Conservative MP quits

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by rubecube

In comparison to what? I know it's pretty tired to bust out de Tocqueville quotes, but I can certainly see how one would be appropriate here.

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[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Rathji

He implied that he shouldn't have to listen to them because they were half his age, not because they were incompetent.

No, i think the thrust of that point was that he was elected to represent his constituents in Ottawa, and instead was being instructed by people less accomplished than himself that his role was to sell government policy he had no involement in developing to his constituents.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

No, i think the thrust of that point was that he was elected to represent his constituents in Ottawa, and instead was being instructed by people less accomplished than himself that his role was to sell government policy he had no involement in developing to his constituents.

I was pointing out that he mentioned age, not accomplishments, as though the 2 were synonymous.

I don't consider them to be, but perhaps you did.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I was pointing out that he mentioned age, not accomplishments, as though the 2 were synonymous.

I don't consider them to be, but perhaps you did.

No, but the fact you keep bringing it up suggests that you place little value in real world experience.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

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I honestly disagree. I think this government has been a fair bit worse than all of those previous regimes. Regardless, it's up to the citizens in a democracy to ensure a higher standard of government.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I honestly disagree. I think this government has been a fair bit worse than all of those previous regimes. Regardless, it's up to the citizens in a democracy to ensure a higher standard of government.

I see, I guess we will see if the conservatives will be decimated in the next election - like the liberals were

I am curious to know what the cons have done that could be possible worse than the Sponsorship scandal

[troutman]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I see, I guess we will see if the conservatives will be decimated in the next election - like the liberals were

I am curious to know what the cons have done that could be possible worse than the Sponsorship scandal

The war on science has been disgusting to me.

http://www.straight.com/news/385761/...cal-indictment

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I see, I guess we will see if the conservatives will be decimated in the next election - like the liberals were

I am curious to know what the cons have done that could be possible worse than the Sponsorship scandal

I think the sheer volume of scandals as a whole are larger than anything the Liberals ever did. F-35 overpayment, shipbuilding overpayment, G8 funding in Muskoka, 3.1 billion missing (a portion of which was under liberal rule), senate scandal, in and out scandal, robo calls scandal, found in contempt of parliament.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I see, I guess we will see if the conservatives will be decimated in the next election - like the liberals were

I am curious to know what the cons have done that could be possible worse than the Sponsorship scandal

I doubt they will be decimated as there is no 3rd party to take votes from them like the Liberals (NDP) and Conservatives (Reform) had in the past when they were decimated by each other. There are too many people who are loyal to "their side" at all costs (both liberals and conservatives in this country), that without a 3rd party option, it doesn't make a huge difference.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I see, I guess we will see if the conservatives will be decimated in the next election - like the liberals were

I am curious to know what the cons have done that could be possible worse than the Sponsorship scandal

Quick recap:

- Increased spending and cut GST (an ineffective tax to cut) to put us on the brink of deficit pre-recession.
- Predicted that we weren't going to have a recession and thus had no plans for economic stimulus, causing the opposition parties to rally against them.
- Prorogued parliament to avoid non-confidence vote.
- Implemented stimulus that the other parties forced them into, and started acting like it was their idea.
- Passed expensive and ineffective crime bill.
- Introduced more terrible copyright bills than I can keep track off.

Besides that, there's gotta be some kind of time decay function for the relative weight of mistakes.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I am curious to know what the cons have done that could be possible worse than the Sponsorship scandal

How much government money was wasted in the Sponsorship scandal?

I'll even provide the wikipedia link for you to look it up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponsorship_scandal

The fake lake the Conservatives created for absolutely no good reason for the G8 summit cost more than the whole sponsorship wastage.

Add in the gazebo, the $200,000 welcome sign, the half-million steamboat refit and we're close to double.

The sponsorship "scandal" was absolute peanuts compared to the waste this current government is throwing around.

[Daradon]

Yeah a lot of the reasons I won't be voting conservative this time have already happened and I've already mentioned.

Like Troutman said, the war on science is high on the list. And that plays directly into the next reason, their war on environment and environment science.

Then you've got the crime bill, specifically the drug and internet portions. We don't need to be putting more people in prison, that isn't going to help. If we really need more space in prison fine, build one or two more, but we shouldn't be making laws that put more people into prison. Nor do we need our personal liberties under tighter scrutiny.

The F-35 replacement was a huge mess. The omnibus bill was a huge mess.

These last scandals are just a drop in the bucket. But they do indicate a government that could really give a crap about the people that voted them in. As mentioned, the actual money behind it might be next to nothing in the grand scheme of things, and a small amount compared to past scandals of previous parties.

But this government ran on promises of transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility. And this scandal torpedoes any remaining credibility they had on any of those issues. It's truly a big FU to the people who though this government would do those things it ran on.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

No, but the fact you keep bringing it up suggests that you place little value in real world experience.

Well, he didn't mention experience, skill or any type of competence, just age, so that's not what I was talking about at all.

I think that young and old people could very easily have similar amounts of relevant real world experience in a political job, and that assuming that everyone who is younger than you is worse than you at what you do is recipe for disaster.

If you don't think that statement sounds problematic, then fine. I just thought it was an interesting choice of words.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I doubt they will be decimated as there is no 3rd party to take votes from them like the Liberals (NDP) and Conservatives (Reform) had in the past when they were decimated by each other. There are too many people who are loyal to "their side" at all costs (both liberals and conservatives in this country), that without a 3rd party option, it doesn't make a huge difference.

It's hard to tell this far out from an election, but the early indications are that the Conservatives have dipped significantly in the polls recently, and that they would lose by a substantial margin if an election were held tomorrow.

http://www.threehundredeight.com/201...-averages.html

Of course, there's nothing like the volume of data you get in U.S. elections, and we do have some recent examples of Canadian pollsters just "getting it wrong" for whatever reason--but to me these numbers do look like the sort of numbers that ought to make Stephen Harper reach for the pepto-bismol.

On the other hand, they aren't "Liberal majority" numbers either.

[SeeBass]

Holy crap there is a lot of short memories of past party leadership in this country.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

Holy crap there is a lot of short memories of past party leadership in this country.

Were you planning on expanding on this at any point or are you going to leave it at "Me smart. You stupid."?

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Were you planning on expanding on this at any point or are you going to leave it at "Me smart. You stupid."?

Why the heck bother?

Scandals mostly come down to opinions of what tribe you cheer for. Do you really need my opinions too? Will it add more to this conversation?

Or am I allowed to just say many of us have short memories of other past "scandals" and leave it at that.

Were you looking at a new CP record and see how many different thread fights you can get in at once?

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by troutman

The war on science has been disgusting to me.

http://www.straight.com/news/385761/...cal-indictment

Lots of disgusting stuff on there, but definitely some good things that the conservative government has done on there too.

(I say this as a disillusioned conservative voter)

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Lots of disgusting stuff on there, but definitely some good things that the conservative government has done on there too.

Can you give an example of one of the good things?

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

Were you looking at a new CP record and see how many different thread fights you can get in at once?

Fights or discussions? i don't think two is a record. Thats not even a PB. It would be a really boring forum if everyone agreed on everything.

I think a drive by "you people who think this is a scandal have really bad memories" can't be left hanging there uncontested.