Author Archive
Musical interlude, einher mit die Philosophie
Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, October 11th, 2008 - 10 comments
A utopia, an ideal socio-politico-legal system that we can work towards if never reach, should lie at the heart of ones political philosophy. Ones support for ideas and policies should be based on whether they further progress towards ones utopia. One of the earliest expoundings of a utopia was in Plato’s The Republic. Plato recounts […]
From the jaws of victory
Written By: - Date published: 12:16 pm, October 11th, 2008 - 19 comments
My sources tell me Key has a big surprise planned for National’s campaign launch tomorrow. In a break with tradition, Key will not be telling supporters about his plans for “a Labour government I lead”. Instead, he will not be telling them about his plans for a National government. Seriously though, National needs the next […]
The Standard Week: 3-10 October
Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, October 10th, 2008 - 16 comments
National finally released their tax cut policy this week. If you earn less than $14,000 a year, it’s the same as Labour’s cuts. If you earn $14,000 to $24,000 and aren’t getting Super, if you are a beneficiary, or if you get Working for Families and earn less than $44,000, or if you are in […]
Nats letting the facade drop
Written By: - Date published: 2:06 pm, October 10th, 2008 - 4 comments
We’ve been receiving reports of some appalling statements by National MPs on the campaign trail. They mesh with the arrogance and heartlessness that shines through in the secret agenda tapes. A writer reports on David Bennet’s performance at a forum on mental health policy in Hamilton: Mr Bennett came absolutely unprepared. he had no knowledge […]
What happens if Nats gut Kiwisaver?
Written By: - Date published: 12:53 pm, October 10th, 2008 - 23 comments
I was going to write about the economic effects of taking money out of Kiwisaver and spending it on tax cuts but this youtube video with South Park characters does the job and is much more fun: (hattip: Labour’s ‘Campaign Trail‘ blog)
Right’s attack on free speech fails, again
Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, October 10th, 2008 - 56 comments
National activist and pornographer Cameron Slater took a complaint to the Electoral Commission against myself and others who took part in a satirical protest outside the National Party conference. He complained that we had breached s63 of the Electoral Finance Act by making unauthorised use of the National Party logo and s65 by not authorising […]
Johnnie’s choice
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 10th, 2008 - 17 comments
With the second English secret agenda tape out, John Key was asked whether he was worried about whether he had been caught on a tape. His answer: “oh, look, who knows” That’s a weak answer. A strong answer would be along the lines of ‘I’m not worried if there is a tape of me because […]
On ‘doing what it takes to win’
Written By: - Date published: 10:51 pm, October 9th, 2008 - 33 comments
As you know, the latest secret agenda tape has Bill English saying National will do what it needs to do to win, even if that goes against their stated principles. The obvious line from National, which their spin doctors will have been running to the press gallery, is ‘this is nothing, winning trumps principles, all […]
Standard Scoop: Key gives poor another booting
Written By: - Date published: 2:35 pm, October 9th, 2008 - 24 comments
No, I’m not talking about National’s tax cuts, which would hit the poorest Kiwis in the pocket – John Key doesn’t seem to be content at just that. We have received an exclusive audio recording of Mr Key’s performance at the Helensville debate on Monday. When housing was an all-important issue earlier this year Mr […]
Greens set their standards for coalition partners
Written By: - Date published: 11:34 am, October 9th, 2008 - 43 comments
The Greens have announced that they will choose their preferred coalition partner based on their commitment to 12 criteria. I’ll just look at 5 (not that the others are less important, just space): reduce New Zealand’s oil dependence and climate change emissions; – senior Nats don’t even think climate change is happening and the Party […]
Small change
Written By: - Date published: 1:32 am, October 9th, 2008 - 56 comments
That was going to be the title of my first post on National’s tax-cut plan but then it turned out National’s plan would actually make about 1 million taxpayers worse off compared to Labour’s cuts (all figures derived from the Budget and National’s tax policy). That 1 million comprises approx 650,000, including nearly all super-annuitants, […]
Reviews of Nats’ tax cut/Kiwisaver cut/R&D cut policy
Written By: - Date published: 7:27 pm, October 8th, 2008 - 37 comments
Just a quick note at the start for our press gallery friends who live in central Wellington on high incomes. 50% of New Zealanders have an income below $27,000 and 50% of workers earn less than $37,000 a year (all of which is heaps higher than it was under National). The point is this: National’s […]
Nats break into your piggy-bank
Written By: - Date published: 3:42 pm, October 8th, 2008 - 61 comments
John Key has announced that Kiwisaver would be slashed along with National’s tax cuts for the rich (and they are tax cuts for the rich, while most people would get less than under Labour’s plan, under National’s plan by 2011 around half a billion a year more than under Labour’s plan would be going to […]
No tax cut for most from Nats
Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, October 8th, 2008 - 91 comments
As predicted on The Standard, National has announced it would abolish the increases in the bottom threshold to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Here’s a break down of what would happen: April 1 2009: Lift 33 cent thresold from $40K to $48K, reduce 39 cent rate to 38 cents. April 1 2010: Lift […]
The test
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, October 8th, 2008 - 84 comments
After building a political career that has consisted of little more than calling for tax cuts and attacking those that were delivered, John Key will finally present his party’s tax cut package today. Already, they have had to reduce its size but they will still make it the central part of their mystical economic platform […]
Changing the subject
Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, October 7th, 2008 - 15 comments
Former National advisor Richard Long has let the cat out of the bag. The day before National’s much-hyped, cure-all tax cut package is to be announced, he is desperately trying to change the subject. National has nothing but tax cuts to offer, it has been their one consistent answer for every problem but, now, tax cuts are […]
Will Labour back $15 minimum wage?
