Buckdog

Good post Buckdog...to go into what could be a horrifying recession with an EI system that only protects about 40 per cent of Canadian workers is absolutely CRIMINAL.
And having a so-called Liberal Party sign on to something like that cannot be forgiven...

Buckdog,

I for one want Harper gone like no one else, but can you positively guarantee the following.

If Iggy vote the budget down

1) that the GG would have allowed the coalition form?
2) if the GG said no to the coalition and sent us to the polls (300 million pissing contest) Can you guarantee we would not end up with another CPC minority or a CPC Majority?

Remember Buckdog, those are very big cheques to write.

But on to meat of the matter, the CPC and their bs about EI and Welfare, sadly the numbers do not support their claims.

Harper made the exact same comments on December 18th, during an interview with CTV:

"We are not interested in making it lucrative to pay people not to work, it's not what this government is about, that's not what the taxpayers expect us to spend money on...not making Employment insurance more generous"

What this view says, these guys don't understand, that in a bad economy, you don't have the luxury of just finding another job. It's like they believe people are laughing at home, drinking beer, half stoned on the couch watching Oprah, pulling a fast one on the government.

My one regret, that the Libs didn't ask for more on EI.

I predict that this is merely the first of many embarrassments Iggy is going to have to face by propping Harper up.

I don't doubt for a minute that you're right, leftdog.

Funny but if he wants to get back at Iggy, all Layton would have to do is have his caucus duck any confidence vote. They could even line up outside the Centre Block with signs reading, "you made your bed, lie in it."

Tellingly the ultimate Liberal paper, the Toronto Star, had columns today from Walkom and Travers both denouncing Ignatieff's perfidy.

Layton always wanted to be leader of the opposition and, while he may not sleep in Stornoway, he can Crazy Glue Iggy and Harper together at the belly and make himself the de facto opposition leader.

For the record, I'm no fan of Jack Layton but I do admire his ability to take every opportunity that's handed him.

As this stimulus budget turns into a total dud, as it will, Canadians will know who to thank for foisting it on them.

"As this stimulus budget turns into a total dud, as it will, Canadians will know who to thank for foisting it on them." ... and his name is Iggy!

See, here's the problem. Layton and the New Dems do not believe that Harper can sincerely change his spots to stripes. Iggy seems to think that it is possible but wants an amendment to check the spot/strip switch periodically.

Harper is a hard core, right wing ideologue who is doing whatever he has to, to save his political ass. The first chance he gets, he will ensnare Iggy and the Libs because that has been his game plan since day one of his administration.

I sit by, and watch right wing Liberals go harder on Layton in their attacks than they do of Harper, and frankly, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that the Libs deserve ALL the grief they will inevitably garner from climbing into bed with Harper.

See, here's the problem. Layton and the New Dems do not believe that Harper can sincerely change his spots to stripes. Iggy seems to think that it is possible but wants an amendment to check the spot/strip switch periodically.

You give Iggy too much credit leftdog. I don't think he even cares whether Harper changes his stripes.

As for his caring for the vulnerable, the poor and unemployed, I honestly think that Ignatieff only views them in the abstract - like a humans rights justification for regime change (decapitate non-Western backed despot/terrorist governments) or a philosophical question (as evidenced by his convoluted support for Thatcher against union labour).

Leftdog. I with you. I see the Cons dropping Iggy and the Libs as soon as their use to them is done. This will get ugly sooner than later. You think the NDP supporters are angry now? Wait until they get to gloating. And there is nothing worse than a gloating loser.

Politics does make strange bedfellows. I've always considered myself a middle-of-the-road Liberal and a good notch or two right of the NDP. Something of a Lloyd Axworthy/Pierre Trudeau Liberal.

I've been with this party for more than four decades and now, suddenly, it doesn't feel like home any more. It feels like some interloper has seized the controls, trashed the place and steered hard right.

Damn, I'm pissed off!

Hey Diane, if it's so lucrative to be unemployed, why don't you just quit and leave us alone!

Vive Le Bloc Quebecuoise !

Ignatieff is lining up his chess pieces, with an eye on winning the war if not the battle. What was it Rex Murpy said, "“Mr. Ignatieff may have spent many years lecturing at Harvard, but he’s not stupid. He needs time as much as Mr. Harper.”Before Ignatieff approved this budget he said this was one of the big flaws, so I hope it will be one of things to be amended if he is prime minister within the next year.

Despite the Eskos polls showing that the coalition had slightly more approval than the conservatives before budget day, there was still enough negative reaction to coalition that it could have caused a backlash before being given a fair chance. This way the conservatives wear the recession for a bit longer, and the public has more time to become aware and informed.

I many in the left will wary about helping Harper to tear Ignatieff down, because he is our best hope to have Harper removed from office. Jack Layton or Elizabeth May can't do it on their own. Harper has threatened Canadians, women their rights, and their families for long enough. The day care funding put in place by the liberals in almost gone, and the conservatives show no signs of funding it further despite the significant returns, social and economic good.

I am hopeful for ignatieff. It is not everyone who is shortlisted for a Booker prize and then there was the Canada generals award back in 1987 just for a warm up act. Reviews going back years ago say there is a great deal of honesty in his writing, and that bodes well... because honesty more than anything is what we are lacking in our current prime minister.

http://tinyurl.com/cwlnnt
"why michael will be prime minster."

http://tinyurl.com/amfrke
nytimes article on ignatieff