritarians panic over the end of mask mandates" and "New York Times chooses Passover and Easter to mock God and the Bible."

By contrast, the AARP Now app offers a relatively subdued mix of service stories: "Staying hydrated can prevent heart failure in old age," "Older black and Hispanic Americans feel discrimination by health providers," and "Costco, Sam's Club or BJ's?"

Cover stories of AARP The Magazine typically feature 50-and-over celebrities: "Liam Neeson: Age-Defying Action Hero," "How Halle Berry Found Her Groove," "Michael J. Fox Is Ready For Whatever Comes Next."

Still, AARP, helmed by chief executive Jo Ann Jenkins, has become a lightning rod of the political right.

Anoop Rai, a finance professor at Hofstra University's Zarb School of Business, said that while AARP has generally maintained a non-partisan stance, a single piece of legislation tipped the perception of parts of the public.

"It's their support of Obamacare early on that gave them the image of being liberal and pro-Democrat," he said. "My impression is that the overall membership...is probably center and left of center."

By contrast, he said, "AMAC members are probably very strong Trump supporters."

Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act, was signed into law in March 2010 and AMAC's Weber said that AARP helped push the legislationpast the finish line.

"AARP did work as an extension of the Democratic White House in 2009 and 2010 when AARP came out in favor of Obamacare," she said.

Charles R. Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova University's school of business, said that as the most visible advocate for senior citizens, AARP walks a tightrope.

"Wading into political issues where there are strong differences of opinion among the membership that don't relate directly to the broad interests of the group as a whole are a recipe for criticism, and potentially, losing members," he said.

A March 2011 report from two Republican members of the House Ways & Means Committee took aim at AARP's support of the ACA.

Specifically, the report charged thatAARP had a conflict of interest becausethe legislation "could result in a windfall for AARP that exceeds over $1 billion during the next 10 years" as seniors shifted their health insurance coverage.

In an August 2012 response to that report, AARP acknowledged that the White House sent an email to the organization asking it to intervene with a key senator on behalf of the legislation, but that charges of financial gain were based on faulty financial assumptions.

"To be clear, AARP did not attempt to analyze the impact of any health care reform legislation on our royalty income for the simple reason that the answer would not have influenced our advocacy priorities or decisions," AARP's then-president Robert G. Romasco said.

The statement said that AARP's policy was consistent with a long-standing effort to widen health care coverage for older Americans.

"No one dictated our advocacy strategy to us," he said.

AARP headquarters in Washington, DC. The group has nearly 38 million members. Credit: Universal Images Group via Getty/Jeff Greenberg

AARP did not respond to a request to provide an updateon howpassage of the ACA affected its finances.

An AARP spokesman added: We advocate for policies that are in the best interests of seniors without regard to how it impacts any of our licensing agreements, as weve demonstrated time and again by fighting for health insurance reform, against an Age Tax on older Americans, and against rolling back protections for people with pre-existing conditions to give just a few examples."

Still, AMAC's Weber said her organization saw a bump in membership after passage of the ACA.

"Those people leaving AARP due to their support of the ACA sought an alternative and found AMAC," she said.

Weber said that from 2010, when the ACA was signed, to 2012, AMAC's dues-paying membership went from 100,000 to 500,000.

The home page of another AARP rival, Sarasota, Florida-based American Seniors Association, brands itselfas "the conservative choice" and AARP as an advocate "for the liberal left" and "Big Pharma" and "Big Insurance."

Will Schlotthauer, president of the ASA, said that AARPhas succeeded in positioning itself as the sole source of services for seniors.

"People didn't know there was an alternative," he said.

Will Schlotthauer, president of the Florida-based American Seniors Association. Credit: American Seniors Association

While the ASA also seeks to sell products and services including insurance through licensed brokers with which it shares revenue he said, AARP's relationship with UnitedHealth limits consumer choice.

AARP's partnership with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group began in 1997 and has been extended to at least 2025.

In its annual report for the year ended Dec. 31, UnitedHealth reported that it provided Medicare Advantage coverageto 6.5 million people through all sales channels and Medicare Supplement policies to 4.4 million people through AARP.

