Jack Layton: Politically Irrelevant and Too Dumb to Realize It.

Jack Layton sure seems to be bouncing all over the map. Just yesterday, he called a news conference to warn the PM he won't support the government in the fall. Today he says he is willing to compromise on EI reforms. Of course that comes just days after he ridiculed Michael Ignatieff for also willing to accept compromise on EI. Layton boasted that he got $4 billion out of Paul Martin in exchange for supporting the Liberal's. Because of this Layton has lost what little credibility he had. He's flailing around trying to stem the bleeding of NDP votes to all parties. In doing so, he has completely undermined his supposed hard-line stance with the government.

On EI reform, his about face is pathetic, having just ridiculed the Liberal leader for doing the same thing. His boasting about getting $4 billion in social spending is where the most damage to his reputation will be done. The difference between him supporting the Liberals is that he was willing to allow a government who had just been found in a federal inquiry to have been involved in an illegal kickback scheme, to remain in power. Compare that to today, where he and his party vow to vote against anything put forth by the Conservative government without even reading it. It's even more ironic when he repeatedly states that he doesn't support the government because the PM can't be trusted. So to recap, he thought enough to give a Liberal PM a lease on government, despite the governing party found to, and admitted to, scamming Canadian taxpayers for their own benefit. I wonder how many kitchen tables Layton sat around and discussed Adscam.

But Layton's hypocrisy is much much worse. And I must say I am completely dumbfounded that not one supposed journalist has called him on it. The January budget, the one Layton decided to vote against without so much as reading the title page, shows exactly how irrelevant he and his party really are. Layton bringing up the $4 billion he managed to get from Paul Martin shows just how much of a showman he thinks he is, and how absolutely incompetent he is as leader of the NDP. Aside from the fact that the money he supposedly negotiated from Martin never ended up being spent, the January budget is a better example of why the NDP would be lucky to get even 30 seats in the next election.

The January budget included $1.2 billion for affordable housing. Layton's deal with Martin called for $1 billion for affordable housing. The January budget included spending on aboriginal housing, as well as improving such things as drinking water. Again, the amount was more than Layton's deal with Martin. During the coalition tripe, Layton pointed out the need for stimulus funding. The January budget provided $22 billion in stimulus. Layton demanded help for the auto sector, and demanded worker pensions be saved. Yet he hasn't mentioned the auto bailouts since the federal and provincial governments said they were providing help to the sector.

Despite a budget that provided things he and the NDP have rallied for over the years, he and his MP's voted against the budget. They just last week voted against the means motion to allow the stimulus funds out the door. I'm thinking Layton is the one who can't be trusted. And come next election, when the final votes are tallied, Layton's wikipedia entry will be revised to state he was the former leader of the NDP. That's what happens when you vote against what you demand. You quickly make yourself irrelevant. A party that thinks winning 37 seats out of 308 is an electoral victory, tells you all you need to know.