national
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- same old national (1,617)
Reviews of Nats’ tax cut/Kiwisaver cut/R&D cut policy
Written By: - Date published: 7:27 pm, October 8th, 2008 - 37 comments
Just a quick note at the start for our press gallery friends who live in central Wellington on high incomes. 50% of New Zealanders have an income below $27,000 and 50% of workers earn less than $37,000 a year (all of which is heaps higher than it was under National). The point is this: National’s […]
Nats break into your piggy-bank
Written By: - Date published: 3:42 pm, October 8th, 2008 - 61 comments
John Key has announced that Kiwisaver would be slashed along with National’s tax cuts for the rich (and they are tax cuts for the rich, while most people would get less than under Labour’s plan, under National’s plan by 2011 around half a billion a year more than under Labour’s plan would be going to […]
No tax cut for most from Nats
Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, October 8th, 2008 - 91 comments
As predicted on The Standard, National has announced it would abolish the increases in the bottom threshold to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Here’s a break down of what would happen: April 1 2009: Lift 33 cent thresold from $40K to $48K, reduce 39 cent rate to 38 cents. April 1 2010: Lift […]
Tax cuts for the rich
Written By: - Date published: 1:12 pm, October 8th, 2008 - 29 comments
National has released its tax policy. At first glance it appears the top rate will be reduced to 37% by 2011, giving the rich thousands of dollars in tax cuts. People earning $24-50k who aren’t getting Working for Families will get $15 a week rebate by 2011. Working families will basically get nothing, except for […]
The test
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, October 8th, 2008 - 84 comments
After building a political career that has consisted of little more than calling for tax cuts and attacking those that were delivered, John Key will finally present his party’s tax cut package today. Already, they have had to reduce its size but they will still make it the central part of their mystical economic platform […]
Power to attack Nats’ new prison policy?
Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, October 7th, 2008 - 30 comments
If he stands true to his principles, National justice spokesman Simon Power will soon be criticising the cost of their proposed new prison. You’ll note in this story that National proposes to build a prison (for their new reactionary justice policy) at a cost of $314 million. That is $548,951 per bed. Or not far […]
Changing the subject
Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, October 7th, 2008 - 15 comments
Former National advisor Richard Long has let the cat out of the bag. The day before National’s much-hyped, cure-all tax cut package is to be announced, he is desperately trying to change the subject. National has nothing but tax cuts to offer, it has been their one consistent answer for every problem but, now, tax cuts are […]
Will Labour back $15 minimum wage?
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, October 7th, 2008 - 45 comments
The unions want the minimum wage lifted to $15 an hour, two thirds of the average hourly rate, restoring the historic ratio. The Greens, New Zealand First, The Progressives (I think), the Maori Party* and, oddly, the Kiwi Party are also calling for $15 an hour. Will Labour join them? Labour has an excellent record on the […]
Spin-busting: Govt could have used surpluses for tax cuts
Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, October 6th, 2008 - 28 comments
With the economic situation deteriorating the surpluses the Government has run for the first eight years have turned to a deficit. National’s line now is that the Government ‘suquendered’ these surpluses when it could have been cutting taxes. As if when the Government runs a surplus it takes the extra money out and burns it. […]
Reverting to type
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, October 6th, 2008 - 48 comments
Fearing a PR disaster over their tax-cut package announcement later this week, National has reverted to type, shedding the moderate facade and proposing a good old fashioned ‘get tough’ crime policy. National would abolish parole for people convicted of murder who have previously been convicted of a serious violent crime. In the last six years, […]
Depressing
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, October 6th, 2008 - 29 comments
I see National has released a knee-jerk reactionary crime policy this morning, and it’s been reported largely uncritically by a news media that’s made a fortune fostering public fear of crime at a time when crime rates are falling and resolution rates are on the rise. It’s frankly depressing that our level of public debate […]
Wage gap decreasing thanks to pro-worker policies
Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 36 comments
As The Standard first reported on April 1 and Radio New Zealand picked up today, Treasury figures show that the wage gap between Australia and New Zealand increased 50% under National in the 1990s and has decreased moderately under Labour since then. Now, a lot of our readers simply won’t want to believe that […]
Rhetoric vs reality
Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, October 2nd, 2008 - 25 comments
With expectations about National’s tax cuts justifably very high (thanks to National talking them up for nine years), National is suddenly trying to change course. John Key, who has promoted tax cuts as the solution to doctors’ strikes, the wage gap, and petrol prices along with every other issue facing this country, is now saying […]
Great expectations
Written By: - Date published: 1:54 pm, October 1st, 2008 - 25 comments
John Key is being pretty evasive on his tax cut plan. He won’t say whether the famous ‘$50 a week for the average worker’ (note that’s not every worker, your income has to be $47K plus) is additional to Labour’s cuts, the first round of which came into effect today. Given the evasiveness, it’s safe to […]
National lies, again
Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, October 1st, 2008 - 69 comments
National just can’t stop lying. We’ve covered National’s lies on wages and migration in the past and our last two posts have debunked National’s lies on crime, the economy, compliance costs, corruption, press freedom and, well, just about everything. Now they’ve resorted to repeating David Farrar’s discredited lies by deliberately misquoting Helen Clark on tax. […]
Nats’ ‘NZ sucks’ campaign vs the facts
Written By: - Date published: 1:45 am, October 1st, 2008 - 69 comments
08wire produces some of the most well-thought out and best argued pieces on the blogosphere, as well as great videos. Well, I know what to do when I see gold – thief it. From 08wires’ post, here’s a table of arguments that comprise National’s ‘New Zealand sucks’ campaign and how they stack up against the facts: (sources) I […]
Between the lines: Nats’ RMA free-for-all
Written By: - Date published: 4:55 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 24 comments
The RMA is a quick and cheap process in the vast majority of cases, and it is regarded as a world-leading piece of legislation. Few consent applications are refused or appealed. Reforms of the RMA over the years have made it more efficient. The studies show that the delays that do happen in consents being […]
Nats: Pay cuts for you, tax cuts for the rich
Written By: - Date published: 3:07 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 15 comments
Bill English has put out a press release whingeing about Helen Clark’s promise to lift wages for low-paid school support staff, and fearmongering that it might mean Michael Cullen will cancel his tax cuts. Presumably, English’s statement means National would cancel the planned pay increase to help fund its tax cuts for the rich. These […]
When did lying become OK?
