Corrupt US

Written By: - Date published: 8:21 pm, March 10th, 2020 - 60 comments
Categories: campaigning, corruption, democracy under attack, elections, International, us politics - Tags: , , , , ,

In a few hours from now (if I’m getting my time zones right), Americans will hit the polling booths in another six primary states. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I reckon Bernie Sanders is fucked.

If you’re an outsider running for high office, then it’s possible to overcome a Party establishment. And sure, a Bernie Sanders could also overcome the concerted efforts of various corporate actors out to thwart him. He could also quite conceivably overcome wall to wall, 24/7 mainstream media coverage that’s largely only looking to hang negative memes from his campaign and/or compile a list of “gotcha!”s.

Bernie could maybe even get away with throwing in a bit of self sabotage – insist Biden, a man who epitomises the very thing he claims to represent an existential threat to, is his friend and a decent guy. He could throw surrogates under the bus if they point to Biden’s obvious corruption. And when asked whether Biden can defeat Trump, he could even be so stupid as to say “yes” and still win at the ballot box.

Or at least, he could if the votes being cast at the ballot box (for those citizens who can actually get to a ballot box) corresponded with election results (those that were actually counted). But they don’t.

When California was called for Bernie Sanders with barely 1% of the vote counted, I admit I was a bit puzzled as to how the likes of CNN could call it at such an early point in the process. Well, it turns out that CNN gets the results of exit polling conducted by Edison Research. Those polls gave Sanders a 15% winning margin in California. Yet according to TDMS research…

The unobservable computer counts cut his lead by half (to 7.3%). In the total delegate count to date, substituting the estimated California and Texas exit poll delegate apportionments for the apportionments derived from the computer counts, results in candidate Sanders currently leading candidate Biden by 42 delegates instead of trailing by 45. (my emphasis)

See. No-one can beat that kind of fuckery.

And the pattern, with discrepancies always advantageous to the favoured “establishment” candidate, repeats across Vermont (+26% for Biden), Massachusetts( +16% for Biden) South Carolina (+8.5% for Biden) and New Hampshire (+12% for Buttigeig)…

Interestingly, TDMS  had previously looked at the exit poll results in 2016 and stacked them against published results. Guess what? While almost all of the Republican Primary results from that year fell within established margins of error for such polling, the Democratic Primary results were all out of whack.

Anyway. Here’s what the The United States Agency of International Development (USAID), has to say about such exit polls –

Detecting fraud: Exit polls provide data that is generally indicative of how people voted. A discrepancy between the aggregated choices reported by voters and the official results may suggest, but not prove, that results have been tampered with.

So yeah. I guess people will argue what they will argue or dismiss based on their preferred candidate, while some will just casually reckon to “fuck election integrity”.

Meanwhile, CODEPINK and The Grayzone are calling on the Organisation of American States (OAS) to provide emergency international election observers. Laughable, right? I mean, what in God’s name would the self proclaimed “home of democracy” be needing with election observers?

Certainly, by November, no observers will be required when, in the words of Chris Hedges, the voters are to vote for – 

The consolidation of oligarchic power under Donald Trump or the consolidation of oligarchic power under Joe Biden.

60 comments on “Corrupt US ”

  1. lprent 1

    Welcome to the joys of advance voting.

    As I remember the news articles that I read in advance of Super Tuesday (digs around) but after South Carolina (digs some more), indicated that there was a high turnout in California in advance voting. Which is where much of the exit polling would have been looking at…

    Try this one… https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-03-02/klobuchar-buttigieg-california-primary

    The population of advance voters is not the same as those voting on the day. Early voters are usually the ones who are more committed and more likely to vote closely to their ideological beliefs than to news media.

    The on-the-day voters are also changing opinions due to events over the previous 3 weeks. In particular to events like a win elsewhere or to candidates dropping out.

    Indeed, all the research tends to indicate that on-the-day voters effectively are the now voters – the ones who are more likely to make a decision at the polling booth – which leads to name recognition voting. Like winning South Carolina or getting endorsements from people, that they recognise.

