Author Archive
The Standard line: crime
Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, October 20th, 2008 - 39 comments
So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series, The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today, crime: […]
Fact checkin’ – Sunday addition
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, October 19th, 2008 - 10 comments
From Agenda Rawdon Christie: Maori make up 7.7% of unemployed compared to 3.9% of the rest of the population. Incompetent: The unemployment rate of Maori is 7.7%, that’s different from what Rawdon (reading from teleprompter) said. If Maori only made up 7.7% of unemployed, they would be underrepresented. In fact, Maori make up 19% of […]
The best they’ve got?
Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, October 19th, 2008 - 62 comments
When I heard a Chinese national had been approved for citizenship by a minister against the advice of officials and with a letter of recommendation from a Labour MP, after he had apparently donated to the Labour Party, I thought ‘seeing as this is coming from Ian Wishart, it’s probably nothing but the jokers better […]
Party like you matter
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 pm, October 18th, 2008 - 55 comments
There’s so much to comment on about the policies and parties that matter that we hardly ever get to time to mention ACT. But I couldn’t resist this brochure from the zero tolerance liberals: (it says ‘not your typical party’ in the yellow box) Thoughts: – did ACT think they were the first to see […]
Childish
Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, October 18th, 2008 - 64 comments
We live on a finite planet. We can’t just keep adding 75 million people a year to the human population while also increasing the average resource consumption per person without collapsing the biological systems that support us. Current projections have the world population rising another 2-2.5 billion in the next 40 years to peak around […]
Not a game
Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, October 17th, 2008 - 46 comments
National has a press release out blaming Labour for a supposed increase in assaults on police. Now, there are more people and more police than ever before, so all things being equal there will be more assaults, but it would be a concern if the rate of assaults had increased. In fact, the rate on […]
The Standard Week: 10-17 October
Written By: - Date published: 12:57 pm, October 17th, 2008 - 7 comments
The polls are closing, National dropped 7% and 4% in the Roy Morgan and TV3 polls, respectively, as the full impact of Key’s lies on Tranzrail was felt. Word is that National’s internal numbers are turning a few more hairs grey, while Labour’s are renewing optimism in their camp. Colmar Brunton hasn’t followed the trend but the […]
Vote smart: Progressives and Wigram
Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, October 17th, 2008 - 52 comments
Vote smart is a series of posts on tactical voting for people who support certain parties or live in certain electorates to help you maximise your vote. Today, the Progressives and Wigram: Since the last election, the Progressives have failed to register in half the Roy Morgan polls and never broken 1%. For a party […]
Tranzrail eyes
Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, October 17th, 2008 - 23 comments
It’s possible to win a battle but, in doing so, lose the war. Like most commentators, I thought Key came off best from the debate on Tuesday. It was a good format for him to parrot his lines, all he had to do is deliver them well. As he said himself, 2 years of training […]
Telling lies
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, October 16th, 2008 - 9 comments
With the wit we’ve come to expect, 08wire has Key up on his many lies during the Tuesday debate. To my surprise, TV One didn’t bother doing fact checking even during their tedious hour-long run-down after the debate, whereas we were fact checking live on The Standard. I wish TV One would be our CNN […]
Key vs Sharples, who do you believe?
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, October 16th, 2008 - 71 comments
On September 28, Key released National’s policy on the Maori seats. It is unequivocal (if light on the details): “At the conclusion of the settlement of historic Treaty claims, National will begin a constitutional process to abolish the Maori seats. National wishes to see all New Zealanders on the same electoral roll.” Pretty clear. The […]
Campaign hub rolling on
Written By: - Date published: 4:42 pm, October 15th, 2008 - 18 comments
Good to see so many people coming to the Campaign Hub for materials and info. Apologies for the delay in the events diary this week, so much to do. I’ve added Youtubes of some great videos and there are new designs for posters and flyers being added ad hoc like these: Keep it up […]
Make-work don’t work
Written By: - Date published: 2:15 pm, October 15th, 2008 - 24 comments
The Maori Party wants the dole abolished to be replaced by work schemes. It’s a bad idea but it’s not too far from being a good one. Make work schemes are bad in several ways. They distort the market for low-skill work. The State with an army of cheap, semi-involuntary labour ends up undercutting the […]
A matter of trust
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, October 15th, 2008 - 42 comments
The Youtube debate was a bit of a let down to me because TV1 chose to play the least penetrating questions, allowing the leaders to pretty much stick to their stock answers. The only question that really broke through the pre-prepared stuff was Shane Taurima’s query about whether it is true that, as Pita Sharples […]
Nat vs Nat on National policy
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, October 15th, 2008 - 22 comments
National wants to introduce a 90 Day no work rights period for new employees. Now, in the face of very strong opposition to the policy, they have been forced to scale it back to only workplaces where there are 20 or fewer employees. But big questions still remain – not least of all whether teachers […]
