Archive for February, 2010
Economically incompetent ACE cuts
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, February 13th, 2010 - 35 comments
National love to tell us what we want to hear. Among their many pre-election policy lies they waxed lyrical about the value of education, before effectively cutting funding in the budget. On Adult and Community Education (ACE), Bill English was particularly supportive…
No love for workers, no quarter from National
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, February 13th, 2010 - 13 comments
Protests are taking place around the country today against the National Government’s miserable 25 cent increase to the minimum wage.
A fair tax
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, February 13th, 2010 - 38 comments
Click through for today’s Tom Scott cartoon.
He hits the nail on the head.
Putting up GST hits the poor the hardest.
For Kiwis who are barely scrapping by every cent counts.
Open mike 13/02/2010
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 13th, 2010 - 38 comments
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Logorama
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, February 12th, 2010 - 10 comments
Update: Link’s dead but I found this trailer on youtube
I won’t raise GST
Written By: - Date published: 1:05 pm, February 12th, 2010 - 5 comments
This is pretty classic. Found it on one of The Standard’s old posts. I think we’ll be seeing a bit more of this image around.
No help for the invisible
Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, February 12th, 2010 - 5 comments
Relating to what I wrote yesterday about the Right and much of the media being largely blind to the existence of those of us on low and middle incomes, here’s an interesting piece from the New York Times: The folks in the upper-income group are not suffering much, if at all, from the profound reversals […]
John remembers his underclass, briefly
Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, February 12th, 2010 - 15 comments
The other day I wrote: I reckon we probably will see a passing reference to the ‘underclass’ for appearance’s sake [in John Key’s statement to Parliament] but I’m just as sure that his government will continue to fail the most vulnerable members of our society. Well whatdaya know? There it is: I have said it […]
Evidence on drugs ignored
Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, February 12th, 2010 - 21 comments
Minister of Justice Simon Power has unfortunately decided to completely ignore recommendations made by the Law Commission on drug reform. This is an unfortunate missed opportunity. I absolutely agree with David Farrar who says: Simon Power must have a very sore kneecap after what was an un-necessary kneejerk rejection of pretty much everything in the […]
GST is not a tax – suck it up
Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, February 12th, 2010 - 24 comments
The best political commentary these days doesn’t come from the political journalists. As Zetetic shows, they have turned themselves into government minders. But there are others who tell it like it is. Such as Karlo Mila in today’s DomPost. The article was headed up “If you could just suck it up, that would be nice.” […]
Nats & Maori Party headed for foreshore & seabed showdown
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, February 12th, 2010 - 25 comments
It turns out that the silly ‘no-one owns it’ option for the foreshore and seabed is John Key’s ‘elegant solution’. Here he is defending the proposal: “It is a concept where you don’t get into the emotional debate of ownership. Now it sounds a bit foreign when you think about it, but no-one owns the air, […]
The pipsqueak attacks the Waitakeres
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, February 12th, 2010 - 21 comments
This is a fast way to get my blood boiling. Rodney Hide as minister of local government has removed protection from the Waitakere ranges. It is time to make the Act party extinct rather than merely being on the endangered species list. The Waitakere ranges are the only readily accessible tramping around Auckland. Virtually every […]
Learning from example
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, February 12th, 2010 - 12 comments
In chronological order: John Key: “[I never promised I wouldn’t raise GST]. I said I would not raise GST to cover deficits, and we are not doing so.” Guyon Espiner: “he would have been better of just saying ‘look, times have changed and GST is now back on the agenda’” Duncan Garner: “The Prime Minister […]
The lie behind the Right’s attack on wages
Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, February 12th, 2010 - 35 comments
Paying a person doing the same work as another person less money because of their sex or religion or ethnicity or any other grounds prohibited under the Human Rights Act is illegal and abhorrent. Yet, the Right wants to do just that with a private member’s bill from Roger Douglas reintroducing a lower minimum wage for 16 and […]
Open mike 12/02/2010
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 12th, 2010 - 26 comments
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Campaign for a living wage
Written By: - Date published: 7:37 pm, February 11th, 2010 - 13 comments
Campaign for a living wage is protesting the offices of National MPs this Saturday to protest increases in GST and the miserly increase in the minimum wage. The protest is part of Unite union’s campaign to force a referendum on raising the minimum wage to $15. At the moment they have 100,000 signatures but need […]
Trivia: the milk bottle mystery
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 pm, February 11th, 2010 - 63 comments
Enough of all of this politics. Lets look at something that is more mysterious than the hole that John Key is digging for his political future. Why in the hell is “milk bottle” one of the most frequent search terms for this site? Looking at the search queries that have resulted in a click through […]
Nats eyeing up youth minimum wage?
