if pressed for time, just go to the political ideology handbook

Three months isn't a long time to craft a budget. I struggled with mine for months before allotting the appropriate amount to "entertainment" and "food". On a federal level, it takes even more time. Former Finance Minister Paul Martin agonized over his budgets for most of the year - which is symbolic the very decision-making process that failed him when was PM. The consultations and the data all take time to collect and analyze to ensure the budget addresses the appropriate areas.

I was always under the false assumption that these appropriate areas were fuelled by need and that the policy that drove these choices came reflected the departments and people in real need. The budget was about using logic and a full understanding of issues to make choices to improve the things that truly needed improvement.

Well, that sacred cow was slain on Tuesday, as the Conservative government rolled out a collection of tax breaks that aren't really needed and cut programs that are. Natives? Nope. Environment? Sorry. Soccer moms with children under six? Step right up.

Remember the episode of the Simpsons when Bart is employed at Fat Tony's 'social club' as the bartender and his exposure to this criminal element desensitizes him to his own crimes. When Principal Skinner catches Bart orchestrating a spray paint interpretation of Skinner, Bart yawns and stuffs a wad of money into Skinner's shirt pocket and says "you ain't seen nothing." Skinner refuses the bribe and sentences Bart to detention were he must write "I will not bribe the principal" on the blackboard. Remember that?

Well, it feels like we should be doing the same to Harper and Flaherty for stuffing our pockets with tax credits and asking us to look the other way as they pick on the country's most vulnerable. "I will not pay off the conscience of Canadians" feels like appropriate blackboard fodder. But thanks to party debt and general disorganization by the opposition, Harper isn't going to detention. In fact, he will be the one building detention facilities.

But why is the budget doing this? Well, because the Conservative Party playbook says so. Flaherty towed the party line with a minimalist approach to government - let the provinces do their thing, let the people spend their money, and we will just do less. Bam! Conservative ideology. Do things that defend borders, lock people up, and blow foreigners up. Double bam! Conservative ideology.

And this copy and paste policy making is no surprise given the time crunch for Harper and the gang. Add the reality of the three-plus month minority government, and you have a "make the most potential voters happy while ignoring the rest" way of governing. The appropriate areas for the budget are the ones that vote - well, once you sell the ideas in the Conservative ideology to the masses. "we have crime, so you need prisons." etc., etc.

(It will be interesting to see how the departments choose to apply Flaherty's bullet point direction - how exactly will the military be spending all that money? remember - the difficulty with ideology is that it is surprisingly short on implementation and explicit directions, something Hurricane Katrina and FEMA taught the ideology sharing U.S. well, i don't think they learned anything, so not "taught". more like "demonstrated for". i digress.)

Given the latest budget and the obvious influence of party policy, I understand how the choices made by previous goverments fit into their "grand plan for the country". The trouble is that my understanding of the Conservative Party choices only make me dislike their "grand plan for the country".