Posts by Sacha
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Hard News: Friday Fever, in reply to Jackie Clark,
my DOG JUST DIED
Sorry to hear that. Know it has been a struggle.
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Hard News: Friday Fever, in reply to recordari,
Leningrad Cowboys. Best hair ever!
+1
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OnPoint: Budget 2011: A Credible Path to…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
the Budget has failed to amuse and entertain the Press Gallery
maybe the drugs are wearing off?
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OnPoint: Budget 2011: Now with 70% less wordiness!, in reply to bmk,
I think most people aren't properly informed
I agree. Informed enough in political terms means both media and opposition doing their jobs so that voters don't need to wade through all the policy detail or gameplaying to form an impression of who/what to vote for.
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OnPoint: Budget 2011: Now with 70% less wordiness!, in reply to Ian MacKay,
I have faith in properly-informed people making good decisions.
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Hard News: Friday Fever, in reply to 3410,
1972 hit
Eurovisionish
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OnPoint: Budget 2011: Now with 70% less wordiness!, in reply to Andrew R2,
the revenue lost because of top end income earner tax cuts is more than $1.2 billion per year anyway
They pulled the same trick last year of adding a (fudged) projection of growth to claim that their tax package was 'neutral'. Media dolts largely swallowed the kool aid.
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OnPoint: Budget 2011: A Credible Path to…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
From behind the comfort blanket of his razor wired McMansion.
I don't get that impression, actually. Just misguided about what's been going on around him.
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Don't you love Budget surprises. Apparently there is enough in the public kitty for a tax break just for rugby organisations and professional players (and that's on top of underwriting the NZRU's losses and funding much of the tournament's expenses).
Finance Minister Bill English confirmed the Crown would reimburse income tax incurred by Rugby New Zealand 2011, the company set up to run the tournament, and also by the New Zealand Rugby Union where it was involved.
Separately, the Crown has agreed to reimburse the union for withholding tax incurred on payments made in relation to the tournament.
Inland Revenue has clarified that anyone representing overseas unions or official overseas rugby organisations also won't have to pay tax on income received from games or Cup-related activity while in NZ.
...Interest.co.nz managing editor Bernard Hickey slammed the Government for giving tax exemptions to rugby organisations when it had just announced it was halving its KiwiSaver member tax credit.
"The question is, why is the Government giving tax breaks to professional rugby players and their administrators when mums and dads have just seen one of their savings tax breaks cut?"
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And to complete the trifecta of Herald opining, duffer John Roughan rewrites history.
It's 20 years now since the "Mother of all Budgets".
...Most who do remember probably recall only that it slashed social welfare, which is half true. It sliced basic benefit rates by up to a quarter and introduced grants for beneficiaries' particular needs.
But its real bravery was much broader. It defied the first rule of Keynesian economics, it cut spending in a recession.
Bill English remembers. He was a new MP in 1991 and he knows the economy was as flat that year as it is now.
...The resulting recovery was so rapid and strong that in 1994 we got something my generation had never seen: a budget surplus.
...Don Brash, when he led the National Party at the 2005 election, did not exactly spell out the programme outlined in his Act advertisement last Sunday.
Had Thursday's Budget lived up to its promise it would have trumped the Brash ad. But it didn't.
...I know only what happened the last time and it worked.