The second time as farce

Written By: - Date published: 2:24 pm, May 20th, 2009 - 16 comments
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History repeats they say.

Isn’t it starting to feel like the 1990s all over again?

We’ve got a National government facing a grim budget. Paul Holmes on the telly. Media obsessed with the David Bain trial. Christine Rankin making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Roger Douglas issuing press releases from bizzaro world. National itching to privatise, and appearing increasingly arrogant and out of touch. It all feels so tediously familiar.

Here we go again – the second time as farce..

16 comments on “The second time as farce ”

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  1. vto 1
    20 May 2009 at 2:31 pm

    ha ha yes. probably it will go even further and the national govt will slowly fix up all the last labour govts cock-ups, leading to an improving economy again only to be tipped out of office just as things come right. labour will get back in and claim all the credit for an improved economy before letting it all drain out of their holey bucket. and so back again to square uno…

    • Pascal's bookie 1.1
      20 May 2009 at 2:39 pm

      Ah but vto, the chief cocker-upper from that Labour govt is back on the govt benches see, and we’ve got mmp so there’ll be no split left vote saving the tories (like after Ruth) if they do get all ideological on it…

    • r0b 1.2
      20 May 2009 at 3:04 pm

      will slowly fix up all the last labour govts cock-ups

      The outgoing Labour government of 1989 surely left plenty of cock-ups, courtesy of the faction that went on to become ACT (as PB notes).

      The outgoing Labour government of 2008 left things in good shape, as you well know vto, well placed to face the international crisis. And now the current National government, in the face of that developing crisis, seems to be just sitting on its hands and doing nothing but “hope for the best”. Sigh.

      Anyway, I really don’t know which is worse, having to put up with a National government, or reruns of that twit Holmes.

  2. gingercrush 2
    20 May 2009 at 3:20 pm

    ^ Labour in 1999 inherited surpluses. National was left with a deficit and economic growth that came about due to blatant consumerism. Labour allowed this country to spend negilently in the meanwhile significantly increasing expenses on this country. Instead of achieving consistency in economic growth. That growth was grown on New Zealanders spending exceedingly amounts of cash that they never actually had meaning they had to borrow it. That is the reality Labour left us with in 2008.

    Don’t get me wrong. Labour did many good things, but what they never managed was a transformation of this economy. We didn’t climb the OCED stats, we didn’t improve productivity. We did get unemployment to significant low levels, we did get debt temporarily at least significantly low. We did get some things in place such as Kiwisaver and the Cullen Fund that should improve savings. But at the end of the day. Did Labour transform our economy so we could compete with the rest of the world? Did they allow innovation to grow and prosper? Did they leave a legacy where economic growth was not on the backs of consumer spending but an investment in businesses? No they did not and for that they failed in government.

    • Pascal's bookie 2.1
      20 May 2009 at 3:34 pm

      A very left wing critique ginger.

      • gingercrush 2.1.1
        20 May 2009 at 3:46 pm

        I don’t see what is very left wing about it. Though it does surprise me how some right-wing elements are strangely aligned with what the left. I’m thinking here, consumerism.

        Jenny Shipley actually addressed most of this and had plans to get proper economic growth over 20 years and wanted a shift in New Zealand’s economy. Many though think she ignored agriculture at her peril. While she was a disaster as PM (who the hell cuts retirement pensions). I do think Labour should have kept some of the thinking that was there at the time. Though Labour’s first three years also talked alot about transforming the economy, innovation and investment. They abandoned that very quickly and just took to spending.

        • Pascal's bookie 2.1.1.1
          20 May 2009 at 3:56 pm

          just trying to find out what you meant actually. might write more tonight, busy now…

    • theaveragekeywi 2.2
      20 May 2009 at 8:05 pm

      what happened to the R&D tax credit Ging?

  3. Ag 3
    20 May 2009 at 4:09 pm

    History repeats they say.

    This isn’t history repeating. It’s people who have no idea what to do simply repeating their old policies in the vain hope it will fix things. It’s rather like how mentally ill people desperately cling to old routines to preserve some sense of sanity.

    Our Lords and Masters have absolutely no idea what to do about the collapse of neoliberalism, so they are busy pretending that they do have a solution, so that they won’t get thrown out. Luckily for them, a majority of the public have decided on a similar faith based strategy.

    Oh well, idiotic people deserve idiotic government.

  4. bobo 4
    20 May 2009 at 5:41 pm

    At least my hair cut will be back in fashion 🙂 Grunge politics…

  5. inpassing 5
    20 May 2009 at 9:03 pm

    History repeats.. yea.. and the thing is the gap between events and occurrences and cockups is getting shorter..

    still, as our good friends point out when the blarney fails there are to be found pearls among the swine.. a must read for Bill English.. and all right-thinking folks of course… for whom the remedy of time awaits..

  6. inpassing 6
    20 May 2009 at 9:17 pm

    gosh it must be cold outy there.. I posted a very salient irish pov on the topiv=c tagged ‘goat issues’.. and got blasted for the trouble.. darned thing’s gorn.. not a sign.. and there’s me thinking this was such a friendly and efficient flagpole…

  7. uroskin 7
    21 May 2009 at 10:22 am

    You forgot to add the Labour Party being squeezed from the left by the Greens (like the Alliance did in the 90s)

    • inpassing 7.1
      21 May 2009 at 3:26 pm

      uroskin,

      not much chance of an extended left vote do you suppose..?

      and then given both a lively bye election and campaigning cockups why must one think of greens gains at the expense of allied and inclined voters on the day..?

  8. Killinginthenameof 8
    21 May 2009 at 10:44 am

    Well, a while back at drinking liberally Nicky Hagar said if National wins the election, it will be like the last 9 years never happened.

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