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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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We face a stark choice this year: a Labour-led government, which will create fairer tax and invest in jobs and innovation, or National-led government, which will govern for the kleptocracy, giving them tax cuts, then selling our assets and slashing our public services to pay…
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Food and oil prices have sparked unrest across North Africa. The Tunisian Government has fallen. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak has declared martial law. In Cairo, thousands of protesters shook hands with the soldiers, and chanted: "The army and the people are united" and "The revolution has…
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The obvious examples on failed past privatisation are TranzRail and Air New Zealand - vital bits of infrastructure that were run into the ground by their private owners, so they subsequently needed bailing out by the government. And they do have valuable lessons - vital…
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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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Our Daughter Isn't a Selfish Brat; Your Son Just Hasn't Read Atlas Shrugged. BY ERIC HAGUE - - - - I'd like to start by saying that I don't get into belligerent shouting matches at the playground very often. The Tot Lot, by its very…
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The Republican Party may be entering its death throes. In an unprecedented move, there were two competing Republican response speeches to President Obama's State of the Union address. One from Paul Ryan, the powerful Chair of the House Budget Committee. The other from a Teabagger…
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John Key, as previously discussed, was interviewed on Morning Report less than a handful of times each of the 2 years between winning power in 2008 and Sean Plunket leaving. He's appeared on Radio NZ before 9.30 for lengthy interviews 3 times this week. Election…
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John Key reckons he can raise $10 billion by selling our assets and their future profits. That's probably very over-optimistic. But I got wondering, how does that one-off $10 billion compare to the cost of the tax cuts that National has given the wealthiest 1%…
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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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John Key 2008: Follow me and we'll be like Ireland. John Key 2011: Follow me or we'll be like Ireland.
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The Maori Party has budgeted $22,000 for legal advice regarding the complaint made against Hone Harawira for stating the obvious, and hired Mai Chen to boot, to coin a phrase. Chen has pointed to the decision in Peters v Collinge where Justice Fisher stated that…
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In 2008, John Key's line was 'New Zealand doesn't have a debt problem, it has a growth problem'. In Budget 2010, he said the Crown would be back into surplus in record time. In December, he said debt wouldn't force a downgrade. Now, he says…
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Ironically, the best response to Key's 'slash and sell' agenda came from Obama, whose spotlight Key is always trying to share: "Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may feel…
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Everywhere he can, John Key is busy raising the canard of our economy being as indebted as the PIIGS countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) that are in trouble in Europe. He's talking about net foreign debt, and he's suggesting lowering government debt (by hocking…
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Today's Herald editorial: Courage in politics is seldom recognised when it is successful. It takes courage to challenge a sacred cow, but a well-aimed challenge can render the cow sacred no longer. John Key's announcement of public asset sales yesterday should be recognised as a…
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Senior Maori Party staffers have been deserting the party in droves in recent months, including chief of staff Harry Walker, repulsed by the leadership selling out to National. It's gotten so bad that they've had to out-source their spin doctoring to the Tories. You think…
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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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Halfway through last year I suggested we'd see a July election as National raced to lock in a second term before their numbers fell. At the time I said: ...Add to that the fact that a strong majority is needed by National for them to…
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Asset sales as tax by stealth We already own the SOEs. Our tax money paid for them. So how can we 'kiwi mums and dads' 'invest' by buying something we already own? What Key is really telling you and me is: 'you'll have to stump…
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Whilst John Key's raising of privatisation is the first focus of his State of the Nation speech, perhaps equally as important is his intention for swingeing cuts to public services. He has announced that instead of their current $1.1 billion 'new spending allowance' in future…
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So John Key's great bit of policy for the election is to sell off the family jewels. Generations of New Zealanders have built up these assets, and now, like in the 90s, National intend to flick them off to foreign investors, and drain the country's…
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A fortnight ago, renowned pathologist National pollster David Farrar excused John Key's decision to halt the recovery effort at Pike River, smugly stating that the fire meant all that would be left was "some bones and teeth, it could be just teeth". This 'there's nothing…
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It's not radical, it's not revolutionary but Phil Goff has laid out a positive, progressive, and affordable vision that contrasts with Key's directionless, lazy leadership. It seems to be popular. The PM's state of the nation is expected to contain an interesting savings policy but…
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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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John Key says that he can't increase the minimum wage by a decent amount. The excuse this time round is that a decent increase will destroy jobs. Well, let's check that out a little bit. Is it really true that lifting the minimum wages destroys…
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Just a quick post, and I'm sure Marty or Eddie will write more later with more detail, but Phil Goff has just delivered an excellent speech to start a year of laying out Labour Policy. They'd announced changes to fiscal policy and exchange rate aims…
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The Legatum Prosperity Index looks beyond GDP, a failed measure that counts rebuilding after an earthquake and building prisons as gains. The Index is a broad measure of nations' prosperity comprising 88 components. It shows that New Zealand is a relatively prosperous nation. It also…
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At this stage in the electoral cycle, government support parties are usually looking to try to differentiate themselves from the main governing party. They need to do this to show they still hold true to their own values and have a separate identity that is…