    Plus that there was a largish drop out from advance votes for candidates who dropped out (changes the percentages in a one-on-one comparison) and their on-the-day voters shifting to someone else – usually unequally.

    Not to mention that at least in California, there were some significiant changes in how the election was being run this time. Although even though the count probably won’t be finished until April 3rd (FFS), that doesn’t seem to have affected turnout. https://abc7news.com/5986202/

    Basically you should look at the numbers more closely rather than counting on eating carrots before they’re harvested – beetles are always ready to eat the vote carrots.

    • Bill 1.1

      This is an answer about polling those early votes/postal votes in the thread below the South Carolina post from the TDMS site.

      From the President of Edison Research:
      Edison has two methods of reaching people who voted early or by mail. They conduct a regular telephone survey in the week or two leading up to the election to reach those who have already voted by mail, specifically geared toward states where bigger groups of the population vote by mail (like Arizona, Washington, Colorado and more).

      They also place interviewers at early voting locations in states where majorities vote before election day (like Tennessee, North Carolina and Texas)

      • lprent 1.1.1

        That is what I pointed out. The estimates for the 'exit voting' on advance voting only reflect how the advance voters voted. They don't bind

        If there was a 15% lead in advance voting up to 3 weeks before polling day, but if (say) only a third or a half had voted using that technique – then you can't assume (as you have) that the same proportions will apply for the other half or 2/3rds in the polling booth on election day. They usually don't.

        Events happen, opinion shifts, and the statistical group who pre-voted are unlikely to fully reflect the group who voted on the day.

        I used to see it all of the time when I was looking at the drawn out process of the postal votes in Auckland local body elections. Here the people who voted early weren't the ones that we wanted to see voting – they were far more likely to have voted for National in drag (Citizens and Ratepayers).

        • Nic the NZer 1.1.1.1

          Pretty amazing that these results could be used in early reporting. If they are exit polls of only the postal part of the ballot this should be stated clearly reported when cited.

          • Bill 1.1.1.1.1

            They aren't polls of postal votes. Postal votes appear to be factored in, but essentially the exit polls are polling of people as they leave the polling station.

        • bill 1.1.1.2

          The exit polling conducted by Edison is by way of polling voters who have just left the voting booth.

          As per my comment above, it seems they collect some data on postal data and presumably feed that into their stated and varied margins of error that apply to different candidates in each set of results they publish.

          But picking up on what you say about people shifting their preferences.

          Can we reasonably assume many early or postal votes would have gone to Warren in her home state of Massachusetts? In that instance, the exit polling would have underestimated her vote share if she had been dropping out of favour post- S. Carolina, yes?

          Yet, in Massachusetts, the reported count (the result) was a 14% drop (over double the margin of error) for Warren when compared to the exit polls.

          I'm no statistician, but the links I provided appear thorough and robust. I strongly suggest you peruse them

    • Cindy 1.2

      The latest vote to report in California will be skewed even more toward Bernie… why? Because it will include the provisional ballots that we manage to actually get counted (big effort to not count them) and the vote by mail ballots that were initially rejected by the signature verification machines and then later accepted when humans looked at them. There was a massive effort to hand out provisional ballots in Bernie strongholds… heavily Latinx communities and precincts where a lot of young people (college students, etc) vote. This is very intentional and form of voter suppression. On the initially rejected by the machines and later accepted by humans vote by mail ballots, in 2016, these went very heavily for Bernie… the machine accepted ones went heavily for Hillary Clinton… imagine that! The first ones were including in the sampling for the supposedly "random" 1% mandatory audit… the later ones were not… imagine that! I will also point out that the absentee votes in South Carolina and very very suspicious in their overwhelming dominance for Biden, much higher than the same day vote.

  2. A 2

    Figured it would be Biden, but also thought he would pull out at a point further along due to "health reasons" at which point the pre-selected candidate will run. Guess we will see.

  3. adam 3

    Nothing to see here – move on.

  4. Ad 4

    Hang in there Bill.

