Bryan

Obviously this means the LPC came to Harper on hands and knees begging his forgiveness. They know that they won't win, and they cannot afford the damages. Harper would never have backed down for Dion, but a new guy in charge of the LPC starting out on the right foot makes a world of difference.

Compared to the rest of the world, it sure is. We have the best economy in the world. They are going bankrupt, we've lost some pocket change.

All the Laurier Club is, is recognition of those who have donated the maximum ($1100). If Ignatieff was a Laurier Club member, then that $1100 absolutely must be recorded by elections Canada. It might not be accounted until the end of the year, but it must be accounted. If he really did make that contribution, either the Liberals or Elections Canada have problems with their database. After looking over the EC site, the latter looks just as likely as the former. It's only if you donate less than $200 TOTAL that you might not end up on Elections Canada's DB (although even there, many people are). You write one cheque for $180 one month, and one for $70 a few months later, that gets reported as a $250 donation.

Only 7.2%? Why are people screaming that the sky is falling? Historically speaking, we are still in a remarkably strong economy. It's only a "recession" because our economy was white hot in 2007 and most of 2008. All it's done is slowed down from amazingly good to a little better than usual. There have been many times in my working life where we could only wish things could have been this good.

Daycare is deductible as it is, and the CPC also added several additional new credits for child related expenses, as well as the $2000 per child under 18 credit. When it's all added up, I'm seeing quite a bit MORE than just the $1200/yr.

1) Some of those projects are in ridings that were Liberal when the funding was announced. If they want to blame the Tories for winning those ridings, they can go right ahead. 2) Some of those projects are related to the 2010 Olympics. The (Liberal) provincial government and VANOC would be the ones deciding where these things need to be done. Liberals should really get their stories straight though. Up until last week, their complaint was that the government was NOT controlling where such spending was being used. So which is it?

We were paying $450/month including meals for full time private care up until this September. Take $100/mo off of that with the UCCB, and I certainly have no complaints.

The neat part for Harper is by the time of the first update, enough time will have passed that an election would be automatic if the govt is defeated. So Iggy unwittingly has actually done Harper a favor.

Read your own post again. Liberal supporters abandoned Dion. Even those who would never vote CPC, just chose not to vote at all. The ads worked. Harper increased his seat count every time. Liberals opposing him have lost seats every time. Doesn't matter if more vote for you, or less vote for them, more seats is more seats. It works well. And now that he has tabled the big spending budget, the left is divided again too. Another win. Next fiscal update, we'll see just how tough Iggy is. Remember, he's the one that demanded that those updates be confidence votes, and by that time enough time will have passed that defeat will mean an election no matter what. An election the Liberals cannot afford. Come back and tell me then how strong a leader Iggy is when he backs right down.

If you read his blog at all, especially the post regarding this subject, you'll see that his fact checking standards are significantly stricter than those of the MSM.

How about a quote from the very story you posted? Clearly, this is a smear campaign AGAINST the Conservatives, not one by them.

If it meant losing Flaherty as finance minister, I would sure welcome that!!

The ads worked very well. CPC got an increased seat count, and the Liberals got their second worst showing ever. And, the LPC stabbed their own leader in the back, twice, and the coronation of Iggy that resulted further divided them. Going that route was a very good idea. Iggy will never be PM.

Like I said a couple of days ago: Mr. Dithers 2.0. Flip-flop, flip-flop. He will be easier to defeat than Dion was. Now that the budget has passed, I'm watching for the "define Iggy as a bad leader" ads to start soon.

It's important to note that the Conservative Party of Canada long ago acknowledged that Casey paid back all of the money he took from his riding association. They are making no such accusation now. There is, however, a vindictive former campaign worker for the failed CPC candidate in that riding who has been relentless with these accusations. Even when presented with a copy of the cancelled cheque, this person still keeps bleating the accusation that long ago was proven false.