The Standard line: Showerheads
Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, October 15th, 2008 - 41 comments
So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series, The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today, showerheads: Counter-points: […]
Lying to win
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 pm, October 14th, 2008 - 65 comments
A narrow victory for Key in tonight’s TV1/Youtube debate. A forum where he could repeat his tired slogans to his heart’s content suited him. No-one could pull him up on his lies, except Clark who, inexplicably, failed to do so. And when Clark spoke, Key just yelled his lines over the top of her. That […]
Fact checkin’
Written By: - Date published: 7:20 pm, October 14th, 2008 - 71 comments
Live fact-checking of the debate. Key: The unions supported National’s position on Kiwisaver. Lie: The unions do not support National’s plan and never have. “We have supported 2+2 arrangements as a starting point but under the current scheme, this attracts the full value of member tax credits and employer tax credits. Under the National Party proposal […]
The Standard line: ACC
Written By: - Date published: 4:10 pm, October 14th, 2008 - 22 comments
So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series,The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today, ACC: Pro-ACC […]
Labour chickens out on $15 minimum wage
Written By: - Date published: 2:54 pm, October 14th, 2008 - 23 comments
Labour, why do you do this to me? One day you’re announcing neo-Keynesian policies to help us through the coming recession, then you stand up for the principle that access to education shouldn’t be dependent on the wealth of ones parents, and, then, just when I’m starting to believe that you really are a true […]
Wrong time for short-term thinking
Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, October 14th, 2008 - 90 comments
National’s Nick Smith has announced that they would cancel the $1 billion fund to insulate New Zealand houses, which the Greens won as part of the Emissions Trading Scheme. This massive programme would improve energy efficiency, create warmer, healthier homes and would provide useful employment during the downturn. A study, ironically carried out under National and mentioned to me […]
Confident or foolish?
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 14th, 2008 - 20 comments
So, you’re one of the 900,000 Kiwis who have so far signed up to Kiwisaver. You know that you get $1000 on signing up, you put in 4% of your gross income, the Government matches that up to $20 a week, and your employer matches with at least 1% rising to 4% by 2011. It’s […]
‘Give me warning next time’, Key whimpers
Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, October 13th, 2008 - 44 comments
While Key was blathering on about who-cares-what yesterday, Clark announced a radical and forward-looking economic stimulus package. Now, Key is having a cry over Clark not notifying him beforehand of the deposit insurance scheme. As if the Prime Minister needs to seek the approval of an opposition party before setting government policy. Key whines that monetary […]
Universal allowance – Labour joins rest of Left
Written By: - Date published: 3:25 pm, October 13th, 2008 - 59 comments
Good to see Labour joining the Greens and Progressives with a universal student allowance policy. It has been a crying shame that many people who are trying to get an education and whose parents can’t support them have had to borrow to get a fraction of the money that one gets on a benefit or […]
Working our way forward
Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, October 13th, 2008 - 16 comments
It was inevitable that the focus of media coverage of Labour’s announements yesterday would be the deposit insurance, it’s a good self-centred middle-class story. But the important stuff, as Irish pointed out last night, is the re-training money, the speed-up of infrastructure construction, the money for sewerage, housing, and anti-erosion projects. The deposit insurance simply acts to […]
Labour takes bull by the horns, Nats left standing
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, October 13th, 2008 - 25 comments
One of the first rules of politics is don’t set yourself up to be snookered; don’t position yourself in a way that your opposition can and will undercut, don’t run attack lines that your opposition can and will invalidate. National has repeatedly done this. They ran on tax cuts as their sole platform when it […]
Tories still bigots at heart
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 pm, October 12th, 2008 - 47 comments
When I saw this guy using the guise of a Youtube debate question to attack Clark on her appearance, I felt sorry for the little jerk – what a pathetic life he must lead. When I saw Bill ‘do what it takes to win’ English do the same thing (at 1.30), while an audience of […]
Trickle-down
Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, October 12th, 2008 - 11 comments
A few thoughts from today’s Agenda: Questioned about why National would introduce another tax rebate, having endlessly criticised Working for Families because of its complexity, English says ‘we do, in the long term, want a simpler tax system’. So, be on notice, Working for Families is under threat from National – they would ‘eventualy, but […]
Getting it right matters
Written By: - Date published: 9:49 pm, October 11th, 2008 - 11 comments
I don’t want this post to be taken as overly critical; it’s just meant to offer some constructive advice. John Armstrong’s piece in the Herald today is good. It’s great to see a senior political commentator acknowledging that politics is a competition of ideologies, rather than merely a game or competition of personalities, but it’s […]
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