How to lose an American election

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 pm, September 18th, 2012 - 61 comments
Categories: us politics - Tags: ,

How to lose an American election. Tell America that you don’t care about 47% of them:

[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

Plenty of other gaffes in this “hidden camera” footage. Talk about going viral.

[Bunji: added first clip below]

61 comments on “How to lose an American election ”

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  1. mickysavage 1
    18 September 2012 at 6:11 pm

    Haha.

    I can imagine a new campaign line …

    “We are the 47 %”! 

  2. Colonial Viper 2
    18 September 2012 at 6:22 pm

    Plutocracy, not democracy.

    People who don’t believe in the central importance of government, running for government.

    A ‘choice’ between the Banksters Party, and the other Banksters Party.

    • Ben 2.1
      19 September 2012 at 4:48 pm

      The fact that anyone still talks about the “choice” between Romney and Obama is both laughable and sad.

      They’re two sides of the same coin. The two-party system has proven to be a remarkably effective way of framing what should be a wide and varied debate in a very narrow way.

      “Of course you have choice! You can choose between Obama and Romney! This is a democracy!!”

      300 million people are expected to express their political leanings by selecting from two ever-so-slightly different candidates.

      That isn’t choice.

  3. Policy Parrot 3
    18 September 2012 at 6:33 pm

    That 47% against is looking pretty good now, me thinks. I’d say it would be more like 70% now. Hopefully the Dems can use this down ticket and take back the House.

  4. QoT 4
    18 September 2012 at 6:37 pm

    I don’t know, r0b. One of the many multi-levelled fucked-up things about the American electoral system is that you can happily write off half (or more than half) the population and as long as you hold your elections on a Tuesday, pass laws to disenfranchise groups which predominantly vote for the other guy, and jimmy together enough votes in the Electoral College through legal shenanigans in the aftermath, you still win.

    • Rusty Hellback 4.1
      18 September 2012 at 7:05 pm

      jaded much ?

      • ad 4.1.1
        18 September 2012 at 7:34 pm

        Bush vs Gore. Not jaded. Real.

        • AmaKiwi 4.1.1.1
          18 September 2012 at 11:45 pm

          AND Bush versus Kerry. Bush stole that election, too.

          • muzza 4.1.1.1.1
            19 September 2012 at 7:29 am

            It was bonesman on bonesman, so I would say that those with the real power stole that election too..

            Same winners as last time, and will be the same winners this time, and next time too I expect.

      • QoT 4.1.2
        18 September 2012 at 8:01 pm

        Rusty, you are welcome to explain how any system – but especially the US Electoral College – in which it is possible for a party to take power despite getting <50% of the vote is fair.

        And then you can address why I shouldn't be "jaded" about the various other factors which result in abysmal turnout – and those who turn out sometimes getting denied their democratic rights.

    • rosy 4.2
      18 September 2012 at 7:40 pm

      True. The best hope is that a fair percentage of Republicans are so disgusted they simply don’t vote because they have nothing to vote for.

      • bbfloyd 4.2.1
        19 September 2012 at 10:16 am

        underestimating the stupidity, and bigotry of republicans can be a fatal error…. just ask any Afghani, Iraqi, Iranian, Pakistani, and any South American, from any country you care to name…To name but a few of the places their interference has buggered things up…

  5. joe90 5
    18 September 2012 at 6:39 pm

    Here’s his clean up press conference. Desperate.

    edit: A grandson of Jimmy Carter is credited with finding the video.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/09/james-carter-iv-helped-spread-secret-romney-video.html

    • mike 5.1
      18 September 2012 at 8:30 pm

      Wow. Never seen him look so pale and shakey. Hey Mitt, your second face is showing; or at least the “we shouldn’t have to pay to keep poor people alive” one he pulls out for private elitist fundraisers.

      Go the US Green party now is your chance!

  6. Steve Wrathall 6
    18 September 2012 at 6:49 pm

    What exactly did he say that is untrue?

      • Steve Wrathall 6.1.1
        18 September 2012 at 7:09 pm

        So what he was pointing out-that almost 1/2 of people don’t pay income tax- is actually true? Are we in agreement?

        • mike e 6.1.1.1
          18 September 2012 at 7:25 pm

          Most of the tax dodgers were in republican states and the rest were the rich like Romney who pay fuck all tax! those earning over 2.8 million a year.
          Which just goes to show what conservative economics is all about is making more people poor and blaming them for their predicament.
          BBC world mews did a survey of all US states about a year ago and all those states with republican control had decline no economic growth while those with democratic control and left wing policy actually grew!

