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Over at No Right Turn, Idiot/Savant writes:- The Auckland Governance Committee has called for submissions on the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill. Two copies, by Friday, 26 June 2009, to: Auckland Governance Committee Secretariat Parliament Buildings Wellington The bill contains the details of the government's…
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The principle of liberalism is that there should be no restriction on the freedoms of the individual except to realise a greater benefit for others (and, sometimes, the individual themselves). Society (or its tool the State) should do no harm to individuals unless to create…
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DPF writes on the cost of cancelling contributions to the Cullen Fund: First of all, it is true that under the 11 year contributions holiday, the Super Fund in 2030 will be worth only $81 billion instead of $118 billion - a $37 billion difference....Over…
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You've done your job as a spin doctor when journalists start repeating your spin sub-consciously. The credit downgrade 'issue' is a great example. There was never any threat of a downgrade, as long as the tax cuts were dropped. The journalists all acted like there…
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Tax cuts are the right wing's favourite answer to every question. Before the election, National were promising us that tax cuts were the key to economic growth: Key: "National will deliver an ongoing programme of personal tax cuts. Fundamentally, National believes in the growth-enhancing power…
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This part of Vernon Small's article today deserves an extended quote: "The numbers are stark. If full payments resume in 2020, contributions will have to be more than $1b a year higher than if we continued as normal now. Even then, from 2020 till 2030…
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A few weeks back, in the best traditions of tabloid TV, Q+A took time to mention Lockwood's ride, the macho muscle car Ford Falcon Cobra - a car that screams red-blooded heterosexuality. It got me wondering. I heard Helen Clark used to drive a Mitsi when…
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On Q+A this morning Guyon Espiner interviewed Bill English. Guyon had received papers from a treasury official that apparently show the cost of cancelling the government's contributions to the Cullen Fund for 10 years will be $8 billion over and above the cost of borrowing…
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Is the fake editorial cartoons. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between them and the Herald's:
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Metiria Turei has been elected at the Green Party National conference to replace Jeanette Fitzsimons are female co-leader. Her election is no real surprise. Turei brings youth and a lack of baggage. Youth is important for a party whose MPs' average age is 55, apparently…
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Remember that month when John Armstrong was away when up and comers like Patrick Gower and Eloise Gibson were getting to write pieces on the big issues instead? Oh how I miss those golden days. Now Armstrong is back with his brand of relentless sophistric sycophancy and…
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Yesterday, my comrade Zetetic wrote that despite all the bad stuff in the Budget there was still a "meta-victory" for the Left because the 'social wage' hadn't been attacked. That is, health, education, and social welfare aren't cut in this year's Budget. Well, I've been…
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From Darren Watson.. For those who don't follow Star-trek, click the image.
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bill english budget 2009 caption contest humour john key national/act government
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The Budget is already costing jobs. AirNZ has announced that it will be cutting flights. 80 jobs will go. The EPMU has said it will fight hard for the jobs. It'll be tough to save them all. Why is AirNZ cutting the flights?…
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There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the right when Labour and the Greens filibustered the other week to draw the public's attention to the supercity bill being rammed through Parliament. 'Think of the cost", they cried, which makes me wonder why they…
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So, in the light of yesterday's budget, I propose a quote competition. Post your favourite Nat quotes! We could start with two categories. First, foolish tax cut promises. Here's some starters: Key, quoted here: "Under National, personal tax cuts are a priority. New Zealanders will…
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It's a bleak budget alright. No jobs package. That's scandalous dereliction of duty. The 70,000-100,000 people who will loss their jobs this year and their families will remember that the Tories sat on its hands when it mattered. Boy, they know how to manage the journos though.…
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Thanks to a reader, here's Phil Goff's speech in reply to the Budget. Looks like they've ripped the Herald's version, so for the sake of credit here's the link to the original. If anyone has the Greens' response send it in and we'll put it…
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Listening to Bill English's budget speech, I was reminded of Dickens' description of Scrooge: "The cold within him froze his features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice ..." There was nothing…
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Journalists around the country seem to think (even the learned ones) that the budget has brought about a credit ratings upgrade. Not true. There has merely been a stabilisation of our current credit rating. An upgrade of Standard and Poor's rating would be shifting from…
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I've had a dig into Treasury's numbers and worked out that they expect the Superannuation Fund will make a 13% return next year, falling to 11% a year by 2012. Those figures seem pretty good, not too optimistic. It's what the Fund made in ordinary…
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John Key famously said "we would love to see wages drop". It sure didn't take him long in government to see his ambition achieved. Here are the wage hourly wages rates, adjusted for inflation, over the last decade and Treasury's projections from today's budget. After peaking…
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In the 1990's the National government of the day dealt with recession by cutting spending. The tragic result was to suck cash out of an already stalling economy and lengthen the recession. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of New Zealanders suffered unnecessarily. Today the…
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Treasury's main forecasts for the economy have worsened significantly since December: Nothing for jobs in the Budget. Tens of thousands more on the dole. We need better than this. - Marty G
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This post will be updated by the Standardistas as the details of the Budget come out. If you have special knowledge of a field and spot something that we (and the mainstream media) are likely to miss, drop us a line at thestandardnz@gmail.com and we'll…
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Apologies for the late notice - Drinking Liberally Wellington is on tonight with guest Rob Salmond. Usual time, usual place. From the Facebook page: Rob Salmond is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan. He has published research…
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Seems this op-ed was off-message for one of our larger media outlets, we're happy to run it: _______________________________________ Alan Blinder, Professor of Public Affairs at Princeton recently warned Americans: ' Prematurely changing fiscal and monetary policies - from stepping hard on the accelerator to slamming…
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National have already broken lots of pre-election promises and policies. Their policy to consult on local government and Auckland has been contemptuously ignored. Their pre-election welfare policy promise on benefit abatement thresholds, broken. They broke their promise to include Playcentre in ECE 20 Hours Free.…
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Good politics is meeting or exceeding expectations. Good spin is setting expectations. Key and English have put a lot of effort into setting expectations for the budget. (2000 Kiwis a week a probably wishing they would put effort into protecting jobs). The fruits of which…