Open mike 29/11/09

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 29th, 2009 - 25 comments
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Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

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25 comments on “Open mike 29/11/09 ”

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  1. logie97 1
    29 November 2009 at 8:32 am

    On Taxation

    The media appears recently to be being “asked” to sound out the idea of reducing PAYE and increasing GST.

    Now, given that the Ruling Classes generally own the means of production or have mates that do, they are able to purchase the large capital items at wholesale price. (Of course that assumes they need to buy something that their “Company” hasn’t already bought for them – car, health insurance, power, etc – where the GST has already been claimed back).

    15 percent on $100 (wholesale) is a lot less than 15 percent on $150 retail.

    Who wins on reducing PAYE and increasing GST?

    • prism 1.1
      29 November 2009 at 11:00 am

      On taxation
      Switzerland I think used to have 15% GST – the wealthy here no doubt think we are on a level with them. They actually learnt to do more than milk cows and made other business opportunities and held on to them. Also financial – they have been successful in getting money into the country and holding onto it.
      The citizens were so well off that when they changed their furnishings they didn’t think of selling them secondhand, they stored them in their cellars. The poor people were gastarbeiten – immigrant workers.

      Here the poor people are a majority of the citizens. We can’t afford a regressive tax of higher than 12 half percent, we can’t even afford that. But I have heard a report from the tax study that appears to brush over the regressive nature of it, which of course is on almost everything – can’t change the universal nature of it because that is not as easy and efficient. Tax for the convenience of accountants not the country. Other countries at least don’t tax food, here no, we need it simple because we are simple. The poor don’t get a chance to pay higher marginal tax, they’re too busy paying what amounts to an impost on every repair bill, on electricity etc, all that are needed for everyday living.

      • prism 1.1.1
        29 November 2009 at 11:27 am

        On taxation
        I think that a useful taxation measure would be to allocate 2half percent of each GST payment to the region where it was spent. It would provide infrastructure funds so badly needed by regions. It would feed back funds from the business transactions that occurred there, and funds would rise as business increased. This would be invaluable for a quiet place with heavy seasonal visitors.

        Each region would have its own GST code and spot codes could be allocated to specified areas within regions that needed infrastructure.

        • prism 1.1.1.1
          29 November 2009 at 11:53 am

          Just reading blog on Coromandel mining and
          factchecker talking about taxation and returns available to the residents there. My GST allocation would ensure that people there got a more reasonable return.

    • Craig Glen Eden 2.1
      29 November 2009 at 10:59 am

      Tamihere =Shit for brains. It would help if he had actually read the speech and comprehended the message.

      Its also funny his view of the Labour caucus I think many of them would view things differently and John would not feature a lot. However in Johns world( Talk back radio) he is the master.

      John should have a look at how few people voted for him in the Waitakere Mayoral Elections, reality might start to sink in.

    • QoT 2.2
      29 November 2009 at 11:14 am

      That “column” would be totally embarrassing if it were a blog post anywhere. It’s scary that it apparently got published in a “mainstream” newspaper.

  3. outofbed 3
    29 November 2009 at 9:30 am

    To thoroughly understand Copenhagen and all the shenanigans that will happen there, I thoroughly recommend this
    http://throbgoblins.blogspot.com/2009/11/climate-slamdown.html
    Sheer brilliance and perfect reading for a Sunday Arvo

  4. r0b 4
    29 November 2009 at 10:33 am

    Good discussion on climate change / Copenhagen on National Radio right now…

    Edit: Finished now.

  5. Quoth the Raven 5
    29 November 2009 at 1:28 pm

    Interesting article on the depression of 1920/21.The Forgotten Depression of 1920 It’s something that you just don’t hear about – for reasons I think are obvious in the article.

  6. the pinkpostman 6
    29 November 2009 at 2:19 pm

    What a two faced lot these Tories are ! The latest example is the statement (Sunday Herald) that E

  7. the pinkpostman 7
    29 November 2009 at 2:34 pm

    What a two faced lot these Tories are . The latest example is the statement (Sunday Herald) by the ghastly Michelle Boag stating that English had every right to park on a disabled only car space.
    Remember the outcry of rage from this woman when

  8. mike 8
    29 November 2009 at 6:42 pm

    Goff down to 5% in the latest TVNZ preferred PM – close to margin of error territory… how long has he got?

    • gingercrush 8.1
      29 November 2009 at 7:05 pm

      Two more years of misery. Its a poison chalice that anyone who really wants to lead Labour wouldn’t touch. It will be interesting to see how some react to his speech on Thursday and whether that sees some type of rise in support. I’m not convinced. Nor am I convinced by the arguments made by some on the left such as Trotter who I think fundamentally misunderstands what New Zealanders think and want. He’s too exposed in some silly notion of class differences that certain elements of the left hold. I don’t find them valid. I also wonder how long Goff is going to repeat his Harawira lines. Surely even though New Zealanders will agree with him eventually they’ll just tire of it.