        • mike e 6.1.1.2
          18 September 2012 at 7:57 pm

          Absolute BS SW NBC pointed out that most tax dodgers were republican supporters from republican states!

    • Dr Terry 6.2
      18 September 2012 at 7:11 pm

      Now you tell me SW, what exactly did he say?

    • mike e 6.3
      18 September 2012 at 7:13 pm

      Just about everything poor we steve!
      Own goal tax dodging and not paying any tax !
      Get it Steve!
      Then when you deciminate those who don’t pay any tax most of them are Republicans and pensioners who are more likely to vote Republican.

    • Dr Terry 6.4
      18 September 2012 at 7:14 pm

      Now you tell me, SW, what exactly DID he say?

    • Dr Terry 6.5
      18 September 2012 at 7:16 pm

      Now you tell me, SW, what exactly DID he say? (This comment is not in the correct place. Please refer Steve Wrathall, above).

    • rosy 6.6
      18 September 2012 at 7:18 pm

      He said ALL of the 47% of people who vote Democrat and are not floating voters don’t pay tax. That is untrue. He implied that ALL Republicans pay tax. That is untrue.

      • Steve Wrathall 6.6.1
        18 September 2012 at 7:54 pm

        He did not say ALL Democrats pay no tax. That is absurd. He correctly pointed out there is a huge constituency that believes it can live off other’s productivity, and are unconcerned that others earn but don’t recieve.

        • mike e 6.6.1.1
          18 September 2012 at 8:10 pm

          Silly Wanker the msnbc TV broadcast pointed out where these people who don’t pay taxes live and low and behold republican states!
          Romney has been dodging taxes himself Bain Capital is under investigation Romney won’t declare his returns what’s he got to hide hypocrisy!

        • rosy 6.6.1.2
          18 September 2012 at 9:57 pm

          It is absurd isn’t it?

          There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

          (my bold) So go listen again… he said the 47% who will vote for the president no matter what, therefore excluding only the floating voters who voted Democrat.

        • lurgee 6.6.1.3
          19 September 2012 at 7:49 pm

          He said that 47% pay no income tax and these people are scrounging parasites who will never vote for him. The first part is statistical bullshit as many people in the USA pay no income tax for short periods – but have done so in the past and will do so in the future. So he’s wrong. As for the second part of his claim, he’s likely ensured that bit is true. So he’s wrong and stupid.

          Even if he was correct about the 47% being inveterate bludgers, his suggestion that he’s got no message for them is one of despair. He could say he has a dream of getting them into work b creating jobs. But nope, he’s saying 47% of the US population aren’t worth bothering about. So he’s toast, wrong, and stupid. And since that 47% must include all those stay at home moms conservatives are so admiring of, he’s a hypocrite, toast, wrong, and stupid.

          He only speaks for the super wealthy. And as of now, I suspect, only the super wealthy will be listening to him.

    • Blue 6.7
      18 September 2012 at 9:10 pm

      Mittens said that 47% of Americans don’t pay income tax, that he doesn’t care about them because they will vote for Obama anyway, and that they are dependent on the state and won’t take personal responsibility for their lives (i.e. they are lazy moochers, a view you seem to share).

      Most rational people have a problem with this as follows:

      1. A Presidential candidate shouldn’t really say that he doesn’t care about 47% of the population that he is campaigning to represent.

      2. The reasons why 47% of Americans don’t pay income tax are many and varied. The elderly, veterans, disabled, people who don’t earn enough to be required to pay income tax etc. Being a lazy moocher is not sufficient explanation to cover all of those 47%.

      3. Those 47% in many cases may not pay income tax, but pay other taxes depending on what state they live in.

      4. The 47% includes wealthy tax-dodgers like Mitt Romney himself, who refuses to release his own tax returns going back more than two years.

      5. Those 47% do not all vote for Obama. The elderly, veterans, and poor whites in the Southern states are all key Republican voting groups, as are wealthy tax dodgers.

      6. The sheer absurdity of a Republican politician who advocates as little tax as possible for the rich judging people by how much tax they pay.

  7. Jokerman 7
    18 September 2012 at 6:49 pm

    wotta Dick!

  8. Te Reo Putake 8
    18 September 2012 at 6:51 pm

    I gather that the 47% includes a lot of seniors and veterans. Not groups you’d normally expect a Republican candidate to insult, I would have thought. 

