class war

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Greens tackle child poverty

Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, August 4th, 2011 - 23 comments

The Greens have launched their policy to get 100,000 kids out of poverty. It’ll cost just 0.3% of GDP. We have a moral duty to do what we can to eliminate child poverty. Labour made a start. WFF basically ended working poverty. But there’s the kids of beneficiaries. 270,000 kids below the poverty line while the elite live in mansions. Not good enough.

Key’s own goal on poverty

Written By: - Date published: 6:09 am, August 3rd, 2011 - 56 comments

A bad mistake by John Key in the House yesterday. Phil Goff asked him about the gap between rich and poor. Key cited a new report on falling inequality. But he should have read the report properly. It credits Labour policies for driving down poverty and inequality.

All hail our vampire overlords

Written By: - Date published: 11:14 am, August 1st, 2011 - 96 comments

How did the wealth of the 151 richest people grow by 10% of GDP when the economy grew only 1.5%? Mostly by revaluing existing assets. Not a lot of ‘wealth creation’ from our self-appointed Randian Heroes, just book changes. But, apparently, we owe everything to the elite and need to let them suck up more of our wealth for themselves.

Breeding for a business?

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, August 1st, 2011 - 76 comments

A typical shock horror headline on Stuff in the weekend – “Pre-teens dream of kids and dole”.  So what’s going on here, and is it an argument for “welfare reform”?

All the World’s A Square

Written By: - Date published: 5:38 pm, July 31st, 2011 - 40 comments

Some inspiration as Monday morning looms.

Out of sight out of mind

Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, July 31st, 2011 - 49 comments

Many other countries have cleared beggars from the streets in advance of big international sporting events.  Such a thing would never be needed in New Zealand though.  Would it?

Indeed

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 pm, July 27th, 2011 - 74 comments

A classic from stuff:

Prime Minister John Key said the Government had had very little room to move on the economy.
”The public recognises that the rest of the world isn’t in great shape and so New Zealand is having to contend with that global environment,” he said.

Many a true word

Written By: - Date published: 1:12 pm, July 25th, 2011 - 18 comments

Bill Maher on taxes, the deficit, and why 49% of Americans are voting away their future.

The problem is not in the schools

Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, July 20th, 2011 - 90 comments

According to a recent report, disadvantaged NZ youth are at the “bottom of OECD league”.  The report recommends various interventions in schools.  The recommendations completely miss the point, because the problem is not in the schools, the problem is in society.

Inflation, growth, hard times

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, July 19th, 2011 - 30 comments

Back in October 2010 the Nats were quick to claim credit for low inflation.  No doubt they will be just as quick now to accept the blame for inflation at a 21 year high.

The straw that broke the Randian hero’s back?

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, July 18th, 2011 - 63 comments

I’ve been thinking about that lawyer Casey Plunket who threatened to leave for Australia over Labour restoring the 39% top tax rate at the stratospheric threshold of $150,000. It means a couple of thousand more tax for the wealthiest Kiwis. Would anyone really move countries over that? Do we need the kind of people that would?

The politics of greed

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, July 15th, 2011 - 84 comments

In response to Labour’s tax proposals the Right is trotting out their favourite mindless catch phrase – “the politics of envy”.  Should the Left fight fire with fire, and get stuck in to “the politics of greed”?

Another right whinger

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, July 6th, 2011 - 18 comments

There’s an odd contradiction in right-wing ‘thought’. On the one hand, they’re Randian heroes, the wealth creators, modern day Atlases who support the world while ‘parasites’ try to take their wealth and bring them down. On the other hand, they’re victims who need subsidies and special treatment. Fed Farmers CEO Conor English embodies the contradiction.

Squeezing the life out of the economy

Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, June 20th, 2011 - 41 comments

Are we “roaring out of recession”?  No.  Is there an “aggressive recovery”?  No.  What’s going wrong?  The problem is that the Nats are squeezing the life out of the economy.

Nats testing the waters on eugenics

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, June 7th, 2011 - 217 comments

John Key “thinks” that parents on the DPB are “breeding for a business”.  Now his government is testing the waters for a eugenics program, to single out these undesirables and forcibly control their fertility.

Time for a cross party consensus on crime

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, June 6th, 2011 - 68 comments

All of a sudden National and ACT are sounding vaguely sensible on crime and prisons.  There seems to be a golden opportunity to reach a cross party consensus, and get some evidence driven policy and practice in this area.  Who is going to make the first move?

