The budget offer

Very interesting move by the Tories. Suddenly the supposedly-reckless spending is just fine, as long as bigotry is allowed to reign a little longer.

As an aside, I'm not sure why the press is claiming Jay Hill's comment was "snappy" as opposed to "nonsensical":

This isn’t about what Canadians are concerned about. The reality is it’s about trying to make Parliament work.

No, Jay, there's a difference between "trying to make Parliament work" and "threatening to prevent Parliament from working".

The more striking part to me is the Cons' apparent acceptance that defeating C-38 is an official "party position", so important that they'll trade off a budget in order to get it done. Haven't they been ranting all along about the need for free votes rather than party strong-arming on the issue? Do the Cons who have voted in favour of C-38 (but presumably still oppose the budget) agree with the trade-off?

There's no reason for Martin to cut a deal at this point - he can pass both the budget and C-38 this sitting if he stays the course and limits debate if necessary, and nobody will remember (or care) about his limiting debate by the time an election rolls around. The only reward for giving in will be even more of a PR campaign against SSM over the summer. Let's hope he makes the right decision.