class war
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Dress code
Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, April 13th, 2013 - 48 comments
I must have missed the memo on the beneficiary dress code.
The stealthy dismantling of democracy
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, April 12th, 2013 - 27 comments
John Key’s government has been gradually dismantling NZ’s democratic processes. Various activities this week are a major part of a frightening shift: a Bill enabling mining conservation land; punitive social security Act; Key’s control over NZ’s “intelligence community”.
NRT: Paula Bennett giggles at child poverty
Written By: - Date published: 4:34 pm, April 11th, 2013 - 20 comments
The government doesn’t measure child poverty, so has no way to tell if it is getting better or worse. Hilarious right? Paula Bennett certainly thinks so. “Gosh!”
Security: social, financial, personal, digital
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, April 10th, 2013 - 18 comments
Yesterday more planks in the NAct raft amounting to major changes, were before the House. These undermine democracy, fairness, the security and rights of individuals, and increase hardship for those on low incomes. Ardern on Social Security. Cunliffe on child support, privacy breaches & trust.
True Blue Worker Hate
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, April 9th, 2013 - 37 comments
Any day now the Government will announce more changes to the Employment Relations Act. These changes will drive down wages and undermine the conditions of all workers. They will also remove the small amount of protection most cleaners and hospitality workers get when the business they are working for loses a contract to another contractor. […]
I thank Margaret Thatcher …
Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, April 9th, 2013 - 314 comments
… for her major contribution to my political education: of the need to combat the extensive, destructive power of the “neoliberal” elites. I lived in London during the entire time Thatcher was prime minister. It was a time of major change; of political activism; of hope; of disillusionment.
More pay for them; bigger bills for us
Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, April 4th, 2013 - 24 comments
Ryall has announced that Might River Power top brass will be receiving massive pay rises, in relation to the sale of the powercos. The directors have multiple positions, and questions have been raise about the past of one or two of them. They benefit; we pay.
Good for the goose
Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, April 2nd, 2013 - 90 comments
As you know, the Right says more money incentivises harder work. John Key felt he wasn’t working very hard when he first became PM on a net $250,000 a year, so he gave himself tax cuts and pay rises worth $100 a day. Just look at the results! But I’m confused: why’s he cutting our pay with youth wages, higher Kiwisaver, and higher student loan repayments?
How austerity is destroying Britain… coming soon near you
Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, April 1st, 2013 - 79 comments
A raft of Tory policies have been dismantling the British welfare state: bedroom tax, privatising the NHS: NZ’s NAct government is following the same pattern of slyly changing small things, adding up to major changes that are ultimately socially & economically destructive.
Tax cuts – because it worked so well last time
Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, March 29th, 2013 - 190 comments
The ideological loonies advising the government want us to go even further down the stupid and damaging path of income tax cuts. Surely even the Nats have too much sense to listen this time.
The wage gap and the productivity lie
Written By: - Date published: 11:42 am, March 28th, 2013 - 23 comments
New figures show that the wage gap with Australia is still increasing. National has nothing to offer but useless policies and excuses, while the captains of industry trot out the old productivity lie again.
Benefit reforms trigger surge in DPB births?
Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, March 25th, 2013 - 120 comments
National, the party of beneficiary bashing that has lead a crusade against parents on the DBP, appears to have triggered a surge of new births to DPB parents.
NRT – National: Restoring discrimination
Written By: - Date published: 1:57 pm, March 23rd, 2013 - 7 comments
I/S at No Right Turn on youth rates…
Who was then the gentleman?
Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, March 21st, 2013 - 36 comments
When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman? From the beginning all men by nature were created alike, and our bondage or servitude came in by the unjust oppression of naughty men. And therefore I exhort you to consider that now the time is come in which ye may (if ye will) cast off the yoke of bondage, and recover liberty.
Punitive, anti-beneficiary Bill- opposition needed!
Written By: - Date published: 10:28 am, March 20th, 2013 - 48 comments
The Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill second reading is first up on the provisional order paper for today. It is a further step in Paula Bennett & NAct’s vicious, punitive, bennie-bashing campaign. MPs are urged to vote against it!
Hide confused on underclass
Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, March 17th, 2013 - 61 comments
Remember the “underclass”? John Key pretended to be concerned about them for a while as a gimmick for the 2008 election. Thanks to Matt McCarten, Rodney Hide has been reminded of their existence. He then goes on to diagnose the wrong problems and the wrong solutions (of course). I’m sure that Standardistas can do better…
The Brits are smarter than us
Written By: - Date published: 9:41 am, March 11th, 2013 - 44 comments
All sorts of bad polling news for the British Conservative government, as the Brits lose faith in the politics of economic austerity.
