Yesterday, the Nats panicked. Under fire for failing to deliver jobs, for planning to sell assets to pay for tax cuts for the rich, and the gross hypocrisy of the BMW debacle, they put out 5 press releases less than 2 hours trying to spin their way out of trouble. It didn’t work. Nor does smile and wave anymore. The NBR calls this John Key’s ‘Wile E Coyote moment’.
In a surprise move, John Key has announced the National Party is imposing a media ban on itself until the BMW limo affair dies down. “We got the idea from the Maori Party. Every time they open their mouths over Hone Harawira, things get worse. Shut their mouths and the issue goes away. Brilliant. There’s so much we can learn from our Maori friends”
Kiwis are strongly against selling our public assets. National’s policy is opposed by 60% and supported by just 30%. That’s more opposition than the mining proposal. There’ll be no back-down from the Nats – pillaging the State is a core reason for them wanting power. On these numbers, it may lose them the election.
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John Key and his government have told us a series of lies over the new BMW fleet. One by one they have been disproven. As the truth slowly closed in Key clung to one last deception, that he himself didn’t know about the impending replacement until last week. Now that lie has been busted too.
Rodney Hide has accepted Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples’ challenge to a street race to settle the Supercity Maori Advisory Board dispute. Standing beside his customised Crown limo, the Kupapa II, Sharples said “we called on Rodney to resign as he promised but he won’t. So we’re taking this battle to the streets”.
Even the most optimistic lefty can’t deny that National are continuing to dominate the opinion polls. That must be quite a source of […]
Remember all those unanswered questions over the abuse of public money by Pansy Wong and her husband? So does Campbell Live, which has uncovered the story of Sammy’s former business partner Steven Priest, who claims that Sammy ripped him off with Pansy’s help. It was Pansy’s signature on Priest’s contract that first got her in trouble.
There’s long been doubt over the quality of David Farrar’s Curia polling company. Now, Tim Watkin has produced a first-hand report of Curia’s questioning. The tone of the questions is biased, which is really dumb if you’re trying to get useful data. It’s not really push polling, it’s Farrar delivering what the Nats want to hear to maintain his standing in the party.
John Key says if you’re having trouble getting by on your income it’s due to your ‘lifestyle choices‘. Key has given himself at least $23,000 in tax cuts and had a $7,500 rise with our borrowed money. He has the worst economic record of any PM in 80 years: 86,000 more jobless Kiwis, falling incomes. And this bastard blames Kiwi families for their poverty.
Our wages are so low that we can’t keep paying “international prices” for basic necessities. GST off food is just tinkering at the edges. We need more radical action.
While those with $1500 to spend will be enjoying the world cup up close the rest of us have to pay for it.
Somehow it seems appropriate the game that once symbolised New Zealand’s classless society is now only available to the wealthy few at the expense of the many.
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Key says he didn’t know about the BMW purchase. Funny cause on Tuesday, English was taking responsibility: “we could go out and buy second-hand cars but one way or another cars need to be maintained”. The Nats try to blame Labour but the contract Labour signed says replacing the cars was optional without penalty.
Under Labour, when there was effectively full employment, there were still 1,700 people who had been continuously on the dole for over 4 years. I was prepared to accept most of these were ‘bludgers’. Turns out I was too cynical. Paula Bennett found only 658 were ineligible. Werewolf has an excellent article busting more benefit myths.
As you know, National has been trying to justify selling off our assets and cutting our public services to pay for tax cuts for the rich by saying that debt is at dangerous levels and we risk a credit downgrade. Numerous commentators have shown that’s false. Now, the final nail in the coffin has come from credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.
Because it’s failed ideology prevents it from leading job creation, National came up with ‘Community Max’. Pointless make work schemes have flourished. At the end, more participants are back on the dole than would have been if they had never left. A waste of time and money. Just like boot camps with a higher reoffending rate than home detention.
The Maori Party handling of rebel MP Hone Harawira has been a complete mess. The latest bizarre chapter in the story is the gagging of Harawira with “a complete media ban” to be “strictly observed by the Maori Party”. I’m trying to recall any precedent for such an extreme gagging of free speech by a political party…
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Last week, Key says Kiwis “have to tighten their belts, we have to do the same”. More job cuts for public servants. This week, buying 34 $200,000 limos for him and his mates to replace 3 year old ones. How many teachers would that employ?Not the cars that need replacing after 3 years. It’s this government. Good on Goff for giving up the limos.
Democracy doesn’t suddenly magically appear as though from a conjurers hat. We know that, right? So why are revolutions seeking democracy D.O.A?
To avoid another three years of backhanders to the rich, falling wages, rising unemployment, and asset sales, we have nine months to chip away at National’s support. As in 2008, The Standard will be running a campaign offering flyers etc for your to print off and deliver around your neighbourhood. Privatisation is an obvious first target.
It seems odd at first, blocking our closest friend’s leader from speaking in our Parliament, but the Greens were right to look at the higher principle. The debating chamber is where our sovereign assembly meets, it is not a place for foreigners to come, at the government of the day’s invitation, and lecture our elected representatives. I think the NBR put it best..
Key ignored all the experts with his boot camp policy. But it turns out that the experts were right. Reoffending rates are 50% within the first year, and likely reach 65 – 70% two years after course completion. Add boot camps to the ever growing list of Key’s failures.
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Look at the international media these days and what do we see? Oil prices rising due to peak oil. Extreme weather events due to climate change. Rising food prices due to peak oil increasing production costs, climate change destroying crops and resource depletion. And, in the most exposed countries, governments falling in revolution.
The Oz Job Expo was in Auckland this weekend, and 6000 people turned up and were willing to pay $15 to look for the job they couldn’t find in New Zealand. With much lower unemployment in Australia, job adverts way up since 2008 instead of way down here, and wages on average 30% higher, who could blame them?
“I’m leaving it until my book. I know the answer, but just wait until my book,” Mr Key said.
What? I thought it was normal to leave office before you started writing and promoting your memoirs? I’ve not heard of someone becoming prime-minister to promote book-sales before.
John Key’s support for Mubarak arose from the American far-right’s fear of Egyptian democracy. We laugh at Glenn Beck’s crazy conspiracy theories and the hypocrites who invaded Iraq to ‘spread democracy’ yet oppose free elections in Egypt because of who might get elected but there’s a deeper story here: the end of the American Empire.
Another piece of union-bashing has been quietly implemented. Before, when bringing in foreign actors, the burden of proof lay on the production company to prove the talent they were importing was truly required. Now, no proof is required. This undermines Kiwi actors and their unions. It’s all about punishing Actors’ Equity for the Hobbit fiasco.
The contrast between Phil Goff and John Key at the Big Gay Out could not have been greater. Key swanned in late, told the crowd the best they could hope for from National was no regressive moves and refused to endorse civil unions. Goff and his posse re-affirmed Labour’s stance against discrimination and committed to progressive leadership.
Economic inequality is damaging to the fabric of society. It’s a simple and compelling message, and it seems to have the political “Right” in a complete panic. In fact if Deborah Coddington’s latest piece is anything to go by, the Right are terrified to the point of derangement.
John Key wants to take credit for Allan Bollard’s good work. The Reserve Bank is having to step outside its remit to save our economy from a National government and this is the thanks he gets…
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There’s a somewhat fact-free article today on the possible challenge of a new “centre-right” party in Epsom. Whilst an interesting possible development, there’s […]
I wound up in Auckland hospital with a heart attack yesterday morning. Survived due to Lyn’s quick actions.
