Debt an excuse for enriching the elite

24 comments on “Debt an excuse for enriching the elite ”

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1. Nick K 1

   27 January 2011 at 1:21 pm

   Key has three, sometimes conflicting, goals in government: be adored, don’t do too much hard work, and funnel more of the country’s wealth to National’s elitist supporters.

   And you wonder why no one listens to the Left anymore, after drivel such as this.

   I am sure you don’t actually believe this. So why then do you write it?
   • Blighty 1.1

     27 January 2011 at 1:27 pm

     isn’t that an accurate summary of his leadership to date?
   • Blighty 1.2

     27 January 2011 at 1:36 pm

     what do you know! After announcing a plan to do number 3 – funnel more of the country’s wealth to National’s elitist supporters – yesterday, today he’s doing numbers 1 and 2 again! http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/news/4588618/PMs-son-offers-rugby-tips-to-baseball-star
     • Lanthanide 1.2.1

       27 January 2011 at 1:43 pm

       I saw that. Pathetic, isn’t it?

       Wonder if the story has been sitting on the back-burner, waiting for Key to OK it to go to the press. He suddenly decided he needed a distraction run after the overwhelming negative response from their hokey plans.
   • Colonial Viper 1.3

     27 January 2011 at 1:56 pm

     I am sure you don’t actually believe this. So why then do you write it?

     More mind-reading RWNJ’s? Where are they getting all their telepathic powers from?
   • Marty G 1.4

     27 January 2011 at 2:06 pm

     Show me evidence to the contrary and then we’ll talk
   • Kaplan 1.5

     27 January 2011 at 2:09 pm

     Hey Nick. Instead of cherry picking what you think is a nice soft target from the post why don’t you go for something with substance. How about refuting the basis of the argument and tell us how each of Key’s conflicting statements on debt could be true without contradicting the other.
     For bonus points see if you can do it in such a way that both writer and reader are able to maintain a straight face.
     Capthcha = clues. No, no clues here. JK is still clueless.
2. Adolf Fiinkensein 2

   27 January 2011 at 2:37 pm

   Yes, he will be enriching the elite. All those hundreds of thousands of government employees earning over $100k for sitting on their arses writing reports for other leather arses to read and reply to.

   Now their super funds will be able to invest in their own energy sector.

   Good eh?

   Your only real problem is you forgot to tell Cunliffe.
   • RedLogix 2.1

     27 January 2011 at 3:12 pm

     All those hundreds of thousands of government employees earning over $100k for sitting on their arses writing reports for other leather arses to read and reply to..

     mmm….. lets say 200,000 govt leather arses, all being paid an average of say $120k, totalling around $24b pa. Or something in the region of 40% of all govt expenditure.

     Now their super funds will be able to invest in their own energy sector.

     Possibly yes, if somehow you could restrict ownership to such entities. But if nothing else free trade rules make that problematic and very unlikely in the long run.

     The mere fact that you would write such poppycock tells us all that you know nothing of how govt works… or what it really spends it’s money on.
   • Colonial Viper 2.2

     27 January 2011 at 3:28 pm

     All those hundreds of thousands of government employees earning over $100k for sitting on their arses writing reports

     Many of the new ones hired went straight to the PM’s office, whose staff numbers have been climbing relentlessly. What do you say about that?
   • Blighty 2.3

     27 January 2011 at 4:22 pm

     Moronic Adolf.

     “All those hundreds of thousands of government employees earning over $100k for sitting on their arses writing reports for other leather arses to read and reply to.”

     most of the 250,000 government employees are doctors, nurses, teachers, police, military. Some senior doctors, professors, and principals are on more than $100,000 but not many.

     There are about 40,000 public servants. Of them and the people the Remuneration Authority covers (MPs, judges), less than 5,000 are on more than $100,000.

     http://www.3news.co.nz/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_C01842223D05B9E39178280C438253F3FF661900/filename/SSC-AR2010-full-report.pdf

     The average public sector wage is pretty much the same as the private sector when you bear in mind that the government doesn’t employ checkout operators, cleaners, and other low income jobs.
3. Sanctuary 3

   27 January 2011 at 3:02 pm

   The most encouraging thing so far has been the skepticism of the average New Zealander to all this. The empty slogans of the 1980’s and 1990’s – “Ma and Pa investors” – have been greeted with an assortment of guffaws and downright cynicism from an electorate that remembers these hollow words from hollow men last time around.
4. mickysavage 4

   27 January 2011 at 3:28 pm

   The bit that stuns me about the right wingers’ view of the world is that they see the New Zealand state as being no different to private owners, apart from having less commercial nous.

   They do not seem to understand that the income stream goes straight into our coffers and reduces the need to tax to build schools, provide health assistance or pay benefits. They do not comprehend that the structure and make up of our power system is so important in so many ways and communtiy control is absolutely vital.

   And they support Key in giving unaffordable tax cuts that make the country’s books worse AND in attempting to divest the state of a good income stream which also makes the country’s books worse.

   He relies on superficiality and the short term memory of the swinging voter. Remember when he said that we were “aggressively” coming out of recession. As if.

   Really makes you nostalgic for Helen and Cullen.

   Key does not seem to be able to look past November 2011. In so many areas, ACC, Climate change, the affordability of retirement and now crown control of the power system his decisions are short sighted and either populist or a reward for his hidden bagmen.
   • Olwyn 4.1

     27 January 2011 at 3:48 pm

     If Helen Clark was the nanny, as the media depicted her, John Key is the con-man uncle, sending the kids to the movies so he can sell their bikes while they’re not looking and pretend they must have been stolen.
     • Colonial Viper 4.1.1

       27 January 2011 at 4:03 pm

       and pretend they must have been stolen by some passing brown people.

       Just for clarity, you understand, Olwyn.
       • Olwyn 4.1.1.1

         27 January 2011 at 8:41 pm

         Thanks for that clarification CV; you have Uncle John’s number alright.
5. ianmac 5

   27 January 2011 at 3:55 pm

   A very intelligent take from Keith Ng http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/election-2011-go-/#comments
   15:05 Jan 27, 2011 7
   Yes, you can sell your house to pay off the mortgage, then you’ll be mortgage-free. But you’ll also be minus a house.

   In New Zealand’s case, we can sell our SOEs to pay off debt, which means we’d pay less interest to overseas creditors. But if we sold the SOEs to foreigners, then we’d just end up paying dividends to foreign investors instead. This may actually be worse than paying interest on debt.
   • Lanthanide 5.1

     27 January 2011 at 4:10 pm

     That’s exactly what Bernard Hickey’s quote in the post says. The government is getting a bigger % return on it’s asset than it pays in interest for money it has to borrow.
     • ak 5.1.1

       27 January 2011 at 5:19 pm

       Even the normally ACToid commenters on Hickey’s blog are panning it with vim. Another opinion-leading Joycemedia failure on top of Mining, Mt Albert, Lenslide (and soon, one warrants, Pike River).

       Big cracks appearing in the “smiley economic wizard” dam, more rain on the way, watch the next poll.
       • marsman 5.1.1.1

         27 January 2011 at 5:42 pm

         A purler for the swine?

         ps have sent the ‘not for sale’ graphic to friends in e-mails and put some on Facebook. Is that ok person who created the logo?

Links to post

1. The Standard: posted on 26 January 2011 at 11:55 pm
2. Rik Tindall: posted on 26 January 2011 at 11:57 pm
3. MarKng: posted on 27 January 2011 at 12:44 am
4. Green Party NZ: posted on 27 January 2011 at 12:53 am

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