(cross posted at kickin it with cg and motley moose)

Well at least until Jan. 26 that is.

For those of you not in the loop, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper suspended the country's legislature for more than 7 weeks in a bid to stave off a challenge from opposition parties seeking to bring down his government.

Harper, re-elected in October to a minority government, said Governor General Michaelle Jean, who acts as the country's head of state, agreed to his request to close Parliament until Jan. 26. The government's first order of business will be a budget scheduled for Jan. 27, Harper said, calling on the opposition to work with his administration on a "stimulus" package for the ailing economy.  

The political crisis was sparked Nov. 27 when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty presented a fiscal update that included cuts to funding for political parties, limited civil servants' right to strike and failed to offer a stimulus package to spur economic growth. The three opposition parties said they would oppose the plan and banded together.

The main opposition Liberals agreed to Dec. 1 was to form a coalition with the New Democratic Party and the Parti Quebecois in a bid to accelerate a stimulus package for the economy and oust the Harper government. The turmoil centers on how to manage Canada's response to the global economic crisis.

So in a bid to buy time, Harper refused to grant the opposition a vote in Parliament that would have brought down his government, instead asking Jean to let him suspend the legislature. The three opposition blocs combined hold a majority of seats in the House of Commons, Parliament's lower house.

Harper admitted no errors in judgment today. Nor did he seek absolution during a nationally televised address on Wednesday.

The procedural move is unprecedented, marking the first time a prime minister has requested the suspension of the legislature to avoid a so-called confidence vote. Parliament's suspension comes less than three weeks after the session began.

"For the first time in the history of Canada, the prime minister of Canada is running away from the Parliament of Canada," Stephane Dion, the Liberal leader who would head the coalition government, adding he will "respect" the governor general's decision.

Harper's Conservatives went into the Oct. 14 election with 127 seats in Parliament and increased their total to 143, still short of the 155 needed to control the legislative agenda. The government needs support of at least one other party to pass legislation.

Harper, prime minister for almost three years, has since backtracked on the political funding and labor rights. He and Jean met for about two hours this morning. Jean didn't speak to reporters after the meeting.  The role of Jean, Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Canada, is mostly ceremonial.

In the Commons yesterday, Liberal MP Ken Dryden (my MP!) said the Prime Minister broke faith with Parliament in the economic update. "How do we repair the irreparable?" Mr. Dryden asked. "To the Prime Minister to help him with his answer: Sorry, it is over; we cannot trust him any more. We need a new prime minister."

Liberal MP Derrick Lee, meanwhile, compared Harper's move to suspend Parliament to the burning of the Reichstag in Germany by the Nazis.  Hyperbole much?  But kinda true too.

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

Recent analyses of the 2008 general election find that overall participation increased on November 4, with a significant surge in voter participation among historically underrepresented Americans. Yet, while some lawmakers have been inspired by the recent voter turnout to propose election reforms that expand access to voting rights, others continue to focus on creating additional barriers to voting.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-tra il/2008/12/04/bill_gates_says_hes_open_t o_a.html

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is in Washington this week to press his foundation's education and global health agenda, said he is keeping an open mind about taking a role aiding the incoming Obama administration.

Asked in an interview yesterday with The Washington Post whether he would consider serving in the new administration, Gates left the door open.

"Certainly my full-time job is being chairman of the foundation," Gates said. "If there was some committee or pretty focused task where I could contribute, I'd be glad to consider that, and I hope that the things we've learned about education -- including the mistakes we've made -- I hope we do get a strong dialogue and I'm very optimistic we'll have that with these people."

Kicking off that dialogue, Gates met with Vice President-elect Joe Biden at Obama's Washington transition headquarters yesterday afternoon. A transition official said Biden and Gates discussed "a wide range of issues, including global health and development, as well as the need to improve resources for secondary education, particularly for community colleges."

What do you think, guys? Obama is certainly inspiring some big shots to serve in his cabinet. Who better than someone not connected to the old way of thinking? Gates foundation has done a lot of good stuff. His whole family is invested in the charities, a lot of that geared to funding educational programs. Notwithstanding his dropout status at Harvard, maybe he can help turn around our education programs? Both parties have tried over the years with bad results.

No matter what one thinks of Microsoft as a company, the Gates family have been very sincere in combating social issues.

Should Obama seek someone like him out? While Gates seemed to limit his interest to a task or a committee, he could probably be convinced to take a bigger role.

I'm outraged about the death of a Wal-Mart employee on Black Friday.  And I've fumed about it -- offline -- to my friends at Wake Up Walmart.  But for the sake of this diary and out of respect for the deceased, 34 year-old Jdimytai Damour, I'm just going to offer some constructive ideas for how this tragic death could have been prevented.

