Economic genius
Behold the economic genius of John Key.
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john key
ImperatorFish: Key Explains Sky City Deal
Key’s Waterloo
It’s a bit rich for Key to claim that there were no credible alternatives to the back-room deal with SkyCity when he shut down one alternative proposal and ignored four others. But now the facts are coming out. Key has “advised himself” into his worst public relations fiasco yet.
ImperatorFish: Smoking Studies For Schools?
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here.
National leads the way when it comes to generating ideas that will grow corporate profits at the expense of the community and, ultimately, the taxpayer. So here’s some more ideas…
Show us you cards, John
David Shearer’s created an easy way to send John Key a message about selling the law to SkyCity. Here’s your chance to tell John his plan to inflict harm on the community to increase the profit of SkyCity is stupid.
Another asset sale lie
The Nats promised to sell no more than 49% of any given state owned assert. Now they’re trying to get cute with semantics and effectively remove all limits.
Unfortunately for them their previous promises are on record and very clear. Hey Peter Dunne – are you going to vote for this latest lie?
ImperatorFish: This Week’s Political Gallery
Nat Civil War: The perils of monolithism
Despite losing nearly 1 in 4 of its supporters, 300,000 voters, in a little over 6 months according to the Roy Morgans, National’s 44% still looks superficially impressive. Until you realise they need to be able to form a majority more or less alone. The Right’s monolithism doesn’t just place extraordinary demands on National’s leader, it’s the root of the current civil war.
Nat Civil War: Collins faction turns on Key
There’s series of posts from Simon Lusk on Whaleoil showing the Collins faction taking a distinctly anti-Key line for the first time. Key’s signaled he won’t go easily and he screwed Collins on the defamation suits.. And the polls show he won’t win a third term.
When ‘fiscally neutral’ costs a billion+ a year
On Monday, Key said his tax cuts have been “literally fiscally neutral”. In Parliament yesterday, Russel Norman showed Treasury documents showing the 2010 tax changes were to forecast to cost $1.1b in 4 years, actually cost $1.1b in 9 months, and the cost has grown since. Key didn’t want to hear the Treasury numbers, instead waving some ‘billshit’ put together by the Finance Minister.
Advice on pokies
“Prime Minister John Key says hundreds of extra pokies at Sky City Casino will not increase gambling addiction”. Key is lying and he knows it. That’s why the Nats won’t release the official advice they have received on this topic…
The lie of the “fiscally neutral” tax cuts
The “fiscally neutral” tax cuts never were neutral at all, and a lower than expected tax take is hitting the government’s books. But Key is still out there repeating the lie.
Nat Civil War: Crushed’s last day
Key says Defamation Act requires a plaintiff to sue within five working days. That makes today Crushed Collins’ last day to sue. What will she do? Drop it and look like a blustering fool unfit to be Justice Minister let alone PM or pursue it, open up all her secrets during discovery, lose, and pay costs? Oh yes, Key suckerpunched her good.
Nat Civil War: Suckerpunch
John Key just taught Judith Collins not to mess with the Boag faction. The Cabinet Manual required her to consult with him before announcing the defamation suits. He expressed support. Said Cabinet would decide on the funding. Then, at the last minute, word came Cabinet wouldn’t back her. Humiliatingly, she was forced to withdraw her bid but she can’t drop the suits.
Nat Civil War: Key backs Boag over Collins
John Key gave one of his least sure and most defensive interviews in five years on Q+A on the weekend. His goal was clearly to protect his personal brand and close the issue down. He failed. He failed because he refused to criticise Pullar and Boag, and refused to back Collins’ law suits. That puts him at odds with the Collins faction and onside with Boag’s.
Bernard Hickey – Ouch!
Bernard Hickey has a great piece in the Herald on Sunday that you shouldn’t miss.
NRT on RadioLive decision
The police have announced that they will not be laying charges over John Key’s pre-election radio show. Their reason? “Insufficient evidence”.
Confused? A guide to the letters & leaks in the Nats’ Civil War
The ever-growing list of letters, emails, and leaks in the National Party Civil War, that started off as an apparently apolitical privacy breach by ACC, is getting hard to follow. Here’s a summary of the various documents and their ramifications – so far.
Collins’ dilemma & lameduck Key
Judith Collins’ behaviour might strike some as strangely aggressive. Some might even suppose she wouldn’t behave like this unless she was in the right. But let’s put ourselves in her shoes. She wants to be leader. She is now embroiled in a scandal that could end her career. If she could put an end to it without resigning, she would nip it in the bud. Clearly, she can’t.
