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More Armstrong bullshit

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 5:38 pm, September 10th, 2011 - 67 comments

John Armstrong wants Labour to come out radically different after the Cup. Having refused to cover Labour’s skills package or its mining policy, he’s suddenly interested in policy. He wants Labour to suddenly adopt league tables and forget the 39% tax rate. Armstrong genuinely doesn’t seem to get it. Parties of the Left don’t pick and swap policies on a whim.

Wishing Chris Carter well

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 2:30 pm, September 8th, 2011 - 23 comments

Chris Carter’s egocentric valedictory earlier this week didn’t exactly cover him in glory. Whether it should ever have gotten to this point is another matter. It’s interesting to review the evolving views of Standard authors on the issue. Did Carter do this to himself or did mismanagement from the leadership escalate the situation?This guest post takes the second view.

Hold the front page!

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:29 am, September 3rd, 2011 - 48 comments

Remember those thundering editorials and opinion pieces chastising Labour for focusing on trivia instead of the substantive issues?

Earning or learning

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:33 pm, September 1st, 2011 - 92 comments

This afternoon Labour released a substantial policy package targeting youth unemployment. Once again the public is being offered a choice between Labour’s realistic response to a significant problem, and more do-nothing smile and wave.

Turning Green

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:40 am, August 31st, 2011 - 49 comments

Tracy Watkins admits today’s Fairfax poll is pretty out of whack but there’s no denying the trend has turned against Labour in the past few months. People back the policy. That’s not the problem. Labour will still be hoping to close up 5% or so in the campaign. On the positive side: what a result for the Greens!

Quake costs blowout

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:27 pm, August 30th, 2011 - 51 comments

The estimate of the liability for costs of the Christchurch quakes has just been more than doubled. Thank goodness or the foresight of the first Labour government who set up the EQC in 1947.

Substance vs style

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:32 am, August 24th, 2011 - 75 comments

A couple of polls have now confirmed that on key issues voters prefer Labour policy over National. When push comes to shove in November, will Kiwis vote for the style that they like, or the substance that they want?

Sepuloni on why voting matters

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:44 pm, August 23rd, 2011 - 33 comments

Pull your head in, Curran

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:47 am, August 23rd, 2011 - 109 comments

90% of Labour’s MPs are hardworking, principled, and bloody good at what they do. Cunliffe, Fenton, Parker, Nash, Moroney, Ardern, King, O’Connor, Shearer, Twyford, Davis, Mahuta. The list goes on. It’s the quality of these people and what they believe in that makes me support Labour. A pity, then, that loudmouths like Clare Curran taint their public image.

Only 56%?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:45 am, August 23rd, 2011 - 55 comments

According to one poll 56 percent of Labour voters say Labour won’t win. Good on them I say.

Labour’s awesome mining policy

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 11:48 am, August 22nd, 2011 - 43 comments

Pike River had lax safety systems. Profits came first. The workforce was highly casualised to weaken the bargaining power of the union. The boss, Peter Whittall, will end up getting the blame. Labour says it will restore miners’ power over their safety by bringing back check inspectors. It’s now up to the Nats to explain why they won’t.

Getting to know Goff 2

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:55 pm, August 20th, 2011 - 15 comments

Today Part 2 of The Herald’s profile of Phil Goff is out, and once again it’s a very interesting read. It debunks some of the spin surrounding Goff’s ideology and the Lange / Douglas government.

Getting to know Goff

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 2:06 pm, August 13th, 2011 - 115 comments

A few weeks back, I wrote that Labour’s policies are popular but it hasn’t secured the trust it needs to sway swing voters, partly people don’t feel they really know Phil Goff. Today’s Herald piece, reminiscent of one on Key in 2008 (except we get a lot more of the substance of Goff, not just carefully targeted anecdotes), should go a long way to fixing that.

Key’s own goal on poverty

Written By: Eddie - 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.

Reconnecting with voters

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:51 am, July 30th, 2011 - 167 comments

On paper Labour is doing everything right, but they are not yet getting traction in the polls. Labour needs to get voters’ attention again, and then their trust. So how to “reconnect with the public”? What should Labour be doing differently?

Polls and policies

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:30 am, July 28th, 2011 - 160 comments

Much ado in the commentariat about the latest Farifax poll, another poor result for Labour. But some of these commentators could do to brush up on their history…

Who grows better? Labour or National?

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 12:05 pm, July 22nd, 2011 - 89 comments

Under the last Labour-led government the GDP per capita rose 15.6%. Under John Key’s National, it has fallen 1.9%. ‘Ah but Labour was just lucky and Key has just been unlucky’, say the righties. The data, however, shows conclusively which party has the best record on growth.

