Hypocrisy

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 pm, April 9th, 2014 - 27 comments
Categories: debt / deficit, john key - Tags: ,

The levels of hypocrisy of John Key and National are astounding.

As he called Labour’s plans to investigate removing Lotto from the checkouts and limit jackpots “Nanny State”, he’s telling (non-retired) beneficiaries that they’re not allowed to fly overseas, have to have their bodies checked regularly for what they imbibe and that his government knows what’s best for their pre-schoolers.

I had thought they’d stopped going on about “Nanny State” when they banned mobile phones while driving (imagine if Labour had done that!).

Presumably Key’s instinct is more correct than any research into gambling harm.

But that was this morning, before I read Danyl’s posts today.

And they need highlighting. $50 billion this government has borrowed, while going on about Labour (ie the last government that nearly paid debt off) being terrible borrowers.  They’ve borrowed many times more than any previous government, then have the gall to say that Labour would be dangerous for the economy because their borrowing would drive interest rates up…

And public servants?  The ones that they were screaming about being too many, and have been telling us about how they’ve been cutting all those “back office workers” (hence forcing the “front line” to fill out forms & other “backroom” tasks themselves instead of their “front line” duties). There are now more public servants in Wellington than any time since at least 2000.

His graph of Net Crown Core expenses as percent of GDP is telling too.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want an austerity government, sacking vital public servants. I just don’t want National getting a clean ride while they say one thing and do another.

Usually politicians’ major crime to journalists is hypocrisy.  It’s the easy one, no ideology or analysis required.

So how are they getting away with it?

27 comments on “Hypocrisy ”

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  1. Chooky 1
    9 April 2014 at 11:05 pm

    +100…. good post…the level of borrowing of John Key’s NACT government is totally irresponsible…it will put New Zealanders in debt for years and make them and their assets vulnerable to overseas private takeover ….and they had the gall to criticise Clarke’s /Cullen’s Labour govt of prudent fiscal responsibility!

    Labour should axe the proposed motorways which will put us in even more debt.

    • You_Fool 1.1
      10 April 2014 at 8:28 am

      But it’s OK because National told us the Clarke/Cullen would have given us decades of deficits and National is only giving us 1 decade of deficits, but also no assets and no rights…

    • thatguynz 1.2
      10 April 2014 at 9:55 am

      “put New Zealanders in debt for years and make them and their assets vulnerable to overseas private takeover”

      And that is precisely the intent. +100 chooky.

    • Enough is Enough 1.3
      10 April 2014 at 12:35 pm

      It is definitley hyporcicy but its not irresponsible as you have described Chooky.

      • Naki Man 1.3.1
        10 April 2014 at 8:03 pm

        Chooky hasn’t heard about the GFC or the Christchurch earthquakes and doesn’t know that the rebuild alone is costing the crown more than $15 billion that does not include the reduction in tax take for Canterbury. Only simple people would think that the Government shouldn’t have taken on debt and softened the blow of the GFC. Imagine the whining and poverty pedaling from the left if no action had been taken and unemployment had blown out to 10%

        • RedLogix 1.3.1.1
          10 April 2014 at 8:28 pm

          Dozy fool. Try reading the OP:

          Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want an austerity government, sacking vital public servants. I just don’t want National getting a clean ride while they say one thing and do another.

          Whether it was Labour or National in power there was going to be a turn about in Govt finances. But consider:

          National cut taxes on the wealthy reducing govt. revenue.

          This meant they had to borrow more than a Labour govt would have had to do.

          Now of course the extra debt burden is potentially a liability for all taxpayers, and certainly the fiscal implications around interest rates hit all New Zealanders, not just the rich who got the tax cuts.

          Not to mention the asset sales thing which has robbed ordinary New Zealander’s of their stake in essential assets, and sold the future profit stream to mostly rich people elsewhere in the world.

          And of course the hypocrisy, which is what this post is about, is the story of National constantly lecturing the left on the evil ‘borrow and hope’ implications of their policy – while themselves doing exactly the same with fucking bells on.

  2. Weepu's beard 2
    9 April 2014 at 11:11 pm

    They are getting away with it because the dimwitted NZ public buy into personality politics just like they buy into cooking and DIY shows.

  3. tc 3
    10 April 2014 at 5:59 am

    The govt does as it backers demand safe in the knowledge the msm is part of the deception and protects them by not following up on the lies, deliberate spin and corrupt behaviour.

