Posts by Idiot Savant
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These things happen in a monarchy...
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Who do you think will fight harder to keep their bone: teachers or pollies?
I'd like to think that both would be fighting to get rid of me - otherwise I'm really not doing my job properly.
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democracy blogger Idiot Savant to get dedicated funding from vote:education
What, not vote:parliamentary services?
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If there's been a crucial failing that's ruined Blair's premiership it hasn't been on his part. It's on the part of his electorate...
After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another? -
This weird jingoism - it'll be run by Australians! Ewwww! -- is a keynote of the argument.
Actually, I'm concerned about this - but only because it means the body won't be subject to scrutiny under the OIA (and Australia's FOIA is unsatisfactory).
Unfortunately, politically, the bill is a dead duck, and will languish at the bottom of the Order Paper unless either National agrees to vote for it (yeah, right - they don't do MMP advocacy politics), or the minor parties join the modern world.
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Meanwhile I'm stunned that TVNZ are playing season two of Veronica Mars at 3pm on a Sunday. Do they want people to just download it or something?
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What's your message to kids in rural Taranaki who'd like to go to a movie or enjoy a social life?
"People shouldn't live in Taranaki".
But then, I'd say that to adults too.
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I'm not so sure the Government wants to be trumpetting the fact they're transferring wealth to the rich from the poor who may be unable to sign up.
No; they're transferring wealth from employers to their workers. Most of the benefits remember come from employer contributions, not from the government.
I agree though that participation is the big problem. My preferred solution would be to continue working to raise wage rates by hiking the minimum wage and supporting union bargaining.
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Have we seen, in effect, the privatisation of superannuation - and the nationalisation od any risk, which should be a real concern given the rather *cough* uneven history of returns on such schemes - through massive transfers of public money to the affluent?
Not yet - but it makes it easier for that to happen in the future, which is of some concern. OTOH, if the primary use of Kiwi Saver for most people is saving and paying for a house, then it becomes a lot less likely.
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National's (and the right in general) response to the budget has been confused and muted and they were very slow in developing any sort of coherent criticism.
That's because if your political position is grounded in the Protestant work ethic (something I have about as much time for as I do Christianity in general), its awfully difficult to criticise saving. It's also difficult to criticise when that policy may be central to a large number of kiwis home-ownership aspirations - not something any party would sensibly want to get on the wrong side of.
As for adding Working For Families to the graph, it depends on how many kids you have, and I'm not up on where all the thresholds are. But the fact that people are better off with Kiwi Saver alone is a powerful point for the government.