Bad poll but not for CGT

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:29 am, July 18th, 2011 - 138 comments

The latest ONE News / Colmar Brunton poll is bad for Labour, and not great for the Left. But it isn’t a verdict on Labour’s CGT proposal – the polling period finished before the policy was announced.

Apparently the undecided in this poll was 14%. I wonder why that was missed out of the reporting?

More dodgy Nat numbers

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 10:23 pm, July 17th, 2011 - 102 comments

The Nats can’t tell us how much their asset sales policy will cost in lost dividends and sales costs, yet they’ve magicked up some numbers with all kinds of dodgy assumptions that supposedly show Labour’s tax package doesn’t add up. Well, I suppose they would know something about borrowing for tax cuts but their attacks on Labour aren’t credible.

Were NACTs planning CGT themselves?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 4:15 pm, July 16th, 2011 - 113 comments

After two weeks of contradictory, panicked lines from National, the Right’s official critique of Labour’s CGT is “it’s a hodge-podge”. The Right, including Bill English and Don Brash, aren’t saying CGT is bad, they’re saying Labour’s CGT isn’t comprehensive enough. Why, then, don’t they campaign on a more comprehensive one? Maybe they were going to.

Reaction to Labour tax package

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:32 am, July 15th, 2011 - 179 comments

The media have provided us with five people examples of people who will be affected in different ways by Labour’s tax package. Ordinary families win big and they know it. The vested interests moan and reveal the pure greed that underlies their worldview. Frankly, I think Labour will win support due to both who supports and who opposes its tax policy.

Labour tax announcement coverage

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:25 pm, July 14th, 2011 - 139 comments

Voters will see Labour oppositions on both sides of the world in a completely new light after this week. Phil Goff and Ed Miliband both took the bold step of taking on hitherto untouchable third-rail issues; capital gains tax in New Zealand and Rupert Murdoch’s pernicious monopoly media influence in England. Both leaders have turned the political landscape upside down and given voters a clear choice between the interests of the many and of the few. Go here for all the details. New Zealand is not for sale – game on for November!

Economic Management

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 11:30 am, July 13th, 2011 - 34 comments

We can expect a lot of economic rhetoric in the lead up to November from our political leaders. What does history suggest with respect to two key economic indicators: production and employment?

Key walks into Labour’s CGT trap

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:33 am, July 8th, 2011 - 66 comments

It has been a rare and sincere pleasure to see National walk straight into a trap carefully laid by Labour. Goff and his team haven’t even publicly confirmed their capital gains tax policy but proponents to the Left and Right are winning the pre-launch media framing for them, while Key’s contradictory ranting is undermining his credibility.

An outside view on CGT

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:03 am, July 8th, 2011 - 78 comments

Yesterday’s Morning Report interview with Sydney Morning Herald economics correspondent Peter Martin was a real gem. The picture of capital gains tax that emerges is one of simplicity, fairness, and closing loopholes. No wonder the Nats hate it.

Owning the agenda

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:03 am, July 7th, 2011 - 153 comments

Labour have started setting out a bold, fair and plausible policy framework for the election. Rumours of their tax policy have generated more interest and excitement than anything the National government has done in the last three wasted years.

Te Tai Tokerau final results good for Labour

Written By: lprent - Date published: 2:10 pm, July 6th, 2011 - 23 comments

The 1,916 special votes got pared to 769. Of which Hone Harawira got 454 and Kelvin Davis got 204. There really isn’t anything in it with a by-election majority of 1117. It will make this a tight contest at election time because Labour will now view this electorate as being quite winnable. IMHO as an long time electorate campaigner, some of the Mana supporters have been over-blowing their result.

Ever wondered..?

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 1:17 pm, July 6th, 2011 - 10 comments

What keeps John Key & Bill English too busy to comment on their own government’s dismal performance, but not so busy that they can’t comment on absolutely anything to do with Labour?

Labour capital gains tax rumours

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 6:06 am, July 6th, 2011 - 330 comments

The buzz around the traps is that Labour will be announcing a capital gains tax next week. The journos are already calling it a bold move and John Key is ranting hysterically. That Labour’s winning the media battle is great but, more importantly, this is a much needed policy: it is fair, it is good for the economy, and it will pay for good policies.

Happy Birthday KiwiSaver

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 7:07 am, July 4th, 2011 - 2 comments

John Key’s government celebrated KiwiSaver’s 4th birthday on July 1 with cuts to your entitlements. (Zet mentioned this here, but this is my take…)

Herald shows gap narrowing

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:05 pm, July 1st, 2011 - 58 comments

The latest Herald poll shows Labour + Greens at 42.7%, with National + ACT at 53.1% – the gap is down to 10.4% from 16.9% in May. That confirms the trend we’re seeing in the Roy Morgans as well. Interesting to note that the gap is 17% this point before the last election. Continued progress and focus on the big issues will see victory for the Left.