OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!
848 Responses
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nzlemming, in reply to
I didn’t say it’s not what voters do – I said it’s not reasonable. Yes, a centrist voter might swing from party to party, especially as there really isn’t that much between them, but it should be because of policy differences, not because it’s time someone else had a go. If something is working (as Cullen’s budgeting was) you shouldn’t screw with it. But I heard a number of vox pops at the time of the election saying that they wanted a change, for change’s sake.
As Giovanni says, it’s not a playground, though you could be forgiven for thinking so when you view the result in Parliament.
ETA: Shit, when Matthew, Giovanni and I are all singing from the same song sheet, we're either right, or the Apocalypse is waiting outside the door for an opportune lull...
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I'm boarding up the windows, just to be on the safe side.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
I heard a number of vox pops at the time of the election saying that they wanted a change, for change’s sake.
Politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed often and for the same reason. - Mark Twain
I don't necessarily disagree, but lurching politically in another direction isn't necessarily a good way to achieve that change.
Certainly there was a lot of hatred being directed at Helen by the end of the third term, some of which was justified but much of which was merely whipped up by a sycophantic media that would've spoken in support were it not for the difficulty of speaking while fellating the Leader of the Opposition. -
For the record, I am not a swing voter. However, I have voted for the policies of a Labour goverment. Once. And the leader of the opposition at the time made that an easier proposition. Leave Clifford alone! What did he ever do to you?
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Rich Lock, in reply to
Would you respect me more if I wasn’t disappointed?
'Fraid so.
This is going to sound very harsh, and I do regret that, but if you vote for a party that then acts in an entirely predictable way that is consistent with their election promises and general vibe, then you don't get to act disappointed and surprised. You take one of Danielle's Harden Up pills and own the consequences.
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Oh, and this is where the 'Yellow Dog' quote comes from, for those who are interested.
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nzlemming, in reply to
Wise
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This is going to sound very harsh, and I do regret that, but if you vote for a party that then acts in an entirely predictable way that is consistent with their election promises
O’Rly? But the actions, and I’m talking about in Social Welfare and Law Reform, were not consistent or entirely predictable, IMhO. I certainly expected more of The Maori Party in this respect, as we do have a coalition government, right?
Anyway, it's Friday. There's no centre point here, so can we agree to disagree, or do I have to take a pill?
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giovanni tiso, in reply to
But the actions, and I’m talking about in Social Welfare and Law Reform, were not consistent or entirely predictable, IMhO
Not sure about Law, but I am when it comes to Social Welfare. Not going to have my blog linked twice in two pages, but I researched this at the time of Bennett's Dream is Over speech and the policy was entirely consistent with everything that John Key had said since at least 2004.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
But the actions, and I’m talking about in Social Welfare and Law Reform, were not consistent or entirely predictable
Which actions? Trashing beneficiaries? Pandering to the McThicker vote? No, I’d call those entirely predictable based on pre-election mumblings from the National benches.
The policy positions taken pre-election were quite clear about where things were going. Attacks on "welfare dependence", attacks on parole, these were signalled way ahead of the election. They should not have surprised anyone who paid attention to what National was saying. -
Jacqui Dunn, in reply to
I'd say "the only thing", but that's not true - teachers do get good holidays.
Um. Well. They used to. My sister has just had the first relaxing holiday for years, but it was a bare two weeks. She's been back at school every day this week, though there are no kids yet.
Every break since she began teaching - and she teaches special needs children - she has worked through, either catching up or preparing for the next term.
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Jacqui Dunn, in reply to
I cannot grasp how a reasoning adult could find that reasonable.
I'm a bit late to this, but surely Danyl was taking the piss?
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The decision to remove funding for victims of sexual crime. It was so surprising to everyone, they reversed it.
Not able to write more now, and not sure I want to become the second victim in two weeks of the circling wagons in any case. -
giovanni tiso, in reply to
not sure I want to become the second victim in two weeks of the circling wagons in any case
Tory sensibility hurt in aisle four. Quick, the violins!