Recommended viewing
Written By: - Date published: 8:47 pm, March 8th, 2013 - 24 comments
In 2002 a television crew from Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ happened to be recording a documentary about Chávez when a coup was staged against him.
Highly recommended.
Spoiled brats running MRP
Written By: - Date published: 4:41 pm, March 7th, 2013 - 21 comments
No surprise to find that Mighty River Power bosses are behaving like spoiled brats – that’s pretty much what they are.
Chavez: 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013
Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, March 6th, 2013 - 231 comments
Chavez was too young to die, but he is a significant figure in South American politics. A controversial figure in Venezuela, the full story has yet to be written of his contribution to his country, his impact on the left & world politics.
Welfare is not a pissing contest
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, March 3rd, 2013 - 154 comments
Why must we turn welfare, an important safety net and part of the social fabric / contract of our country, into a stupid pissing match about a minister’s “reputation”?
“Minister for Small Things”
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, March 1st, 2013 - 51 comments
Yesterday, David Cunliffe,on Peter Dunne’s Student Loan Amendment Bill, & the related inter-generational swindle, labelled Dunne as “Minister for Small Changes” & “for Small Things”. Dunne further showed his support of the “neoliberal” swindle, with a couple of tweets on non-residents buying NZ property, smearing the Greens as racist.
Derisory minimum wage
Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, February 27th, 2013 - 90 comments
The minimum wage should be at least $15 per hour. A living wage is estimated at $18.40 per hour. So what have the Nats done? Raised the minimum wage by $0.25 per hour to $13.75. It’s a derisory increase. Even their own supporters think so.
Towards a more inequal New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, February 27th, 2013 - 30 comments
The average CEO got a 10% pay rise last year. The average worker got 2.6%. Minimum wage workers will get 1.9% – a 25 cent an hour token gesture. And 30,000 fewer of us have jobs than a year ago and are not earning at all any more. And now we learn the finance sector sucked $440m more out of us last year – a total of $4 billion. No wonder the planes to Aussie are full.
Hobbit emails show Jackson’s dodgy dealings
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, February 26th, 2013 - 315 comments
The government has released the Hobbit documents. The Ombudsman ordered them to. The full release is available at stuff and what stands out (apart from the insistent and narcissistic tone of every film industry correspondent) is the fact that Peter Jackson himself noted the “do not sign” advice from the union was being called off. TWO DAYS before he went public with his “evil union” story.
Nats’ fossil fuel bet & culture of excess bankrupted Solid Energy
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, February 22nd, 2013 - 164 comments
A look at Solid Energy’s books highlights the diseased culture of the corporate elite in this country and National’s failed bet on fossil fuels. The blistering pace that executives’ ridiculous paypackets rose at shows a culture of pocket-lining in the company. The massive expansion of liabilities in the lignite bet, which has crippled the company, was part of National’s fossil fuels strategy.
Think tanks & global-local networks
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, February 20th, 2013 - 25 comments
George Monbiot exposes how well-funded right wing ‘think tanks’ and individuals operate through networks including the AEI, IEA & Koch. These have links to the NZ Initiative (BRT & NZ Institute). The coming DailyBlog may help challenge such influential networks and their destructive ‘neoliberal’ politics.
What killed Ken Callow?
Written By: - Date published: 7:25 pm, February 18th, 2013 - 13 comments
The CTU wants to raise awareness of the effect of market pressures on working conditions and workplace safety. What killed Ken Callow?
“There is Power in a Union”
Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, February 18th, 2013 - 80 comments
Unions have been under concerted attack for several decades. Though weakened, they still produce results for workers. NZ Teachers’ Unions act on sound research, aiming to provide a quality and fair education system for all Kiwis. Global federations are campaigning against anti-worker corporates, like DHL.
The elite’s excuse for opposing a living wage
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, February 15th, 2013 - 66 comments
Don’t you love hearing the rich say the working poor can’t have more pay? The faux concern that higher wages cost jobs from the same people who support huge executive pay packets and tax cuts? If you really believed higher wages meant fewer jobs, you would cut the CEO’s pay in half, not dick around over a few dollars an hour for real workers.
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