Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Still crazy after all these years

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  • andin,

    I mean, is it me or has a dangerous precedent been set here ?

    Precedent.....in the ....media? What? Where?
    Nah, mate its you.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    You asked for it...

    Oh, and that's not me. I pluck my eyebrows...

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Alien Lizard (anag),

    We seem to have a lot of kids who fall through the cracks and our safety nets fail them.

    and this sort of thing really helps...

    Christchurch's free youth health drop-in centre will close next month amid fears some of the city's most vulnerable young people will fall outside the system.
    The 198 Youth Health Centre provides free doctors, nurses and counsellors for under-25s. Declining Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) funding meant the centre could no longer operate.

    I asked Brendon Burns on Saturday (at a market where Labour has a regular stand) what they are going to do about this, and funding for Floyd's, He said that they are hopeful of a solution for Floyd's and that him, Ruth Dyson and even National's Nicky Wagner are working urgently to try and prevent 198 closing - here's hoping... this Government (and CDHB & Council) seems hellbent on dismantling the very basics of community care...
    ... and are maintaining a social course closely resembling stupidity!
    (to paraphrase a slogan known from La Paz to Wanganui - back before it had an 'h'...)

    The Arrrgh Complex • Since Jan 2010 • 158 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Hmmm. I'm sure everybody who was Labour, and who voted for the Nats or the Maori party or the Greens - or who didnt vote at all, or voted for the tinys - ACT, Peter Dunne's whoever they are, and the teensy rump of Wilson's gang - are *feeling really happy* right now?

    We are going to be picking up the pieces of the Social Welfare state* for *years*and a lot of very vulnerable people are going down the gurgler in the meantime.

    And I hate this waste of social capital - which equals *a lot of human beings & all their potential* screams! Pants. Calms. A bit.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    To be fair, a collapsing world economy brings tough decisions for any party in power. But yes, the damage to the most vulnerable will resonate for quite a while. And people still are still seeing cost rather than investable potential.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    To be fair, a collapsing world economy brings tough decisions for any party in power.

    Such as the decision to cut taxes to the top earners. That must have been a tough one.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Oh they're still a bunch of plonkers, don't get me wrong

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Such as the decision to cut taxes to the top earners. That must have been a tough one.

    That's not a tough decision; that's an investment.

    Six-figure earners will now get to keep a couple of thousand more of their money, which will finally enable them to stop spending on overseas trips, new cars and plasma screens and start investing in productive entrepreneurship, thereby growing the economy and raising everyone's wages. Have I got that right?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I don't think they even bother to dress it up like that anymore. It's really more of a general fuck you these days.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Erm, almost? Except for the last coupla lines? Which have always been very dodgy, right? (Runs off screaming into the outer dark-)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    will finally enable them

    Ae. The word "encourage" does seem to get abused by neolib dimwits.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Have I got that right?

    In my case, you haven't. Dollops of spare cash coming my way will go into paying off the mortgage. But I think you misunderestimate the neocon opinion on holidays and conspicuous consumption. They see that as highly stimulatory. Strangely, they only see it that way when it's the wealthy doing the consuming.

    If it were my choice, I'd invert the tax cuts. During a recession, just about every spare dollar given back to people in need will churn straight back through the economy. I guess the fear is that corresponding raising of tax on the wealthy will drive them away, and could end up costing. I find that credible only in the case of 'really big money'. There's still the bulk of the tax take which comes from the middle classes, who are mostly just as locked into NZ as the poor. Possibly more so, on account of assets and investments here.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I guess the fear is that corresponding raising of tax on the wealthy will drive them away

    To where? Expats have been coming home in droves, and not because of our headline tax rates.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I guess the fear is that corresponding raising of tax on the wealthy will drive them away

    To where?

    If they do find a place, it will test the very dubious proposition that we can't do without them.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I believe Iceland would welcome market champions with open arms

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I believe it would welcome them with torches and pitchforks, actually.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    To where? Expats have been coming home in droves, and not because of our headline tax rates.

    Dunno, it's not my story. Expecting to even understand what 'really big money' does, and why, is beyond me. I don't even know if they mean 'leaving' the same way as I do - they might just mean a massive transfer of cash to the Cook Islands or that they'll buy their next mansion in Ibiza instead of Waiheke. Speaking of Waiheke, probably the best thing that could happen to the place would be if it's resident staggeringly rich billionaire pissed off and never came back. That might actually mean that 2/3 of the beaches on the island could become accessible to the public who don't own speedboats, and a rich and fertile hinterland could become accessible to the blossoming wine industry there. I drove right across it over the summer for the first time in years, and was surprised by the amazing vision that our toilet paper genius has for the Jewel of the Gulf - it's a gigantic sheep farm. Great, NZ really needs more of those. My guess is that it's just this colossally long term investment, that he's waiting for the gentrification of the place to drive property prices to the point where he gets insane returns on undeveloped land. Note that word - undeveloped. This particular colossal use of capital is entirely dedicated to keeping NZ undeveloped.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    But I think you misunderestimate the neocon opinion on holidays and conspicuous consumption.

    Sorry, does "neocon" mean anything around here? Or is it just a vaguely nasty poo word you throw at people you don't like -- c.f. Master Baiter's rather novel use of "socialist" on Kiwibog to describe anyone he doesn't like, which is pretty much everyone.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Sorry, does "neocon" mean anything around here?

    Well I can tell you what I meant by it. Then you can tell me that's not what it really means. But what's the point really? Were you under any doubts about what I meant, or do you just want to argue semantics?

    btw, you're out of date. 'Baiter has upgraded "socialist" to "progressive" now. I think that might be so he can catch people like you up in it. I was actually a bit shocked at how homophobic that place has become. It was already pretty bad, but they weren't so bloody open about it. The morph reminds me very much of what happened to ACT during the short period early in it's history where I took them seriously.

    Personally, I blame Russell. He stole DPF's loyal opposition, whilst refusing entry to the nutbars.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Do we even have neocons in NZ?
    Neolibs, certainly
    Neanderthals, check

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Do we even have neocons in NZ?

    Not really. We have plenty of neolibs, and unfortunately they're not all on the right.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    Interesting question. To the extent that the classic neo-cons were former lefties who went to the right for idealistic reasons, don't Prebble and Douglas count?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I find it more useful to think of Prebble and Douglas as neoliberals from the start, when they were still with Labour. To me a neocon is a Project for the New American Century supporter. Not even Prebble and Douglas would go there. The closest document we have to match that kind of thinking is the 2025 taskforce report and it's substantially different in many respects.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi,

    It kind of depends, though. Like any political label, ideological purity tends to lose out when people start identifying with what they think a given term stands for. I've no doubt there are people in New Zealand who identify as "neo-conservatives" because they interpret the thrust of the ideology as "endless war against Arabs and socialists makes everybody happy".

    Of course, it's a bit different when you don't have an army capable of invading your opponents, but it's the thought that counts.

    But no, Douglas and Prebble were very much in a different vein to neo-con though. Their primary focus was economic liberalism. I can't even imagine Roger insisting that Carthage must be destroyed.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    My own usage was pretty much along the lines of neoliberal. I tend to think of them in much the same way, because neoliberalism seems to mostly appeal to people who are actually socially conservative. Intellectually, it doesn't have to be that way, but practically, it does seem to pan out.

    It was probably the wrong word. Whatever, you all knew what I meant, that is plain. "People who believe in, or would like everyone else to believe in, the stimulatory value of more cash being available through tax cuts to the wealthy".

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

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