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BenWilson, in reply to
National could easily fuck with compulsory saving, by making it optional and selling it as "personal choice". People might even buy the lie.
You misunderstand me. I mean they can't just take the money. Unlike what they can do, for instance, with our hard earned state owned utilities.
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Sacha, in reply to
I heard a number of vox pops at the time of the election saying that they wanted a change, for change’s sake.
People will say all sorts of things to justify their decisions and avoid seeming like a fool when a microphone is suddenly thrust under their nose. Especially when they're not really sure exactly what's prompting them other than a general sense they've formed over time (helpfully fanned by mediated campaigning).
Some voters probably did get sick of the staleness they observed and didn't necessarily go beyond that into thinking about what the replacement might look like. Others just stayed home.
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BenWilson, in reply to
I'm a bit late to this, but surely Danyl was taking the piss?
Perhaps initially so, but it's a convenient way to say something just for the sake of argument, and it's not a no-brainer answer.
Sometimes change just to take a punt the other way does make sense. It makes sense in Egypt, right now. Even without a clear alternative plan, there could be reason to just change things, if they are not working.
That said, it's not by definition what swing voters do. Some of the reason to change what one votes for could be because the parties have changed their positions. Sometimes it's because I have changed position. Sometimes it's because the world has changed. Sometimes it's because of some particularly bad individuals in an otherwise good party. And any combination of those reasons.
Tory sensibility hurt in aisle four. Quick, the violins!
You beast, calling recordari a Tory. I don't recall him claiming to vote Tory, just that he'd only voted for Labour policy once. He might have voted for their hot chicks many times.
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Sacha, in reply to
I mean they can't just take the money.
Isn't that precisely what happened in the past with ACC and EQC's appealing pool of accrued taxpayer-funded investment?
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Danielle, in reply to
surely Danyl was taking the piss?
You think? I kinda didn't. Hey, Danyl, were you taking the piss?
I don’t recall him claiming to vote Tory
I do, because I was crushed that someone with such good taste in music was *totally wrong about everything else*. ;)
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OK – things just got a little weird – seems Key has been spotted wearing a “Power Band” – a woo woo adjusts-your-body’s-energy-through-a-hologram scam. The Aussies have already declared them bogus and required them to withdraw claims advertising any health benefits.
Maybe Key has decided he needs to pull the far-ultra-hippie vote from the Greens
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May have taken them ages, but credit where due - this is much more like it.
The government plans to spend $27 million on a network of high-performance computers "to keep New Zealand researchers at the cutting edge of science," Science and Innovation Minister Wayne Mapp said today.
The project will be called the National eScience Infrastructure network or NeSI).
It will be made up of linked supercomputers and associated services such as software and data storage. “NeSI will power research that will deliver on the Government’s top priority – growing the economy,” Mr Mapp said.
"NeSI will have a very wide range of applications, ranging from designing high-tech devices through to areas such as gaining a better understanding of brain diseases and fine-scale weather prediction.” Access to these services will be prioritised to areas supporting the Government’s agenda for economic growth.
Some of New Zealand’s top research organisations are co-funding NeSI, adding nearly $21 million over four years to the Government’s investment.
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Cool, we could have our own cloud. Now all we need is the bandwidth to sell it to the rest of the world.
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recordari, in reply to
Tory sensibility hurt in aisle four. Quick, the violins!
[Redacted - even though Gio has quoted it on next page]
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Sacha, in reply to
Now all we need is the bandwidth to sell it to the rest of the world.
I believe they already have their own proper fast networks
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Sacha, in reply to
The policy positions taken pre-election were quite clear about where things were going.
I don't recall anything about gutting local democracy in Auckland and Canterbury, do you?
However, yes, it was entirlely predictable that the yesterday's men of the Nact cabinet would cut taxes mainly for the wealthy, have a crack at beneficiaries, hack services that poor people depend on most in education and health, and fire thousands of public servants (capping their arses, not capping their numbers as loudly promised).
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