The Bullshit
National up, NZ Labour down, Greens dead? Really!?
spin
National’s 18 new taxes
A dose of reality on National and taxes, and wise words on the media circus surrounding tax.
Incrementalists ‘Brick It’
Meet Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and original negotiator behind the Paris Agreement. She’s co-signed an article, published in Nature and signed by over 60 scientists as well as business leaders and other ‘pillars of the global community’ that headlines – “Three years to safeguard our climate”
Counterfeit Bill
Bill English has an active social media strategy, likely well funded and professional. While most commentators are cringing at it, plenty of people are probably buying the counterfeit Bill.
Employers don’t like Labour’s new employment relations package
In shocking news, it turns out that employers don’t like Labour’s new employment relations package. They (and the usual suspects) are running lines about a return to the 1970s. A time when workers’ share of the wealth was higher, poverty was lower, inequality was lower, and workers had more rights. Sounds awful.
Keith Ng’s four tax myths
A useful piece from Keith Ng on myths about tax. It’s an extract from The PSA’s “Progressive Thinking: Ten Perspectives on Tax” booklet.
How much information is being withheld from us?
Covering up inconvenient truths is an old pattern for this government. What percentage of their effort goes in to obfuscating and hiding the facts?
Still spinning “social investment”
Directing welfare spending where it will do most good makes sense. But let’s make sure that that is what it is, not an excuse to simply cut funding, stigmatise, and target “undesireables”. National’s record does not inspire confidence, to say the very least. Then there’s the hypocrisy…
Nats cut police resources then demand the impossible
We have had years of systematic under funding of the police and front-line numbers are falling. None the less police are now expected to attend every burglary. For the sake of this exercise in public perception other areas of police wrok will suffer.
Interest rates and banks
Yesterday Andrew Little criticised the banks’ failure to pass on the cut in Official Cash Rate (OCR) to we the people via mortgage / interest rate cuts. Naturally the political right went ballistic.
Key Derangement Syndrome
A term made up by the usual suspects to mock and belittle any criticism of their primary asset.
TPPA ‘National Interest Analysis’ – get both sides
The Government has released a TPPA ‘National Interest Analysis’. It should be read along with TPP Legal’s extensive analysis of the costs and risks.
Musings on Dead Cats and Sick Parrots
A self explanatory post by McFlock.
“Jihadi brides” and Peter Dunne
Like a stopped watch, Peter Dunne sometimes gets it right.
WINZ dysfunctional
I guess it’s not exactly news that WINZ is dysfunctional, but its interesting to have some actual data on one of the symptoms. Bonus feature – one of the Nats’ worst excuses ever.
Diesel Bomb
Last Friday I wrote a post on Volkwagen gaming NOx emissions. This is a follow up.
Pandas WTF?
Pandas – one lightweight piece of fluff too far?
NOx-ious shit all around.
Been trying to get my head around the implications of Volkswagen’s rigged diesel performance tests. Predictably, and unlike most stories covering this, I couldn’t give a rat’s arse for the financial woes the company might be facing.
Inside National’s spin machine
A very interesting post in The Herald yesterday by Grant McLachlan (former Parliamentary researcher and a Nat campaign director) detailing National’s well resourced and well organised spin machine.
Away with the economic fairies
The ANZ survey shows business confidence at the lowest levels since the financial crisis. Yesterday John Key insisted that it was “reasonably positive”. He was either completely wrong or lying through his teeth. Either way it’s unacceptable.
The surplusgoround
The on again off again surplus is on again. Key will be kicking himself for telling us all that we’re not interested in this artificial target.
Polity: Reductio…
Rob Salmond at Polity: DPF and Chris Bishop have conspired to come up with a new canard-of-distraction de jour. Today’s trope: “Labour are the conversatives, National the progressives, and Labour is the party of No.”
Rod Oram on the RMA and spin
An excellent piece by Rod Oram on the RMA and the government’s attempts at spin.
WANTED: new ideas on child poverty
It’s great to see John Key taking a sudden interest in addressing child poverty in New Zealand. But why the change of heart?
Dirty Politics Watch I
A new series on happy mischief and paying back double.
Naming the game
It’s been interesting to watch the nats and their busy little helpers working away at branding the election campaign as a nasty one.
It’s been disappointing to watch the media falling for it so hard.
National standards nonsense
If there was a national standard in scientific method than the right wing spinsters talking up yesterday’s national standards results would all fail it.
Hooton spouting nonsense
Matthew Hooton is spinning like mad to talk up the economy. Unfortunately his spin sometimes bends the truth beyond breaking point, and there were three examples of that yesterday.
Economic apocalypse – not
National and their proxies have claimed that Labour / Green NZ Power announcement has crashed the stock market and wiped out savings. Lies lies lies. Here’s the data.
Fletcher GCSB Change manager – and QLD
Key & a government source responded to Ferguson’s criticisms by attacking Labour & Ferguson. They claimed Fletcher was the best person to “change manage” the GCSB. Yet, in Queensland Fletcher was publicly criticised for the management of his department. [Updated]
Spinning the job market
Audrey Young and Simon Collins should get danger money for spinning this hard on jobs. But at least they’re trying, the best that Key can manage is some waffle about a “fluid market”…
A new house every 13 minutes
KiwiBuild has the Nats rattled. It’s difficult to oppose a program that creates both affordable housing and jobs, but they’re doing their best. One of their lines is that NZ can’t build houses that quickly. They’re wrong – here’s why.
Worst Spin Ever
According to John Key voters rejecting austerity is good news for the government, high unemployment is a sign of confidence in the economy, ignorance is strength, black is white, and he has a bridge to sell you.
Savings based recovery nonsense
Bill English is always busy trying to put lipstick on the pig of our moribund economy. His latest attempt is to argue that we are experiencing a “savings based recovery”. There’s no such thing. He’s just making excuses for the fact that people have no money to spend, or are desperately trying to pay down debt in these uncertain times. Enough with the lipstick. Enough with the empty promises of jam tomorrow — National are never going to deliver.
Captain Potty Mouth
The PM’s Chief Press Secretary Kevin Taylor thinks he’s above those who are actually elected. So much so he feels free to tell journalists that an elected Member, who represents the people of New Zealand who voted for him, is a “fuckwit” and that they can “quote him”. Or perhaps “Captain Panic Pants” will claim that it’s just the pressure getting to him.
Poor Bill
Bill English is teetering on the edge. National spinners are claiming that he has done what is needed to “close the issue down”. […]