Will National roll Bridges before or after the election?
It appears that the National Party is engaged in a bitter discussion of when Simon Bridges should be rolled, not if. Will it be before or after the election?
Politics
politicans
Who will be National’s leader?
Will Simon survive? Or will Paula and Mark team up against him? Or will Judith somehow manage to persuade the caucus that she is the only chance they have of retaining their seats?
Stay tuned …
BBQ time for National
If the current dip in National’s polling continues then a number of their electorate MPs face the loss of their seats and an increasing battle for a shrinking number of list seat positions.
When Bridges’ social media goes wrong
Simon Bridges’s Facebook post criticising the extension of lockdown level 4 has been met with overwhelming opposition, including from people who are clearly National Party supporters.
New electorate boundaries
I missed it, but we got the new electorate boundaries on Friday. Now electorate boundaries simply don’t matter as much as they used to because of MMP. These days mostly the only people who notice them are electorate MPs, political parties that are too close to the 5% list party boundary, and of course sock-puppet parties like Act and their National party hand. Plus of course political blog sites.
Covid-19 decision day
Decision day for the Covid-19 lockdown and my personal view is that although the country has done well it is not quite in a position to ease the lockdown.
Matthew’s Magic Numbers
Matthew Hooton has tweeted a series of numbers. They add up to good news for the Government.
UPDATE: Curia Polling reckons it’s even better for Labour!
Lockdown 4 – do we stay or do we go?
Over the next few days there will be an intense public debate about whether the lockdown should be continued or loosened.
What Is This Moment Teaching Us?
What is Covid-19 telling us about our response as a nation?
National seeks delay to election
Hot on the news that National’s polling has plunged to 35% Paula Bennett has publicly suggested that the election should be delayed. I wonder if they are related?
From the inside out
I feel that many kiwis are quite unaware exactly how exceptional our plague performance has been so far. It is interesting reading the perspective published in the Washington Post by a recently returned kiwi. Less interesting was the mathematical illiteracy on the MP David Seymour who managed to ignore all medical facts while advising on how to bulk kill our citizens.
The end of partisan politics?
Throughout the world there is an increasing consensus emerging that the free market approach is failing and principled intelligent leadership from governments provide the optimum result.
Depression looms as rapidly as Covid spreads
New Zealand, like many other nations, is hurtling towards economic depression faster than Covid-19 spreads. “We are going to have a depression”. “This is like an asteroid hit the global economy”. “We can print our way of this”. Reflections on what lies ahead by Simon Louisson, Bernard Hickey and others.
Two Bubbles Bridges’ Big Day Out
Simon ‘Two Bubbles’ Bridges feels he’s entitled to flaunt the rules because he’s, ahem, essential.
Beyond mere rescue
It’s time to plan the re-launch the very idea of New Zealand.
Children: the pandemic has only just begun
I’m always intrigued at the capacity of most humans to be self-delusional in the way that they favour to believe regardless of facts. Nothing else could explain the delusional idiots like David Farrar and his mischievous minions wanting to go back to their business as usual – their ministerial scalp collection. It’d be nice if such dimwits thought and established facts before they wrote.
What not to do in a pandemic
The Trump regime has this week plunged new depths in the handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the United States
David Clark
He should have been immediately fired.
It’s the end of main stream media as we know it …
The Covid-19 lock down has and will tip media companies already struggling to survive into closure.
Holding the Government to Account or Concern Trolling?
When Opposition Spokespersons behave like concern trolls, we have a problem.
How this may play out
Developments on Covid-19 are happening at pace as we enter the make or break stage concerning the virus’s spread.
We are all socialists now
It seems that the pure free market approach is ill equipped to provide the world with the leadership and guidance it requires.
Bullet Train Wreck
New York Governor Cuomo was told CoVid-19 was like an approaching freight train. More like a bullet train was his response. Watching the White House daily briefing with Trump dominant it looks like a massive train wreck is on the way in the US.
Bye bye parliament for a while.
Gotta love parliament – James Shaw “there are no fiscal conservatives in a foxhole”.
Anyway, parliament in the chamber will be going dark for a few months. So will parliamentary TV (but you can still get that live).
Have a look at the archives from today- there are some politicians who are on form..
Phasing into phase 4
Heading into phase three, moving into phase four 48 hours later. Here is the video briefing and the quick analysis.
Political campaigning in a Covid-19 world
How will the Covid-19 pandemic affect the 2020 election campaign, and are we looking at a postponement?
M.I.A. Joe
America has a question.
Ardern’s announcement about the new 4 level alert system for coronavirus
Please be strong, be kind, and unite against Covid-19
– Jacinda Ardern.
This is not the revolution
The Corvid-19 virus is turning us all into cautious conservatives.
Burning Bridges
One of Simon Bridges’ caucus supporters has raised the possibility of a leadership coup. Let’s hope not, people!
Relentless negativity
Simon Bridges has been criticised for his relentless negativity towards the Government’s urgent Covid-19 budget response and for playing politics as usual at a time when unity is required.
Is this the next GFC?
The Minister of Finance says that we are facing the worst of any of the scenarios that they had been preparing for. In response the government’s rescue package is bigger than anything New Zealand has ever seen.
The right become socialists as Covid-19 bites
The right, elements of which have thought the best thing to do to the state is weaken it that badly that they could then drown it in a bathtub, are rethinking and now realise that a well resourced, active and engaged State is actually a life saver.
Different responses to the Covid virus pandemic
It has been disclosed that Donald Trump has attempted to buy exclusive rights to a German vaccine in development. But only for the use of the American people. Meanwhile in New Zealand there is agreat anticipation about the Government’s announced package due to be released tomorrow.
Remember March 15
Today marks the first anniversary of the Christchurch Mosque shooting.
How does the government handle a pandemic induced world recession?
With the world’s economy in turmoil and infection rates continuing to surge the responses of different countries to the crisis shows markedly different results. And the issue could be the determining issue of this year’s election.