  9. joe90 9
    18 September 2012 at 6:54 pm

    It gets better.

    Ok, ok, HERE is tonight’s Twitter Special Comment on Romney’s Tape and his Fundraiser Who Stages Sex Parties

  10. joe90 10
    18 September 2012 at 7:17 pm

    NYT conservative columnist David Brooks puts the slipper in.

    Thurston Howell Romney

    Romney, who criticizes President Obama for dividing the nation, divided the nation into two groups: the makers and the moochers. Forty-seven percent of the country, he said, are people “who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.”

    This comment suggests a few things. First, it suggests that he really doesn’t know much about the country he inhabits. Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare?

    It suggests that Romney doesn’t know much about the culture of America. Yes, the entitlement state has expanded, but America remains one of the hardest-working nations on earth. Americans work longer hours than just about anyone else. Americans believe in work more than almost any other people. Ninety-two percent say that hard work is the key to success, according to a 2009 Pew Research Survey.

    It says that Romney doesn’t know much about the political culture. Americans haven’t become childlike worshipers of big government. On the contrary, trust in government has declined. The number of people who think government spending promotes social mobility has fallen.

    The people who receive the disproportionate share of government spending are not big-government lovers. They are Republicans. They are senior citizens. They are white men with high school degrees. As Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution has noted, the people who have benefited from the entitlements explosion are middle-class workers, more so than the dependent poor.

    Romney’s comments also reveal that he has lost any sense of the social compact. In 1987, during Ronald Reagan’s second term, 62 percent of Republicans believed that the government has a responsibility to help those who can’t help themselves. Now, according to the Pew Research Center, only 40 percent of Republicans believe that

  11. Dr Terry 11
    18 September 2012 at 7:18 pm

    Only an ass like this could manage to make John Key look (well, slightly) good!

    • Matt 11.1
      19 September 2012 at 5:58 pm

      How does he make Key look good? Key is a two bit douchebag who is no less contemptuous of the electorate than RMoney.

  12. Jokerman 12
    18 September 2012 at 7:40 pm

    now we have to concede that Obama is a cold-blooded Commander-in-Chief
    yet
    the lesser of…

  13. gobsmacked 13
    18 September 2012 at 8:02 pm

    I refuse to listen to what Romney said because it was secretly recorded. I’m sure our Prime Minister will condemn these “News of the World” tactics, and speak out in defence of Mitt Romney. Because that’s the real issue, right?

    Hello? John? Come on, your famous “principles” were worth going to court for, so they must be more important than your next date with Obama. Speak up, man. Can’t hear you.

  14. redfred 14
    18 September 2012 at 8:13 pm

    Actually if you squint at the video and transpose a kiwi accent on to the Romney transcript I can hear John Key saying those exact words.

  15. BernyD 15
    18 September 2012 at 8:16 pm

    This’ll shock yas, …
    Its unfair to compare John Key to this man, John Key is at least trying not to be evil.

    • bbfloyd 15.1
      19 September 2012 at 10:34 am

      i think you may be giving johnny sparkles too much credit for brains…..From here, it doesn’t look like he knows the difference between one or the other…

  17. AmaKiwi 17
    19 September 2012 at 2:48 am

    Romney didn’t criticize the U.S. corporations that pay little or no tax. I forgot, they are funding his campaign.

    • mike e 17.1
      19 September 2012 at 9:29 am

      95 out of a hundred electoral college votes that Romney gets ie republican supporters come from moocher states

  20. Southern Limits 20
    19 September 2012 at 10:37 am

    The funny thing about this and Armstrong’s article in the weekend is that Mother Jones is an internet based, independent, non-profit news service. They just broke the story that could potentially cripple Romney’s campaign and all done by a bunch of people who aren’t “real journalists.”

  21. mike 21
    19 September 2012 at 2:11 pm

    Ha Rush Limbaugh reckons he should just go with it.

    “This is such a golden opportunity,” Limbaugh said on his radio program Tuesday, according to a show transcript. “This could be the opportunity for Romney and for that campaign to finally take the gloves off and take the fear off and just start explaining conservatism, start explaining liberty to people and what it means, and explain that they don’t have to be in that 47 percent.”

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81343.html?hp=l1_b1

    • lurgee 21.1
      19 September 2012 at 7:52 pm

      Even Limbaugh is sounding slightly saner than Romney. At least he’s advocating a positive message, rather than just saying, “Nah, stuff ’em”.

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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago

  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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