Hard News: Poll Crunch
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Rich...
Simplicity is always worth striving for in any system, especially a tax system.... but when the alternatives are filing no return and paying the current rate of tax, or filing a return to get a huge deduction/rebate/benefit.... you know what most people do, right?
As it happens, as an "ordinary employee" I dont file a tax return... But my wife has to file an IR3 so that we get working for families".... thats right, we file a return for zero dollars income. It's a pain in the arse, but it's worth ~$300 a fortnight for us.
Now, income splitting would suit our family very well (which I'm not suggesting as an argument in its favor), but the requirement to fill in a form annually to qualify is not that big a hurdle to cross...
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It's totally in the tank for Obama now.
Sen. Chuck Hagel is on board.
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LOL. did you see the Onion story "Diebold releases election results early?
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The Herald ever so slightly redeems itself by broadcasting the doubting voice o Rudman - "When silver and bronze beat gold"
Even when I'm inclined to agree with Rudman he rolls out the clichés with such pompous fatuity it's tempting to just say "anything Brian's for, I'm against on principle". Doesn't Garth George's aggressive methane production leave a large enough carbon footprint for the Herald?
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LOL why the hell is Hagel a Republican?
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Sen. Chuck Hagel is on board.
But this is what's so fucked up about the GOP. Anywhere else on this planet (including New Zealand) Hagel would be considered firmly on the centre-right. He's a hawk, but a reality-based one. But he doesn't toe the Christianist party line on abortion and other social issues with sufficient fervour, therefore he's been shat on so many times it shouldn't surprise anyone he's had enough.
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LOL why the hell is Hagel a Republican?
Well, Ben, perhaps Hagel thought (and perhaps still) thinks the GOP can be a principled conservative party that deserves to run anything more complicated than a cake stall. And it's a bloody shame someone like Hagel isn't going to be around to start the fight to take back the GOP.
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I still think the GOP can be a principled conservative party too, but that wouldn't make me a Republican. It would make me a dreamer.
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And it's a bloody shame someone like Hagel isn't going to be around to start the fight to take back the GOP.
Do you know something we don't? Have you spoken to his doctor?
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Well, Ben, perhaps Hagel thought (and perhaps still) thinks the GOP can be a principled conservative party that deserves to run anything more complicated than a cake stall. And it's a bloody shame someone like Hagel isn't going to be around to start the fight to take back the GOP.
The status quo will probably remain in place until America adopts a genuinely multi-party system. And that's likely a long way off.
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Do you know something we don't? Have you spoken to his doctor?
Hagel announced last year that he isn't standing for re-election (despite winning re-election in 2002 with 82% of the vote). He might stay involved in politics (and there are those persistent rumours he'd be offered Defence in an Obama Cabinet), but why? You can only have so much shit thrown at you by psychopaths on your own side of the aisle before the smell and dry-cleaning bills get overwhelming.
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To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.
Heh. Which really makes you wonder about the people who have "I eat shit" on their t-shirts right now.
I see it like a football game. National is currently ahead and we've played 80% of the game. What's the likely outcome? Of course it is still uncertain. Very uncertain. But the odds are on the team that is ahead.
The game starts next Saturday. Currently the teams are still in training, which is mostly consisting of talking themselves up to the media.
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Hagel announced last year that he isn't standing for re-election
That gives him another year, no? And that's going to be a pretty big year as far as the GOP infighting is concerned. But yes, you're right, insofar as he's marginalised himself by not endorsing McCain and won't be leading any of the factions.
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Craig, are you taking the piss?
But he doesn't toe the Christianist party line on abortion and other social issues with sufficient fervour, therefore he's been shat on so many times it shouldn't surprise anyone he's had enough.
No wonder you don't see real corruption when it winks at you with a cold dark staring eye.
You seem to think this behavior, not only normal but to be commended.
The man is in it for the power not the principal. -
No wonder you don't see real corruption when it winks at you with a cold dark staring eye.
