Nobody else is doing it so why should we?
A commenter asked an interesting question yesterday: of the countries that are wealthier than us, how many have aligned their top income, corporate, […]
Marty G
Tax reform: tax cuts for rich, paid for by poor
The Tax Working Group has given its recommendations for tax reform to the Government. It predictably recommends: Dropping the tax income tax rates to […]
Another benefit beat-up
The Key Government’s anti-beneficiary campaign continues. The latest is a beat-up on long-term beneficiaries. Apparently, 9 people have been on the dole for […]
‘3 strikes’, typical ‘Do Nothing’ Key policy
The ‘3 strikes’ policy is the kind of policy you put in place when you want to look tough on crime but you […]
The moral case for a decent minimum wage
There was quite an interesting discussion on the minimum wage yesterday after a poll showed 61% of Kiwis back a $15 an hour […]
Minimum wage increase, what will it be?
John Key has ruled out a $2.50 an hour pay increase for New Zealand’s lowest paid workers but won’t give any indication of […]
Say what?
Statements made in Parliament last year, in chronological order: Hon BILL ENGLISH: They have been telling us that we should copy the Australian […]
Farrar tries to cover for do nothing govt, and fails
Phil Goff has picked up on the point I made yesterday: while unemployment is falling in Australia due to the $42 billion stimulus […]
NZ closes the gap with Aussie
Well, I didn’t think it could done but it has been. National has been promising to close the gap with Australia, and damned […]
Crime rises, Nats’ get tough policies have no effect
You might recall that a bit over a year ago a salesman in a nice suit with a nice smile came and sold […]
Even Banks against Key’s ‘Party Central’ fiasco
At first, I thought I must have been dreaming yesterday morning. There was John Banks loudly attacking central government politicians from Wellington. How dare […]
Govt: All workers to get same holidays as PM
Workers to get same holidays as PM Monday, 11/01/2010, 11:30pm Press release: New Zealand Government The Government will raise the minimum annual leave […]
Key adopts Bush foreign policy
“We’ve got no intention of cutting and running from Afghanistan,” the Prime Minister said from his holiday home in Hawaii.* If you’re a […]
Nats: anti-whalers’ lives forfeit on the altar of trade
On Wednesday, Japanese whalers tried to murder five New Zealanders. There is no other way to put it. They ran down a ship […]
Govt to waste $400 million on white elephant highway
Steven Joyce has finally revealed the benefit/cost ratio for the billion dollar Transmission Gully project. A few weeks ago he was mocking Sue Kedgley […]
The house that slavery built
There’s no denying that the Burj Khalifa is impressive. Not all that much short of a kilometre high, it’s easily the highest building […]
Great balls of fire
The Kepler Telescope was launched into space and began transmitting data last year. It’s job is to find evidence of planets outside our […]
Right’s threadbare excuses for tax gifts for the rich
The Right is trying to build momentum for more tax cuts for the rich. The argument comes on three fronts: ‘if we don’t […]
Between Nats lines, not much to be found
Bill English has usurped his do-nothing leader with an op-ed in the Herald framing National’s agenda for the year to come. This piece was […]
A fair pay-rise not unreasonable
An interesting piece on the SST yesterday: English has warned public servants such as teachers and nurses not to expect pay increases that […]
Bad brew
If a tourist buys something in New Zealand for export or that they don’t take possession of within New Zealand, they can get […]
Bullet dodged
Well, that could have been embarrassing. John Key on the world stage, along with leaders of other countries in what has been billed […]
Economic illiteracy
More economic illiteracy from our old friend: Certainly given the rhetoric from the finance minister of late I’d thought the numbers would be […]
Capital market taskforce pushes asset sales scam
Another government-appointed taskforce of rightwing, market ideologues (this time appointed by Labour, the fools) has reported and, surprise, surprise, their report is a […]
English’s big promises proven hollow
An extraordinary moment in Question Time as John Boscawen skewered National’s hollow promise to close the wage gap with Australia by 2025. Watch […]
Why deny: the bought priesthood
There are some very wealthy industries that make their money off burning fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse gases. It is in their financial interest […]
Neolibs’ great experiment in meltdown
With huge infusions of EU cash and deregulation that brought in foreign companies looking to make a quick buck, Ireland’s economy grew pretty […]
Nats’ ‘stimulus’: $200K per job
National claims it created 2,300 jobs with its stimulus spending. Of course, most of this supposed stimulus was smoke and mirrors – re-announcing […]
Why deny: the useful idiots
According to myth (it seems), Lenin called socialists in the West ‘useful idiots’ – people whose ideological fervour saw them accidentally aid the […]
Sharples: ‘ETS short-sighted, that’s why we supported it’
I could hardly believe my ears when I heard Waatea News on RNZ this morning. Pita Sharples admitted that the Maori Party knew […]
Why deny: the lobby groups/polluters
This is the first in a three part series on the climate change denial industry. I’m trying to understand why there is such […]
Just asking
It has been treated as gospel that if the Australians, for inadequately explained reasons, drop their corporate tax rate from 30% to 25%, […]
ACC levy hikes another step to privatisation
As expected, Nick Smith has imposed substantial ACC levy hikes on families. For a worker on $40,000 with a car, you’re looking at […]
$100,000 for 10 hours work
No, this post isn’t about the 2025 Taskforce, it’s about Rodney Hide’s round the world holiday with his girlfriend on your dime. Heavily […]
Govt spending – the big lie
I’m kind of embarrassed. I should know by now never to trust a word out of Bill English’s mouth. I should have checked […]
There is power in a union
About a month ago I used the Stats NZ Labour Cost Index to come up with the approximate distribution of payrises for unionised […]