Just arrived at the Washington Hilton in DC for Realizing The Promise:  A Forum on Community, Faith & Democracy.  More than 2000 community organizers and leaders from across the country are here to talk with our elected officials including 2 senior members of Obama's transition team.

http://www.realizingthepromise.org/webca st

By Nezua, The Media Consortium MediaWire Blogger

It was immediately obvious this week that the Mumbai attacks would be the source of much loss and pain in India. As the US is a land of immigrants, it is always worth remembering how connected to any world event some segment of our population will be in these moments. So is the case now, and Rupa Dev of New America Media presents us with insights gleaned from interviews with a collection of young South Asian Americans in Mumbai Attacks Hit Home For Young South Asian Americans.

Today's the day that the Big 3 automotive CEOs return to the Senate to beg for a bailout. For instance, GM is asking for $18 Billion, and, to show sincerity, the GM President drove his two other buddies from Michigan to DC in a hybrid Chevy Malibu. And he has joined them in saying he'd settle for a $1.00 salary this year (but has not mentioned any multi-million dollar bonuses or stock option plans.)

[editor's note, by Pravin] Changed the diary title(Is Obama risking jading the young generation) because rereading it, I realized it just makes my outlook even more negative than I intended. When I have to clarify my support for Obama in multiple responses, it is time to acknowledge some sloppy writing that could be construed as giving up on Obama. I intended to put out all the doubts I had so that I could read any rebuttals to fill in any information I was missing out on and feel better about the direction we are headed in. It was not meant to be dismissive of Obama this early. I also regret putting the windfall taxes part so early in the diary as it puts the wrong emphasis on what I was going for.

Obama ran on a campaign of change. Sure he needs to play the Washington game a little bit and come up with some choices that won't please us. But is Obama going too far?

Obama so far hasn't really shown that he is willing to live up to some of his campaign promises already and he hasn't even taken office yet. Now, let me make it clear that I do understand it is still early. But I am just concerned about some troubling signs and hope we do not have business as usual go on in Washington.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/03 /the-debate-over-obamas-fi_n_148225.html

President-elect Barack Obama has quietly shelved a proposal to slap oil and natural gas companies with a new windfall profits tax.

An aide for the transition team acknowledged the policy shift Tuesday, after a small-business group discovered the proposal -- touted throughout much of the campaign -- had been dropped from the incoming administration's Web site.

"President-elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel," the aide said. "They are below that now and expected to stay below that."

Seriously? How the hell do they know that gas will stay below 80? I don't mind Obama changing course on some proposals. But he indicated none of this foresight that oil will go under 80. So how the hell does his people know that it will stay under 80 a month later? Do not insult my intelligence.

Obama has already gone against the spirit of his selling point of the foolishness of the iraq war by not hiring anyone of note that showed the same wisdom on the war early on. Seriously, I understand the need for balance, but the balance seems so far tilted in favor of the status quo he claimed to want to change. Where is the change? By change, it doesn't mean just be an improvement over Bush. That is not enough. That is a pretty low bar to set.

Obama continues to wuss out on the bailouts by letting Bush do more fuckups without offering anything of substance. Is the Democrats plan to let Bush mess up the economy so much in the next two months that anything Obama does will come across as an improvement?

Here is an opinion piece from WSJ(Take it for what you will considering the bias of the source) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122834956865577699.html:

Some Bush officials feel those plans may not be able to wait until the Jan. 20 transfer of power. As early as next week, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will decide whether to seek the second tranche of $350 billion in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to help rescue the nation's financial sector. To access that money, Mr. Paulson must present to Congress not only his plan for the money, but also detailed plans from the next administration, which would spend the bulk of it. Mr. Obama told reporters Wednesday he didn't need to deal with the issue yet. "Until Secretary Paulson indicates publicly that he's drawing down the second tranche, the second half of the TARP money, it would be speculation on my part to suggest that [the first tranche of] that money is going to be used up," Mr. Obama said. Treasury officials have grown frustrated with the Obama transition team's unwillingness to engage in specifics. Mr. Paulson has to consult with the Obama team on any big moves, in particular on plans for how the next $350 billion should be used. While Treasury has been in frequent contact with the Obama team, there is uncertainty about what it wants to do with that next batch of money. Many within Treasury believe the next administration is trying to keep its distance in an effort not to be painted as endorsing any of the Bush administration's plans. Mr. Obama also hasn't discussed one of his hot-button issues -- foreclosure-mitigation efforts -- with the Paulson team. While Mr. Obama has talked about helping homeowners, his aides haven't presented Treasury with any type of plan they would like to see implemented.

Obama's people seem more concerned about the Washington conventional wisdom. Well a lot of people watch the Daily Show. So far Obama's people who seem pretty careful in managing his reputation risk making Obama seem like just another politician as he looks less than dynamic in recent Daily SHow episodes.

His approval rating is high for now. I am hoping all these appointments are just politically calculated and he has a secret masterplan to make sure these people tow the line he promised during the campaign. Until then, he needs to hear from honest critics, not to keep him down, but to keep him honest for his own benefit. It is easy to fall prey to Washington thinking.

THe country needs more than a status quo. Problems like CEO unaccountability have been problems even before the Bush years. It's not enough to hire mostly former Clinton and Bush people.