daniel

If everybody thought like this, there would be nobody left on Earth.

Another Push Poll gearing you to either give up your car or you are a hypocrite. The trick word in the poll is Significantly but most people automatically assume it means drastically. You don't need to dramatically make sacrifices but some small and significant changes can have profound effects. Like: 1) turning the thermostat down 1degC; 2) change to a programmable thermostat; 3) turning lights and appliances (such as TV, computers, etc) off when not using them; 4) composting instead of having the city pick up your food scraps; 5) hang drying the laundry instead of the using the dryer So if you've already done some of these easy things, then you can wave your finger at others who haven't even yet tried but just criticized.

In the Jan 2006 election, the Conservatives campaigned on being better than the Liberals. This coming election, they're going to campaign on being just like the Liberals.

Now that has to be one of the most absurd statements I have ever read on this forum... I had a futile discussion with someone on another forum who utterly denied that Bush linked Iraq to 911 and Al Qaeda.

Like I said, the Conservatives have thrown out their principles and are now comfortable doing exactly what they would normally criticize. "Winning moral victories is for chumps" remember?

They won't mind. As one Conservative supporter in these forums has stated "Winning moral victories is for chumps. Too bad it took the Canadian right so long to figure it out." So expect Harper to continuing saying anything just to get elected. It won't be long before they introduce a $10/hr minumum wage, anti-scab legistlation and Rae (oops) Harper days.

Seems to me that somebody wants a one party state. And that party isn't Liberal or NDP.

The ad seems appropriate for those who are willing to enter into the goriness of war without the false sense of machismo that video games portray. I suppose if you want it any more realistic, the ads would have Joshua Key make a few statements.

Any changes to Federal/Provincial relationships would be contrary to the BNA Act and would need another referendum to change the constitution. But since we're just throwing around ideas, how about only ONE government. Each riding would be represented by ONE MP who holds office for 4-5 years. That MP would be responsible for everything from pot-holes and garbage pick-up on your street to being your representative for international issues such as trade, military, and foregin relations. In effect, make him/her king of your riding for all issues.

Yes, but since the invasion of Iraq, some people keep equating that criticizing US government policies is equivalent to hating Americans. You can try to explain the difference again, but some people would just think that you're "a broken record".

"Back in the red" and "healthy surpluses" are contradictory, indeed opposite terms. Start Grade 8 over please. Sorry. That's back in the BLACK. No need to get nasty. We all know that msn messaging and text messaging including modern-day e-mail etc is screwing up standard English and editing skills. That includes you too.

Choice in Childcare ... right wing. Increased defence spending ... right wing. Accountability act ... right wing. GST cut ... right wing. We wouldn't have gotten any of these with Paul Martin feeding at the trough for another term. Nice try though... Nice spin: it's actually Choice in Childcare ... choices are to stay at home or stay at home. No business partnership to be seen. The Liberal program was actual daycare spaces across the country so parents can actually go to work. The result of the Conservative Choice is layoff to Early Childcare professionals. Increased defence spending ... right wing. You betcha. While cutting budgets to other social programs including scientific research and the 20% cut to Environmental programs. Don't be surprised if Harper George-Bushes the country. Accountability act ... right wing. Watered down so Harper himself can't get caught. GST cut ... right wing. So is the invention of the GST - which begat the Reform Party remember? Again, check the timeline. These were done before December 3rd.

Yup. In other words, to get a majority the Conservatives have to appear like Liberals. Any resemblance to conservatism will turn voters off - and if you have read any previous postings, Conservatives have no problems throwing out their beliefs - at least temporarily. Their defence of course is the "this time it's different" argument or some other double-standard. But like you said, they would rather give tax breaks and budget cuts instead. So don't be surprised if in their first majority budget (or even minority if they have the gall) to claw back all those spending promises.

I'll go one further. I'll bet the Republican machine will find a way to blame the liberals.

She has a thyroid condition that makes her extremely sensitive to light. Isn't that the one sitting behind Stephen Harper right beside Rona Ambrose? Or is that someone else with sunglasses?

My, my how terms like "dinosaur farts" and "Made-in-Canada solution" seem like a distant memory only to be wished away by their owners. But it now appears we are entering another of those "Bush-didn't-link-Iraq-to-911" type of debates. So how is it now that you don't mind Harper's out-of-control spending? The same type of spending conservatives had always criticized?

These types of statements are baseless. Politicians are too smart to hand over their power. Furthermore, globalization has been around forever and borders still exist. How do you expect it to abolish borders in the future. It may be exaggerated but there is some truth to it as well. Some multi-national corporation with more money to invest than the budget of a poor African nation can basically call all the shots with property rights, environmental responsibilities, royalties, etc. I've even heard that some Chinese mining corporations import all their own workers resulting in zero local employment. In return, the official of their corrupt government gets a nice healthy kick-back. In the western world where officials are held to audits and scrutiny, politicians have less power than what you'd expect. They are only people too and one day would need keep their post-political careers open so the deals they strike up can't be too strict. Sometimes, they are so powerless that they can only go with the flow and come up with weak restrictions that won't appear to give everything away even though they are.

But the people on the right DID mind. Preston Manning and the others kept saying that Martin's budget cuts didn't go far enough. And then they kept complaining about the budget surplusses. (Now after 13years of the Liberals' conservative-like budgets, Conservatives point the finger at the Liberals for not implementing Kyoto at a time when the Conservatives were fighting Kyoto every step of the way.) But Moonlight Graham's remark was implying that during the 13years of Liberals, spending was out-of-control. Which was untrue. Jim Flaherty tried to make this false accusation as well.

So this idea of the US which is getting Canadians all confused is somehow spun at the Liberals to blame. Typical.

So how was it that Ford can pardon Nixon so quickly?

It wasn't Mulroney or Harper who got the Canadian budget back in the red with healthy surplusses. Pearson and Trudeau made Canada the respected Nation it was when Harper took over.

Go ahead and bitch at the Left all you want. Your Harper Government seems happy to embrace our policies now and you don't seem to have any problems with that.

If you check the timeline, these were enacted mid-year 2006: Conservative ratings - down Conservative ratings – down. Some choice: Stay at home or stay at home. Conservative ratings – down Not a Conservative one either. Have you heard about that fundamental breach of contract that begat your party? If you are referring to Clean Air Act that’s being modified since December 3rd – hmmmm. Would have thought the Conservatives would be doing the bitching since they would have expected their own government not to act the same way. So it only goes to show you, to gain widespread acceptance, you have to be Liberal – not Conservative. But this next response explains it all: Very revealing. But spoken like a true Mulroney Conservative who had no trouble going back on his word to sell-out the country. Reformers must be spinning in their graves. And make sure to keep saying that when you go door-to-door campaigning.Personally I have no trouble the Conservative throwing out everything they believe in to implement only Liberal and NDP policies (if in fact that's what they really are going to do). My question is how quickly all their Conservative supporters can so readily accept that after twenty years of criticizing those exact same policies they now embrace. Maybe these short-term policies in run-up to the election are just a CON job.

Judging from Harper's December 3rd copy-cat style, my preference would now have been Ignatieff as the Liberal leader. Then Harper would leave the country for 30years.

I wouldn't be surprised if Harper ends up George-Bushing this country.