Honest? John?
Richard Long, Fairfax’s in-house media adviser to the National Party, recycles an old line in today’s DomPost. Today it’s “honest John”. Two years […]
Social issues
uncategorized
Audrey Young: Goff right, Key wrong
The Herald asked this morning whose word was more credible on the Worth issue, John Key or Phil Goff. Their political editor Audrey […]
Why didn’t Goff out Worth earlier?
That’s the right-wing bloggers’ spin. It’s weak. By far the most interesting thing that emerged from this morning’s exchanges on the wireless was […]
Crying wolf?
From The Independent: No lasting harm from airport credit downgrade. Analysts and management of Auckland International Airport are unconcerned at Standard & Poor’s […]
Three down
Six months in and John Key has broken three of his eleven “personal guarantees”. Impressive. Click on the image for full size.
Step-dad state gets it right
The principle of liberalism is that there should be no restriction on the freedoms of the individual except to realise a greater benefit […]
Future shock
Yesterday, my comrade Zetetic wrote that despite all the bad stuff in the Budget there was still a “meta-victory” for the Left because […]
Caption Competition
Quote competition
So, in the light of yesterday’s budget, I propose a quote competition. Post your favourite Nat quotes! We could start with two categories. […]
The battle and the war
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 […]
The Dishonest Budget
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 […]
No great expectations, but what a bleak house
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 […]
No credit rating upgrade
Journalists around the country seem to think (even the learned ones) that the budget has brought about a credit ratings upgrade. Not true. […]
No super contributions = worse net debt
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, […]
Mission accomplished
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. […]
Bleak and bleaker
Treasury’s main forecasts for the economy have worsened significantly since December: Nothing for jobs in the Budget. Tens of thousands more on the […]
The black budget report
This post will be updated by the Standardistas as the details of the Budget come out. If you have special knowledge of a […]
Drinking Liberally Wgtn – tonight
Apologies for the late notice – Drinking Liberally Wellington is on tonight with guest Rob Salmond. Usual time, usual place. From the Facebook […]
The Debt Bogey Returns
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 […]
Broken promises
National have already broken lots of pre-election promises and policies. Their policy to consult on local government and Auckland has been contemptuously ignored. […]
If everything goes well..
Good politics is meeting or exceeding expectations. Good spin is setting expectations. Key and English have put a lot of effort into setting […]
English and Key uncertain of Budget’s focus
If there was ever a phrase that this Government keeps reminding me of, it’s “couldn’t organize a piss-up in a brewery”. Today, on […]
Budget previews: the good, the bad, and the ugly
As well as the usual pre-Budget announcements there have been a number of leaks. A quick review: Good Home insulation package: this is […]
What we need in the Budget
We need to keep paying into the Superannuation Fund. Never heard anything so dumb as the idea of stopping making payments right now. […]
Minima
One of the oldest tricks in the book for a government that’s cutting public services is to say ‘we’re not cutting, we’re spending […]
The credit rating bogeyman
It’s pretty clear how Key and English plan to spin their budget. They will use the bogeyman of a credit rating downgrade to […]
Up the Government’s sleeve
National may be talking down the budget, but there have been hints coming out of Wellington that suggest the government will announce a […]
The egalitarian dream
It’s like a boomer epiphany. About 25 years too late.
Less firing, more hiring
The Herald reports today that TVNZ fired 90 employees following a letter from Broadcasting Minister Johnathan Coleman demanding that it raise its profitability. […]
The second time as farce
History repeats they say. Isn’t it starting to feel like the 1990s all over again? We’ve got a National government facing a grim […]
Drinking Liberally Auckland
Join all your favourite lefty liberal drinkers at Drinking Liberally Auckland When: 7pm, Wednesday 20 May Where: Galatos, 17 Galatos Street, Newton (just […]
Thinking about a referendum on MMP
There is an interesting paper by Mai Chen in NZ Lawyer Online about the pros and cons of the referendum on MMP that […]
When more is less
Colin Espiner writes: “Another thing that’s being clearly signalled is that Labour’s previous spending promises in health and education won’t be honoured in […]
On the shootings in Napier
I’m sure I speak for everyone when I express my condolences towards the victims in the Napier shootings and the families of everyone […]
Farewell Michael
Well the other shoe has dropped, and Michael Cullen has now left parliament. His valedictory speech is classic Cullen – best line (re […]
Another one bites the dust
And so another of John Key’s “big ideas” is shown to have been costed by monkeys. Treasury study suggests fibre plan will fall […]