Time for a little political potluck…

I know there are some readers out there who have gripped that I haven’t posted enough political entries for their liking. Since I have a bit of a slow day at the center, I thought it would be cool to post more of a political potluck like entry. I’ll touch up on a few subjects and even post some updates on my own political status. So here we go:

– After opening a massive can of voter whoop ass last November, the democrats took control of Congress and the Senate and as far as I’m concerned the started on the right foot. They put forth bills to limit spending to prevent bigger deficits and also pushed to make an oft-challenged drilling ban for the Alaskan wildlife refuge permanent. They’ve also hinted at not supporting Bush’s new ‘more troops’ plan for Iraq. While they haven’t threatened to cut off all funding for the war, Democrats are hinting that they will not add any new money to support his troop increase. Basically the message to the White House is clear. The next two years is going to be a fight for every penny for Bush & Co. Oversight is also going to be a interesting thing to watch over the next two years as well. I’m very happy with what the democrats have done so far, and will keep watching to see what else they do.

– This was originally posted by Shukhevych, but it’s worth commenting on, especially in this oil obsessed world. Belarus deserves a medal just for having the minerals to stand up to the Soviet Union and shut down their pipeline to Europe for refusing to pay a new tax they slapped down a short time ago. The tax was a response to Russia’s unfair price increase on Belarus for gas, which was a 100% increase. Russia refuses to pay the tax, so until they do… Germany and other european nations that depend on that pipeline will have to wait for their oil or get it somewhere else. Like Shuk said eariler, this the most blatant defiance of the Kremlin since the fall of the USSR. It’s ballsy and I think they’re right to do this. The price increase was a tad high, and Belarus has ever right to tax something on their land, so what’s good for the goose… you know the rest. Hats off to Belarus for giving Russia a taste of their own medicine!

– So Saddam was killed by hanging last week. What did that solve? Not much really as people continue to die in Iraq… and now King George wants to put more troops and evey more money in to the mess. Not a good idea, and it’s a good thing the Democrats are not willing to make the people foot the bill any longer.

– In a good piece of news for Canada, The European Commission said on Tuesday it would propose negotiations between the European Union and Canada for a broad, new agreement to open their respective aviation sectors. I think this is a great idea, because right now the airline industry is too close to being a monopoly, and the people need more options to make the industry more compeditive. Right now it’s cheaper to fly to London England from Toronto than it is to fly to Calgary from the same destination. The reason is competition for your ticket to the UK. More competition is good for the consumer so I’m all for letting this deal happen.

While it’s nice to play armchair quarterback to many of the issues going on today, I’m going to provide some personal news to what I am doing politically lately. Since moving back to Ontario, I wanted to become more active in what goes on around me… so I made a move to at least get that started. I formally applied to become a member of the party that I’ve been supporting for what seems like forever. I made a formal appication and intend to be a paying member for The New Democratic Party, also know as the NDP. I’m eager to be a part of this party because I happen to agree with a lot of their stances on issues I’ve very passionate about such aas respect the Kyoto accords, withdrawing support from the Afghan war effort as well as voting and ethics recform in the house of commons.

I haven’t hesitated to vote NDP over the last few elections because I like the new leader who has helped the party grab a record number of seats in the last few elections. Jack Leyton has been a positive force with NDP, and makes them the better alternative choice than the Liberals who had their chance and blew it with corrupt politics and criminal activity. I will never vote with the Conservatives, since they’re just a whitewashed Reform party, and the Liberals have done too much and can’t be trusted with the power again… at least not yet. I happen to think the NDP is the best choice for Canadians in my area to vote for and in becoming a member, I plan to help with functions and fundraising… and possibly more in the future.

(How can you not love a party that
likes the color Orange, honestly?)

Support for the party is greater here in Ontario than it is one the island, which is why I’m eager to get involved and sign up to help. I don’t plan to be a party lemming, but right now this is the party I want to be affiliated with at this time. Leah isn’t that involved with politics, to the point where she hasn’t voted in the last few elections. I’ve walked to the polls alone, but I’m not going to force her to get involved… and just do my own thing for now.

So that’s the update for now. I’m NDP, the world is still messed up… but hey, what else is new? I may not agree with everyone about everything, but what I love the most about debate is that it at least gets people to talk about the issues and that’s a good thing. So drop a note about all things politics, and ask any question you want about any issue that happens to be on your mind and I will post an entry to answer them all and give you my two cents on anything that happens to be nagging those noodles between your ears.

I think that will make for a great entry so go ahead, take your best shot or shots.

Peter