AARP, AMAC and ASA all offerdiscounts, services and programs.

AARP arguably has the broadest line-up of member benefits, ranging from an online job board to restaurant discounts to cruise vacations.

In the hotel and resort category alone, AARP has more than 90 online listings.AARP even offers members online computer games.

AARP also sponsors localevents such as defensive driving classes, a Debbie Gibson virtual concert anda series of free "Talk with a Doc" events in May, June and July with the Long Island Health Collaborative.

AARP has arobust set of discount and local program offerings. Here, residents volunteered to conduct a walkability study in Nesconset with AARP officials. Credit: Newsday/Yeong-Ung Yang

AARP,which evolved from the National Retired Teachers Association,charges annual dues of $16 discounted to $12 in the first year with automatic renewal versus $16 for AMAC and $15 for ASA.

While AMAC is a for-profit company, ASA is structured as a state non-profit, but not as a tax-exempt federal non-profit, which has more stringent requirements.

AARP is organized as a 501(c)(4) social welfare not-for-profit, which means it operates to promote social welfare and not to make a profit.

Accusations that AARP makes political donations to Democrats or any political party have been denied by AARP and debunked by fact checkers at USA Today, which found that doing so would jeopardize AARP's tax-exempt status.

Though AARP does not contribute to candidates, AARP employees are free to do so.

OpenSecrets, a Washington-based research group, calculates that so far in 2022, Democrats have received $19,280 from AARP employees versus $2,320 for Republicans.

In another case, fact-checkers at PolitiFact, owned by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, found that an August 2019 Facebook ad by AMAC stating that AARP supported "federal funding for Planned Parenthood" was false.

A 501(c)(4) organization, however, can lobby Congress and state governments on issues aligned with its social mission.

In 2021, AARP spent $13.7 million on lobbying, up from $8.3 million in 2020, according to OpenSecrets.

Much of the lobbying was on legislation related to health care and the finances of senior citizens.

AMAC Action, a lobbying affiliate of AMAC, also is organized as a 501(c)(4).The groupspent $331,600 on lobbying in 2021, up from $117,988 the prior year, according to OpenSecrets.

While ASA does endorse candidates, policies and programs, itdoes not lobby or make financial contributions to candidates, Schlotthauer said. ASA, however, is affiliated with United Seniors for America,a nonprofit thatis allowed to lobby and make political contributions.

In an August 2012position paper, AARP said Republicans have questioned its motives when it fought against privatizing Social Security and Democrats did the same when it supported adding a drug benefit to Medicare.

"If both sides are upset with us it just means that were doing our job," the organization said.

1. Which has the largest percentage of 65-plus residents?

a. Florida

b. Puerto Rico

c. Arizona

2. Rank the following states bypercentage of residents 65 and over?

a. West Virginia

b. Vermont

c. Florida

d. Maine

e. New York

3. What percentage of the 65-plus population is still in the labor force?

a. 5%

b. 9%

c. 18%

d. 22%

4. We're born with about 300 bones, but older Americans have:

a. About 450 because we're constantly breaking our bones.

b. About 300 if we get sufficient calcium through aregularintake of pizza.

c. About 200 because our bones fuse together over time.

1. b(Puerto Rico leads with 21.3%, followed byFlorida. Arizona is comparatively youthful with 18%.)

2. d(Maine is the state withthe largest 65-plus population by percentageat 21.2%, followed by Florida, 20.9%, West Virginia, 20.5%, and Vermont, 20%. New York, 16.9%, sits in the middle of the pack nationally.)

3. c. (Some 9.8 million older Americans were in the labor force in 2020, down from 10.7 million in 2019.)

4. c. (As you read this, your bones are fusing.)

Source: 2019 data fromthe Administration on Aging, a unitof theDepartment of Health and Human Services, and the Cleveland Clinic.

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Is AARP too liberal? That's what its right-leaning rivals say - Newsday

With the election heating up, local candidates are busy trying to prove theyre the best fit to represent constituents at Queens Park. But the races are tight and all kinds of factors could swing the outcomes. Today, we take a closer look at three compelling ridings, and what candidates are up against.

