Comments on: Key to scrap research fund

By: National’s bad fortnight at thestandard.org.nz

National’s bad fortnight at thestandard.org.nz — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 01:17:25 +0000

[...] to universally acclaim, there was no slipperiness. Key adopted the unpopular position immediately; opposing the Fund. He then made some comments about the Fund getting the money from the Reserve Bank that [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:39:09 +0000

Mikw: 35% has not changed and will grow. It does not need much movement before the Nats knives will be out. Bill English is the only alternative, and with the moderating influence of Rich gone, the female vote will desert National in droves.Don’t be afraid Mike. New Zealand has improved over the last nine years when you look back on the likes of Richardson and Bradford.

By: the sprout

the sprout — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:45:39 +0000

it’s like deja vu all over again

By: Ari

Ari — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:39:53 +0000

Mike, Chris Trotter is biased in the direction of delusionality, and despite being pretty irredeemably leftist, I haven’t yet agreed with the general thrust of anything of his that I’ve bothered to read. Fortunately ideology is independent of separation from the real world, but that’s not going to prevent Trotter from having a punt at Phil Goff. And I agree that if the Labour Party didn’t have the most solid party leader in quite a while, he’d be a good candidate. But he’s not worth jettisoning Clark for.

TDS: John Key even points out in that interview his objection is more with Government policy than with actual public servants… which makes his speech about the excesses of the public service look loony.

And… he complains about the government giving figures on year 1-3 spending for its policy one day late when we don’t even have any National policy yet, let alone numbers for it… Is anyone getting a sense of deja vu?

By: the sprout

the sprout — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:31:34 +0000

i get the feeling Key’s having second thoughts about whether he actually wants the job.
can’t say i blame him.

By: randal

randal — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:19:00 +0000

in this mornings dompost on page A2 key reveals himself as bad tmepered, almost desperate…he is not going to win friends or an election this way.

By: Conor Roberts

Conor Roberts — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:18:22 +0000

Phil – even if it was $50 million a year – that’s more than the Marsden Fund. But it’s not $50million a year. It’s $2 billion over a decade after you take into account government and private contributions. And that is a fantastic investment in R&D in NZ.

By: all_your_base

all_your_base — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:17:20 +0000

TDS – look like Slippery John changing his mind again. Seems that he had sensibly reconsidered his initial refusal by the end of the day. Shame he still didn’t have his facts straight.

By: out of bed

out of bed — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:04:24 +0000

I hear Cullen’s name is being put forward by an increasing number of worried rightwing nutjobs

By: mike

mike — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:58:27 +0000

“What the polls don’t tell is Labour’s core support is rock solid”
Yes the smaller things get the more solid they appear Dan.
I hear Cullen’s name is being put forward by an increasing number of worried labour MPs.
Chris Trotter and other ‘biased media’ are still pushing Goff though….

By: Give credit where credits due « the Nicholas O’Kane blog

Give credit where credits due « the Nicholas O’Kane blog — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:44:58 +0000

[...] that have said so. Sadly National is not among them, and denounces the rick as a gimmick, and pledges to scrap the fund if elected. To be fair to National, they might have better ideas, and we haven’t seen their R&D [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:11:31 +0000

The red team’s leadership is fine. It is only the biased press that keeps knocking her leadership. She is the best we have had for generations. What the polls don’t tell is Labour’s core support is rock solid. It is the waverers who will eventually see through Key’s bluster and quietly move back, totally disallusioned in Key who promised much but to too many.
Labour is in the box seat.

By: Psycho Milt

Psycho Milt — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:07:22 +0000

While it’s better than nothing, its still much closer to “nothing’ than it is to “better’

Your point being that Key’s offer of “nothing” is a closer match to “better?” Serious logical flaw there, Phil.

By: randal

randal — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:56:46 +0000

bang goes his end of year bonus…

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:55:23 +0000

You’re missing a critical piece of the puzzle:

“over the next 15 years”

So, what we’re actually talking about is no more than $50mln a year on average over the next decade and a half. While it’s better than nothing, its still much closer to “nothing” than it is to “better”

When you add in the effect of inflation, and start to calculate the present value of these future payments, it works out at sweet F.A.

Add to that the fact we’ve got a whole raft of organisations who are going to be making pitches to get their hands on the cash, and you start to see an awful lot of people who heard “Ka-ching!” are going to be sorely disapointed

Captcha; “Scout party”
Time to start scouting the party for a new leader? Could be equally true for the red team and the blue team…