  5. Andre 5

    Let's ponder how many different people in how many different organisations would be needed to pull off what's being insinuated here.

    There would need to be employees within Edison Research and CNN 'adjusting' the results of exit polls in coordination with all the state Democratic Party organisations involved (and remember, the state organisations are independent from each other and the DNC). Then those involved in the "unobservable computer counts" would have to be involved – in somehow providing a mechanism to manipulate the results and then actually doing so.

    Out of all these (probably thousands) of people that would have to be coordinated in manipulating results and making it possible to manipulate results, not a single one is sufficiently dedicated to democratic principles and/or sympathetic to Bernie's ideas to preserve evidence and blow the whistle? Really?

    Or maybe, just maybe, what is observed is the entirely natural result of a previously very chaotic fluid situation with multiple moderate candidates splitting the vote, that was quickly resolved by the undecided moderate majority coalescing around Biden triggered by the South Carolina vote showing Biden was indeed a popular viable candidate.

    edit: Oh, and all of this sophisticated widespread conspiracy would have to be carried out in perfect secrecy with the DNC coordinating it all. Has the hilariously inept DNC ever displayed even a tiny fraction of the unity, competence and discipline that would be required to pull it off?

    • bill 5.1

      Let's ponder how many different people in how many different organisations would be needed to pull off what's being insinuated here.

      In the case of electronic voting, not many. Read the link I provided to The New York Book of Reviews on voting machines in the post. (under "unobservable computer counts" in the first block of quoted text)

      I can't see why there would be any fuckery at play with the exit polls. The whole point is that the final count does not correspond with the exit polls and their margins of error.

      • Andre 5.1.1

        CNN's exit polls:

        https://edition.cnn.com/election/2020/entrance-and-exit-polls/california/democratic

        Latest vote counts (not all complete):

        https://www.thegreenpapers.com/

        Looking at just a few of them, they look quite close.

        CA: Biden exit 24% vote 27% Bernie exit 36% vote 34%

        MA: Biden exit 34% vote 34% Bernie exit 28% vote 27%

        VA: Biden exit 54% vote 53% Bernie exit 23% vote 23%

        Note that the exit poll numbers for California are different to the ones claimed in your TDMS Research piece. This is apparently because

        [1] Exit poll (EP) downloaded from CNN’s website by TDMS on election night, March 3, 2020 at 11:00 PM ET. Candidates’ exit poll percentage/proportion derived from the gender category. Number of EP respondents: 2,350. As this first published exit poll was subsequently adjusted towards conformity with the final computerized vote count, the currently published exit poll differs from the exit poll used here and available through the link below.

        (quote from your TDMS Research footnote)

        I'll leave it to readers to form their own opinions as to whether it reflects a genuine difference between early and late exit poll respondents, CNN/ Edison Research fuckery, fuckery by dude publishing stuff in teh webz (look the guy up if you want to consider that possibility) or something else.

        It's entirely plausible there's a significant difference between early deciders, where those with their hearts set on Bernie would be overrepresented, and late deciders who hadn't decided which moderate to go for until the late coalescence around Biden would be overrepresented. Hence the steady increase in Biden's vote share as the late mailed ballots are ever so slowly counted.

        It's also entirely plausible there's a systematic difference between those that vote by mail, and are more difficult to capture in exit polling, and those that turn up to deal with the lines and hassle of polling booths and are easy to capture for exit polling.

        As for the voting machines, they are not universally used (rarely used is a fairer description), and there are several vendors. Are they all in on the same conspiracy?

        Looking at the states that voted on Super Tuesday, your piece says electronic machines are used in "California (again, for the most populous county)", "Texas (for at least Dallas and Travis counties)", "Colorado (for early voting)", " Arkansas (at least four counties)", "North Carolina (for the most populous county)". All of that adds up to just a tiny fraction of the votes cast on Super Tuesday.

        Furthermore, it would be astonishing if the vote distributions coming out of the voting machines weren't closely scrutinised for redflags in comparison to the huge majority of votes cast by other methods. Going off the 2016 experience, the election officials involved will be well aware of the likelihood of allegations of impropriety from disappointed BernieBro cultists.