As he chats breezily with customers at a small Caribbean lunch counter, Faisal Hassan doesnt look like a guy in a fight for his political life.

Hey, how are you? Family doing well? says Hassan as a customer comes up to greet him while hes waiting in line for tea at Fahmee Bakery.

Another asks if Hassan can help a relative out, and hands him a business card.

Let me see what I can do, says Hassan.

But the relatively cheerful tone belies the fact Hassan could be facing the prospect of becoming a one-term MPP.

In a riding that was previously represented by a Liberal at Queens Park for all but a few months of its existence, Hassan is already swimming upstream as the NDP candidate in York SouthWeston. Throw in the fact that the Progressive Conservative candidate happens to be Mike Ford yes, Dougs nephew and being the incumbent suddenly doesnt seem like the automatic advantage it often can be.

Hassan insists hes not worried, and says Ford who represents a neighbouring district on Toronto city council isnt a serious threat.

If the PCs were going to win this riding, it would have been in 2018, says Hassan, referring to the previous election, when PC candidate Mark DeMontis finished a close second to Hassan, earning 32.95 per cent of the vote to Hassans 36.07. Incumbent Laura Albanese finished third, with 27.83 per cent, as voters swept Kathleen Wynnes Liberals out of office across the province. That was a wave. And waves come and go.

Besides, Hassan sniffs, Ford doesnt even live in the riding and he didnt resign his council seat to run.

Hows he going to represent our community? Whos looking after the people? Its all about somebodys career.

Ford, meanwhile, is careful to point out hes donating his council salary to charity during the provincial election campaign, and that his constituency office staff is still busily working away.

People can call the office, people can call some of the neighbouring councillors. They can call me, too, but I wont be able to get back to them as quickly as I usually do. Work is still getting done. People can still get help, says Ford.

As far as not living in the riding goes, Ford says its an area he knows well and not just because his council ward is right next door.

Its a community I know very well. Its a neighbourhood that Ive lived in and grew up here. Its a neighbourhood that I played hockey in, says Ford.

As for running in a riding that has never elected a PC candidate since it was first contested in 1999, Ford says he isnt trying to make a point. Its not, he says, like Justin Trudeau running for a House of Commons seat in the federal riding of Papineau, which had been a Bloc Qubcois stronghold.

It is not lost on me that this hasnt typically gone in the Conservatives direction, says Ford. I chose York SouthWeston because its a community I know well. I worked in the local councillors office for some time. I wouldnt put myself into a position where I would just go into a riding for the sake of going into a riding.

Ford, whose uncle Doug was swept into the premiers office on a PC wave four years ago and whose late uncle Rob was an often-controversial figure during his tenure as Torontos mayor isnt running away from his family name. Not that voters would let him, he says.

Lets put Doug and the PC party aside for a second. So many people come up to me and talk about Rob, and the work he did in our city and community connecting with people, says Ford. Rob is a big reason I got involved in politics and community service. He had a huge heart for this city.

But while acknowledging hes been inspired by his familys political history, Ford insists hes got his own way of doing things.

There are always preconceptions, theres no doubt about it. But I have a proven track record of getting the job done. Thats what Ive done at city hall for the last six years work with members of council of all stripes, says Ford, a claim backed up even by some of his most ardent opponents.

Joe Cressy, one of Toronto city councils most reliably left-wing votes, made fast friends with Mike Ford after Ford was elected to council in 2016, in his uncle Robs old ward.

I think I was elected at 30, and he was elected in his early 20s. We were the two youngest councillors. He used to jokingly refer to me as Old Man Cressy. We were the two kids on council, says Cressy, who recently resigned from council and is moving into a role with George Brown College.

Cressy and Ford would frequently tangle during council debates, but it never became bitter or personal, Cressy says.

Hes a conservative, proudly so, but hes also a very collaborative individual. And so Mike and I, we would debate against each other on the floor of council very strongly, and then wed go out for a beer afterwards together, says Cressy. Hes always been somebody whos been very clear in his politics, but very much a collaborative guy, and a decent, decent person.

