tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post1867731446153689667..comments2023-07-23T04:50:58.496-04:00Comments on All Politics Is Local: The Centre Cannot HoldAaron Ginsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10586651764906428965noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-21630227935164896012008-11-29T23:52:00.000-05:002008-11-29T23:52:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-16032524322013555552008-11-29T23:40:00.000-05:002008-11-29T23:40:00.000-05:00Scott, in order for a Liberal-NDP coalition govern...Scott, in order for a Liberal-NDP coalition government to function it would need support from either the Bloc or the Tories. Whether or not Gilles Duceppe is in cabinet (a joke on my part, Scott), he would have influence. I can't believe he'd just let the Lib-NDP coalition take over without exacting his price.<BR/><BR/>It was the NDP who ran ads which painted corporations as the bad guys in the last elections. The whole new kind of strong thing... No Liberal spin doctoring here. I agree that we shouldn't play politics with this. Let's find a way to make the government Canadians elected function. Whether we like it or not, they elected a Conservative government.<BR/><BR/>As for the stage at which the negotiations about a coalition are at. Let's say this. Both the NDP and the LPC are planning to bring down the government on December 8th and neither want to go the polls. This leads me to believe, whether they're saying so or not, that there is a coalition agreement at least in principle in place. What Iggy tells the press is meaningless. He is not the leader of the Liberal Party. In fact, I'd pay a lot more attention to what Scott Brison and Ralph Goodale are saying than any leadership contestant.Aaron Ginsberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10586651764906428965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-24288188758447819652008-11-29T19:31:00.000-05:002008-11-29T19:31:00.000-05:00Mr. Ignatieff may be "shrewd" in denying knowledge...Mr. Ignatieff may be "shrewd" in denying knowledge of the coalition planning, and in denying that he is party to it, but his doing so raises only three logical possibilities to my mind: (a) the coalition planning is not serious, and is therefore just a silly ploy by some in the Liberal Party (possibly Mr. Dion and his clique thrashing around looking for some excuse to keep Mr. Dion in the leader's seat) and NDP that wastes everyone's time, (b) he is not part of and cannot influence the major decision making within the Liberal party, which fatally undermines his claim to be the leader, or (c) he actually is knowledgeable about and privy to these discussions, in which case he is being false. The latter two of these possibilities are, on their face, extremely damaging to Mr. Ignatieff, and the first one is damaging to an already weak Liberal brand. Which one is right?<BR/>Michael Teper | 11.29.08 - 6:43 am | #Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-71759345183545425722008-11-29T19:30:00.000-05:002008-11-29T19:30:00.000-05:00I lived through the Harris years in Ontario and le...I lived through the Harris years in Ontario and learned to vote strategically. I've voted for the NDP and the Liberal party. It seems clear the majority of Canadians should be giving serious thought to a left leaning coalition party so that the plurality opinion re public policy can be successfully expressed through the federal electoral process. However I will never vote Liberal given an Ignatieff leadership. His ties to American neoliberal interests and his own neoliberalism are unacknowledged but obvious and alarming. His expression of regret re support for the Iraq war has far more to do with the impact of an association with the incompetence of the Bush administration on the Ignatieff brand than any change of heart about the moral authority of global market capitalism and the concommitent enthusiams of American imperial concerns.<BR/>Joan Guenther | 11.29.08 - 10:34 am | #Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-79610446652178275602008-11-29T17:46:00.000-05:002008-11-29T17:46:00.000-05:00I know that LIbs like to say that NDP is "enemy of...I know that LIbs like to say that NDP is "enemy of business' but don't believe your own election hype. <BR/><BR/>We don't want massive corporate tax cuts without strings. Something that Obama and congress support. Not exactly radical (assuming you aren't a Milton Friedman Liberal).<BR/><BR/>We believe in the right to organize and bargain collectively, again most Liberals would agree with that principle.<BR/><BR/>Of course there are differences, but they are workable for the purposes of trying to mitigate the truly desperate economic reality that we will be facing shortly.<BR/><BR/>The political nature this crisis should NOT overshadow the fact that the entire US economy is tanking and we are on the precipice of a massive chasm. <BR/><BR/>Harper is unwilling to act now and I do not believe he is willing to work with the other parties no matter how bad it gets. So we need to turf him now so that there is a crew willing to get the job done.<BR/><BR/>Are there political risks, of course. Should we set politics aside for the moment, absolutely.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-42073550100114465182008-11-29T17:42:00.000-05:002008-11-29T17:42:00.000-05:00It's perfectly clear for the Liberals the benefits...It's perfectly clear for the Liberals the benefits: they're currently in the cold, and this will put them in the driver's seat.IslandLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587140315984984396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-12149066743268173692008-11-29T17:39:00.000-05:002008-11-29T17:39:00.000-05:00Which Liberals have actually talked about a coalit...Which Liberals have actually talked about a coalition? Not Dion. Not Ignatieff. Rae only said there had been talks and would be intense talks if it came to the GG asking the Liberals if they could form a government.<BR/><BR/> For the NDP it is actually a positive to form a coalition government. For the Liberals, this is not so clear, but it is a positive to have the threat of a coalition.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-60709454278401917952008-11-29T17:30:00.000-05:002008-11-29T17:30:00.000-05:00Whether Harper took the poison pill off the table ...Whether Harper took the poison pill off the table is basically irrelevant; he wants to do it, and if he continues on his current path with a prospect of majority, he'll do it then, and that will bankrupt the opposition.<BR/><BR/>He took the gloves off; he can't put them back on. The only recourse of the opposition is to cripple him, and this is their shot.<BR/><BR/>And that's not even touching the mess of his economic policies.<BR/><BR/>The bottom line is that any PM who would include the above political cuts in an economic package does not deserve power. As Rae put it, he poisoned the well, and now he must be made to drink from it.IslandLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587140315984984396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31099203.post-61935104570966085262008-11-29T17:13:00.000-05:002008-11-29T17:13:00.000-05:00Aaron.. you're sounding worse then the Conservativ...Aaron.. you're sounding worse then the Conservatives who've sent out their talking point on this. Duceppes has already ruled out he or any of the BQ accepting Cabinet positions. He is only looking for policies that will help Quebec (such as the forestry industry) for his support of it.<BR/><BR/>Furthermore, Harper had no compunction looking into setting up a coalition with the NDP and/or working wit the BQ in 2004, as evidenced by his joint letter to the Governor General.<BR/><BR/>Further.. you can look to 1985 as another precedent of changing government without an election. The Liberals and the NDP setting up an accord.<BR/><BR/>Unless Harper does a massive backing down and offering major stimulus and stop trying to poison pill his bills, the time to take him out is now.Oxford County Liberalshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12181314055142726735noreply@blogger.com