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Rortbuster Pete Hodgson unveiled yet more information about Pansy and Sammy Wong's business activities in China on the taxpayer dime in Parliament yesterday. It's damning material. The Auditor-General had decided not to investigate but there's every chance she will now or that the Police will.…
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3 under the radar stories yesterday. All linked by ideology. Kiwirail to buy 300 wagons from China because its cheaper than building them here. It's not allowed to consider the wider economic gains. Collins outsources her newest prison to a multi-national, Serco, with a history…
assets business capitalism prisons privatisation public transport
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It is much easier to honour the dead than it is to care for the living. As a government and as a country we honoured the Pike River dead, as was right and proper. But now the hard part starts. What are we going to…
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Under the last Labour government, child poverty was finally, too slowly, but encouragingly, starting to fall. April 2008: Child poverty rate falling in NZ Child poverty is finally on the way down in two of the three rich countries where it increased the most in…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Let's face it. A government doesn't accidentally spend $15 billion more than its revenue while cutting billions in taxes. The unsustainably high deficit is intentional policy, not happenstance. In good times and bad, National's answer is always to cut taxes: Economic good times and record…
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So Pansy's gone. That should mean we can breeze over the fact that thanks to National's economic policies (or lack thereof) the economy's gone to custard. And thanks to National's tax cuts for the rich, the government's books are in the poo. We certainly won't…
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Corrupt former National minister Pansy Wong has finally done the right thing and resigned from Parliament. Key didn't want her to go. This doesn't change the need for the Auditor-General to investigate the abuse of her travel perks. [Update: Key announces March 5 by-election (a…
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Unbelievable. Key has been very busy defending sacked Minister Pansy Wong. He has been desperately ignoring the calls for an Auditor General's investigation as the cracks in the whitewash report on her illegal spending continue to grow. But Key is very quick to call for…
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Do you feel better off after the great tax swindle? If you do you're one of the few lucky ones. Key's tax cut favoured the rich, and he broke his promise to raise GST for everyone. Net result -- bugger all -- unless you're a…
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National are consistently attacking the vulnerable in society - those who cannot fight back and complain. This is where a lot of their cuts are aimed at - those who need it most. Be it in health, education or welfare. And in several recent health…
class war crime education employment health national poverty welfare
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Remember during the 2008 campaign when John Key was telling us we didn't have a debt problem, we had a growth problem? Well, now he's admitting we've got both. That's pretty sharp work: just two years to leave one of the best government balance sheets…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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On RealClimate.org I ran across this amusing example of the capacity of the media to inflate a science story to whatever their headlines demand - "Coldest Winter in 1000 Years Cometh - not", which is adapted from the German original at KilmaLounge It all starts…
climate change humour making shit up Media science the praiseworthy and the pitiful
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Interesting piece by Sue Bradford over at Pundit. If the quote attributed to John Key is for real, it's a shocker. Bradford writes: Divine intervention and the Key welfare agenda Comments from the Prime Minister suggest that the government's willingness to act tough on welfare…
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So ACT, through Rodney (who's so careful with the taxpayer's money) and Jami-Lee Ross, are trying to make an issue with Len Brown's spending. The TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre decided to allow candidates to use its billboard space and Brown did? Shocking! He accepted $15,000…
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So John Key predicts an unhappy New Year for Phil Goff who is at risk of being rolled... Because the ShonKey DonKey knows so much about the Labour Party (I guess he did claim to lead it at one point...) and the extra-secret hidden leadership…
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I was in Christchurch this weekend for the second time since the quake. It felt like things are gradually getting worse. Compared to the pre-Christmas bustle in other cities, Christchurch CBD was a ghost-town. The public service's emergency preparedness got us through the initial disaster…
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The UN climate change talks at Cancun, Mexico, are now over. On the plus side they weren't the fiasco that Copenhagen was, and they have restored some confidence in the negotiating process. There is agreement on the need to cut emissions, and on side issues…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...