But even if he offers a less combative style than his uncle Doug, Mike Ford still backs PC policies which havent been good for York SouthWeston, a riding that was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, argue Hassan and Liberal candidate Nadia Guerrera, a veteran teacher with the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

It took us seven months to get a COVID-19 testing centre. And vaccines? They were going to other communities, says Hassan of the riding in the citys northwest corner, which early in the pandemic suffered some of the highest infection rates in the Greater Toronto Area.

That record during the pandemic will hurt Mike Fords chances on election day, says Guerrera, adding that many front-line workers at warehouses and manufacturers, as well as educators, live in the riding.

Theres a very strong anti-Ford sentiment in this riding, says Guerrera, who insists shes no long-shot, even though shes running against a big-name PC candidate and an NDP incumbent. In 2018, Guerrera finished a distant third for the Liberals in ParkdaleHigh Park, where Bhutila Karpoche cruised to victory for the NDP.

I dont think Im the underdog. The NDP incumbent hasnt delivered. Its a two-way race. And we are the progressive option.

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Can Doug Fords nephew topple the NDP incumbent in a Liberal riding? - Toronto Star

New seat polls suggest Labor on track for two gains in Western Australia, although the going is a lot heavier for them than when a similar exercise was conducted in March.

The Sunday Times in Perth has published results of automated phone polls from Utting Research targeting the same four seats as a previous exercise in March. While suggesting Labor are set to pick up two seats, the results are quite a bit stronger for the Liberals than last time, although the sample sizes of 400 per seat imply large margins of error of nearly 5%:

Labor is credited with a lead of 53-47 in Swan, in from 59-41 last time. The primary votes are 39% for Liberal candidate Kristy McSweeney on 39% (up seven from the previous poll), Labor candidate Zaneta Mascarenhas on 38% (down eight), 10% for the Greens (up three), 4% for One Nation (up one) and 3% for the United Australia Party (down two).

Labors lead in Pearce is in from 55-45 in March to 52-48, from primary votes of 32% for Liberal candidate Linda Aitken (up two), 30% for Labor candidate Tracey Roberts (down fourteen), 12% for the Greens (up seven), 7% for One Nation (down two) and 6% for the United Australia Party (up one).

Liberal member Ken Wyatt now leads Labor candidate Tania Lawrence 55-45 in Hasluck after trailing 52-48 in March. The primary votes are 39% for Wyatt (up two) and 31% for Lawrence (down eight), with the Greens on 10% (down three), the United Australia Party on 9% (up six) and One Nation on 6% (down two).

Liberal member Ben Morton is credited with a 54-46 lead in Tangney after a 50-50 result last time. The primary votes are 47% for Morton (up six), 35% for Labor candidate Sam Lim (down six), 8% for the Greens (up one) and 2% each for One Nation and the United Australia Party (both unchanged).

Elsewhere, the Age/Herald notes a briefing war is under way among Liberals, with those aligned with Scott Morrison and Alex Hawkes centre right faction presenting press gallery reporters with hopeful assessments at odds with those being traded by factional conservatives and moderates, who are respectively angry with the centre right over the New South Wales Liberal Party preselection logjam and a campaign strategy that has seemingly cut loose members under threat from the teal independents.

The optimistic view is that the Coalition might fall only a few seats short of a majority and succeed in holding on to power with the support of a small number of cross-benchers, thanks in part to live possibilities of gaining McEwen and Greenway from Labor. However, both sides agree Labor-held Parramatta and Corangamite are in play. Conversely, the view of Liberal pessimists that Reid, Bennelong, Chisholm and Boothby will fall is shared by Labor, who further believe North Sydney, Brisbane, Swan and Pearce are line ball (although the last two assessments may not sound like particularly good news for Labors perspective).

Talk of a briefing war presumably helps explain the report on Friday from Peter van Onselen of Ten News, in which he revealed internal polling had Josh Frydenbergs primary vote in Kooyong down from a redistribution-adjusted 49.2% in 2019 to 43%, Tim Wilson down in Goldstein from 52.7% to 37% and Katie Allen down in Higgins from 46.5% to 44%. Such numbers would almost certainly doom Wilson to defeat at the hands of independent Zoe Daniel, and put Labor in contention in Higgins and Frydenberg at risk from independent Monique Ryan. However, the assessment of a moderate Liberal source in the previously discussed Age/Herald report was that Frydenbergs position was strengthening, prompting the conclusion that we could lose but save Josh.

