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“Moment of Truth” – Preview

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, September 14th, 2014 - 67 comments

The positioning re Kim Dotcom’s “Moment of Truth” has started this morning.

Get clean politics into the Herald

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, September 13th, 2014 - 22 comments

Action Station want to run a full-page ad in the Herald calling on politicians to clean up NZ politics. (Update: only $580 needed! Let’s do it!)

My Thinks: A manufactured consent

Written By: - Date published: 2:02 pm, September 13th, 2014 - 28 comments

Here we sit just a week out from an election. It’s a week in which you face a stark choice. Three more years of smile and wave dirty politics or a new direction.

The hairdressers of Levin and Foxton

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 13th, 2014 - 44 comments

John Key reckons increasing the minimum wage would hurt “the hairdressers in Levin or Foxton”. So Rob McCann, Labour’s candidate for Ōtaki, asked one how she felt about that.

Nat two track strategy – March to Sept

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, September 13th, 2014 - 26 comments

Nicky Hager has exposed the two track strategy of the Whale Oil, Kiwiblog, Nat smear machine.  Why is it allowed to continue?

Authenticity

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, September 13th, 2014 - 34 comments

Is Cunliffe inauthentic? Does Key get to have his own facts? And when will we get proper (ie not game) analysis from our pundits? (spoiler warning: praise for Josie Pagani)

Bombs Away?

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, September 12th, 2014 - 73 comments

So much for any abatement of dirty politics…

Key running scared of debate?

Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, September 12th, 2014 - 81 comments

debate

Panic in the ranks

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, September 12th, 2014 - 28 comments

No its not our politicians, media or PR and pundits trying to make sense of what is happening here  but according to the Tatler the Scottish aristocracy is nervous. Change is afoot.

Electoral Commission warning on photos

Written By: - Date published: 5:46 pm, September 11th, 2014 - 15 comments

Publishing a photo of your voting paper could earn you a $20,000 fine, and other warnings from the Electoral Commission.

Campbell: Reasons Why We Can’t Afford Another National Government

Written By: - Date published: 8:27 am, September 11th, 2014 - 51 comments

Gordon Campbell posted an excellent piece yesterday on 19 Reasons Why We Can’t Afford Another National Government. I’m sure that Standardistas can add to the list…

A clear Cunliffe win

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 141 comments

David Cunliffe’s performance in tonight’s head-to-head with John Key was exactly what I wanted to see from the next Labour Prime Minister of NZ.

Cunliffe v Key – Round 3

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 87 comments

Round three between David Cunliffe and John Key is scheduled for tonight.  John Campbell will moderate and Paul Henry will provide expert comment …

The only way National know to grow the economy

Written By: - Date published: 5:15 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 19 comments

On Firstline this morning, John Key tried to compare National’s and Labour’s policies by saying “You can’t grow the economy when you restrict labour laws.” It’s nonsense, and it’s scary.

NRT: Fundamental incomprehension

Written By: - Date published: 2:54 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 37 comments

Idiot Savant nails the basic issue that commentators like John Armstrong and many others simply don’t understand about the Greens. They aren’t particularly interested in the political game. They are interested in effecting change. But that’s the problem with the galley: they don’t think policy matters. The idea that some victories aren’t worth winning is something they just don’t understand.

Dirty Politics Watch I

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 pm, September 9th, 2014 - 72 comments

A new series on happy mischief and paying back double.

Imagine if National had not sold the shares in our companies

Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, September 9th, 2014 - 70 comments

The twelve month financial performance results for all of the sold off companies have recently been announced.  And as predicted NZ Inc is taking a bit of a bath.

NRT: That empty void again

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, September 9th, 2014 - 8 comments

A bit over a week ago, I complained about the empty void at the heart of the election: Nationals refusal to release policy. And it has struck again today, in the form of Nationals fiscal “plan”. We actually have a government seeking re-election while offering no specifics about what it intends to do in office. But don’t they have a lovely picture of John Key?

