Author Archive

Scraping cents, but costing us dollars

Written By: - Date published: 2:11 pm, June 18th, 2012 - 86 comments

Another day another story of National scrimping short term savings that will cost us much more in the long run. This time, they’re scrapping free sex advice for teenagers. It’s almost like they want more youth on the DPB to give them a scapegoat to demonise…

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, June 17th, 2012 - 2 comments

I’m going to try and put up a piece each Sunday of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring). This week is quite an international edition: the situation in Tonga, China & the UK…

Trouble? No! Look at Nice Mr Key

Written By: - Date published: 4:05 pm, June 12th, 2012 - 26 comments

National have not had a great year, but the class size fiasco last week has raised the bar on their awful. Worse: the nice man Mr Shearer first raised their stupidity on class sizes, and their poll ratings have dropped noticeably. So it’s time to roll out their big gun again: a charm offensive from the nice man Mr Key.

Lifestyle “choices”

Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, June 6th, 2012 - 192 comments

Last year John Key said that the poor and those on benefits had made lifestyle choices.  If they budgeted properly, they’d be fine. Things aren’t fine, and they’re getting worse, which is why a 40-yr-old DPB Mum in Christchurch – facing an $80/week rent increase, because Key hasn’t done anything about Christchurch’s housing shortage – has had to resort to the lifestyle “choice” of prostitution.

Coward

Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, June 6th, 2012 - 79 comments

Hekia Parata has refused to front up to education groups against her bigger class sizes.

Sunday reading

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, June 3rd, 2012 - 12 comments

Last week I put up some Sunday reading – longer, thoughtful pieces I’d found.  I liked that other people also put up their links, with some very interesting topics.  So I thought I might make it a regular feature.  I’d put up a couple of interesting things that I’d come across in the week, and other people could share their links.

Retail Deposit Guarantee: When’s the enquiry?

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, June 1st, 2012 - 14 comments

Labour are pushing for an enquiry into how Treasury oversight of the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme was so poor that it has cost us hundreds of millions of dollars. Bill English can’t be allowed to hide this under the plus Treasury carpet, so his lack of oversight of Treasury isn’t shown up.

Sunday reading

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, May 27th, 2012 - 8 comments

A couple of good BBC articles: what have the Romans done for us? and can we have a society that doesn’t depend on us becoming ill with our fatness? And Kim Hill’s excellent interviewee Steve Keen.

Budget nasties

Written By: - Date published: 8:27 pm, May 25th, 2012 - 37 comments

This afternoon a couple of ‘hidden treasures’ have come out of the budget. In changes not announced, but discovered 1122 teachers could be losing their jobs and changes are being made to the assets old people are allowed to keep once in residential care. Sneaky, Bill, sneaky…

National’s budget priorities: Roads to Nowhere

Written By: - Date published: 1:58 pm, May 25th, 2012 - 4 comments

The 3 most expensive items in the Budget: 1. $10.24 billion: Superannuation, 2. $3.69 billion: Debt Servicing, 3. $3.32 billion: National Land Transport Agency (Roads of National Signficance etc) – up $334 million. National are prepared to sack teachers, raise prescription costs and pick paperboy’s pockets to defend their roads that make no economic sense.

RWC Tickets

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 pm, May 23rd, 2012 - 32 comments

So Key is ‘surprised’ that David Shearer, the local member for Eden Park, accepted tickets to a local game, and doesn’t feel beholden to corporate interests?  He can accept hospitality and still criticise a company is somehow shocking?  I think this tells us more about John, than it surprises the rest of us about David…

Stealth taxes

Written By: - Date published: 4:34 pm, May 23rd, 2012 - 8 comments

Bill English has introduced a number of stealth taxes over his time in office, to partly balance the loss his tax cuts for the rich has generated. The latest in this budget will be prescription costs and raising the price of Early Childhood Education (again).  We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if […]

A good move

Written By: - Date published: 3:40 pm, May 22nd, 2012 - 16 comments

The government has correctly bowed to pressure and banned foreign-flagged fishing boats from operating in our waters.
We don’t have too many posts praising this government, and to have 2 today may surprise some. But credit where it’s due.

Poor people NIMBY

Written By: - Date published: 5:27 pm, May 17th, 2012 - 41 comments

John Key is doing his best to keep poor people from coming to his electorate. Whilst it’s not like he visits there often himself, he’s still aiming to keep poor people committing the “economic vandalism” of living in a nice suburb – where apparently only the rich should reside.

Green and you have kids? Really?

Written By: - Date published: 2:08 pm, May 10th, 2012 - 73 comments

Here’s a quick way to reduce your carbon footprint: don’t have kids and save 80 years worth of human greenhouse gas output per child… This is my Voluntary Human Extinction Movement post.

