class war

Compassionate conservatism

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:30 pm, August 13th, 2011 - 12 comments

Fran O’Sullivan reveals her softer side today. No, she’s not against National’s benefit cuts for the unemployed, the sick, and invalids. Nor against cutting the wages of the 103,000 working 15-19 year olds on the half-baked premise that will create more jobs. But leave single mums alone, she says, because she had one. It reminds me of something I saw on the Daily Show.

London riots

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:19 am, August 9th, 2011 - 201 comments

There have been two nights of rioting, looting and burning in London.  The trigger was the police shooting of Mark Duggan.  But the cause is the alienation of the permanent underclass, and the stresses of the current austerity programme.

Greens tackle child poverty

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 9:13 am, August 4th, 2011 - 23 comments

The Greens have launched their policy to get 100,000 kids out of poverty. It’ll cost just 0.3% of GDP. We have a moral duty to do what we can to eliminate child poverty. Labour made a start. WFF basically ended working poverty. But there’s the kids of beneficiaries. 270,000 kids below the poverty line while the elite live in mansions. Not good enough.

All hail our vampire overlords

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:14 am, August 1st, 2011 - 96 comments

How did the wealth of the 151 richest people grow by 10% of GDP when the economy grew only 1.5%? Mostly by revaluing existing assets. Not a lot of ‘wealth creation’ from our self-appointed Randian Heroes, just book changes. But, apparently, we owe everything to the elite and need to let them suck up more of our wealth for themselves.

All the World’s A Square

Written By: Bill - Date published: 5:38 pm, July 31st, 2011 - 40 comments

Some inspiration as Monday morning looms.

Indeed

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 7:07 pm, July 27th, 2011 - 74 comments

A classic from stuff:

Prime Minister John Key said the Government had had very little room to move on the economy.
”The public recognises that the rest of the world isn’t in great shape and so New Zealand is having to contend with that global environment,” he said.

The problem is not in the schools

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:29 am, July 20th, 2011 - 90 comments

According to a recent report, disadvantaged NZ youth are at the “bottom of OECD league”.  The report recommends various interventions in schools.  The recommendations completely miss the point, because the problem is not in the schools, the problem is in society.

The straw that broke the Randian hero’s back?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:30 pm, July 18th, 2011 - 63 comments

I’ve been thinking about that lawyer Casey Plunket who threatened to leave for Australia over Labour restoring the 39% top tax rate at the stratospheric threshold of $150,000. It means a couple of thousand more tax for the wealthiest Kiwis. Would anyone really move countries over that? Do we need the kind of people that would?

Another right whinger

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:50 am, July 6th, 2011 - 18 comments

There’s an odd contradiction in right-wing ‘thought’. On the one hand, they’re Randian heroes, the wealth creators, modern day Atlases who support the world while ‘parasites’ try to take their wealth and bring them down. On the other hand, they’re victims who need subsidies and special treatment. Fed Farmers CEO Conor English embodies the contradiction.

Nats testing the waters on eugenics

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:50 am, June 7th, 2011 - 217 comments

John Key “thinks” that parents on the DPB are “breeding for a business”.  Now his government is testing the waters for a eugenics program, to single out these undesirables and forcibly control their fertility.

Campbell on welfare reforms

Written By: r0b - Date published: 2:54 pm, May 31st, 2011 - 61 comments

Good old fashioned benefit bashing.  Another electoral battle line has been drawn – arm yourself with the facts!

Just like Ruth, Jim and Jenny

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 9:48 pm, May 30th, 2011 - 131 comments

Having wrecked the economy and put tens of thousands of workers on the dole queue John Key is now planning to give them another kick in the guts by cutting their benefits.

And of course that’ll help drive wages down too.

To anyone that lived through the 1990’s this bullshit should be very very familiar by now.

CTU research on minimum wage

Written By: r0b - Date published: 10:28 am, May 25th, 2011 - 24 comments

The response to two recent posts here at The Standard have shown what a contentious topic the minimum wage is.  So it’s timely that yesterday saw the release of the CTU’s summary of research on Minimum Wage and Jobs.

The lazy unemployed

Written By: r0b - Date published: 9:30 am, May 23rd, 2011 - 22 comments

John Key reckons the unemployed need “a kick in the pants”.  Paula Bennett reckons the Nats’ harsh reforms mean that “the dream is over” for beneficiaries.  Meanwhile, back in the real world…