Boy, I guess President Obama 'learned' Stephen Harper a thing or two...

During the last federal election, on October 7, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper did an interview with CBC’s Peter Mansbridge about the unfolding economic crisis. In particular, he asked the PM about the impact that a collapsing stock market was having on Canadians – from retirees living off their RRSP investments, to virtually everyone else whose financial plans for their golden years were put in a tail spin.

Harper said many things about the situation, but what seized the ire and anger of the left was the observation that “there’s probably some great buying opportunities emerging in the stock market as a consequence of all this panic.”

Liberals and New Democrats were apoplectic over what they considered to be such an insensitive and callous remark.

Now, we learn that US President Barack Obama pretty much said the same thing yesterday:

“In comments that gave a temporary lift to battered stock prices, Mr. Obama also said there were "potentially good deals" to be found at the market's current depressed levels.”

Now, gauging how Taliban Jack, among others, will try to square the reality of words first uttered by the evil Mr. Harper now passing the lips of the sainted Mr. Obama, is already being contemplated. Kelly McParland’s blog in the National Post has already covered it better than I could, and I will not go further.

My point is that many Canadians who have an unnatural antipathy of all things Conservative, need to reconcile a lot of logical conflicts.

Case in point. When President Obama came to Ottawa, many on the left were waxing on about the possibility that he could ‘influence’ Harper. Like a messiah performing a laying of hands, our Prime Minister would be transformed and illuminated.

We may never know how much influence Obama had on Harper, but a curious thing happened after Barack returned from Ottawa. His team presented a budget to Congress that included a number of new initiatives.

On the floor of the Congress, underneath the klieg lights, and before millions of American television viewers, he delivered an address that included the following:

“To preserve our long-term fiscal health, we must also address the growing costs in Medicare and Social Security. Comprehensive health care reform is the best way to strengthen Medicare for years to come. And we must also begin a conversation on how to do the same for Social Security, while creating tax-free universal savings accounts for all Americans.”

Excuse me? Tax Free Savings Accounts? As in TFSA’s? As in last year’s federal budget? As in the kind of account that my own wife already opened weeks ago and has a small balance? That kind of account?

Looking on the bright side, it appears to be a win-win proposition.

Those who answer in polls that they would rather have Obama as Prime Minister than Stephen Harper can rest easy that Mr. Obama is exerting all of this 'influence', while those of us who like Harper can rest assured that Mr. Obama's 'influence', in many cases, was simply a rehash of the PM's playbook.