As the gentleman who stopped me yesterday in downtown Ottawa said: "You are all idiots if you can't find a way to work together and get this budget through."
I don't think this was the same fellow Jean Chretien used to speak to on his way to Parliament, and he does really exist, but his words reflect what this afternoon's budget and subsequent vote are about: ditching the rhetoric, doing some work and delivering some help to people.
The budget is not the be all and the end all. It is but a document and no one will find it perfect. But it will provide a plan and approach that will help a broad cross-section of people, communities and businesses. The average citizen sees that; hopefully our politicians can too. Because if they don't, "idiot" might become too generous of a term.
Though when I read a story like this, in which Iggy suggests the government is parroting his words, part of me says "well, that is a good thing," while another part finds it hard to swallow Iggy's haughty arrogance.
Iggy talks of a government having two heads, which is sort of comical if not highly ironic. Often I wonder if he looks in the mirror or listens to himself. As the originator of the "coalition if necessary but not necessarily the coalition" line he should be well-acquainted with the notion of a split personality. Never mind that at times he supported a carbon tax, a war in Iraq and tax cuts. Nonetheless, for a while we can all let bygones be bygones.