Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The sole party of government

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  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Farmer Green,

    They have done the tax cuts already, and they are promising more at some stage down the line.

    The tax cuts they did were financed on our nations credit card. The modest tax hikes suggested are needed to cover our needed spending and because the original tax cuts are a drain on our economy. Cutting taxes in a recession for your core base is good politics, but fucking disastrous for our national accounts.

    I don't think this issue won them office in 2014. They won because they simplified the choice, socialist p.c nutters versus nice John. How they simplified it that way is a topic for much discussion.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    [Posting without having caught up yet.]

    "I have been fairly confident that the tangle of Dirty Politics and the more recent, alarming evidence that the official information process is being corrupted would have to be examined in public over the next year. Now, I’m not so sure."

    Yeah, without even Peters having any influence, I think they have pretty much gotten away with the dirty politics stuff. The Ombudsman's investigation into the OIA misuse will still take place though.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,

    I'm all for Winston being made Speaker of the House ; he knows where the door is. And it might shut him up , to some extent.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Russell Brown,

    I think what has been discovered is troubling and needs setting right. The overwhelming nature of the victory unfortunately makes that less likely.

    I would say that "less likely" is being generous. If I were Key, I'd be taking this result as an endorsement of the Dirty Politics school of politicking. He was quite happy enough to take his 30-point-whatever-percent of eligible-voters' votes as support for asset sales.

    There will definitely be no bigger inquiry into the SIS-OIA-Slater affair, or into the Collins-Slater-Ede affair, or any of the rest of what came out in Dirty Politics. "Nothing to see here, as declared by the electorate. Move along."
    I'm also worried that the Ombudsman's Office is going to get quite the squeeze in this coming term, even more so than it is currently, now that Dame Beverly has declared open season on ministerial interference in OIA responses. The Ombudsmen are our last independent inquisitor when it comes to the government, and the Office is already under significant financial pressure. Keeping on the squeeze so that citizens just stop trying to have bad government behaviour investigated looks to be a given, especially if they want to take on the Executive.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to mark taslov,

    Many underestimate Mr Peters and few live to tell the tale.

    Selwyn Cushing's still on deck.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Farmer Green,

    So your saying, "Don’t watch the biased media, put your head in the sand and they’ll go away." Cheers buddy, I love ya simple homespun advice.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Amanda Wreckonwith, in reply to Farmer Green,

    Oh well, only turkeys vote for Xmas.

    No, I did too.
    Top tax bracket by a long way but happy to do my bit.
    Some of us give a sh#t.

    Since Sep 2012 • 171 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    But everyone expects Nicky Hager to try desperately for another five minutes of adulation ; so what? Too boring for most.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Farmer Green,

    C'mon , whatever you think about Nicky Hagar, you have to admit he had an incredible story given to him.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,

    Some of us give a sh#t.

    You may have a clearer picture, what was that business with the tax on inheritance? David Cunliffe said something like if you sell the house within a month of the family member dying then you will avoid the tax, I may have misunderstood, could you clarify it in any way?

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,

    Top tax bracket by a long way but happy to do my bit.

    Same , but the electorate did not vote for the parties promising tax hikes. But what would they know right?
    They are just the "kiwi battlers " doing it tough through some lean economic times. Who could blame them for thinking that there are still quite a few who are not pulling their weight? Or at least , not working quite so hard.

    NZers do work hard ; that's a fact.
    If they worked out that they were spending three months of the year working to fill the government coffers , can you blame them for not wanting to increase it to four months?

    Whatever . . . . that's the way that they voted.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Pete,

    Farmer, have you escaped from Kiwiblog by any chance?

    Since Apr 2008 • 106 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Farmer Green,

    Leave Nicky Hager out of this please Farmer Green, he is a valuable New Zealander.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    Well . . no actually.
    Maybe I got it wrong. I expected that the paranoid Yanks were spying on everybody. Was that not the only established fact?

