John Key’s economic credibility was shattered by the double downgrade. Now, his personal credibility has been lost after he claimed that Standard & Poor’s said a Labour government would lead to another downgrade. S&P could not have been more blunt: “At no stage have we said that a rating downgrade was more likely if there were a change of Government”.
Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury has been banned from appearing on RNZ after strongly criticising Key’s behaviour in the throat slitting incident (video). Rumour now has it that Key is intending to sue Bradbury for defamation. Listen to the audio and judge for yourselves.
John “throat slitter” Key behaved disgracefully in Parliament this week. But apparently criticising him for it will get you banned from RNZ.
National Party pollster David Farrar has been polling in Epsom and the results are not good for the Right. Epsomites are pissed off with their seats being used as a backdoor for ACT into Parliament. They don’t like the gall of the Nats taking out Hide, slotting in Banks and expecting nothing to change. They don’t like dopey Brash.
Since the nutters on the right at the sewer (otherwise known as the kiwiblog comments) seem to have a thing about billboards (probably because they can’t handle actual politics or actual policy). So to keep them entertained and running around like headless chickens rather than doing any actual political action – here is another billboard to keep everyone amused watching them.
When John Key was elected to power in 2008, he was estimated to have a personal wealth of about 40-50 million dollars.
So how much is John Key worth now?
If we can’t deal with a small oil leak from a grounded ship, what are we doing planning deepsea drilling on a grand scale?
Here is Key making the throat-cutting gesture to Labour after a man tried to jump into the Debating Chamber. He displays a total lack of concern for the man and anyone else. Key to Labour: “you should be ashamed of yourselves”. King: “What! What? we should be ashamed of ourselves?!”. Key makes gesture. King, Chadwick, “you scumbag”.
In the last few days Key has refused to accept responsibility for NZ’s credit downgrades, stated that he is “not concerned in the slightest” about his possible breach of electoral law, and used an unfortunate incident in Parliament to launch an ugly attack on Labour. John Key is no leader.
A man tried to jump into the Parliamentary Chamber today at the end of question time. Yelling something about WINZ, Paula Bennett and John Key, he was caught at the last moment by guards. I have a feeling there’s a sad story behind that. Just as sad was Key screeching “you should be ashamed of yourself, that’s down to you guys” to Labour as the man dangled, before the DPS hustled him out.
Will double dipping double downgrade Bill English have the guts to heed his own warning?
John Key’s relentless optimism is designed to make the country feel good, and to feel good about him – that nice man Mr Key. It doesn’t, however, solve our large economic problems.
Bill ‘Double Dipton’ (or should that be ‘Double Downgrade’?) English says people aren’t focused on politics, which is why National is so high in the polls. When they focus on the main election issue of economic management, DD says the gap will close. Not exactly a strong defence of his and Key’s performance as economic leaders.
The credit rating downgrades have been quite a political earthquake, and the aftershocks are going to continue for some time.
Prime Minister Moonbeam clearly broke the law on Friday on the radio show he chose to run instead of dealing with the downgrade crisis. The law is clear: Key wasn’t allowed to make political statements. He did. He made a promise on broadcasting policy and gave the Nats’ first cut spin-line on the downgrade.
What a bizarre week of polls. The Fairfax poll and the Roy Morgan polls both showed swings from National to Labour. The TVNZ poll and the TV3 poll did not. (Hey TV3 – that’s some pretty sloppy writing!) In other news, Key finally equalled Helen Clark’s peak rating as preferred PM.
The weeks of the RWC were supposed to be a politics-free zone. Bread and circuses. It hasn’t turned out that way, as both Armstrong and O’Sullivan point out in weekend opinion pieces. The credit downgrades have dropped a bomb in the middle of the political landscape. But I think that both are wrong in expecting any action from the Nats.
Don Brash has weaved his magic again. He’s going to have a minder now and everything he says will be vetted. But it’s too late. His cannabis speech brilliantly highlighted the disjunction between ACT’s values and those of the man they need to win Epsom. A major ACT donor calls John Banks a twerp, while Don Nicolson has, surprisingly, sided with Brash.
Another in what looks like becoming a regular series.
John Key says we must stay in Afghanistan to honour the dead, leaving us to wonder who’ll be the last to die for […]
Claire Trevett describes an exchange in Parliament on Tuesday.
National has borrowed $37 billion in less than three years and delivered no growth for it. In fact, it has repeatedly failed to meet its growth projections and GDP per capita has fallen. That failure has now resulted in the credit rating agency Fitch downgrading our credit rating. Makes a lie of the Nats’ line that we’re in better shape than in 2008. Will Bill English resign?
Update: S&P downgrades us too. English’s resignation letter being drafted on 9th floor to stem political fall-out for Key.
Key says we have to leave men in Afghanistan, killing and dying, to “honour” the ones we’ve lost. Typical chickenhawk bullshit. This isn’t about ‘tearism’ or ‘Afghanistanians’ or ‘honour’. It’s all about PR. All about politics. Before Smith’s even in the ground, this arsehole Key is spinning his death for PR. Just like Pike River. Just like the earthquake dead.
Some day this country needs to have a proper debate about decriminalising marijuana. Don Brash’s politically ill-advised blurtings on the topic have damaged the prospects of such a debate.
John Key promised to put Food in poorer Schools across New Zealand to help children to learn. What has he done about it? One cheap, but very well-publicised stunt. Will we see any substance? Or is this another promise like not raising GST, wages catching Australia, or capping not cutting the civil service?
Nick Smith is looking at issuing a “Government policy statement” to ensure that the Auckland Plan complies with their agenda. They may ban the urban limits that are proposed to keep green, productive land around Auckland and help ensure rates stay low and public transport works in a more liveable city.
If New Zealand’s economy could be powered by empty promises and pollyanna-ish optimism, then John Key would have the best economic record in the country’s history. Actually, he has one of the worst. Vernon Small today mocks Key’s unwillingness to put a downer on the RWC vibe by confronting the emerging global crisis.
On Sunday, Don Brash decided to muse on decriminalising cannabis. It’s not ACT policy, we’re meant to understand, it’s just the Party Leader making a speech and saying ‘this would be a good idea’. In classic Brash style, he hadn’t told John Banks, who gave Brash a public smacking on the idea. Now the question is: why would the people of Epsom vote for these two?
John Hartevelt – “Key is massively over-exposed on any number of fronts, but nowhere more so than at Pike River.” Key routinely promises […]
John Key is ridiculously negative on seemingly any proposal raised by a perceived political opponent. Which is a pity, because there are issues facing the country that need a bipartisan consensus.
John Key explains how the economy is all just a business confidence trick. Apparently businesspeople just need to believe a bit more.
Three time election loser Don Brash has announced he will stand in North Shore. Having lost the safe National seat of East Coast Bays twice to Social Credit(!) and the unloseable election as leader in 2005, his odds of defeating even Maggie Barry, a novice best known for her gardening, are poor. But will he split the rightwing vote and let Ben Clark slip though?
As most of the headlines this morning focus on the crumbling world economy, it was interesting to hear Bill English on RNZ. Among various inane comments there was one interesting gem, when English called for higher taxes…
It’s a bit of a worry that the PM seems to be clueless about the complexity and interdependence of the world economy. Bill English needs to take him aside and paint him a picture.