You seem to think this behavior, not only normal but to be commended.
The man is in it for the power not the principal.Huh? Sorry, I don't get what you're on about.
Let's give Hagel some credit, huh? He's burned his GOP bridges with his withering criticisms of Palin and his support for Obama.
As far back as 2006, he wrote this for the Washington Post:
Leaving Iraq, Honorably
By Chuck Hagel
Sunday, November 26, 2006; Page B07There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq. These terms do not reflect the reality of what is going to happen there. The future of Iraq was always going to be determined by the Iraqis -- not the Americans.
Iraq is not a prize to be won or lost. It is part of the ongoing global struggle against instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism. There will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger made this point last weekend.
The time for more U.S. troops in Iraq has passed. We do not have more troops to send and, even if we did, they would not bring a resolution to Iraq. Militaries are built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations. We are once again learning a very hard lesson in foreign affairs: America cannot impose a democracy on any nation -- regardless of our noble purpose.
We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam.
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No wonder you don't see real corruption when it winks at you with a cold dark staring eye.
Indeed not, Steve. Real Corruption will have to spring for cocktails, dinner and dancing afterwards, and cab fare home. I'm a slut, but not a cheap one.
The man is in it for the power not the principal.
OK, Steve, because you really zip up the greasy pole in the current iteration of the GOP by publicly criticising the conduct of the War in Iraq before it became fashionable, being a consistent critic of Rove-style campaign tactics, refuse to publicly endorse your party's presidential candidate (while publicly expressing your doubts about his choice of a running mate and tactics). What a slimy little power-hungry arse-licker Chuck is.
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Yup, my bad. I jumped the gun on that one, eh?
That voting machine buisiness just gets me so mad anyone within spitting distance of it cops the phegm from me. Most of what Hagel has done is on the positive side so why should we worry how he got there. -
We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam.
I never got the slightest whiff of honorable intentions in Iraq. That's the biggest part of the self delusion. The misunderstanding, misreading, misplanning and mismanaging would not be any more honorable if the mis- parts were taken away. You could definitely manage the war in Iraq a whole lot better without ever making it an honorable thing to do.
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Indeed how can you misunderstand your own intentions? You can only lie about them.
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While Hagel may be given credit for some rational criticisms of the US direction these last 8 years, there has been some criticism of him (in blogs and opinion columns I confess I can't trach down immediately) of the limited and ineffective actions he's taken given his prominent roles in the Senate Global Climate Change Observer Group, Senate Oversight Task Force and member of Senate Foreign Relations, Banking and the Select Committee on Intelligence among others. Non-binding resolutions really don't cut much mustard. And then there's the non-disclosure of CEO position of a voting machine manufacturer in his Nebraska elections.
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I suggested elsewhere that the next round of "live" election debates should be put on a fifteen second delay, like talkback radio
No, I reckon they should be like the stump mikes at cricket to pick up the sledging that doubtless goes on:
Politician A: Why are you so fat?
Politician B: Coz every time I sleep with your wife she gives me a biscuit. -
Tim:
And they're possibly fair criticism. I'm not putting Hagel up for sainthood, but I'd be a damn sight more comfortable if there were more people like him and fewer Sarah Palins around. You think Palin's going to be irrelevant after next Wednesday? Wouldn't be so sure, because I'm sliding into the camp that she's already conceded this election and is starting to position herself for 2012. That should worry everyone.
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On the subject of poll accuracy, maybe that Wiki project could use their spreadsheets to make a league table of poll accuracy after the election.
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Politician A: Why are you so fat?
Politician B: Coz every time I sleep with your wife she gives me a biscuit.This has always mildly puzzled me. If you're doing it even close to right that should result in a net weight reduction.
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This has always mildly puzzled me. If you're doing it even close to right that should result in a net weight reduction.
The pithy retort that never occurred to Glenn McGrath.
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