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Tax cuts for the rich must have seemed like such a good idea a month or two ago. I mean the public had already sucked up the ACC hikes, forgiven the tax-cuts that never came (except for the rich) and shrugged off the cuts to…
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We already know that National's big economic plan this budget is a tax swap from working Kiwis to the rich that will not affect growth but will increase inequality. There's some money for science and Kiwirail, which is good but only partially reverses the cuts…
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It is befitting that the 27st of May just one week after the Budget - marks Thank The Rich Day, which sees poor people the length of the country gearing up to offer their gratitude to the rich for their contribution to the welfare of…
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Brian Gaynor in Saturday's Herald argues that investment industry organisations and their advisors owe a duty of care to investors. He calls it an "ethical overlay", and says Unfortunately a number of developments indicate that we seem to be a million miles away from having…
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Inequality Inequality is immensely damaging to society. Over a huge range of important social indicators, the more unequal a society is, the sicker it is. The case is best made by a book called "The Spirit Level", and by the organisation behind it, The Equality…
budget 2010 capitalism class war equality john key national Social issues
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Some how it just seems right for John Key's "Don't Be Jealous" Budget. Or if you want something a bit more high brow but still with the big hair, there's Brian Edwards on $50 Million PM Counsels Poor Not To Envy Rich. Me... I say Eat…
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Since inequalities of privilege are greater than could possibly be defended rationally, the intelligence of privileged groups is usually applied to the task of inventing specious proofs for the theory that universal values spring from, and that general interests are served by, the special privileges…
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According to Campbell Live the EPMU has closed the wage gap with an oil and gas deal that sees Kiwis working on rigs getting paid at Australian rates (although as I understand it the Maritime Union of New Zealand also played an important part 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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The Tea Party movement ins the US started as a beast of the Republican Party but now it might kill it. The teabaggers began as astro-turfing - big money from key Republican players went into giving the illusion of a grassroots movement against 'socialist' health…
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Yesterday I posted on John Key being named "Dim bulb of the week" by the San Francisco Examiner. Continuing with a dim bulb theme - let's talk about Edison Hour. You'll recall (I hope!) that Earth Hour is an annual event, a world wide action…
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Apparently, President Obama has delivered a speech 'ranting' against technology. The opinion in The Economist is worth a read just for the joy of reading the hilarity between the lines. 'WITH iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations—none of which I know how to work—information…
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The Greens do good policy work. They confront the real challenges and try to offer real solutions. Policy is generally adequately detailed, it's costed, it's plausible, it offers a clear way forward. It's the kind of thing I hope to see Labour doing well before…
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National are clearly starting to worry that the New Zealand public aren't going to fall for their tax cuts for the rich swindle with Key trying convince Kiwis that they shouldn't be jealous of rich people getting massive windfalls because we need those rich people:…
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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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I'm really surprised that this comment from John Key hasn't elicited more reaction: "[Future] recessions are almost certainly in my view going to be global in nature and probably more severe... I think the question is not whether there is going to be another global…
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It is always amusing listening to Matthew Hooten being a spinster on politics. It was rather ironic for him to be in a conversation about John Keys "loose lips" over his Tuhoe remarks in NatRads political section in 9 to noon this morning. During it,…
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Well, our PM is now an international laughing stock. Check out this nomination by the San Francisco Examiner (hat tip schrodigerscat): Dim bulb of the week John Key What: The prime Minister of New Zealand made a crass cannibalism joke about an indigenous tribe. Say…
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As well as releasing its yearly report on World Development Indicators last month, the World Bank opened up its data. It has included a public API and access to over a thousand indicators. In the video below, World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick speaks about the…
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A passage from Matt McCarten's article in the Sunday Herald summed up for me not only the approach of Rodney Hide in setting up his Super City but also the neo-liberal project that has been in vogue for the past quarter century. McCarten writes His…
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Brent Edwards is a damn good journo but even he's fallen into the trap of not seeing the ubiquitous spin on tax for what it is. Three aspects of his piece this morning were repetitions of spin: When you cut income tax, of course those…
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Hmm, so another bad, bad week for the directionless Key Government. Lucky a major newspaper steps in with a chance to make the PM look cute and adorable. About one in five of the 50 questions put to John Key in the Sunday Star-Times yesterday…
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Nope, it isn't the budget. It appears that there is a bomb scare. At the beehive there is an evacuation. It appears that people in the rest of the parliamentary complex are not allowed to leave, and no-one is allowed to enter. Pretty freaky how…
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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...