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, October 7th, 2008 - 45 comments
The unions want the minimum wage lifted to $15 an hour, two thirds of the average hourly rate, restoring the historic ratio. The Greens, New Zealand First, The Progressives (I think), the Maori Party* and, oddly, the Kiwi Party are also calling for $15 an hour. Will Labour join them? Labour has an excellent record on the […]
Key still hopping on Hobsonville
Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, October 7th, 2008 - 22 comments
At the first Helensville candidates’ debate last night, John Key reversed his position on state housing once again. Despite using the years he lived in a state house as “a great marketing ploy”, Key called the plan to build state houses along with more up-market homes on the site of Hobsonville airbase “economic vandalism”. Then he […]
Spray and hope
Written By: - Date published: 9:19 pm, October 6th, 2008 - 27 comments
This is so funny. Click on image for full zoom.
The rainy day cometh
Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, October 6th, 2008 - 117 comments
The Pre-election Fiscal Update projects that gross debt will rise from 17.4% today to 24.3% of GDP in five years. Fortunately, we are facing these tough economic times starting from a solid position due the the Government’s policy of running surpluses and paying down debt, rather than slashing taxes. 24.3% debt is right at the […]
Spin-busting: Govt could have used surpluses for tax cuts
Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, October 6th, 2008 - 28 comments
With the economic situation deteriorating the surpluses the Government has run for the first eight years have turned to a deficit. National’s line now is that the Government ‘suquendered’ these surpluses when it could have been cutting taxes. As if when the Government runs a surplus it takes the extra money out and burns it. […]
Reverting to type
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, October 6th, 2008 - 48 comments
Fearing a PR disaster over their tax-cut package announcement later this week, National has reverted to type, shedding the moderate facade and proposing a good old fashioned ‘get tough’ crime policy. National would abolish parole for people convicted of murder who have previously been convicted of a serious violent crime. In the last six years, […]
Previewing the Prefu
Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, October 5th, 2008 - 9 comments
Tomorrow the government’s books will be opened up. It is not expected to be a pretty picture. Oil prices and the credit crunch have forced the economy into recession. The debt to GDP ratio will be higher than was modelled in the Budget for three reasons (at this point, I just want to remind our excitable righties that […]
Fighting the moral fight
Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, October 5th, 2008 - 34 comments
There are two core strains to left-wing thought. Both of them can be seen as rooted in the evolution of the scientific method during the 18th and 19th centuries, although the essential ideas, of course, existed long before. The first is liberalism. Liberalism holds that we must always keep an element of self-doubt and criticism […]
Drawing your attention
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, October 4th, 2008 - 18 comments
Malcolm Evans, award-winning former Herald cartoonist, is bloody good at what he does – insightful, well-drawn, concerned with the big issues, and always on the side of the underdog. His leftwing views made for a difficult relationship with the Herald’s editors. In 2005, they ‘accidentally’ published a cartoon in which he criticised the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The resulting uproar […]
The Standard Week: 26 September – 3 October
Written By: - Date published: 8:07 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 31 comments
So, there’s no articles on Key in this edition of the Standard Week. I know! Hardly believable. But there’s a reason for that. After his dodgy Tranzrail dealings came to light last week, Key has been trying to keep himself out of the media except for the most soft-news photo ops (item: ‘Key feels sorry for sick child’, item: […]
CTU on closing the wage gap
Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 4 comments
The Council of Trade Unions has done a lot of work on why wages are low for many workers in New Zealand and how they can be increased to close the wage gap with Australia. They offer six proposals: Increase the minimum wage to at least $15 per/hour We know from the painful experience of […]
Wage gap decreasing thanks to pro-worker policies
Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 36 comments
As The Standard first reported on April 1 and Radio New Zealand picked up today, Treasury figures show that the wage gap between Australia and New Zealand increased 50% under National in the 1990s and has decreased moderately under Labour since then. Now, a lot of our readers simply won’t want to believe that […]
Good on youse
Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, October 3rd, 2008 - 49 comments
Yesterday, I printed and cut 6500 A6 leaflets from the designs on the Campaign Hub and took them along to Drinking Liberally. They were all gone in minutes. The Right wins and keeps power by dis-empowering and disenfranchising, by taking away our voice. So, it was great to see so many people take it on themselves […]
How big is big enough?
Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, October 3rd, 2008 - 21 comments
The first round of the tax cuts that National derided as the ‘block of cheese’ tax cuts kicked in on Wednesday. Next week, National will show us how they would do better. How much on top of Labour’s cuts do you expect National to offer? Given National has guaranteed all major areas of spending except […]
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