'ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go...

Harper says he'll push party for quick election:

"Let me be as clear as I can be today, our caucus will be meeting in Ottawa next week," he said. "This is not how Parliament should work, and as soon as we get back I will be asking our caucus to put this government out of its misery." A short while earlier, Harper told reporters in nearby Ridgetown that there is no way he can support the Liberal government's fiscal plan, now that it's been turned into an "NDP budget." "I'm flabbergasted by the amount of taxpayers' money these guys are prepared to throw around to keep themselves in office," he said, blasting Prime Minister Paul Martin's announcement of an extra $4.6 billion in spending requested by NDP leader Jack Layton. "It will be impossible for us to support an NDP budget," he added. "We're already dealing with Liberal corruption and an NDP budget gives us no reason to support Liberal corruption."

"This government is behaving in a completely irresponsible manner with the taxpayers' money. We're talking about a secret deal worth almost $5 billion to stay in power."

Well, it's hardly a secret. But then, it's hardly a deal, either. The thing's already unraveling:

Meanwhile, Martin said Wednesday he will push ahead with tax cuts for big corporations despite his budget deal with the NDP, as long as the Conservatives support the move. "We have pulled the large corporate tax cuts out of this budget to be pursued in a separate piece of legislation," Martin said in an interview with the Canadian Press in Ottawa. "And that separate piece of legislation we'll introduce as soon as the Conservatives or somebody say they will support it. The corporate tax cuts remain intact. It's going to be up to the Conservatives to tell us whether or not they will support them." The promise appears to fly in the face of the deal with Layton. Under that agreement, the Liberals said they would delay promised tax breaks for big companies, while keeping intact planned cuts for small- and medium-sized businesses.