      Meanwhile Key is still rating highly. Something I’m sure many here find confusing. The hard right will be upset too because Key is too soft and won’t do many of the things Brash and his group want. We’ll find out tomorrow what they all are. Labour is right to a degree in that National holds something rather extreme (such as giving Brash the 2025 group) but are in fact much more moderate in what they actually implement. So indeed Labour are correct. But then that exposes how stupid Labour were in the 2008 election to say you couldn’t trust John Key and there was a huge secret agenda. Because National keeps dropping much of the more extreme measures the hard right would like.

      Meanwhile we’re heading into December and politics will largely die for three months.

      —-

      Talking about Trotter. What nonsense he speaks. The 200, 000 or so that switched from Labour to National were not the dispossessed. The dispossessed didn’t vote in 2008. Whose to say what their reasons for voting National was. But I find it hard to see they will be so wrapped warmly at the crap Goff spouted on Thursday.

    • QoT 8.2
      29 November 2009 at 10:34 pm

      Might mean something if we elected PMs separately. But alas, no.

  9. Bored 9
    29 November 2009 at 8:37 pm

    What a fabulous day. Sun shining, all good, and then for the entertainment of the day, no not the All Blacks, nor that described above by Ging (cant decide what is bigger load of bollocks, what he is talking about or his opinion there of), but….wait for it, the Dunny Brush productivity report. The old Soviets used to send repeat offending dissidents to mental hospitals when the gulag had become unnacceptable practice, I would recommend the same for Dunny on the basis that he represents a political health menace. Unfortunately for us the new right anticipated that one and had them all shut down. Only joking, well sort of.

    I was surprised by Dunnys report though, I did not think even he could be so out of touch with reality, so blinded by dogma, so out of touch with the times that he would suggest his prescription seriously. The man and his creed are not only a joke, they are certifiable as well.

    • Pascal's bookie 9.1
      29 November 2009 at 9:24 pm

      Oh it’s doing it’s job Bored…

      TVNZ on Key’s promise not to break any election pledges:

      That suggests that National pay parity with Australia takes second place to staying on side with New Zealand voters.

      The typo in ‘national’ is not the worst journalistic fuckup in that little quote.

      The Brash one’s report is being assumed to be the answer to the wage gap in their reporting. I mean shit. Got peer review? Got anything other than the same old shit the guy’s always been sayin? Why treat him like Moses?

      Let us review.

      Mr Centrist’s last job was as Brash’s finance spokesman.

      Brash’s economic policy, (which is all the man really cares about politically) was so toxic to the electorate that not only did he (Brash) have to dogwhistle a symphony to have a shot at governing, but his successor had to explicitly reject it.

      On gaining the government benches on the back of that rejection, and with an implied plan to ‘get the economy going, catch up to aussie, and stop our kids heading for wealthier climes’, what does Johnboy do?

      Implement his own plan? Nope. Doesn’t seem to have one. Instead we have a ‘report’ to be drawn up.

      Quite aside from the fact that having these sorts of plans are what politicians are supposed to bloody well do themselves, why on earth is Mr Centrist outsourcing it to his former leader, whose economic prescription he explicitly rejected? (Well, other than to provide some wingnut welfare to said former leader after his unfortunate dismissal and embarrassment.)

      And why would that plan be treated as anything other than a political document by the media?

      So where is John’s plan in this play? Who appointed Brash to advise? Who knew that the distance would be interpreted in exactly the way TVNZ did in that quote.

      As said back in July:

      http://www.thestandard.org.nz/its-brash/#comment-147715

      The point of the report is to be radical crazy land stuff. Just producing it has made radical crazy stuff, an acceptable bargaining position, and in the eyes of TVNZ, the solution to closing the gap.

      • NickS 9.1.1
        29 November 2009 at 10:42 pm

        So a government which has made strong claims about cutting back on spending put into gear a committee that they knew wasn’t actually going to turn up any economic solutions that would not be political suicide, let alone empirically problematic?

        Such beautiful irony.

        Though, it does double as under the table political advertising for National, so the irony may not be valid…

  10. TF 10
    29 November 2009 at 10:29 pm

    Still good to see the left up two points in the tvnz poll

  11. NickS 11
    29 November 2009 at 10:48 pm

    I’ve been sitting on this for far too many days.

    Remember that moving bit of news from last week with the paralyzed Belgian, now able to communicate? It’s a big fat fraud, and here’s a nice lovely long post from Orac on why:
    Another contender for the worst medical reporting ever: “Coma man”

    And if you’re looking for some nerdy, pattern-matching, “For Science!” fun:
    Colliding Galaxies For Fun and For Science!
    /science!

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