Fisking Farrar
I don’t know what it is about the word “Labour” that the right finds so hard to understand. David Farrar has a piece […]
Herald calls win for Hide
The Herald has an exclusive claiming that National will go with ACT and reject the Maori Party over the issue of Maori seats […]
First they came for Spongebob
One of the most powerful conservative Christian fundamentalist groups in America is Focus on the Family. This group has an impressive organisation, income, […]
More than just a job
Recently, Bill English has been trying to make excuses for not doing anything about the spiralling numbers of unemployed. He says that the […]
Playing catch up?
In the 1980s and early 1990s, during the Right’s neoliberal economic revolution, New Zealand’s economic output per person stalled – growing just 0.01% per […]
Will Key go with Hide or Maori Party?
The issue of Maori seats on the supercity council has inevitably exposed the contradictions inherent in this government. The Maori party wants ’em. […]
Referendum results
I can’t say I’m all that surprised about the results of the ‘smacking’ referendum. As any good pollster will tell you, if you […]
Are we this stupid?
I got along to the Greens’ sold-out screening of The Age of the Stupid last night. It’s a powerful movie, perhaps a bit […]
When preening goes wrong
Tony Ryall had his chance in the big chair yesterday, sitting in for the Prime Minister in Question Time. A chance for self-promotion, […]
Hide would go for principles, Sharples would stay for baubles
Rodney Hide has said that having Maori seats on the Auckland Supercity council would go completely against his party’s principles. So, he would […]
Well done National
The polls are still fine but National are looking a wee bit crispy round the edges right now. Nice Mr Key has a […]
Tax reform mustn’t be a gift for the rich
Vernon Small’s pieces on tax in the Independent and Dom this week have been interesting. He provides a good overview of the issues around […]
Will Key fold?
Interesting times for Key. Rodney is trying to wag the dog over Maori seats. He’s also trying it on over the “smacking referendum” […]
Telecom’s profits first, NZ second
You’ve heard about the Telecom dispute. But while a lot of the focus has been on what it means for the lines engineers […]
Pwned
This just in from a reader… Constituent: [On Obama’s healthcare policy] “Why are you supporting this Nazi policy?” Barney Frank: “On what planet […]
Bridging the Big Ditch
Mr Key is off in Australia this week promoting further measures to bind the two countries into a single economic market, and slash […]
Keep it up, Chippie and co
Good on Chris Hipkins. The other day, he wrote: “National won the last election quite comfortably. Kiwis are fair minded people and will […]
Will National cave to threats from Hide?
An email leaked to 3News suggests that Rodney Hide is holding the government to ransom over denying guaranteed Supercity representation for Maori. The […]
Phil Goff speaking on the SAS deployment
Stupi-duty and Wisharts works of political fiction
Open Parachute has a post Evidence, not lawyers about that well-known writer of political fiction, Ian Wishart, issuing a press release saying that he […]
Brian Edwards on Key
Brian Edwards gives his take on our “Photo-op PM”. Demonising Key hasn’t and isn’t likely to work for Labour. It doesn’t accord at […]
The science: too amibitous for New Zealand
Key, Mr Ambitous when it comes to cycleways and Job Summits, says that reducing carbon emissions from developed countries like ours by 2020 to 40% […]
Goff’s speech on deploying the SAS
Apart from when it’s customary, at maiden speeches, valedictories, and the Budget, it’s a rare speech that warrants a standing ovation in Parliament. […]
More National sleeze
There’s been an attempt to force Peter Goodfellow, the brand new President of the National Party, to step down. The move came from […]
GST up? It depends
The Government’s Tax Working Group has proposed increasing GST to 15-20% to pay for cuts to income tax. I’m not automatically against GST […]
A question of trusts
Here is Bill English in the cocktail tapes talking about Working for Families: “the reality is if we had been the government, with […]
Subsidizing polluting industries costs taxpayers directly
An excellent post from Idiot Savant (reproduced with permission) on the cost to taxpayers of subsidizing polluting industries. I haven’t noticed the mainstream […]
DPB: it’s for the kids
A lot of right-wing beliefs can be traced back to a few core values. Two apply to the DPB debate: a penny-pinching self-centredness […]
Breeding for a business
In 2002, John Key (then a free-speaking backbencher) told the Sunday-Star Times: “We’ve seen enormous growth in the number of people on the […]
Punching below our weight
I’m proud to be a Kiwi, and I’ve always enjoyed celebrating the successes of our tiny country. It’s not often that I feel […]
A really crappy day
I hadn’t been to a protest in months. After everything I’ve been through, activist stuff tends to make me more than a little […]
Keep digging
Just noticed the interview with Garrett in the Sunday-Star Times: “Garrett, who “wore overalls and not a suit” while working as a roughneck […]
Smackathon planned
Anti-violence campaigners are urging Auckland parents to be especially vigilant in the wake of news that “Vote No” campaigner Larry Baldock is planning […]
On their coat-tails
Jon Stewart talks to Austan Goolsbee, Chief Economist for President Obama’s Economic Recovery Board: “when you’re looking in the face of the next […]
Still lying, Still spying
A media release yesterday from the Justice NOW collective! shows how both police and corporate spies are still taking a major interest in […]
Let the bashing begin
I see Paula Bennett has been busy dog-whistling on beneficiaries, firstly by releasing figures showing 307 beneficiaries receive more than $1000 a week […]