Written By: - Date published: 4:29 pm, February 11th, 2010 - 38 comments
Over the last month or so National’s pollster David Farrar has been running a series of posts desperately trying to pin the spike in youth unemployment under National to Labour’s decision to abolish youth rates. I’d been wondering why the obsession with youth rates until I saw this exchange between Roger Douglas and Kate Wilkinson […]
South Africa honours Nelson Mandela’s walk to freedom
Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, February 11th, 2010 - 7 comments
Twenty years ago, on 11 February 1990, after 27 years of incarceration, Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison on a hot Sunday afternoon. And history changed.
Gerry’s gift to future generations
Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, February 11th, 2010 - 38 comments
The beleaguered PM
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, February 11th, 2010 - 60 comments
My my, things are turning quickly for John Key. We now have the first sighting of the red flag term “the beleaguered PM” in the mainstream media. Recall that in 2008 Key promised not to increase GST, and now he is proposing to do exactly that. 3 News (Duncan Garner) summed up: So Mr Key […]
Nats need to follow Labour’s lead on GST
Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, February 11th, 2010 - 9 comments
“Last GST hike had little impact, say tax experts” – Herald The article is about inflation but it is also true of growth. There is no evidence that increasing GST from 10% to 12.5% and cutting income taxes boosted growth. In fact, the country entered a long period of stagnation and recession. And why would […]
Quick comments
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, February 11th, 2010 - 18 comments
The Government and the secretive Iwi Leadership Group are looking at an option where no-one owns the foreshore and seabed. It’s often forgotten that the Ngati Apa case, which sparked the foreshore and seabed, contraversy was about big business. Ngati Apa wanted to have title over the seabed so it could undertake aquaculture, bypassing a […]
Jeanette Fitzsimons’ valedictory
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, February 11th, 2010 - 26 comments
As I have mentioned before, Jeanette Fitzsimons is one of the very few members of parliament for whom I have the utmost respect. Yesterday she gave her valedictory speech, and showed us yet again what sanity, vision and compassion looks like. The core of the speech was this powerful message: Yet I have to say, […]
Maori Party/Nat breakup over GST?
Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, February 11th, 2010 - 40 comments
Yesterday, Rahui Katene said the Maori Party could walk away from National if they didn’t adequately compensate low and middle income people for increasing GST. Do you think it will happen? No way. Do you Tariana Turia is going to give up her Crown car and the other baubles of office? Probably end up voting in favour […]
Trouble brewing for govt on GST
Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, February 11th, 2010 - 3 comments
“An unscientific poll yesterday of 846 readers asking whether they would be happy to pay more GST if it meant they paid less income tax found 46.9 per cent in favour, 43.9 per cent opposed and about 8 per cent undecided.” – Stuff “Unscientific poll” I take to mean one of their online polls, and […]
The Right’s blindness towards middle New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, February 11th, 2010 - 100 comments
I find it frustrating that the debate over tax concerntrates on the top rate rate, which doesn’t apply to 90% of taxpayers. It’s as if the Right, and many in the media, are either blind to the existance of people on normal incomes or severely underestimate their number. John Key, of course, is the worst. […]
Open mike 11/02/2010
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 11th, 2010 - 42 comments
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
No plan to get Kiwis into work
Written By: - Date published: 3:02 pm, February 10th, 2010 - 64 comments
Number of jobless Kiwis = 276,000 Number of jobs plans from Key Government = 0 Key can make all the vague references to faster growth and better economic performance that he likes but while the potential and skill of over a quarter of a million Kiwis is being wasted it will never happen. Getting people […]
Liar, liar, pants on fire
Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, February 10th, 2010 - 75 comments
Apparently promises made before the election don’t count. GST was different then anyway.
Destroying our heritage
Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, February 10th, 2010 - 84 comments
John Key is hell bent on carving up our most pristine National Parks for mining. No matter what. The areas most at risk are Kahurangi and Coromandel (rumour has it that Aspiring is a decoy to soften the blow). Well, these are amazing areas that do not derserve to be destroyed at the whims of […]
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- ‘Grossly misleading to me and to the country’: the Lange-Douglas letters, unearthed
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- How many goddamn words should I be saying to my baby?
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- Remembering Young George, the barber who cut Auckland’s hair forever
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- Newsroom daily quiz, Saturday 4 January
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Saturday 4 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 days ago
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- Dame Tariana Turia has died
The former politician suffered a stroke earlier this week. ...7 days ago
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