— Musings —03.22.2011 12:31 PM
Out on a limb
I predict the NDP will cave.
Frankly, they have a bona fide reason for doing so – their leader is very ill.
Comments? Contrary views?
— Musings —03.22.2011 12:31 PM
I predict the NDP will cave.
Frankly, they have a bona fide reason for doing so – their leader is very ill.
Comments? Contrary views?
I respectfully disagree.
The Liberals assumed a weakened Layton would support the government. Now he has recovered his support, even increased it a bit. No way Layton supports the budget to keep this government alive right after helping to declare this government in contempt. The Liberals have over-played their hand with this contempt thing, and Layton isn’t going to save Ignatieff from himself.
And yeah, Layton is ill, but think how that looks – a game Layton struggling physically through a campaign. Great genuine PR stuff that you can’t buy.
And the Tories tried to give the NDP stuff in the budget. The Liberals want an election no matter what, making an ill Layton go out on the hustings. BS stuff I know, but you know that is stuff tha tresonates.
Maybe it makes for great theater, but who is going to vote for a guy who may not make it through the next 4 years?
You’re an idiot. The Liberals want an election. Iggy is angry and itching to go, and doesn’t care what the polls say. And, frankly, I don’t mind politicians standing on principle for a change, without polling. These clowns have run roughshod over our democratic institutions and the fact that the opposition are not going to push over for them, means something.
I don’t think they’ll cave because of Layton’s ailments. They’ll cave to show that they, the NDP, were able to make the tories change things in their budget and it was the NDP, not the Liberals, who were able to steer that course.
Yes they will. Even if Mulcair has his campaign office open.
Ditto. Hear, hear.
Yep, Layton sure doesn’t look well. I give him much credit for continuing to beat the NDP drum – we may not like his message but compared to Ignatieff he’s been consistent…which I believe shows in the polls where Layton’s polling above the Ignatieff. The country’d be grateful for passing on an election…if people in my region are any indication.
I think this bodes well for the Liberals. It puts them in the position of being the real alternative government-in-waiting. Stick with Ignatieff: he’s growing in the job and getting better. Stay united Liberals: the Tories will defeat themselves. Keep up the new attacks on the “Harper regime” and keep presenting Ignatieff in a positive light. Get him riled up and passionate once in a while like on CTV’s Question Period, but avoid the kisses in the air. 🙂 It will all come together sooner or later.
Dj
Ezra just took Iggy to school on Adler over his claim that his family were pennyless refugees it was not good for Iggy, being caught lying by the facts in his own book.
Ezra’s an Ethical Boil. And the Addled Nation were never going to vote Liberal, anyway.
And Ignatieff said that they were POLITICAL refugees, not economic; relative to what they had originally, they were down to pretty much nothing when they arrived in Canada in 1928, having depleted most of their remaining resources in the preceding decade in exile in Europe; and they lost the remainder a year later, in the stock market crash of 1929.
Under the current regime, immigrants today have to have far more assets than they had when they were granted citizenship: hundreds of thousands, in fact, for the entrepreneur and investment classes. But I suppose they’re not “real” immigrants for the CPC, either: just welcome voters and donors.
You think it’s E Z paying $25,000 to someone at the HRC??
http://www.montrealgazette.com/3860863.bin?size=620×400
“Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ruled on Nov. 18 that Giacomo Vigna, a lawyer for the Canadian Human Rights Commission, had been defamed by blogger Ezra Levant. According to the Court, Levant was on a campaign to discredit human rights commissions.
While that was in itself not inherently problematic from the perspective of the libel case, seeking to achieve that goal by defaming others was not a lawful objective. The court said that Levant showed “reckless disregard” for the truth in publishing the posts in question.”
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/speech+should+free/3898085/story.html
Well, if the Cons are attacking Ignatieff’s family, they must be worried that he’s making inroads. It’s still despicable and not going to work.
You’re going to quote Ezra? He’s never made a truthful statement in his life.
Ezra Who?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Levant
and he wrote about it today, too… not missing the chance to draw antisemitism into it, of course:
http://www.ottawasun.com/comment/columnists/ezra_levant/2011/03/21/17707731.html
and now he’s tweeted, and the conbots are re-tweeting, about it:
“Why is Count @M_Ignatieff trying to re-write his family history? My Sun column: http://t.co/mdGZYBS #cdnpoli ”
11 minutes ago
http://twitter.com/ezralevant/statuses/50375497850429440
what a slimeball.
They must have been passed out most of the weekend to have missed this. And these are the people Harper relies on to make it to the voting booth for him?
The Sun never sets on the Russian Empire
Geez, a coalition with the socialists? Would Harper stoop that low?
It’s not a coalition…the NDP would merely vote for the budget, not be part of the government.
It’s a coalition.
Clearly.
yup: if they had even so much as a handshake behind closed doors at that secret pow-pow today in which the NDP promised to support them in confidence votes, then that’s as much of a coalition as was in the cards with the Bloc in ’08.
