Is this a plan to "return to balance?"

It's all Greek to me!

CRA already propositioned me to liquidate my son!

Hey they might as well have the house, car, two daughters and whatever else I possess.

Or maybe as Ezra Levant says:

FIRE. THEM. ALL.

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North"

Would that Harper or Prentice would give a speech like that recently given by New Jersey governor Chris Christie . What's depressing is that I hold out absolutely zero hope of such ever occurring, even if the Tories gain their coveted majority.

CINO = Conservative in name only???

I can't vote for anyone anymore.

The CPC wants to spend like a 14 year old given a credit card and sent to the mall.

If it's the Liberals; it's the same thing, but the "limit" would be much bigger.

If it's the NDP; well they'd be like a 5 year old with "no limit" in a candy store.

We have nowhere to go but into debt.

Was that kid trying to act like Glen Beck? Didm't work.

I think the Conservative Party should be brought before Gail Vail-Oxley on Till Debt do us Part. Give them some jars and they can only spend cash, no credit cards, no debit cards and must make a real plan to pay back their debt before they can spend anymore.

I think i read that 10% of the people pay 80% of the tax in the usa. And 50% pay no tax at all.
We are probably close to those numbers in canada as well.
Now can you imagine what is going to happen, when you tell the 50% who pay no taxes, your cutting off their candy?
Remember they still get to vote...

Maybe we should make it mandatory, that in order to vote...you have to be paying income tax.
That might stop this pork barrel **** and we could then actually vote out the crooks.

Liberals in Conservative clothing!

I find it hilarious when around election time the "so called", "fiscal" conservatives want the social conservatives to shut up. Such principled men.

Like the Romans...now we have the Sask Party flirting with a covered "coliseum"...that should deflect attention. Why we could brag eh...Calgary and Edmonton don't even have one.

And Stephen Harper is a conservative?

... oh that's right, I'm supposed to "trust" him ... he's being a chess player ... ragging the puck ... setting up the LPC for a fall ... he's got that nasty media to fight off ... and let's not forget, voters are too stupid to vote CPC without faking them out.

At what point do the apologists face up to the fact that their man has only one thing in mind ... power. How he gets it doesn't matter because he is like the former LPC ... completely bereft of any core political values except one ... beat the other tribe.

For me, the last straw is that Harper, while expanding spending, actually CUT military spending from a military budget that is already one of the most paltry in all of NATO. It's amazing what a man will do to grovel for Quebec and GTA votes; while taking his base utterly and totally for granted.

I learned long ago that when someone says "trust me", it's time to head for the exits if you don't want to get any on you.

All of the above. The bureaucrats put you in your place pretty quick if you make noises that you might deviate the plan.

I don't profess to know the insights of the political rangling and positioning that goes on no matter who own the hammer. What I do now is the CPC, who I am a current card carrier for, is straying further every day from what I consider core planks. As Cjunk echos I to do not like the direction PMSH is steering the ship.

Wow. The CPC suckers are late. Maybe they've come to their senses and now reali-HAHA can't even finish it. It's over people. There is nothing left. Harper is a disaster who can't even clear majority territory for longer than a month. He's got no real political skills. The CPC MUST lose the next election so we can get back to rebuilding. That may mean a new party to re-establish the Right at a fed level. We were better off in the '90s with the so called 'divided right'.

Mark my words Harper is going to suffer the same fate as Mulroney by trying to mimic the liberals. Why can't these bastards that call themselves conservatives act like conservatives? One more bit of groveling to Quebec and these "liberal lites" plus Gary Lunn can kiss my vote goodbye. Hello Lizzy May. I would sooner vote for a dizzy bitch than a traitor.

Cytotoxic: We were better off in the '90s with the so called 'divided right'.

_____________________________________

No. We weren't. Cretin had free reign to carry out the social deconstruction of Canada.

Financially, though, I think Martin did a better job than the CPC has done, presumably because the Liberals were so unassailable that they were actually able to make hard decisions. Now, every hard decision is avoided because of the fear it will lead to electoral loss.

If Harper loses, and is replaced as leader by someone else, it will be someone who is selected because they are perceived as more "friendly and approachable" than Mr. Harper. And what that will usually mean is someone even more of a CINO that Mr. Harper.

There is no doubt that Mr. Harper has let a lot of people who supported him down. Myself included. I actually canceled my CPC membership last year and have joined the Libertarians, thereby nullifying my vote.

I wonder how long "vote for me because the other guys will destroy this country faster" will be good enough for the base.

PM Harper's Canada: Leader of the pack.

