Chantal Hébert has this : "The Quebec federalist network is a tightly knit clan. As in every family, very little happens without everyone eventually getting wind of it — especially when it continues, like the sponsorship program, over so many years and on such a costly scale." "In time, Canadians will have to choose between believing that Martin — who cultivated every Liberal grassroots connection in sight during his multi-year bid to unseat Chrétien — existed in a bubble when it...
This part from MP John McKay, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance with special emphasis on Public-Private Partnerships: "There are many situations where the government knows of problems which require action, especially in the area of large infrastructure projects, but would have difficulty funding the high costs involved without raising taxes." And then this part from an Ottawa Citizen story quoted by Warren Kinsella : "The federal government's top pu...
In reference to the Auditor-General's report on sponsorship contracts, Warren Kinsella writes : "If they actually get going with a committee probe (see below), or an inquiry or something, I wonder if I would receive an invite to attend? I have quite a few files which are pretty darn interesting - at least to little old me!" "Here's hoping!"
Kevin Drum (Calpundit) may have just blown this wide open: "The first listed date is October 29, not November 29 as we had theorized before. But George Bush was still in Alabama in October. What exactly was he getting attendance credit for?..." "As we all know, Bush failed to show up for his annual physical in July 1972, he was suspended in August, and the suspension was recorded on September 29. He was apparently transferred to ARF at that time and began accumulating ARF po...
They're all worth the read , but here's my favorite (just get the free Salon Day Pass to read the full article): "Mr. President, I'd like to ask you about the now-famous 'mission accomplished' speech you gave on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln outside San Diego last May. You landed on the carrier in a flight suit -- a piece of videotape shown around the world. [Roll tape.] A lot of your critics were appalled by that image. Here's a man who never fought in a war, never saw t...
(Hmm, Curly, Larry and Moe . I guess that makes Preston Manning "Shemp".) Here is the Conservative leadership " issues matrix ", from Darren at DarrenBarefoot and the BlogsCanada E-Blog . I especially liked this: "Ms. Stronach said she is looking at the Alberta model, where the government has expanded the role of private companies in the delivery of health services to the public, but not gone so far as to allow people to pay out of their own pockets for medically necessary...
Actually, the problem with this is that it favours liars : "Whether or not Bush's budget proposal is, in fact, likely to reduce the deficit in half over five years is a question of fact, and the answer is 'no.' Whether it will improve the long-term fiscal outlook is a question of fact, and the answer is 'no.' By relegating factual conclusions about budgets and macroeconomics to the opinion section, newspapers throughout the country have created an all-pervasive bias in favor of...
Clearly, many news outlets are rushing to glorify our new Prime Minister (All Hail!), such as The Toronto Star : "Heralding more money for cities and the environment and medicare, the Speech from the Throne yesterday outlined "an ambitious agenda for an ambitious country," as Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson said in opening the 37th Parliament of Canada." "Prime Minister Paul Martin deserves praise for promising in the throne speech to pump $3 billion this year into three areas...
An ingenius commentary on the Timberlake/Jackson affair: "FCC chairman Michael Powell nailed the nature of the protests when he said that the family viewing hour was "sacred," which may be the only time the word has been used to describe a football game punctuated by ads showing Jessica Simpson coming on to Kermit the Frog. And a letter writer to the Op-Ed pages of today's New York Times says, "As a country we are criticized by Muslim moderates and physically attacked by Islamic pu...
Did we really expect anything better than this ? "The budget released yesterday, which projects a $521 billion deficit for fiscal 2004, is no more credible than its predecessors. When the administration promises much lower deficits in future years, remember this: two years ago it projected a fiscal 2004 deficit of only $14 billion. What's new this time is that the administration has decided to pay lip service to conservative complaints about runaway spending."
From The Globe and Mail: Renewal : "[T]he overriding theme was renewal..." "The Liberal plan calls for “significantly more” free votes, enhanced roles for MPs and Parliamentary Committees, and more active roles for Parliamentary Secretaries." Wow, more power for backbench MPs and Parliamentary Secretaries! That's exactly what all the laid-off High-Tech workers and minimum wage labourers in this country are looking for! And more from The Globe and Mail: Recycled...
Hee hee : "The chief federal regulator of broadcasting said today he is outraged by the Super Bowl halftime show which wound up with singer Justin Timberlake tearing off part of Janet Jackson's costume, exposing her breast." I wonder how long before the vid shows up on Kazaa? Maybe they should auction off Janet Jackson's silver pastie on EBay.
Kaptain Kinsella of the USS Blog: "It would be an exaggeration to say that the crass jingoism of the 'performance' by country singer Toby Keith had its origins in Leni Riefenstahl, but not by much. When it happened, all of us Canadians present were stunned - and rather uncomfortable, to say the least. 'This is scary,' said one of my comrades. I nodded, and started loudly condemning al-Qaeda to whomever would listen. "
Matthew Yglesias points out that, contrary to Republican claims, there is little difference between left and right on the definition of the "the war against terrorism": "I'm not seeing a vast substantive difference here. Surely the Bush administration also thinks that counterterrorism involves mere law enforcement on most days with only the occassional hot war (we've only fought two wars, after all, and Kerry only disagreed with Bush on half of one of them). I feel like I've heard ...
You got that right: "The last war on government deficits in Canada was very much won on the back of the health-care system." "As the premiers and the Prime Minister know only too well, there is no public tolerance for another round of health-care cuts; nor could the system sustain them."