So all the times over the last five years the Liberals supported the Conservative was what you would call a coalition.
go figure the Liberals, who hate the Conservatives, in bed with those same Conservatives
And parlimentarians wonder why the majority of the voting populace feel such a lack of trust about the two main parties
um, “no” to the “so”:
I said above that if there was an explicit, hand-shaked agreement b/w the designated reps. of the Opp & the Gov’t to support a non-confidence motion in exchange for some goodies, that it would meet the threshold of the alleged ’08 Bloc coalition;
but there was no such agreement, and certainly no handshake, b/w the Libs & PMS when the Libs either abstained on or begrudgingly went along with the various confidence bills these past 5 years; hence, no coalition, by that test.
Marc L–you’re right that this is not technically a coalition, but then neither are opposition parties who oppose the government a coalition, even though that’s what the cons repeatedly call them.
I think I make the rules, and I say it’s a coalition 🙂
And because:
Layton hates Muclair
Olivia is not ready to take over
The 6 year lucrative pension entitlement does not kick in for the class of 2006 until February 2012
If Layton does support Harper on the budget, then Harper could still go to the GG after and ask for an election.
I stand corrected.
It’s election time.
And Layton looked good and ready for an election. Not necessarily great for us Liberals.
This government falls by weeks end.
I call on the forces of Horus and Stolichnaya to make it so.
Well, that changes everything.
Interesting rationale but I think Jack could also be making himself into the party’s martyr by crusading through a grueling campaign. Now if the NDP can smell blood and not do what they normally do in terms of losing support to the Liberal’s “fear the tories” schtick it could be a more different parliament than most are predicting. (IF is a tall order though).
Indeed they will.
Jack resigns(for health reasons) at end of session. NDP leadership by Aug/Sept.
By then he will have time to help anyone who is running against Mulcair.
If the NDP caves it won’t be because of Layton’s ills. He’s a pretty tough cookie and, to me, it seems as if he’d push through the pain for the election campaign. Even if the constant up & down of plane stairs are tough on the hip.
Agreed. They’d already noted that they’ve looked into modifying the luggage elevator on their campaign plane to accommodate him.
And let’s not forget — as most of us have, or never realized — that the U.S. President F.D.R. ran numerous successful campaigns despite being stricken with polio and having to hobble around on canes or in a wheelchair.
I mostly agree, except: it seems the olive branch is out to both the NDP and the Bloc, so it’s rather a race to see who caves first. (I still think it’ll be the NDP.)
I find it quite sad when any party votes against a budget before they have a chance to read and understand it. It certainly isn’t the only chance to bring down a government.
this government was done like burnt toast before the budget and this is the first real chance in some time the opposition has to turf them…and they will.
The opposition had their own briefings this morning.
The “they didn’t even read it” line is utter baloney. They don’t receive it cold on the floor of the house when the FinMin reads his speech. They have time beforehand. To repeat this particular meme shows only lack of knowledge of how budget day works.
Yup; looks like the few honest journo’s out there are going to have to write one or more correct-the-conbots columns this this every day, now:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/959695–reality-check-did-opposition-parties-read-the-budget?bn=1
I think he should step down and get well. Of course, if Mulclair takes over, it will be a newer, uglier NDP. Might as well have Pat Martin as leader…
well, good for Jack: he wasn’t such a “cheap date” as Ivison’s been making him out to be, after all, and, barring some major capitulations by the gov’t to up the ante on the GIS and to reverse itself on not cancelling the federal home heating tax: it’s ON.
and grinning Flaherty’s just said on P&P that there’s NO chance of agreeing to any amendments on the budget. So that’s that.
So it is to be “go time”. As I said, Layton isn’t going to save Ignatieff from himself.
Iggy on CTV right now. He looks like he just shit his pants.
Jack just announced that your forecast was wrong!!!
You were all wrong!! The NDP will oppose the budget and we will have an election – and BTW: Layton and Mulcair are the best of friends and when Layton retires – Mulcair will be his handpicked successor.
No Caving! Great decision by all opposition parties – about time, so let’s dance!
No caving apparently:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/03/22/ndp-rejects-federal-budget/
Off we go to an election ! (Though, I hope the government is found in contempt before the Budget vote).
Layton really has nothing to lose by enabling an election campaign through concluding there are no further gains to be made by trying to work with the Conservatives. Flaherty seemed clear on this. Probably more importantly, Layton and Harper have the same goals, and have shared these goals for quite some time – to further marginalize the Liberal brand in Canada.
Maybe there is something deeper to the timing but to me it seems that it didn’t make sense for Layton to skip out on the campaign potential this time around – he may have concluded good or bad health, this is his last campaign as leader of the NDP. Whatever the rationale for his stance, I wish him nothing but the best of health.
Unlike the Liberals, the these days the NDP are at their core unafraid of going to the electorate for affirmation.
Besides, “Liberal, Tory, same old story” is not just a catchy jingle to many in the NDP. At their core they believe it, and in many regards they are not wrong.
Zero Liberals in Vancouver ridings is my call.
I suspect the government will fall on ethics by Friday, and never even make it to the budget vote.