Campbell on welfare reforms

Written By: - Date published: 2:54 pm, May 31st, 2011 - 61 comments

Good old fashioned benefit bashing.  Another electoral battle line has been drawn – arm yourself with the facts!

Simplest way to get 100K off the benefit

Written By: - Date published: 6:35 am, May 31st, 2011 - 87 comments

Elect a Labour-led government. Create 100K jobs.

Just like Ruth, Jim and Jenny

Written By: - Date published: 9:48 pm, May 30th, 2011 - 131 comments

Having wrecked the economy and put tens of thousands of workers on the dole queue John Key is now planning to give them another kick in the guts by cutting their benefits.

And of course that’ll help drive wages down too.

To anyone that lived through the 1990’s this bullshit should be very very familiar by now.

March against the budget cuts

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 27th, 2011 - 66 comments

A new organisation, the Coalition for Social Justice, is calling for a march in Auckland tomorrow.

CTU research on minimum wage

Written By: - Date published: 10:28 am, May 25th, 2011 - 24 comments

The response to two recent posts here at The Standard have shown what a contentious topic the minimum wage is.  So it’s timely that yesterday saw the release of the CTU’s summary of research on Minimum Wage and Jobs.

Choosing to be poor

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, May 24th, 2011 - 24 comments

Prominent  scientist Sir Paul Callaghan thinks Kiwis are choosing to be poor.  I reckon he’s right too, but we probably disagree about the reasons.

The lazy unemployed

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, May 23rd, 2011 - 22 comments

John Key reckons the unemployed need “a kick in the pants”.  Paula Bennett reckons the Nats’ harsh reforms mean that “the dream is over” for beneficiaries.  Meanwhile, back in the real world…

The borrow and hope budget

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 19th, 2011 - 108 comments

It’s only taken two and a half years of mismanagement and reckless tax cuts from to run the country  into a mountain of debt. How bad have they let things get, who will they make pay for their mistakes, and how rosy will the forecasts their plans hang on be? Rolling coverage through the day.

Updates: Plans for privatisation are set out.  Families hit harder than expected.

There Is An Alternative

Written By: - Date published: 7:18 am, May 16th, 2011 - 66 comments

The run up to the budget has all been about cuts.  How many?  How deep?  Like lemmings we’re accepting National’s framing, and marching even faster to our economic doom.  But, there is an alternative. Instead of slashing spending, we can raise government income. Here’s how.

Krugman: The unwisdom of elites

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, May 15th, 2011 - 19 comments

Paul Krugman on the real reasons for the economic carnage.  Not social spending policies, but the daft economic policies of the right-wing “policy elites”.  Our focus should not be on slashing spending, but on National’s stupid, unaffordable tax cuts.

TV3 on the cost of living

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, May 14th, 2011 - 43 comments

Over the coming week Campbell Live will be highlighting the rising cost of living, falling wages, life on the pension, and so on.  In short, exactly the sort of stuff which should be front and centre of any budget, and any election campaign.

The Dear John Letter

Written By: - Date published: 2:02 pm, May 13th, 2011 - 36 comments

This letter is getting more media attention than it deserves, because its basically Brash regurgitating his 2025 task force stuff.  Key and the Nats have, quite rightly, ignored it once, and they’ll ignore it this time too.

The Kiwisaver “employer contribution” scam

Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, May 12th, 2011 - 23 comments

The media is claiming Kiwisaver cuts will be offset by increased worker and employer contributions.

But because of a loophole in the scheme National created in 2009, employers can simply take their “contribution” out of their workers’ wages.

No wonder business lobby groups are unconcerned by the move.

Taking from Kiwisavers & giving to the rich

Written By: - Date published: 6:32 am, May 10th, 2011 - 81 comments

John Key has confirmed he intends to slash Kiwisaver to the bone by cutting the up to $1040 a year government contribution you get as a member. Of course, this is the savings budget according to National’s spin. They’re going to ‘encourage’ savings by taking that money from Kiwisaver and giving it to rich individual savers. It’s just more class war.

Beyond the welfare stereotypes

Written By: - Date published: 6:58 am, May 9th, 2011 - 124 comments

An Australian report sets out some common myths about beneficiaries, and the facts that disprove them.  I have no doubt that a similar pattern of unjustified myths would be found here.  Starting with our PM.