Sorry, back to politics again...

The writ hasn't been dropped, but the campaign is in full gear.
This in itself should be illegal. As a Canadian voter and taxpayer, I resent the fact that billions of dollars are getting spread everywhere in an attempt to buy another term. I resent that the Opposition feels they have to honour Liberal bribery in order to buy power.
I'm sick of power being bought.
Paul Martin came to power promising to do, oh, about a million things. One of his biggies, though, was a pledge to fix something he called the "democratic deficit". It sounded so noble at the time, didn't it? Of course, he called that election to shut down an Adscam-related public accounts inquiry that was getting a trifle uncomfortable, but we didn't know that at the time, did we? No, we thought PM was going to ride in like a white knight, sweeping out all the rot that had accumulated during the Chretien regime and replacing it with vision and integrity.
Well, many of us thought that way. I have to admit, I almost voted for him. He seemed like a fiscally responsible Liberal--almost an oxymoron.
I've long since realized the truth: that any good Paul Martin did as Finance Minister was largely illusory. He eliminated the deficit...on the backs of the provinces, who then had to download to the municipalities, who then downloaded several loads on to us taxpayers. He built up mind-bogglingly large surpluses, which looked to some people like prudent management of our money, but was really just gross overtaxation. Martin is still trying to portray himself as far above the muck and mire of his party, even as Gomery gets closer and closer to directly linking him to the sponsorship scam. (In fact, the direct link seems to have been established, and long ago at that. Please see the following: http://bluemapleleaf.blogspot.com/2005/05/undeniable-link-between-paul-martin.html)
There's still a yawning democratic deficit in Ottawa. And it pains me to note that it extends through all three major parties. Jack Layton has endorsed rampant corruption in offering to prop up the Liberals in return for vague promises of monies likely never forthcoming. Harper threatened repeatedly to bring down the government over the budget amendments, but has since said he'd honour the Liberal spending spree.
It's that spending spree that really irks me. It happens every time an election looms: money gets thrown around like so much confetti. Promises seep out of every orifice. Often they're recycled promises, which really hurts. Two examples: a national daycare system has been promised since Chretien first took office. So has a major revitalization of Toronto's waterfront. How is that that we can be so gullible as to fall for the same claptrap, year after year?
Here are a few things that can be done to make our system more accountable to us, the voters.

FIXED TERMS (with FIXED ELECTION DATES). This is imperative. No longer would ruling parties be able to call elections when it best suited them politically.
BUDGETS for a MAXIMUM ONE YEAR IN ADVANCE. Yes, I'd like to see long-term goals discussed, but I for one do not want to hear actual figures bandied about for the fiscal year 7273-7274 as if they meant anything.
NO NEW FISCAL COMMITMENTS (barring national emergencies) IN THE FINAL SIX MONTHS OF A GOVERNMENT'S TERM. This would prevent the blatant vote-buying that's going on now.

Food for political thought.