Jerry J. Fortin

I will take the side of a citizen against their own government, all of these partisan groups have gone down hill. They like to spend money, they like to cut services. They like patronage appointments and love bureaucracies, they love taxes and love to play games. They sent our soldiers into harms way, lacking equipment and support. They hand out money to corporate interests and refuse to help the citizens. The time will come when many citizens see what I see, then things will change.

Why is it the governments responsibility to fund birth control? I would draw a line right in front of that one. The funding of abortions is a place where no politician with a brain will go. I would suggest that detractors go the way of the court system with a constitutional challenge to deal with their displeasure of existing policy. Making politicians take a stand on this issue is way too divisive at this or any other time and with that in mind I believe it to be counter productive and not in the best interests of the nation as a whole.

Harper was well within his rights, in both actions. This means he is astute, nobody's fool. He outsmarted Dion, but Dion isn't the guy he has to deal with anymore. While I admit that his actions were tricks of the trade I would suggest another term for him, but that is just me. 2009 will be a very interesting year for politics in Canada.

I wonder how many folks here support affirmative action? I mean really, how in the world do you create ethnic diversity anyway?

The Liberals have chosen a good leader. At least this one is better than the last one,in my opinion. The thing to remember is that he is only an opposition leader at the moment, his function is to say no the government. Keep in mind the economy is in bad shape the dollar is under pressure and the budget likely will not balance. These are not good times at all, and things will not likely turn around for months if not years. Its actually a good time to be the leader of the opposition. Lots of things to criticize and no responsibility to carve an effective path through a political minefield of issues. All he has to say to Harper is; "Ya really think this will work Steve?" All Harper has to say is;" You bet, it is in the best interest of Canadians" So Iggy can look like he is supporting the government and gets to avoid the responsibility. Anybody care to bet that Iggy will dodge many a bullet this way?

It was a year ago when our dollar went through the roof, so now its in the basement. It went up and it came down, its still only worth a dollar here. The entire monetary issue is starting to get some people waking up. Wait till the Chinese quit buying US T Bills and see what happens with the US dollar. When that tanks enough the EURO will be the benchmark, and then things will get very interesting.

There are nutbars everywhere, I call then extremists. They don't come from any single direction, they just seem to appear our of nowhere. Its a partisan political disease often used in covert manner just to stir up trouble.

It seems to me that we are now paying more than we contracted for and are receiving the products later than we contract for. I don't think we got the clean end of the stick.

Iggy has already been heard from in interviews but he is holding the cards pretty close. I am willing to bet Harper is just arrogant enough to try and push the envelope when folks return to the Commons. I expect Iggy to be playing his cards one at a time on that day. I am willing to bet that Harper will look like an idiot in question period.

A surplus is a surplus. Why allow money not to do its job and preform its task, which is to circulate. It is the hording of money that detracts from its value. In terms of government spending, this goes double! How on earth could you allow tax dollars to rot? Either reduce the tax load, because you obviously didn't need the money considering that there is some left after programed spending, or shift the funds to some place where more spending is required.

Then get onboard with the concept of direct democracy. Let the politicians propose but let the people decide. Allow the people to propose. There is no better way.

I must say that I agree completely.

How is this a Liberal love in?

I would have preferred that our government take a huge equity stake instead of handing out loans to the auto industry, but I am not the guy making that call. At least the government could have invested enough money to "buyout" the Canadian plants, or at least some of them, and then replace the management staff and retool the lines for production of Canadian vehicles, fuel efficiency being the priority. Keep the jobs and toss the company!

I would hold off on making to many demands, we need the product and are committed to a contract. Then again so are they, and the terms and conditions of the contract provided remedies. I believe this was a very stupid mistake on the part of Harper and his government.

I simply cannot understand a government that would put its troops in harms way and then not support them to the extent possible. Killing your own voters off doesn't make any sense to me. The nation should cough up money for a lot more than just helicopters. In addition our strategy should be changed, not just the tactics. Lets take this from the top shall we; From our base in Khandahar , we should secure the base and work outward. The entire city needs to have ALL weapons removed from all citizens. Police and militia can go to their operations bases and pickup their weapons when they show up for work. Anyone seen with a weapon other than those authorized for the use of that weapon should be fired upon first, then captured if possible. Police and militia need to be trained for local use. Judges and lawyers need to be trained for local work. Doctors and nurses need to be trained for local use. Teachers and utility workers need to be trained for local use. These things should have been done as soon as the location was secured. While that training was ongoing, the infrastructure should have been either repaired or created. Once all this was complete and only then, should military forces been moved outward to continue the process beyond the original base of operations. This was not the case.

The Tories have a long standing tradition with business, they don't beat it up. They learned their lesson from killing the Arrow, don't expect them to do it again. As much as we wish to do something about it, short of canceling the contract nothing much can be done. The Liberals canceled the last contract and that cost 500 million. What Harper should have done was scream blue murder and demand the payment of the penalty clause.

Envy is the ticket to despair. Do not begrudge the success of others, instead work to achieve the position for yourself.

The GST cut took billions out of the federal revenue stream and saved a lot of money for folks who bought big ticket items. More importantly the Tories get to say they are the party that cuts taxes. Perception is everything.

Anybody ever count how much legislation these clowns actually vote on?

I understand and I agree. What I was getting at was that it was a nice thought just to let all the terms expire and then finally start appointing elected representatives.

Yet fear is the most powerful tool of governments. In government the manipulation of public opinion is the main focus, and to that end extravagant propaganda departments are a hallmark of the worst offenders.

The PM instructs the GG who to appoint. Even so, it was a nice thought.

We could now by cell phone or internet.

We are constantly lead down that path by politicians. It is one of the reasons I favour a direct democracy.