Seems like there have been more posts on this topic than there are readers of this blog.
Draco - I was talked about new lines to new places, not double up. As for multiple operators, it occurs in many countries. They do have to co-ordinate with each other so they don't use the same track at the same time but it's obviously possible.
Actually, I suppose I could cope with a well run SOE. The model has improved since last time. I still think it could just as well stay private though. The main thing is not to sell monopolies e.g. Telecom being sold with lines and number allocation powers ...
In this case, isn't "the same old National party" a good thing? What's the case for nationalized rail operator? The state already owns the part that's arguably a natural monopoly (the rails). Do we want the old NZR back that was essentially a work for the ...
See comment #2 from insider on the "Some Questions" thread and higherstandard's comment on Mar 6th, 2008 at 9:36 am I think this whole thing in Standard's "Faux Outrage Du Jour". No-one else is buying it.
Still, the Maori seats should be abolished in an MMP context. They were important under FPP, but aren't the best solution under MMP. Perhaps they could be traded for an exclusion from the 5% minimum for the Maori party? I think Germany does that for some ...
gobsmacked @ 4:52 - Very well put. That's a great comment. It seems that both left and right accuse the media of a bias one way or the other, but the key bias seems to be that the media loves to put a party "on a roll" and then get behind accelerating that...
Thanks Robinsod. deemac - I'm in the US for work, but I'm 100% Kiwi and was living in NZ until 2006. I'm getting paid by a US employer to do something else while I'm doing this. rOb - I intentionally used vague and hopefully non-inflammatory language as ...
r0b - No, I still haven't. I don't have access to a copy in the US. I understand it contains emails, but that they can't be verified. Still, I'm open to the possibility the blind trust system was being abused but I stand by my defence of the intentions of ...
Well, that *is* the intention. You assert that the system is being subverted, but it's up to the accuser to provide evidence. Do you think that the 'large donor is known to the party and openly expects government positions from them' model is a better ...
National's blind trusts aren't murky. The intention is to shield the political party from knowing who the donors are, so favours and policy adjustments can't be granted. The left makes constant insinuation that National just uses the system to pretend not ...
I'd be happier if the line around what's acceptable was actually clarified. "Police have discretion not to arrest or prosecute" doesn't tell me anything about what I can or cannot do to avoid the legal system getting involved. We definitely moved the line ...
Repeat this posting 10 times, and maybe it will come true! Captcha: Helen con
It won't increase wages as quickly *in the short term*, I mean to say. Woops. Long term, though, better off for all.
That's pretty funny. I loved that episode. I think he doesn't (and shouldn't) give a shit about increasing wages, but feels he can't say it. I'd rather he grew the economy. It won't increase wages as quickly and it'd certainly never reduce income disparity...
Tane and Sod - How is that stupid. You just disagree, is all. May I refer you to the policies of the Irish government during the Celtic Tiger period? Something like that'd be nice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_Tiger "Credit has been primarily given ...
Labour party policy is spot on then. Let's all have less, as long as we each get some special presents (e.g. WFF) to feel like winners.
Psycho - 1) I'm not saying we don't need a legal system to enforce private property rights, I'm just saying that the rights themselves aren't created by the legal system. They're not bestowed by the government, they're protected by the government. It's one...
Tane - Well, I don't take a Marxian analysis. I also disagree with some of the roles you include as seemingly the basic minimum of government e.g. *institution* of private property rights (they tend to take them away, but it doesn't mean they create them ...
Just a side issue really, but the government doesn't *make* New Zealand an easy place to do business. All a government has to do is avoid making it a difficult place. It's an act of restraint, rather than of commission.
Steve - Only a socialist would say that. Long term planning has a role, but the market also has a role. Labour has the balance wrong. Tane - OK, no need to go any further with that one. It was an unreasonably extreme statement. Please add something like ...
Lefties are getting anxious about their 'gains' getting rolled back. Don't fret, kids. You're forgetting the biggest political advantage you have... taxpayers' money is like crack, and few politicians ever dare send the country cold turkey. No matter how ...
He's leader of the National Party, which is a fairly BIG clue that he has slightly right-of-centre views on the role of government and the economy, and mildly conservative social views. What more do you want? Personally, I'm way way further right on the ...
A ha ha ha. What a silly little article. "Would he plan for and invest in the future with programmes like Kiwisaver, the Cullen Fund, cap and trade or would he be a populist man of the moment?" Or would he let individual New Zealanders secure their own ...
Sorry to be pedantic, but the title of the graph is still a little misleading. It's labeled a graph of "Median Wage Growth". It's actually a graph of the Median Wage (in $/week) that, when you look at it, shows growth. A map of growth itself would have the...
MMP isn't actually very good though. How about some sweet sweet STV?
He seems to have been acting on concerns from the public, including several with greater than average knowledge (a lifeguard, an underwater photographer) and that's part of a politician's job. However, I agree that he was stupid to make a call for a ban ...
Sam - I have no sense of humour? I think not. Perhaps we just have a different sense of humour? I think so, because every time this site tries to write something 'funny' about John Key, it smacks of some kind of creepy venting of inner frustrations. I ...
Well, sorry John, but there goes my vote! I'll be damned if I'll tolerate a Prime Minister who has a different taste in architecture from even one architect!
On Oct-31 when McCready first started pushing the Mallard thing, it was made clear that he's facing charges of his own: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4255870a23917.html The fact he was going to be in court on Dec-19 was also in that article. Thanks for getting ...
That's like saying that your worst behaving workmate is the one with the most parking tickets, rather than the one who hits other workmates and makes false accusations about other innocent parties when he's in a position of power and they can't do anything...
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