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An anonymous Sunday Star Times editorial last weekend (not on line) reads like a postcard from the future: Key’s pleasantness will one day look like blandness and lack of vision. His smiley face will eventually symbolise vapidity and self-satisfaction. His pragmatism will in due course…
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So, today is Budget day. The big stuff has all been pretty well signposted, tinkering with KiwiSaver, Working for Families, and student loan eligibility. The devil will be in the details of all the cuts that get made to try and limit the damage in…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Speaking to Audrey Young in today's Herald, Prime Minister John Key stated "the one thing I've come to learn is that the single biggest driving factor in Kiwisaver is inertia". This confirms what many in the community have been thinking, and a few in the…
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This rolling post is intended to be a record of the lies, misrepresentations, and misdirections the National government and its allies try to foist on us. It's a 'facts only' post. Today's topic: borrowing for tax cuts - - - - - - - -…
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Labour have been running a competition to crowd source their billboard design. Here is the winner, which (see Red Alert) will be going up around Wellington shortly. Labour is planning a tough campaign. Expect these billboards to provoke some controversy. In comments on Red Alert,…
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Hekia Parata is our Minister of Energy. She is also a shareholder in Contact Energy. Whether the shareholding is large or small, it's a conflict of interest. Her decisions can affect the value of her shareholding. The slackness displayed by Key's ministers towards these shareholding…
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The dairy industry produced 16 billion litres of milk in 08/09. The 17,000 dairy farmers got an average half million payout. So how come they only paid $26 million in tax in total? Are we meant to believe that the average dairy farm makes a…
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Bryan Gould writes: "The fact that this week's Budget will do no more than mark time should come as no surprise. We now have getting on for three years' experience of a government whose idea of managing the economy is simply to wait and see…
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There has been plenty of discussion of alternative budgets this week. Instead of cutting spending I've reviewed ways to raise income. Labour has set out an overview what they would do, with (according to Newsroom at time of writing) full policy promised well before the…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Further to today's Keeping The Buggers Honest, John Key made a number of claims at the same press conference yesterday that do not bear scrutiny. He claimed that while there had been substantial wage growth under Labour, it had been eroded by high inflation. National…
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Good speech here from David Cunliffe to the Manufacturers and Exporters Association last night. He and David Parker both spoke and I understand their message was very well received by the audience. He outlines the principles for a good budget, and then answers the question…
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Gee, a disaster can be a useful thing. You can blame it for your pathetic record on economic management and borrowing for tax cuts. Then, you can take the credit for the jobs, growth, and higher wages created by the rebuilding. Course, you have to…
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Morgan Godfery's blog Maui Street is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand Maori politics. His latest post provides a fascinating insight into the decline of the Maori Party. It's not just the polls showing the Mana Party supplanting them that should be of…
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The Nats want a quid each way in this budget. Short term doom and gloom to justify cuts and asset sales. Medium term optimism so people can feel good about about the government. To supply the optimism, John Key, Bill English and the Nats are…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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John Key is fond of saying "there is a constituency for every dollar you spend". So, having borrowed to the hilt for tax cuts for the rich, and refusing to reverse that folly, how can Key cut enough to satisfy the credit ratings agencies without…
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Fabian lecture from Rick Boven of New Zealand Institute on "The Plan for the Productive Economy" St John's Church Hall, Tuesday 17th, 6pm. All welcome. I heard Rick in Auckland, he was very good.
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James Hansen was among the first to raise the alarm about climate change, and is sometimes called "the father of climate change science" for his trouble. He's currently in New Zealand, and had an excellent interview last Saturday with Kim Hill (47 minutes, well worth…
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[Sorry to Michael Bott for taking so long to publish this, and to other whose guest posts we may have missed in recent weeks. Trouble with the email system] I spent a weekend with a team of Labour volunteers listening to the concerns of the…
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Reading Don Brash's letter to John Key and watching Roger Douglas on Q+A, I wonder if the Nats behind the takeover of ACT realised what they were unleashing. I've heard some talk that ACT won't vote for Key's Budget. Where would that leave Rodney Hide?…
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National have dug us in to a deep economic hole. We're borrowing $380 million a week, and looking at a record budget deficit. Against this backdrop Bill English delivers his third budget this week. All the softening up and punditry so far has been about…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Good story from Rob O'Neill in today's SST. Lobbyist Mark Unsworth of Saunders Unsworth is campaigning against Pharmac, ahead of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations with the US. They want more money spent on patented drugs. Lloyd Morrison and Gareth Morgan have come to…
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Paul Krugman tells it like it is: The Unwisdom of Elites The past three years have been a disaster for most Western economies. The United States has mass long-term unemployment for the first time since the 1930s. Meanwhile, Europe’s single currency is coming apart at…
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The minor party debate on Q+A was very interesting. Rahui Katene was self-contradictory and vague, like the Maori Party always is. Peter Dunne was pathetic. Roger Douglas slammed the government's borrowing as did Russel Norman, who pointed out the other three had all voted for…
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At midday on May 27, New Zealanders will take to Queen St to spit in the face of the pathetic, racist Rightwing Resistance. Actually, the march organisers say it's to "express how we actually LOVE having diversity in our communities and we want to accommodate…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...