Austerity = low tax take “surprise”

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, May 9th, 2012 - 37 comments

The government has a $1.8 billion income shortfall. But it’s alright, it’s not their fault… Their policies don’t affect the economy. Unless they need to take credit. 6.7% unemployment? Nothing to do with us, and nothing to do with our tax shortfall…

Birth Control

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 pm, May 8th, 2012 - 83 comments

At first glance it seems strange to have Sue Bradford, a former Green MP, against what is a very ‘green’ policy – free contraception. But she has a point when she talks about beneficiaries feeling forced into sterility they don’t want. Meanwhile, what’s with the right’s obsession with targeting women having babies while on a benefit?

1000 more jobless each week

Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, May 3rd, 2012 - 28 comments

The unemployment rate has jumped to 6.7%, as National delivered only 20,000 of the 36,000 jobs promised last budget. Last quarter there were 12,000 more jobless.

Where’s our recovery John?  Have you sold that off too?

Into Black-Scholes: where all the money went

Written By: - Date published: 11:14 am, May 2nd, 2012 - 15 comments

A very interesting article on the BBC – the financial formula that ruined the world. Well, that’s a bit sensationalist, but it’s a formula that allowed intuition to be taken out of “options” trading and computers to move in.  And with the “understanding” of the maths of futures there was a move into more and […]

Wages rise faster than inflation!

Written By: - Date published: 7:27 am, May 2nd, 2012 - 26 comments

For the first time under this National government, average wages and salaries actually rose (2%) faster than inflation (1.6%), so in the last year people are ever so slightly better off – I think congratulations are in order!

Join the Hikoi!

Written By: - Date published: 12:57 pm, April 19th, 2012 - 5 comments

Join the Hikoi against Asset Sales, 24 April – 4 May. If you’re anywhere near Auckland on Saturday 28 April, be at Britomart 3pm to send a message against this Government’s Asset Sales.

Europe to reject ACTA?

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, April 18th, 2012 - 5 comments

Despite 22 member states signing the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement, the EU’s parliament is looking like it might reject the treaty on the grounds of it curtailing civil liberties. The EU’s first rapporteur MP on the treaty resigned in protest at the plans.  The second has now reported back: “The intended benefits of this international agreement are far outweighed by the potential threats to civil liberties.”

Pulitzer Prize winning…

Written By: - Date published: 3:17 pm, April 17th, 2012 - 11 comments

Are we this racist?

Written By: - Date published: 5:14 pm, April 16th, 2012 - 276 comments

A day after a Sunday Star Times piece about how racism is getting worse in New Zealand comes the apparent proof.

Employers back Paid Parental

Written By: - Date published: 12:36 pm, April 13th, 2012 - 43 comments

When even your friends are telling you you’ve got it wrong, it’s time to reconsider. So Bill: the Employers Union (EMA) and Family First want Paid Parental leave. It’s not too expensive, it’s back by all childcare experts, and the cost is even delayed. Just do it.

Paid Parental

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, April 10th, 2012 - 133 comments

Sue Moroney’s 6 months of Paid Parental Bill looks like being a second Labour private member’s bill that will proceed against National’s wishes.

How wealthy do you feel?

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, April 9th, 2012 - 112 comments

If everyone earned the same amount (including babies) across the entire world, we’d each get about $USD10,000 each.  So a family of four anywhere in the world would get about $NZD49,000.  That figure makes world poverty pretty hard to stomach.  It’s not that there’s not enough in this world – only that some people haven’t learnt to share.

Bernard Hickey – Ouch!

Written By: - Date published: 6:34 am, April 2nd, 2012 - 273 comments

Bernard Hickey has a great piece in the Herald on Sunday that you shouldn’t miss.

Suing the taxpayer

Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, March 30th, 2012 - 42 comments

Judith Collins is suing Radio NZ for airing 2 Labour MPs defamation. The taxpayer will be paying her costs, Radio NZ’s costs and the court costs. Oh, and should Collins win? The taxpayer will pay any settlement…

Blinglish’s Treasury not so hot

Written By: - Date published: 4:16 pm, March 29th, 2012 - 12 comments

Bill English and Treasury adopted a “see no evil, hear no evil” approach to the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme. And it’s cost us $2 billion. The Deputy Auditor General has delivered a damning report on a ministry used to judging others, not suffering any oversight itself…

Back to fluff

Written By: - Date published: 4:56 pm, March 26th, 2012 - 13 comments

It appears there is something irresistible about travelling with the PM. While the fact that only 2 news organisations can send a journalist to cover our leader’s involvement in a 54 nation conference is disappointing, so is the fact that being part of that cosy group travelling with JK makes everyone a bit too matey.