Owning the podium.

More, please.
...-

"Dollar pushes Canada ahead of the pack

Surging loonie, 10-month low in unemployment have foreign investors betting on Canada

As the rest of the developed world trudges through a fragile recovery, Canada is pulling away from the pack.

The jobs market is healing after the brutal recession, following the path of other economic indicators. Canada's fiscal position stands out among its peers, its banking system is strong, and the dollar is moving ever closer back to parity with the U.S. currency.

The economy churned out another 21,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate dipped to a 10-month low of 8.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday. That compares with the peak of 8.7 per cent in the summer of 2009, and is well shy of far gloomier projections made at the height of the crisis.

The jobs report in turn drove the dollar past the 98-cent U.S. mark, welcome news to many Canadians heading to the United States for spring break, where they now have more buying power. Analysts believe the dollar will reach parity with the greenback within months.

While there are quibbles in Ottawa over just how quickly and smoothly Finance Minister Jim Flaherty can shrink Canada's biggest budget deficit, the books are in such good shape compared with many other governments that foreign investors are being drawn in, buying a record amount of Canadian bonds last year.

That keeps borrowing costs down for Canadian governments, allowing the country to benefit from stimulus spending that is helping to bring back the 400,000 jobs lost in the recession without having to fear big tax hikes."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/dollar-pushes-canada-ahead-of-the-pack/article1499480/

So what's your point lance!

Is it that you’re in love with Count Iffy, because you feel in your heart that he’ll do everything you want him to do?

What a crock this video is. I don’t believe a word of it. This is a classic example of “fun with numbers”. Then theirs the unmistakable Liberal Party narrative that wafts off of their disingenuous guff. Wonder why that is?

These are the same people who waste bucketfuls of taxpayer’s money by instigating bogus non stop ATIP requests like the one they did regarding government advertising of stimulus spending.

They could have shown some responsibility and initiative by putting some numbers together themselves, but no. Instead, they put on a big spectacle to show everyone how much taxpayer’s money they could waste. It would appear that “Good for the Goose, Good for the Gander” doesn’t apply to them.

I’m guessing that they were hoping that we wouldn’t notice that glaring hypocrisy. Maybe that’s why their “Blogging Tory” man went AWOL after that outrageous post of theirs.

Some “Taxpayer Federation” they are!

old Lori, the phrase "vote for me because the other guys will destroy this country faster will be good enough for the base" does have a shelf life and is tied in with what Western Canadian said at 3:07.

However, to fair, at least until the shelf life runs out, is as discussed on the Jaffer thread below, the media would scream blue murder if the CPC started acting like real conservatives. The media thinks any party other than the LPC forming a government is an aberration.

Blame Crash - I think it more than a bit of a stretch to think of the CTF as Liberal party supporters.

Ken - I am thinking that there is a critical mass of voters in this country who would respect a leader that told it like it was, and made real changes to the budgets, not tinkering around the edges. Some of the core votes that are at risk of being lost would come back, and some social liberals / fiscal conservatives might swing to the CPC from the Liberals.

As for the media, I am not sure it's as bad as all that. The National Post and Macleans and a good number of western papers would support fiscal conservatism. The Globe also might. The Globe actually endorsed Mr. Harper fairly strongly in the last election.

The CBC and the Toronto Star and the Quebec papers of course would not, but never will anyway.

What Cjunk? Not agreeing with your narrative makes one an “apologist” now? I don’t think so, you’re obviously stuck on your ideology.

We’re realist who knows we’re not always going to get our way. Sometimes the winds in your face, and sometimes it’s at your back.

Meanwhile, theirs some folks who always want to face the wind when they take a leak, no matter what!

Go ahead if you want, but count me out.

No matter what, no matter what Harper does in gov't, what we will get under the Liberals will be far, far worse. No we're not happy with Harper right now and we need to send him a message. But putting the Liberals back in power? Are you INSANE?!

old Lori,

It was the “way” they said what they did.
And what about that red jersey? !LOL!
Only a coincidence perhaps? Hmmm!?!?
Have another look and listen Lori.
Then let me know if I have lying eyes or not!

Blame Crash ... "realist" is simply an excuse for becoming the new LPC. With each penny of bribery that Harper spends, he is vastly increasing the bureaucracy ... the progressive disease. There is no backing away from that.

Only problem is, Harper is incapable of getting a majority because of his appalling lack of communication skills, and all it'll take is a new LPC leader with a hair of pulse and the wilderness will once again greet conservatives.