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.View all posts by William Bowe

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Utting Research Perth seat polls and Liberal Party briefing wars The Poll Bludger - The Poll Bludger

With just one week left before Australia decides, Dr Mumbo has again been flummoxed by a blockbuster-themed political ad coming out of the Liberal Party campaign headquarters.

The only viable explanation for this could be campaign staffers sitting around comparing Gollum impressions. However, Dr Mumbo can only wonder whether this was a good use of what precious time they have left before polling day.

The ad shows a cartoon spoof of Anthony Albanese as Gollum in red shorts, going on about taxes and Albo flip-flopping over coal.

It is not the first strange ad to crop up on the Liberal Partys YouTube page in recent weeks, with The Amateurs film trailer seeing a release a fortnight ago.

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If recent polls and Wednesday nights Pub Test following the final leaders debate on Seven Network are anything to go by, Dr Mumbo reckons next week we might see the Liberal Party put together a home production of Cast Away.

It was a Tolkein-themed evening for the two leading political parties, with the ALP also opting for a Gollum comparison, just hours before.

Dr Mumbo enquired about who was behind the Liberal Partys spoof video, but has not received a response.

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Liberal Party unveils one weird political ad to rule them all - Mumbrella

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are demanding to know why bosses at Scottish Water are receiving enormous bonuses while raw sewage is released into the countrys rivers at least 30 times a day.

Earlier this week, leader Alex Cole-Hamilton quizzed the First Minister on the routine dumping of untreated human waste after an investigation by The Ferret revealed the practice had happened more than 10,000 times in 2021.

Nicola Sturgeon said it is an important issue and vowed to take steps to examine what can be done.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said it is time the Scottish Government sends a message that nobody should get away with systematically pumping raw sewage into our rivers let alone a Government-owned company.

He said people will want to know why the total bonus paid out last year to three top bosses at the organisation amounted to 227,000 of which 92,000 was given to the chief executive.

The party also suggested that while The Ferret identified the figure of at least 30 times a day for the releasing of sewage, the true statistic is likely to be much higher due to a rarity in monitoring.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: The release of untreated human waste into our rivers shouldnt be allowed to happen.

Were talking about excrement, wet wipes and sanitary towels being pumped into the heart of our communities.

People will want to know why top execs are being rewarded with enormous bonuses of up to 92,000 when raw sewage is being dumped at least 30 times a day.

We need the Government to take action to prevent this from happening, but neither Scottish Water or the Scottish Government show any sign of changing their ways.

A Scottish Water spokesperson said the chief executives package was significantly less than that of paid to counterparts in other UK water companies.

They stated: Executive incentive payments are only made for exceeding performance expectations under arrangements approved by the Scottish Water Board and the Scottish Government.

Payments made in 2021 reflected strong out-performance of the targets set for the final year of the 2015-2021 regulatory period.

The package for the Scottish Water chief executive is significantly lower than that of other water company chief executives elsewhere in the UK water sector. Scottish Water is the fourth largest water and waste water services organisation in the UK.

The spokesperson also stressed: Scottish Water is committed to continuing to support the protection and improvement of Scotlands rivers, coastal waters and beaches.

We recently published our urban waters route map and plans to invest up to half a billion pounds in Scotlands waste water network to deliver further improvements and ensure the countrys rivers, beaches and urban waters are free from sewage related debris.

This will enable us to target investment in improving our monitoring, reporting our performance, and upgrading the worst performing Combined Sewer Overflows. CSOs play an important role as essential safety valves on the sewer network to help prevent flooding which can particularly affect customers properties and communities.

All our customers can play a huge part in preventing debris in rivers and on beaches. Our new national campaign Nature Calls urges customers not to flush wet wipes (and other items) down the toilet and we are calling for a complete ban on the sale of wet wipes containing plastic.

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Scottish Water condemned by Liberal Democrats for bonuses as sewage is released into rivers - STV News