Maxim scores own-goal, embarrasses National

Written By: - Date published: 3:03 pm, May 11th, 2010 - 15 comments
Categories: national, polls - Tags: , ,

A recently released UMR poll commissioned by right-wing think tank the Maxim Institute shows strong support for the policies of the last Labour Government and little taste for the reforms National is trying to push through.

It seems that if you ask Kiwis what kind of policies they want, the answer is ‘make mine a socialist one please’. Not much coverage of it in the msm though because the findings don’t suit their corporate interests.

It does kind of explain why National don’t like public consultation all that much. Probably marks the first and last time Maxim dabble with empirical evidence too.

Play the audio on the Scoop page, and here is the Maxim UMR PDF here.

15 comments on “Maxim scores own-goal, embarrasses National ”

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  1. ianmac 1
    11 May 2010 at 4:07 pm

    Amazing that it is not Headline making on MSM! Interesting results given that by now the 2010 Budget is set in concrete, which would make it hard for John Key to pander to the gullible. Watch this space!

  2. Joe Bloggs 2
    11 May 2010 at 4:39 pm

    Maxim were the same clotworthies who forecast an unemployment rate of over 10% by end 2009.

    I wouldn’t trust their particular dogwhistling any more than Eddie’s or Marty G’s

    • Tiger Mountain 2.1
      11 May 2010 at 4:53 pm

      Careful there Bloggs. The thing is Maxim and the increasingly young twerps that front for it get caught out on the facts, just as one of it’s founders, Bruce Logan, got caught out on plagarism.

  3. Graeme Edgeler 3
    11 May 2010 at 4:51 pm

    Is Maxim’s opposition to three strikes and the Electoral (Disqualification of Convicted Prisoners) Amendment Bill also some sort of own goal? Why do you assume Maxim are some sort of partisan front for the National Party, and not a bunch of people genuinely interested in NZers?

    • the sprout 3.1
      11 May 2010 at 5:01 pm

      a bunch of people genuinely interested in NZers 😆

      it’s an own goal Graeme because Maxim are a right-wing think tank that have commissioned a poll that shows the majority of NZers are not interested in the right-wing policies this right-wing government wants to implement. that clear enough for you?

      • Bright Red 3.1.1
        11 May 2010 at 5:09 pm

        there’s some multi syllable words in there, sprout.

      • Graeme Edgeler 3.1.2
        11 May 2010 at 7:56 pm

        And then they release it…

        And this right-wing think tank then organises public meetings against the three strikes law, flying academics around the country (well, from Auckland to Wellington) to speak out against this core National and Act policy, publishing an occasional paper opposing the policy. And now they’ve just put out material opposing a National Party members bill that would strip the vote from prisoners.

        Maxim has been more outspoken against this government’s law and order policies than the Labour opposition have (which has mostly focused on how three strikes won’t catch that many people). So my point is that the world is not black and white. Maxim=National booster is simply not true. That clear enough for you 🙂

        • the sprout 3.1.2.1
          11 May 2010 at 8:43 pm

          Gosh, I’ve noticed that when they don’t get things exactly their way ACT sometimes criticize National too Graeme, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t ideologically aligned 😆

          I’ve never claimed Maxim are ‘boosters for National’, nor that they’re a ‘partisan front’. Perhaps you should read the post again. You seem to projecting a lot in to it.

          Still, fascinating that you’re so motivated to dissociate Maxim from National.

          btw, it’s not entirely clear Maxim did release the findings, although it is clear that they’re not exactly publicizing them far and wide.

          • Graeme Edgeler 3.1.2.1.1
            11 May 2010 at 11:37 pm

            it’s not entirely clear Maxim did release the findings, although it is clear that they’re not exactly publicizing them far and wide.

            They’re on the maxim website.

            Still, fascinating that you’re so motivated to dissociate Maxim from National.

            Why would you find that fascinating?

            You seem to projecting a lot in to it.

            You mean the bit in the heading where you note that Maxim scored an own goal, embarrassing National? Score a goal against National by showing people oppose their GST moves? No. Score an own goal.

            Gosh, I’ve noticed that when they don’t get things exactly their way ACT sometimes criticize National too Graeme, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t ideologically aligned

            Yeah, but ACT criticises National for being too left wing. Maxim are criticising National (and implicitly Labour as well) for being too right wing.

            • SPC 3.1.2.1.1.1
              12 May 2010 at 12:33 am

              Labour as too right wing (actually the centre being too right wing for Labour to be popular and confront it) on one issue, not too right wing in general – far from it.

  4. tc 4
    11 May 2010 at 5:35 pm

    Then there’s that quaint old idea of trust and honesty.

    If you campaigned on a labour light agenda, win, then go about doing alot of the opposite whilst being arrogant and in the case of some ministers incompetant and process deficient then eventually people will voice their dissatisfaction at the con job.

    Sideshow is head and shoulders clear in the race for the prize of ‘Worst PM ever’ (Bill Rowlings step aside finally) an award made possible by a cabinet chockful of self serving meglomaniacs….on a good day, which of course he’s relaxed and comfortable about…..who wouldn’t be with his net worth.

  5. gingercrush 5
    11 May 2010 at 11:09 pm

    Not too surprising really though is it? I mean its not like National doesn’t know that WFF is popular and therefore they won’t be getting rid of it. Same goes for Interest Free Loans and Super Annuation. I also think National will slightly increase Kiwisaver next year (because Labour will likely move in this area). Meanwhile, in regards to 20 hours free. National will only tinker at the edges of that policy. What is surprising is how pathetic Maxim is in wanting rid of Kiwisaver (thought really it isn’t surprising that they’re that pathetic). Out of everything the government currently does why someone would choose Kiwisaver to attack is beyond me.

    But at the same time one wonders whether other options floated by the left would be popular either. Its likely there would be the same opposition to a Capital Gains Tax. Meanwhile, a question on the ETS where petrol and electricity prices going up is specified would be just as unpopular.

    Maxim would be far better to offer other alternatives to all those five areas yet they don’t seem to do that. Its just, “we must get rid of this”. Its the same bullshit Bernard Hickey comes up with (though in Hickey’s case he combines it with the war between the generations bullshit where he wholly focuses on tax without any regard to policies he’d want remove that actually benefit x and y).

    One could actually say that’s the whole problem with the right. Because while they ultimately don’t like certain policies they overly focus on tax only and don’t offer alternatives to what they dislike. Where in many cases the problem isn’t the policy as such its the delivery of it that’s problematic.

  6. solatnz 6
    12 May 2010 at 10:30 am

    Graeme, I think you are entirely right about Maxim. They are much more principled than they are party partisan. Sure, they will usually come down on the side of the Right, but then that shouldn’t surprise us that a self-declared conservative group would.

    Not everyone on the Right is hellbent on nihilistic utility maximisation for them and their ilk at the expense of the common good, as hard to believe as that may be.

    It’s not that I generally agree with Maxim , but that I respect the integrity and principle they have shown generally.

    Some people are better than their politics.

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