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 43 comments
On Breakfast this morning, failed National party candidate Paul Henry and Guyon Espiner discussed the possibility of the Maori Party and National working together in a government. Henry: Do you get the feeling National would do anything for power, they would cut almost any deal at all with the Maori Party to get in? Espiner: […]
The Kingmaker but only one potential King
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, September 30th, 2008 - 51 comments
Let’s get serious about the idea of the Maori Party working with National. Yes, they want to play up the possibility to enhance their bargaining position, just as the Greens were last month, but it’s not going to happen. National and the Maori Party voted together in only a third of votes in the last […]
Still nothing personal
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, September 29th, 2008 - 15 comments
National desperately wants to portray any criticism of John Key as a personal attack. Don’t be taken in. Look, PM is a powerful job. We need to have a thorough examination of anyone contesting for that role. As I’ve always said there are three legitimate questions that need to be answered what are their policies? […]
Attack on democracy
Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 53 comments
National have quietly released their policy on electoral law and have promised to abolish the Maori seats once treaty claims are finished, repeal the Electoral Finance Act and run a referendum on MMP. These all represent substantial changes to the way our democracy operates. I’ll be very interested to see what the Maori Party make […]
Nats desperate to silence grassroots activists
Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 33 comments
An email from a reader: “A friend and I were putting up some Vote with Both Eyes Open posters on Lambton Quay the other night. We had just put some up around the intersection by Parliament and crossed the road when a senior National advisor came up to us with one of our recently pasted banners […]
Nats’ ‘NZ sucks’ campaign continues
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, September 26th, 2008 - 39 comments
I remember the first time I met Simon Power, when he had just come into Parliament. He struck me as a man who would be a future leader of National and an excellent one at that – articulate, informed, and moderate. Oh, what he has let himself become over 9 years in opposition – just […]
What a shame
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, September 25th, 2008 - 58 comments
Bob Clarkson chose not to speak during his valedictory speech. Instead, he just held up a sign saying ‘bye bye’ (in the same font as Peter’s famous ‘no’ sign). An opportunity for both hilarity and embarrassing revelations missed. After all, this was the man who thanked the Exclusive Brethren for all their help in winning […]
Why National won’t win
Written By: - Date published: 6:43 am, September 25th, 2008 - 138 comments
National has four fatal problems that will prevent it from winning the election. Or, rather, it has two problems, both with two parts. – A large majority of New Zealanders don’t like the policies National wants to implement – they reject privatisation and cutting government spending. – People were sucked in by the shallow, vague […]
Right Court: charges don’t match the facts
Written By: - Date published: 5:51 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 33 comments
[more great work from 08wire]
Diversion tactics
Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 87 comments
Key’s three defences on the share scandal are ‘no-one asked how many shares I had’, ‘it didn’t matter how many shares I had’, and ‘Labour is spending all their time researching me’. It’s classic distraction stuff. Let’s break it down. ‘No-one asked me how many shares I had’ – Yes, Fran Mold did on Monday […]
Credit where it’s due
Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 28 comments
I’m usually no fan of Paul Henry as an interviewer but I’m prepared to give credit where it’s due. He certainly didn’t let John Key off the hook this morning on Breakfast. Was tempted to edit it down a bit but it’s worth watching the full thing. HENRY: “Well it’s not going well is it? […]
Nats relying on ignorance
Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, September 22nd, 2008 - 47 comments
It’s really easy to present misleading statistics. David Farrar shows how it’s done with a post on migration today. Note how his figures only go back to 2003. Why is that? Well, it just so happens that 2003 was the last low point in the migration cycle. So, if you show just the last five […]
Questioning politicians
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, September 22nd, 2008 - 16 comments
We’re keen to help you get active this election campaign. That’s why we’ve launched Campaign Hub 2008 and its Facebook group to give you info, access to materials, and tips on campaigning. It’s great to see so many people have downloaded leaflets and posters from the Hub or clicked through to Vote With Both Eyes […]
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