Posts Tagged ‘vernon small’

Small on how it went down and Nats’ bidding war myth

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, October 21st, 2017 - 25 comments

Vernon Small has the best account of the events of “D-Day”. Nat supporters are trying to pedal the myth that English lost a baubles bidding war because of his principles (hah!), the fact is it was all about policy match.

Small on the Nats’ Key deficit on Hit and Run

Written By: - Date published: 7:53 am, April 6th, 2017 - 24 comments

Vernon Small thinks the B Team is missing Key.

Nats’ attack on Ardern backfires

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, March 17th, 2017 - 34 comments

National’s nasty, obvious, hamfisted attack on Jacinda Ardern has backfired on them big time.

English on the Māori seats

Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, February 23rd, 2017 - 13 comments

Someone should ask English whether he still believes the opinions stated in the press release, and if not, why not?

What if anything does Bill English believe in?

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, February 21st, 2017 - 71 comments

Can anyone work out what English stands for? His actions and his words are at odds. Vernon Small tries and fails to pin English down on electoral deals, Winston Peters, abolishing the Maori seats, and more.

“Post-truth” politics (and false equivalences)

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, July 2nd, 2016 - 38 comments

Interesting pieces recently on “post-truth” politics. They rightly tear strips off Key and a government that lies and denies reflexively and at all levels, and has been doing so for eight long years.

Vernon Small on Key’s fiscal Tardis

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, May 19th, 2016 - 21 comments

Small: “Only this week Prime Minister John Key managed to spend one, save it and outline a plan to give it back to taxpayers all at the same time.”

Vernon Small jumps the shark

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, July 18th, 2014 - 217 comments

There’s lies, damn lies, and statistics. And then there’s writing a beat-up story and providing none of the numbers needed to back it up at all.

Updated: Other bloggers commenting on the ‘maths’

The view from the media room

Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, July 8th, 2014 - 16 comments

Since 2012 I’ve been going to Labour conferences as “media” rather than as a delegate. This is in large part because I have been avoiding the hurly burly of being involved in Labour party campaigning. But this was my first Labour congress as media. The Saturday was as boring for me as it was for Vernon Small. Watching other people doing housekeeping is seldom of much interest to outside observers as it is for those doing the housekeeping. The Sunday was more fun.

NRT: National’s future coalition options

Written By: - Date published: 1:31 pm, May 2nd, 2013 - 24 comments

No Right Turn points out the inherent flaw in National’s election campaign (and Vernon Small’s analysis of it). A future National government has no good coalition partners. Even the mythic (and likely to be epic if it happened) National/NZ First coalition faces the problem of three parties competing for the same group of economically nationalist and socially conservative voters from slightly different directions.

Another “Zero budget”

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, April 6th, 2012 - 72 comments

Another “Zero budget” has been signaled. Some commentators think it’s a bold move. I beg to differ.

John Key puts truth on 90 day term deposit

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, November 7th, 2011 - 46 comments

hattip William Joyce

Counterpoint

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 pm, September 10th, 2011 - 12 comments

I’ve just read Vernon Small’s piece today and I actually learned things from it, other than opinions plucked out of thin air by the author. Small explains the fiscal and economic challenges now existing that the next government will have to cope with and, with a nod and wink, tells us National is going to push out its date for getting back to surplus.

Small talk on party activists and blogs.

Written By: - Date published: 3:23 pm, March 29th, 2011 - 52 comments

Vernon Small says “Its activists on websites and blogs are openly questioning the party’s direction and Mr Goff’s judgment.” He seems to be looking at our non-Labour activists of the left and the astroturfers and seeing a movement against Goff.

Mostly it isn’t from Labour activists. It isn’t real. It is just designed for him and other journos  to read.

Your chance to ask the PM some real questions

Written By: - Date published: 12:41 am, December 1st, 2010 - 134 comments

To say that Key’s digital smile and wave was disappointing would be an under-statement. Key spent just 45 minutes (not the promised 2 hours) answering questions and most of them were moronic  – “ford or holden”, “favourite colour” – honestly. We’re getting emails from people pissed off their serious questions weren’t sent through. I have a solution.

Trans-Tasman: Key the smile & wave PM

Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, November 30th, 2010 - 65 comments

The annual roll-call’ from the extremely pro-Nat Trans-Tasman says: “Key needs an agenda, not just the consensus he is building around personal trust.” In other words: ‘smile and wave is all very nice and good, John, but don’t you think you should do some actual work? Meanwhile, Key is spending two hours today digitally smiling and waving on Stuff.

The dust settles on the Hobbit fiasco

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, October 31st, 2010 - 37 comments

Eventually the dust was going to settle on the Hobbit fiasco and the truth was going to come out.

Fortunately the media has done a bloody good job of making sure that happened.

So what have they been saying?

Budget punditry round-up spectacular!

Written By: - Date published: 11:57 pm, May 20th, 2010 - 62 comments

A round up of commentary from around the media on the Budget. Well, the media that’s in written form anyway. I’ll be damned if I’m doing any transcribing. Favourite lines, Vernon Small: “Bill English has written a one-dimensional tax-shuffle Budget”, John Armstrong: “Those looking for the bright ideas and initiatives to galvanise economic growth are going to be hugely disappointed”

Nat-onomics: $30 million up in flames

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, April 17th, 2010 - 11 comments

Vernon Small calculates that if the Cullen Fund had continued getting its monthly contributions, rather than just the one-off $250 million the government gave in July, we would be $30 million better off by now. Predictably, the financially illiterate Key apologists are having a cry about being shown to have stuffed this one up so badly.

Restart Cullen Fund payments

Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, April 16th, 2010 - 24 comments

It’s time for the Nats to reverse what Vernon Small (with 20/20 hindsight) has labeled the “dumb, short-sighted decision” to can contributions to the Cullen Fund. We’ve already lost $25 million and Treasury says we’ll lose billions more. If we don’t make this investment now, superannuation will become unsustainable sometime after 2030. Perhaps that’s the Nats’ aim.

You’ve got to know to understand (and be able to talk about it)

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, March 1st, 2009 - 58 comments

In the greatest economic crisis in a lifetime, we remain the only country in the world whose government has done nothing to try to stimulate the economy. In fact, the net effect of National’s policies is de-stimulatory, taking money out of the economy when it most needs an injection of spending. And I blame the […]

The praiseworthy and the pitiful

Written By: - Date published: 1:04 pm, February 20th, 2009 - 23 comments

The praiseworthy and the pitiful is our weekly post on the little things that caught our eye but didn’t lead to a full post. This week: Tracy Watkins’ new blog A best of the political journos’ blogs I reckon. Watkins has been responding to comments, showing a bit of a sassy side, and her pieces […]

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.