        To be sure, the flaws in those machines means using them is a really crap idea. But leveraging those flaws that might affect a tiny portion of the votes cast into building a conspiracy of election-changing fraud? Really?

        • Bill 5.1.1.1

          You're looking at the wrong figures Andre. The percentage differences that matter are the ones relating to a per candidate basis.

          Take Massachusetts. Warrens percentage drop was 14.7%. But the drop she records in relation to the overall vote is 3.7%.

          Yes, the exit poll numbers are adjusted by CNN to better fit vote counts as time passes. That's a known and doesn't invalidate the original exit poll results in any way whatsoever. You do understand that it's not the veracity of the exit polls that's in question, yes?

          On the early vote versus actual day vote scenario, I'll just repeat for you what I wrote in response to Lynn above –

          Can we reasonably assume many early or postal votes would have gone to Warren in her home state of Massachusetts? In that instance, the exit polling would have underestimated her vote share if she had been dropping out of favour post- S. Carolina, yes?

          Yet, in Massachusetts, the reported count (the result) was a 14% drop (over double the margin of error) for Warren when compared to the exit polls.

          • Andre 5.1.1.1.1

            The CNN exit poll for Massachusetts gave Warren a 20.9% share, from 1443 respondents. This result has a margin of error of 2.1% (95% CI).

            Warren's actual vote share in Massachusetts was 21.4%, well within the exit poll's margin of error.

            • bill 5.1.1.1.1.1

              Again Andre – you're looking at the wrong figures. To repeat. The important numbers – the ones that indicate fuckery – are the difference in the numbers for Warren (or who-ever) when looking at their exit polling numbers compared to their reported count.

              Read the links that provide ample explanation and stop trolling with 'stupid'. Thank you.

        • Bill A 5.1.1.2

          Andre in your skew answer me this . The same company Edison Research does exit polling for Republican primary also in 2016 and 2020 they were all within the margin of error.

          If there was a flaw in the method it would also show in the Republican primary.

          If it was random it would show on both sides

          So why is it that every time the discrepancy outside of the margin of error always favors the DNC favored candidate ? Hillary in 2016 and Biden in 2020 with i think 1 exception.

          States with paper trail were within margin of error. State with unobserved machine counts are where the discrepancies show up.

          In 2008 Between Obama and Hillary strangely enough there were no such discrepancies.

          Of course your bias shows in your reply

  6. Tiger Mountain 6

    The US political scene has the potential to do any leftists head in. So many systemic ‘fixes’ are in already to preserve oligarchical hegemony, that it is amazing anyone turns out. On Super Tues the majority of contests were “open” primaries, so the results can be affected by Republicans! or whoever turns up.

    South Carolina was vote herded by Mr Clyburn–a DNC favourite–will any Democrat go near the state again before November? It is clearly a Trump state–yet a major harbinger for the pundits in the Democratic nomination process. I don’t buy the “noble working class has spoken and critics should butt out” line over SC from TRP and other centre line huggers that post here. The SC working class wouldn’t even vote to go Union at Boeing!
    https://labornotes.org/blogs/2017/02/viewpoint-boeing-vote-was-not-referendum-organizing-south

    Bernie has run an actual campaign with countless rallies and gatherings–Biden’s has been a phantom campaign–now with unimaginably huge backing, the billionaires are all in for him. They will keep him out of the public eye and charge on. A Union AFL/CIO Biden/Sanders debate scheduled prior to Florida Primary has been cancelled due to “Corona virus” uh huh…will in fact there ever be a one on one Sanders/Biden debate now?

    All the previous candidates have had “the call” and Elizabeth Warren (so far) seems the only one not to have shown their inner weasel. From the Buttigieg sponsored vote rigging application in Iowa to the millions of dollars spent by Bloomberg it has been a rotten affair. What a man Bernie Sanders is, and the disparate peoples movements that have enabled Sanders MkII, standing strong against that pile!