Polity: Key waves hands, insipidly

Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, September 9th, 2014 - 34 comments

Nationals hypothetical tax cut package has not gone down well. People do not appear to like the fact that it is small, hypothetical, and irresponsible, all at once.This is what you get when you have a prime minister so weakly desperate for public approval that they make up policy by accident and then push that poor decision through their cabinet and caucus.

Nats useless on economy

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, September 9th, 2014 - 49 comments

The economy is a mess, the Nats have no ideas, and their current policies (e.g. hypothetical tax cuts) are getting laughed out of town. National is useless on the economy, and the sooner we the people wake up to this fact, the better off we will be.

Vid of Nicky Hager talk tonight, Waikato

Written By: - Date published: 9:11 pm, September 8th, 2014 - 32 comments

Nicky Hager’s talk at the University of Waikato was very well attended. It was livestreamed.  A video of it is now available online,

What kind of government would National lead?

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, September 8th, 2014 - 112 comments

The choice for NZ voters is becoming clearer in the last days of the 2014 election. The irony is that after John Key’s scaremongering, our options are a three-headed coalition of natural allies versus a five-or-six headed hydra of extremists and sworn enemies.

Where is Jason Ede?

Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, September 8th, 2014 - 19 comments

Jason Ede’s disappearance from public view suggests a cover up in response to Hager’s Dirty Politics.  The book implicates Ede (past PM staffer) in a coordinated black ops smear machine working with blogs like Whale Oil. Key may need to come clean soon about some of Ede’s activities.

National’s mating dance with the Conservatives II

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, September 8th, 2014 - 30 comments

National is now talking up the possibility of a post election accommodation with the Conservative Party.  But the thought of the Conservatives having a significant say in policy formation should make all progressives very afraid.

Tax cuts – simple question simple answer

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 pm, September 7th, 2014 - 84 comments

Duncan Garner asks – “when we’ve just borrowed $55b over 6 years how on earth are tax cuts suddenly affordable?”. Presumably it’s a rhetorical question…

Airbrushing the VRWC

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, September 7th, 2014 - 111 comments

In today’s Sunday Star Times, is an article on a Matthew Hooton & the VRWC (Vast Right Wing Conspiracy). Hooton criticises John Key, does a couple of mea culpas, but ultimately, airbrushes the whole disgusting mess of dirty politics. [Updated: comment from Bill]

“‘Allo, ‘allo, ‘allo, ‘allo” -Final episode – (Series One) “Chaos and Mayhem”

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 pm, September 6th, 2014 - 7 comments

The Whale Oil Cafe has taken a hit. The walls have holes punched in them.  Most of the windows are smashed  and broken glass and dirt covers the cafe  floor.  The pictures of John Key are still hanging on the cafe walls, although the frames are smashed and glass broken… A whale of disaster has happened

Perceptions of National’s government

Written By: - Date published: 12:57 pm, September 6th, 2014 - 114 comments

There is how John Key and a few of his acolytes like to think of his government. Then there is how everyone else now does. The many ministers who have been abusing their position, were caught and ‘resigned’.  Now we can see the true nature than lurks beneath. A vote for National is a vote for Cameron Slater.

Two weeks to go …

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, September 6th, 2014 - 139 comments

Two weeks to go and polls suggest that National’s slide in the poll may be arrested.  But for how long?

Slater’s bid- fail!

Written By: - Date published: 5:40 pm, September 5th, 2014 - 121 comments

TV3 News reports Slater’s bid to gag the media has failed. High Court decision is that media can report on previously published material, & material they already have. doesn’t apply to previously published material. Rawshark had already given remaining material to the media and departed. [Updated]

The Big Lie in action

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, September 5th, 2014 - 13 comments

This morning Rob Salmond did a great post about the “big lie” – the spin coming from the Right that Labour hasn’t concentrated on policy, just dirty politics.

Like clockwork, David Farrar has a post up about the latest polls, suggesting “Their focus on hacked e-mails instead of policy  is backfiring.”