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Farmer Green,

    fill the government coffers

    The coffers, those damn coffers.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Pete,

    Haven't heard of it Pete. But I'm in the Rangitikei electorate , and I never heard of Deborah Russell until I read this thread.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Farmer Green,

    I’m in the Rangitikei electorate

    Say no more. ;)

    Nothing to do with the Americans, Hager’s book Dirty politics was exposing attack politics, using bloggers, shillery, expediting OIA requests, publication of Labour website data with the assistance of someone in the PM’s office and general nastiness, the only tangible upshot so far has been Judith Collins losing her cabinet post.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Farmer Green,

    Your reading assignment is to re-read the book. No skimming this time because as you’ll find other funny stories happened too. It’s a wild read buddy.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    Jack I said at the outset that I don't belong here.
    If you think that policy was not a big factor in the routing of the left, then just say that.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    The odd thing is that by my accounting, National’s share of the total available vote dropped.

    Warning: extreme geekdom ahead…
    In 2006 the potential voting population (i.e. NZ resident aged 18+) was 2,974,272.
    In 2013 it was 3,198,495 (Source: StatsNZ).
    If we average the population growth across the 7 years, we get a 2011 potential voting population of 3,134,431. If we assume population growth continued at the same rate, we get a 2014 potential voting population of 3,230,527.
    (I know population doesn’t increase linearly like that, but it’s the best I can do for now).
    In 2012, the prison population was 10,160. I’m going to assume that population didn’t change much, and apply it to both 2011 and 2014.

    There were also overseas voters. I’m not going to even attempt to estimate how many eligible overseas voters – too hard – so I’m just going to limit that population to those who actually voted: 21,496 in 2011. Again, I’m going to assume the same number for 2014 until the real number becomes available.

    Subtracting the prison population, and adding the overseas voters, that gives potential voting populations of 3,145,767 in 2011, and 3,241,863 in 2014.

    In 2011 National got 1,058,636 votes, or 33.7% of the available vote. In 2014 it got 1,010,464 votes, or 31.2% of the the available vote.

    I’d call that a drop in support, not a rise.

    The percentage of potential voters not voting rose – from 32.9% to 34.8%. I don’t yet know what part of the 2014 non-voters were enrolled vs non-enrolled.

    Yes, the drop was worse – much worse – for Labour than for National (from 19.6% to 16.0%), and also dropped for the Greens(from 7.9% to 6.5%) but I don’t want to see this reported as a surge in support for National, because it’s not.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Farmer Green,

    I’m in the Rangitikei electorate

    I'm curious if you voted Beetham back in the day?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    jack and mark , if you are trying to tell me that politics are dirtier today than they have ever been, then I'll just say that it has never been so easy to play that game. I don't believe that anything has changed except for the means to play in the dirt.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to Farmer Green,

    I’m hopeful that Hone will get over his lover’s quarrel with the Maori Party ; are they really so far apart?

    I understood he approached them before the election got underway and tried to get them to work together to keep the independent Maori voice in the Maori electorates strong. They refused. And that independence was (largely) lost to Maori.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • Alfie, in reply to Katharine Moody,

    I'm hoping against hope they stay Internet Mana. Laila and Hone are great together...

    I was very impressed with Laila Harre throughout the campaign. It would be great to have her in parliament... a staunch but compassionate woman, unlike the Nats' frontline of staunch and notably uncompassionate women.

    And I'm also hoping that Dotcom's legal team keep him in NZ and he stays with IMP in that visionary role. We have an internet-age Einstein on our shores here. I hope we can benefit from him building one tech company after another, based in NZ and wildly successful worldwide.

    Dotcom might have been a real asset to the potenial tech industry in NZ, but I fear that his brand has attracted too much vitriol from the powers-that-be to make that happen. Watch out for the "Deport the Fat German" law to be passed under urgency in the near future.

    And I ask again... 'where is Jason Ede?'

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report Reply

  • Amanda Wreckonwith, in reply to mark taslov,

    I may have misunderstood, could you clarify it in any way?

    Sorry mark - can't help you with that - wouldn't affect me so didn't pay much attention. Details lost in the fog of war perhaps?

    Since Sep 2012 • 171 posts Report Reply

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