    • Phil 6.1

      South Carolina was vote herded by Mr Clyburn–a DNC favourite

      He's literally the House Majority Whip and has been a long-standing senior member of the Black Congressional Caucus. Maybe you could be a little less patronising next time and describe him by his role rather than like someone's favorite flavour of icecream.

      It is clearly a Trump state–yet a major harbinger for the pundits in the Democratic nomination process.

      SC was the first state that black voters (approx 40% of the overall democratic primary electorate) got to make their voice heard en masse. It *is* important for understanding trends and forces in the nomination process.

      • bill 6.1.1

        50% of African Americans polled who had voted for Biden, said they had voted for Biden because of Clyburn's endorsement.

        Some black folks are less than impressed at what Clyburn has enabled. Try the vid below from about 5min 30 sec for a taster, aye?

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUj8T50PZ20&t=21s

        • Sabine 6.1.1.1

          maybe some of that shit is what puts people of the Saint?

          https://twitter.com/blackwomenviews/status/1236352623428673539

          or this shit here, but then he 'condems' it. 🙂

          https://www.businessinsider.com.au/bernie-sanders-condemns-attacks-against-elizabeth-warren-after-super-tuesday-2020-3?r=US&IR=T

          or this shit

          https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-02-19/bernie-sanders-supporters-toxic-online-culture

          personally i my fave has quit the race and now its a race of three old white man and i am like so many in the US. If i had to vote for any of the three old white man i would have to don a full body hazmat suit, bring a barge pole to push the button with and then sanitze for hte rest of the year in a tub of liquid alcohol.

          But fact is that the US has the enviable choice of thee old white man. And two of these guys have some of the worst supporters ever.

          p

          • Bill 6.1.1.1.1

            Confused where you get the "two old white men" thing from.

            Sanders, Biden and Gabbard (a 40 something non-Christian woman of colour) are the three remaining candidates.

            Of course, the DNC has changed the rules (yet again) – this time to exclude Tulsi Gabbard from the upcoming CNN debate.

            • Phil 6.1.1.1.1.1

              Oh, please, Bill, get off it. Gabbard hasn't qualified for the Dem debate stage since November and, as far as I can tell, never polled higher than about 2% nationally.

            • Andre 6.1.1.1.1.2

              Gabbard has won 0.71% of the votes cast so far. You think that should get her a spot on the stage? Really?

              • Bill

                The debate rules put in place by the DNC – that they claimed were immutable right up until they changed them to allow Bloomberg in – state that any person who has won a delegate qualifies to be in debates.

                Gabbard has a delegate.

                • Phil

                  Yeah, getting into the debate REALLY helped Bloomberg, didn't it?

                  The qualification thresholds have, entirely reasonably, increased for every debate and narrowed the field. Statistically speaking, if the polling was representative of regular commenters on this blog, literally no-one other than you gives a single fuck about Gabbard's campaign.

                • Andre

                  Getting a delegate was one of the ways to qualify for the tenth debate on 25th February.

                  There were no announced qualifications for the eleventh debate until the requirement of 20% of the pledged delegates awarded by March 15, announced on March 6. Qualification rules for the eleventh debate weren't changed, they simply hadn't been finalised.

                  Unless you got a link that says otherwise?

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_debates#Qualification_11

                  • Bill

                    Sure. The rules were changed post Super Tuesday. What's your point?

                    • Andre

                      The rules for qualifying for the eleventh debate did not exist before the March 6th announcement of what they were going to be. They were not, repeat, not changed.

                      Nobody with any authority ever asserted or promised the rules would remain the same from the tenth debate to the eleventh debate, that I'm aware of or can find.

                      Some Tulsi fanbois may have had a head explosion when Tulsi met the bar too late for the previous debate that had already happened, but that's not actually the same as meeting rules that have yet to be announced for a future debate. That's just a lack of understanding of how time works.

                    • RedLogix

                      As a "Tulsi fanboi" whose head hasn't exploded, it's still clear to me that the DNC establishment went out of their way to ensure she wasn't going to get a hearing.