They sure do. Worked out well for me. I also bought several thousand dollars worth of computer and home electronic equipment last year, saved me a few extra hundred on stuff I was going to buy anyway. Last year. I paid over $3000 less in taxes. So it's not either/or, it's and/and. No matter how you slice it, it's more of your own money to use as you see fit. A significantly better stimulus overall than spending increases would ever be. And at least the GST cut is SOMETHING for people whose income is such that they aren't paying taxes to begin with. Everybody gets something that way, it was the right thing to do.

Probably the most patently false statement ever made on these forums. Reform had the strongest and most clear principles of any federal party, probably ever. The issue is, Harper gave away the store back to the old PCs that caused all the problems within the right in the first place. We never should have given up one-member-one-vote. It's obvious now why that was so important for the old PCs. I can handle it if there is not enough support for honesty and principle in politics to get a majority. Perhaps Preston did take Reform as far as it was going to go. What I don't understand are these people who are attached to the WORD "conservative", but whose actions and policies push things as far to the left as possible. These people are not conservatives by any definition of the word, yet there they are every time like dirty shirts doing everything they can to make the CPC (and the PC before it) more liberal than the Liberal Party. I just wish those people would FOAD. I'd rather be in opposition and be right, than in power and have to give up everything. At least in opposition, we were the ones forcing the Liberals to compromise.

Because he's done so much backtracking that even the CBC pundits are calling him "Mr. Dithers 2.0". Dion was not a good speaker and had some unpopular policy, and he was broiled for it. The thing is, he didn't do nearly as much talking as Ignatieff does, so in a way he insulated himself from getting hammered even worse. Ignatieff will blather on to anyone on camera, and he changes his stories more than Gene Simmons. No matter what he campaigns on, the CPC will be able to put together "proof" that he's lying. Because Harper has betrayed his conservative base with this irresponsible big spending budget. Enough conservatives are angry that he just might not get the support he needs next time around. At bare minimum, he's running the risk that they might just stay home and keep their money in their wallets. Worse than that, some are so upset that there's talk about the possibility of restarting the Reform Party. If that happens, it's 1993 all over again.

Not anymore. I can't identify anything left about him that remains from the Reform principles.

I honestly believe Ignatieff is going to be easier to beat than Dion was. Assuming, of course, that the CPC is still intact as a party by the next election.

Harper needs to be far more worried about his base taking his job away from him than the electorate of Canada at this point. I was never comfortable with the merger in the first place, I thought we gave up far too much up front. Once in power, Harper moved more and more to the left. Again, I didn't like it, but CPC was the only remotely conservative option available, so like other Reformers, I went along anyway. I even defended many of the compromises as necessary to govern. Heck up until a few weeks ago I was even on board for the "as long as it hurts the Liberals, it's good for us" part of the plan. This budget is the last straw. It's totally unacceptable, and it's a complete betrayal of all that is conservative. Keynesian spending has never worked before, if anything it made the great depression worse and longer. If there was ever a time to show true fiscal conservatism, this is it. If we can't trust a party that's named Conservative to actually be conservative when it really matters, they have no reason to exist. I'd much rather have seen us lose power than throw all of our principles away. I don't think anything could ever get me to vote Liberal again. But if the rumblings I'm hearing about rebooting Reform are true, I'll be there in a heartbeat. In the meantime, Harper needs to be pushed out, he cannot be trusted any more.

The type of things we saw in the fiscal update is exactly what they should do. Lower taxes, cuts in political funding, restricting wages in the pubic sector, etc. All things that the CPC will easily hammer the opposition with if they vote against them. Absolutely, Harper should go for it and dare the opposition to vote it down. What fiddling? This is the best government the country has had in at least 40 years. We have the best economy, and the best managed government in the entire world right now.

If Ignatieff is serious about defeating the Govt over broad tax cuts, Harper should definitely call his bluff. An election fought over that issue would be glorious.

Martin was an idiot, and a terrible finance minister. He left bills unpaid, obligations unfulfilled, over charged on taxes, wasted billions on useless programs, embezzelled hundreds of millions for his friends, and illegally raided EI.

If that's what Harper actually means, he needs to do a better job of letting his base know that.