It's strange though, how the very same people who were savaging Paul Martin and the LPC, now aplaud the same spending and tactics. Isn't tribalism grand.

Grok: I beg to differ ... Harper is moving left of Martin.

Governments are getting too big everywhere. In British Columbia we have the same problem. Some public servants are paid more than private-sector CEOs of large companies.

Don't know how we fix the problem, but there must be a way.

Maz2
Great points and all true.
But unfortunately some folks will only be satisfied with perfection.
These “Perfectionistas” will never be happy because of they’re demands of perfection can never be attained by all us un-perfectionists. You’d think they’d know that, wouldn’t ya!

Lets not kid ourselves folks. If Harper had a majority instead of a minority spending would be lower and taxes would be lower.But when the only way to stay in power is to cowtow to the opposition demands you will get more spending.

Gotta love Blame Crash types. They'll blame anyone for Harper's actions other than Harper himself! Their 'realism' is failure pure and simple. Harper is pushing Canada to the left and inflicting far more damage than any post-1990 Liberal ever could. The '90s Liberals weren't that bad, there was no 'social deconstruction' (whatever the Hell that means), and they actually did cut the civil service a great deal and privatized the rest of Petro-Canada. Bring back Fincance Minister Paul Martin!

Cjunk
What’s “being to the left of Martin” have to do with anything? That’s all ancient history, from a different time and place. Attempting to place what Martin did and didn’t do, in to today’s situation doesn’t make any sense.

Grok was right. The liberals would have massively larger deficits if they were in power. All the wishing otherwise ain’t ever going to change that trueism.

Well said, well reasoned, Blame Crash.

The CPC are a minority in a parliament with a united opposition; they call themselves the coalition. I call them the Troika (as defined by Stalin in his traveling Tri court outfit sent out to get rid of problem prisoners in the Gulags). We are one goosestep away from having card carrying Communist Ducippe as the de facto Prime Minister of Canada! I have very little patience with the CTPA, they must have been brushed off by PMSH because the behave like some 'hurt feelings' high school kids.

You know, the opposition has shown such a lack of testicular fortitude over the last year that I have to admit, I think the CPC could (should) have been governing as though it had a majority. So why no actual conservative policies and belt-tightening? Maybe all those who were warning us that Harper was "scary" were right for the wrong reasons.

I'm not totally sure yet, but I may end up having to park my vote. The CPC certainly hasn't gotten any money out of me in quite a while, and they have been told why. And I couldn't stomach voting for anyone to the left of the CPC either. Are you listening, CPC? We're getting very tired of you being CINOs!

The guy reminded me of Uncle Fester from the Adams family. All he needed was some more ghoulish eyeshadow and he'd be a match.

Harper has to win over the entrenched Ottawa mandarin bureaucracy first. The liberal lawyers and policy wonks that infect every corner of federal government that think the only way Canadians will be "nice" or "fair" is with more rules and regulations (ie ala CHRC)and big government.

That takes time and trust.

JMHO

Rule #1: Politicians are liars, never trust any of them!

That being said, I do feel that if I'm picking between liars, I'd prefer Harper to Chretien. Chretien was arrogant, elitist, and way dirtier than any other PM in Canada's history. Plus I also believe that Harper at least believes in some of the conservative values he's supposed to be standing for, even if he's not following them very well right now!

Quick Consucker Survival Guide

In your quest to help Harper destr-err, incrementally implement conservative ideals, you will be faced with many challenges, including Harper skeptics.
When faced with one of these skeptics, start by blurting our the word 'realism'. You don't need to include it any supporting context. If this skeptic has the gall to actually point out this governments large deficits, just claim it could be worse by moving some arbitrary goalposts. However large the deficits are, just add X billions and claim that's how bad it could be. Remember, realism has nothing to do with reality! If they point out previous governments of any kind at any time or country having implemented the policies we aren't, just say words like context, minority, troika, and Green Shift at random intervals. And most importantly, end with COALITION (TM). Because if you beat a dead horse hard enough, twitching can make it look alive! The skeptic may point out that our poll numbers suck. Point out that every major newspaper/TV station/civil servant/organization that's ever existed is united in an anti-conservative front we will call SPECTRE, and it irreconcilably hates us cons. So we have to make it love us...even though that's impossible. But if we didn't claim to be attempting the impossible, we couldn't excuse our inability to achieve the perfectly possible.
Feel free to add your suggestions humble supplicants. Love, CPC Overlord Admin.