                      All other considerations aside … who would you actually prefer as a US President … an intelligent woman with an articulate story to tell about US foreign policy, or Joe Biden's doddery establishment fuckery?

                      And just for the record, I strongly supported Sanders in 2016, but the context changed in 2020. I think he should not have run this time, but rather committed his formidable campaigning powers to supporting younger voices.

                    • Andre

                      @RedLogix: I'm assuming that comment was aimed at me.

                      Looks to me more like the DNC declined to take the opportunity to create contorted rules to bring Tulsi into the debate. Given her very low support level, and that she's 2:1 underwater unfavourable/favourable with Democratic voters, I can't see much incentive for the DNC to go out of their way for her.

                      Sure I'd love to have an articulate woman with a story to tell about US foreign policy as president, provided that foreign policy was something I could at least choke down. Tulsi's enthusiasm for authoritarian dictators and nationalism, and droning the fuck out foreign brown people whose religion she doesn't like using a bloated military means she's not that person.

                    • RedLogix

                      Tulsi's enthusiasm for authoritarian dictators and nationalism, and droning the fuck out foreign brown people whose religion she doesn't like using a bloated military means she's not that person.

                      Having actually listened to her speak at length I really wonder exactly how you managed to twist what she is saying into that smeary mess. But then again if you're getting your info from the Dem mainstream I'm not surprised.

                      Sure she isn’t ‘progressive’ enough to make anyone happy around here, but in purely pragmatic terms of governing a nation like the USA she’s a better fit than Sanders TBH.

                    • Andre

                      I didn't think Jacobin was a mainstream Dem source. Learn something every day, I s'pose.

                      https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/05/tulsi-gabbard-president-sanders-democratic-party

                    • RedLogix

                      I realise the left is in love with anything Islam at the moment and any discussion or criticism of fundamentalist terrorism is off-limits. So … no comment.

            • Sabine 6.1.1.1.1.3

              i have no use for Gabbard. None. And she is some 300+ delegates short to being even mentioned. Like this is pulling at straws. At the very best this chick should get hired by either Fox or RT and then she did well for her. And no, she was not excluded, she got 1 – i repeat 1 delegate (from her Native Samoa) and thus needs a bit more to get into any debate. Now it is set at delegate count and not money raised. But she will look nice on RT or Fox whinging about the Democrats while not once mentioning the shenanigans of hte republicans.

              Ask her constituence in Hawaii how well they did, and look just at how much support she got from her native American Samoa.

              There are three old white men running. 🙂 One is the sitting bullshitter and the others are still fighting about whom will be the selected bullshitter for the D's to go after the sitting bullshitter for the R.s.

              As for Bernie, he wasted almost 4 years doing fuck all. And again, this is the choice the public has to make, which of the three mediocre white men to elevate as that is the only choice there ever was.

              None of these three are the solution to anything.

        • Phil 6.1.1.2

          50% of African Americans polled who had voted for Biden, said they had voted for Biden because of Clyburn's endorsement.

          Right. Even in the hyper-online world of 2020, some old-fashioned personal endorsements still matter.

    • bill 6.2

      will in fact there ever be a one on one Sanders/Biden debate now?

      Apparently not. CNN the DNC have decided the next "head to head" will in fact be a seated affair where each candidate fields audience questions. So…no opportunity to debate one on one, and no mutual grilling by journalists or moderators on specific points…just (surely not vetted!) audience questions from a (representative?) audience.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LikgDwzMvCQ&t=314s

  7. Adrian Thornton 7

    Voting Biden for anyone in the states who earns less than 100K is like voting for your old slave master, and for the rest of the world it means a big fuck you to anyone who cares what shape the planet will be left in for our children and grandchildren..because as we know now these so called moderate centrist liberals have no answers for climate change and never will..that is a fact.