Key linked to Pullar claim
Close Up tonight led with the allegation, based on a leaked document, that John Key (and other prominent Nats) were listed as supporting a $14 million dollar insurance claim by Bronwyn Pullar.
Hubris in pink
“Crusher Collins up close” headlines a two-page article by Andrea Vance in the Saturday March 10 DomPost. It’s not on the Stuff website but deserves a wider audience. John Key might have been unwise to have stayed away on holiday this week – he should remember what happened to Jim Bolger.
Ambrose should sue as Police & Key fail Laws 101
When a government figure says someone broke a law when there has been no conviction they are effectively imposing an extra-judicial punishment by defaming them. Key and the Police cannot be allowed to serve up extra-judicial punishments to whomever they choose by branding them a criminal and then not taking them to court to prove it.
Back to fluff
It appears there is something irresistible about travelling with the PM. While the fact that only 2 news organisations can send a journalist to cover our leader’s involvement in a 54 nation conference is disappointing, so is the fact that being part of that cosy group travelling with JK makes everyone a bit too matey.
Key tries to save face over tea tapes
Throughout the teatapes affair Key has received special treatment. Huge police resources have been wasted. Today’s announcement of no charges is even timed for when Key is overseas. Key claims to be vindicated but no court has ruled Ambrose broke the law. The ruse of the warning and the letter of regret is clearly intended to allow Key to save face. Key literally asks us to “move on” but he must answer for the resources he had wasted and the chilling effect on the media of his strong arm tactics.
John Key: Aussie miners’ stooge
John Key was busy last night working for the causes of Aussie miner Bathurst, “officiating” at the opening of their lobbying office, and pressuring DoC to give them concessions to the Denniston plateau and help them destroy a unique ecosystem. How much more of him can NZ’s “clean, green” image take?
The real questions
Why did Key express confidence in Smith after reading the 2nd letter that is the supposed reason for him going? Why did he really resign, what are they trying to distract us from? How did it happen that the woman who Smith resigned over also is the person who got the largest ACC leak in history? What deal did Smith get to stay in Parliament avoiding a risky by-election?
Smith to go
Even 1 year ago, there would be no doubt what would happen next. He would have sacked Smith without hesitation. Has Key lost those instincts already?
Updates: won’t comment now but will this afternoon. Needs time to make some backroom deals so that skeletons stay in closets? Smith was been summoned to Wellington. Press conference at 1.45. And He’s gone. They’re trying to downplay the reasons. What a disgrace. Full video of Key offloading Nick Smith
Better ideas from Finland
David Shearer used Finland as an example of successful small country economic development in yesterday’s very good speech, but his main focus was on education. Dianne Ravitch in the NY Review of Books shows how Finland also leads the world in education – and with few tests and excellent teachers, they don’t need to bag any “bad” ones.
Key’s speech explained
Reorganisation is busy-work for when you can’t think of anything useful to do.
Juking the stats
There’s some odd omissions from Key’s new ’10 targets’. There’s nothing hard. Nothing about closing the gap with Australia, formerly goal number 1. Nothing about creating jobs, despite 170,000 being promised. Nothing about the cycleway that was going to end the recession. It invites a closer look at the 10 targets. And then you discover, they’ll all happen anyway.
If this is it…
Key and co’s habit of making vague lists of things they would like to happen, rather then doing anything to make them happen, is becoming a joke. The other day it was a 6 point business action plan, not to be confused with their 4 priorities or 6 point plan for growth or 120 point economic plan. Key’s big speech today addresses the 4 priorites with a 10 point wishlist. English says they’ll be divided into 5 themes. 4 priorites times 10 results divided by 5 themes. You’ll need NCEA level 2 just to do the maths.
Key’s laundry list of broken promises
He must resign. Surely. Here is Key, speaking to the PSA in 2008, making very specific promises about public service jobs, tax cuts, and asset sales that helped him get elected. Promises he has since broken. There’s no excuse. He wasn’t blind-sided by events. He made these promises never intending to keep them. Key is refusing to comment but if the man has any ethics he’ll resign.
Pull the other one, John
Key to Mike Hosking: “New Zealand either needs to borrow more or earn more, and I’m in the camp that we need to earn more”
Postcards from the “brighter” future
Hey John – where’s our “Brighter Future”? Hey National voters – was this what you voted for?
ImperatorFish: Dick Fritter’s Salute to John Key
Key’s tarnished crown
I only recall ever picking up Management magazine once. It was back in 2009, I think, and John Key was on the cover. The article was like Playboy for managers, porn for stuffed suits. Breathless adoration of their god-king. Now, even the capitalist class is waking up to the fact that they’ve been taken by the greatest con man in the country. That’s if the latest edition is anything to go by.