Crash:

PM Harper and the CPC had their chances after the election when the Libs were leaderless for 18 months. They had their chance when Dion was playing stupid bugger to avoid an election. They had their chance last year and copped out. They had their chance with this budget and _again_ blew it.

The people knew it was going to be tough love and were prepared for that. Everyone expected cuts. I could hear CBC's knees knocking from way out here. Gun Registry funding? Still there. HRCs? Mustn't cut that, no, no. The numerous green initiatives? Can't have them thinking we're deniers now, can we? But we sure gotta kow-tow to the MPAA and RIAA to punish those dastardly teenagers and their tape-recorders.

Where's the 10% staffing cuts across the board? The 20% budget cut across the board? Are the unions that powerful? Where's our damned Thatcher in this pigsty of a "conservative" party?

The CPC lost my vote in a tight riding against the NDP last time around...they lost 5000 votes here with no appreciable gain anywhere else.

They haven't done anything to earn my vote back and if there isn't a Western Separatist Party, or another Libertarian type of party on the ballot I will probably not vote.

Everyone says that the Liberals would be worse and I call horse-hooey on that. No one knows what the Liberals even think and that includes the Liberals. I laugh at the "Liberals would be worse" statement. What is that? A distorted echo of "Hidden Agenda" from 9 years ago?

Look at Canada's New Gov't, same as the old one.

Fess up guys. All is lost. It's all downhill from here 'cuz we've passed the point of no return.

The only decision now is how fast we want to be going when we hit the wall.

I know I don't want the bottomless pit of daycare. I know I didn't want the Green Shaft. There have been things done I'm not too fond of but on the whole I accept it. Dion during a recession? With a green tax? Folks I figure I dodged a bullet and I am happy with that for now.

Valencia said: "Harper has to win over the entrenched Ottawa mandarin bureaucracy first."

... so he created an even bigger and more entrenched Ottawa bureaucratic class.

Just to give an idea of what is out there I received a phone call last week. It was from a pension union type of thing. You pay 20 bucks and they represent your interest in the HOC. They are pushing for increases of $200-300 a month in CPP. I said we could not afford it. The reply was that the money was there. He also said 26% of the workforce was unionized. My reply was 20% were government. The money is not there. It is not easy to fire civil servants. I have seen cases drag on for years and be lost and that is where the union agrees on cause. At least from what I have read the gov't. is hiring mostly men in their mid 50's. They aren't going to get a pension out of that and it is hard to get work at that age so I don't have a major problem with that either.

The 'my way or the highway crew', as always, are funny. Being so mad at Harper's spending will only get you Iffy/Layton's spending. Now that's the way to prosperity!

There is no meaningful difference btw Harper spending and Iggy/Layton spending. DON'T make a rebuttal without objective proof. Just don't.

For those fans of Harper's style of "conservativism", would you be so kind as to point out five major "conservative" accomplishments of the CPC government since they took power?

Personally I can only name one, the introduction of the TFSA, a great tool to save money and more importantly keep it from being taxed.

Anyone know any others off hand?

pretty easy to see Harpers realworld conservatism in his intl stuff..but as a hot potatoe in Canadrr?
A better approach may have been to say: FU

a glitch pooched my comment.
Shoulda said, FU--and waded thru the swamp of derLiberal hooors and taken no prisoners..course i aint a polytishin

No matter which way you lean or which way you peel the onion, a 42% increase in government spending is NOT conservative.

Hence the reason I have not contributed to the CPC in over two years and haven't taken out membership in three.

I'll reconsider if or when the "Conservatives" start acting conservative.

I am starting to grow skeptical of the CPC. I used to sometimes vote for the PC's and Reform. Sometimes I would vote for some fringe or independent candidate because the cons were no different than the libs. I have been thinking that we are in that situation again for a while. We have to let the cons know that they don't automatically have our vote.

WOW that list makes me hate the CPC government even more. Way to go 'Sandy'.

Personally I can only name one, the introduction of the TFSA, a great tool to save money and more importantly keep it from being taxed.

Family pension income splitting! I know one family that pays fully $4,000 less income tax EACH YEAR. He, a retired public servant, had most of the income. This is a classic conservative "family values" item -- payback for the tax bias against single income, stay-at-home mom families.

Cytotoxic. EI forever with minimal contributions after Paul Martin looted the surplus. See the difference? Did the gov't take heat? Like I said before I don't approve of a lot of things but it's a minority gov't in hostile country with very limited rules of engagement, a hostile press, a sense that things do not ever get worse and it's someone else's fault.

Parking your vote achieves a vote for the opposition. Remember, if you do not vote you abdicate the right to complain because you opted out.