    Here is an indication to what a Biden White House will most probably look like..it makes me feel a bit sick..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0NRqQVw2nk

  8. Tiger Mountain 8

    The 2020 US General Election so far has been a masterclass in US ruling class corruption, – “do you really want to know how a sausage is made”…

    The Democrats Abroad Primary voting (3-10 March) should have closed now, and will that ever be fully reported in a timely manner, as per California, unless favourable to Joe? Predictions from pundits are for a huge absentee mail in vote in Michigan too, following a 2018 change.

  9. another factor in all of this…the closure of Voting booths..which arguably, in some states, favours Republicans..but most definitely leaves the most disadvantaged cut off from chance to engage in American style Democracy…6 hour wait times in Texas…"Hey Mr McDonald's manager..I may be a little late for my shift…"

    https://www.kctv5.com/news/local_news/kansas-city-mayor-turned-away-at-polling-location-on-election/article_8e2b2c5e-62cc-11ea-89ac-1ba48ed21669.html?fbclid=IwAR1zpcO0d7vYIDPfGNU

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/02/texas-polling-sites-closures-voting

    https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/texas-primary-lines/

  10. Tiger Mountain 10

    The more you delve into US political innards the more you wonder why anyone bothers…
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/your-candidate-dropped-out-some-michigan-residents-can-vote-twice-n1151891

  11. Phil 11

    Just after 2pm NZT and Michigan has been called for Biden. Whatever flickering flame of hope Sanders had of clinching the nomination has been extinguished. Farewell, good man.

  12. Ad 12

    Why isn't Sanders doing better than last time?

    Surely Biden is weaker than Hillary was?

    • Andre 12.1

      Biden's history is somewhat bland and innocuous. Hillary's history includes decades of smears.

      Biden has a willy. Hillary doesn't.

      Biden's caricature is the uncle that's friendly goofy, slightly-not-with-it but fun anyway. Hillary's caricature was shrill, calculating, evasive and devious.

      Hillary’s strengths are being articulate and prepared and capable and having thought things through. Biden’s strengths are … not those. But apparently those don’t matter to the broader American electorate.

    • Phil 12.2

      I think the harshest lesson to learn from 2016, in hindsight, is that it was more of an Anti-Hillary movement than it ever was a Pro-Bernie movement.

      Biden also still gets some reflective glow from the Obama era.

      • McFlock 12.2.1

        But why were white men so much more anti HRC than they are anti-Biden?

        https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1237546951026946048

        • Sabine 12.2.1.1

          30 years of vilifying starting with her not wanting to sit at home baking cookies when dear hubby was governor of arkansas. Literally she is the most vilified person in us politics, and fwiw, she is either the most genius of all villains – no bodies are ever found, or she is just good at what she is but she has a vagina rather then a penis and thus can not be godly. After all women shall not teach men, or something like that the bible says.

          Also quite a few of evangelics and armageddon and pro 'forced pregnancy' white men would never ever ever vote for a women, they would vote to repeal the 19th ammendment to remove the right to vote for women and to be honest some of the women in thise cults would probably do the same. Cause we are made for making sandwiches, babies and sexually pleasing hubby. Sentient doormats in essence.

          • weston 12.2.1.1.1

            sounds like you bought 'dear' hillery's Tulsi is a russian mole story hook line and sinka sabine ?Since hillery has the clinton family fortune to fall back on and hence any amount of cash to give her lawyers i doubt tulsi will ever see much of the 50 mil from her lawsuit still it might induce HC to lie a little less openly perhaps ?

  13. mat simpson 13

    Imagine if Bernie had reacted this way.

    The establishment mask is beginning too slip.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQF30eCZuvs

  14. Ad 15

    Tough day there Bill.

    If it's any consolation I feel as disappointed with our own government.

    I'd like Sanders in Cabinet at HUD.

    • RedLogix 15.1

      + lots.

      I've been through the Sanders disappointment in 2016 so I'm feeling it less the second time around. As I said elsewhere in 2020 the context has changed and I think he should have not run this time. It only badly split an already underdog progressive field.

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    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    7 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    8 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    9 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    12 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    13 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    15 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    17 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
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    1 day ago
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