    Doesnt matter how good the opposition is when they can treat parliament with contempt, mislead the house etc and its not part of daily news coverage.

    Key wouldve struggled to get past his tranzrail issue and parata, collins, smith, bridges, adams etc would be set upon by the media till they forced a resignation based on evidence of their incompetance/corruption/subversion.

    As a senior Oz journo still in public broadcasting said to me last year, kiwi msm is a bent politicians dream watch Abbott attack us if he gets in as all the other media is owned by his mates.

  4. Descendant Of Sssmith 4
    10 April 2014 at 7:22 am

    “Doesn’t matter how good the opposition is”

    Still trying to find some good opposition. Labour is so non-committal on so much and has hardly ticked off anything on my list.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      10 April 2014 at 9:02 am

      Yep but I’m not surprised by that with Labour being a centre-right party.

    • Chooky 4.2
      10 April 2014 at 9:11 am

      i live in the eternal hope that Cunliffe is just keeping his powder dry until a few weeks out from the Election and then he will let them have it!….

      • TightyRighty 4.2.1
        10 April 2014 at 9:32 am

        I’m glad your hopeful about something. the moods always a bit negative round here

        • Chooky 4.2.1.1
          10 April 2014 at 11:36 am

          TightyRighty….i never laughed so hard that time you got banned after a series of comments from you and in full flight….maybe you could do it again?

          • Enough is Enough 4.2.1.1.1
            10 April 2014 at 1:23 pm

            You need to get out more if you haven’t laughed harder

            • DJ 4.2.1.1.1.1
              10 April 2014 at 5:11 pm

              And also if Chooky still believes that Cunliffe has anything other than we have already seen.

              • Chooky …
                10 April 2014 at 7:16 pm

                derrh

                • Colonial Viper …
                  10 April 2014 at 10:09 pm

                  It takes months to frame in the minds of the public what the 2-3 top issues for the election are, what they actually mean, and what should be done about them and why.

                  You open up the artillery at 20km range, the heavy mortars at 6km, and then light arms at 500m-1000m.

                  You don’t hold fire and wait until the bad guys are right on top of your trenches for the sake of “keeping your powder dry.”

  5. vto 5
    10 April 2014 at 7:43 am

    They get away with it because NZ is corrupt just like anywhere else, and the owners of the media are out and out tories i.e. the media owners are members of the National Party.

    It is as simple as that.

    Oh, and the opposition’s lack of gumption in taking them to task. Recently John Key labelled Cunliffe tricky, when it is Key who is tricky, but you see by doing that Key took the sting out of his own trickiness. Cunliffe and labour etc should be doing the same thing – they should label this government a nanny state government, explain their reckless borrowing and their big government, and their picking winners.

    Cunliffe must throw these things back at Key and this government.

    • Draco T Bastard 5.1
      10 April 2014 at 9:05 am

      Cunliffe and labour etc should be doing the same thing

      Cunliffe and all the other interim leaders on National should have been referencing John Key’s lies and Bill English’s over spending over and over again. Every time that they were being interviewed.

  6. Tracey 6
    10 April 2014 at 8:08 am

    if they were going to borrow, maybe they should have put some of it into the cullen fund?

  7. Tracey 7
    10 April 2014 at 8:12 am

    “In macro terms National has done pretty-much what Labour and the Greens would have done – with some obvious exceptions like the tax cuts – but pretended that they’ve done the opposite, and warned the country that Labour and the Greens are going to introduce fiscal policies which are basically identical to National’s but which National warns will destroy the economy. It’s all such a gigantic, egregious yet successful lie that countering it is all but impossible.”

  8. Tom Pained 8
    10 April 2014 at 1:53 pm

    Key’s legacy will include replacement of NZ’s Enlightenment ideals with those of a colonial counting house

  9. DS 9
    10 April 2014 at 2:00 pm

    Government debt in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing: it depends on (1) the circumstances of the broader economy, and (2) what you’re spending the money on. The Government is not a household, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with borrowing to fund public works and infrastructure during a recession.

    Where Key and English have messed up (deliberately, of course) is borrowing to pay for tax cuts. Which is a terrible way to boost the economy.

  10. captain hook 10
    10 April 2014 at 2:44 pm

    Its always negative when tighty tighty is around. I wonder if he is one of those free market forex traders being prosecuted for fixing the market in England. Hey tight—- do you know any currency traders?