Is anyone buying what this guy is selling?
Posted to Jim Elve's Group Election Blog.
Boy, when Jack Layton gets a hold of something, he doesn't let go. Whether it's the painting of corporations as inherently damaging to the people of Canada, or, now, the wanting to debate Stephen Harper on who knows what, he gets in your face like his alter ego does on late night TV.
I'm not sure who pointed out the similarities been Jack and the Video Professor a little while ago - I thought I would present them here for your opinions.
click here to see the stunning similarities
Perhaps the sales of instructional videos is how Jack plans to raise the money for his $46 billion in spending promises. NDP MP Lorne Nystom said last year during the leadership race that “Jack Layton is talking about spending an extra $46 billion over the next two years, an increase of 20 per cent in program spending. I don't think that's realistic...To do that you either have to increase taxes in this country or go back into a deficit position or a combination of both“
Now, to be fair, the NDP hasn't given any details on their spending plans or how they supposedly would balance the budget. In reality, nobody really cares if they have a plan to balance the budget since they have no chance of forming a government in the next decade.
The NDP does have a significant role to play in today's Ottawa much like the Reform party did a decade ago. A party in opposition can force the government to pay attention to crucial needs of the country - what Reform party did to bring attention to the rising debt, the NDP can do for health care and education funding. While the electorate will not put them in power, it will give them enough power to have a voice in Ottawa.
NDP supporters should be worried about one thing with Jack leading the party. He is reminiscent of another national leader that came onto the stage with much of the same fanfare - Stockwell Day - a new face from outside the power cicles, energetic, and a purported ability to expand the party from its previous base of support. He also has the same negatives as the other leader had - little caucus support, prone to foot-in-mouth moments, and strongly supported by special interest group factions in the party.
Why the party continues to allow the union and activists to control the agenda of what should be a populist party is beyond me. The prairie roots that so many NDP supporters look back on fondly and claim to respect is shunted to the back of the hall to make way for the tired rhetoric of it's leaders and best known faces of the past decade.
Boy, when Jack Layton gets a hold of something, he doesn't let go. Whether it's the painting of corporations as inherently damaging to the people of Canada, or, now, the wanting to debate Stephen Harper on who knows what, he gets in your face like his alter ego does on late night TV.
I'm not sure who pointed out the similarities been Jack and the Video Professor a little while ago - I thought I would present them here for your opinions.
click here to see the stunning similarities
Perhaps the sales of instructional videos is how Jack plans to raise the money for his $46 billion in spending promises. NDP MP Lorne Nystom said last year during the leadership race that “Jack Layton is talking about spending an extra $46 billion over the next two years, an increase of 20 per cent in program spending. I don't think that's realistic...To do that you either have to increase taxes in this country or go back into a deficit position or a combination of both“
Now, to be fair, the NDP hasn't given any details on their spending plans or how they supposedly would balance the budget. In reality, nobody really cares if they have a plan to balance the budget since they have no chance of forming a government in the next decade.
The NDP does have a significant role to play in today's Ottawa much like the Reform party did a decade ago. A party in opposition can force the government to pay attention to crucial needs of the country - what Reform party did to bring attention to the rising debt, the NDP can do for health care and education funding. While the electorate will not put them in power, it will give them enough power to have a voice in Ottawa.
NDP supporters should be worried about one thing with Jack leading the party. He is reminiscent of another national leader that came onto the stage with much of the same fanfare - Stockwell Day - a new face from outside the power cicles, energetic, and a purported ability to expand the party from its previous base of support. He also has the same negatives as the other leader had - little caucus support, prone to foot-in-mouth moments, and strongly supported by special interest group factions in the party.
Why the party continues to allow the union and activists to control the agenda of what should be a populist party is beyond me. The prairie roots that so many NDP supporters look back on fondly and claim to respect is shunted to the back of the hall to make way for the tired rhetoric of it's leaders and best known faces of the past decade.
