Posts by Jimmy Southgate
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I think, as a lefty, that the worst possible outcome of the election would be National with an outright majority (with Dunne basically being National), and the second worst would be another National-Act coalition.
With that in mind i'd not be completely pissed off if the opposition parties (all of them) were effective enough to eliminate at least those two outcomes.
If they come to a conclusion that they can't win, then at least find a way of preventing the right from having carte blanche to do whatever they want. Then build on that result for 2014.
I'd still hate it, but at least i'd know it could have been worse & wasn't.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Danyl Mclauchlan,
I think they're mostly just a collection of individuals who are personally ambitious to be important and powerful, and they understand that they need to be seen to oppose the National government's policies in order to get their jobs.
That's what I meant!!
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I'm finding it hard to write what I mean here; but I am wondering if it might be time for this type of Labour Party to end. To me they seem not really committed to an identity or a vision that gives the party a strong reason to exist. Other than being not National.
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As others have pointed out elsewhere, it would seem that asking Treasury for advice on whether or not to sell off state owned assets its pretty much pointless.
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I touched on this much earlier in the thread, but I wondered if anyone wanted to think about it again now.
However we got here, and whoever is to blame; in the next decade or so there's going to be lots and lots of the baby boomers heading into retirement where they will begin to pay less tax, and require more assistance whether that be pensions, health care or whatever.
What happens if / when the following generations of taxpayers don't bring in the same amount of tax revenue to be spent?
Do some need to miss out, and if so who? Do we begin to start questioning some of the health spend on the elderly? Do we follow the UK and start hiking University fees higher? Do we just hike taxes for that generation so we can keep spending the way we are now?
This is the sort of stuff that worries me about how future Aotearoa will look.
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My parents' experience was similar to your's Ben. They were able to afford tertiary study and live comfortable lives off their bursaries, and what they could earn in summer holidays and part-time jobs. They still worked hard, but it just seemed easier.
It took my father a while to see the difference between when I went to University & when he did. I didn't help by being exceptionally lazy and not doing much additional work aside from the summers.
What he realised was the difference between us at the time of finishing tertiary study. He got married and bought a house pretty quickly and began starting a family around his mid 20s. If he hadn't decided to be a farmer he'd probably have lots of disposable income now too :-)
I'm still paying off my student loan which means the amount of money to put towards a house, marriage and kids is reduced - i'm hoping to have it sorted by the time i'm 35. Only who knows if the property market will bubble again in the next 5 years putting it out of reach again.
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Now curious how much a hip replacement might cost; according to this page, multiple grandma’s would have to wait a year…
http://www.everybody.co.nz/page-56d7ef0e-9e87-46ad-9ab9-843e76f8301e.aspx
And also, I had no idea New Zealand was so attractive for medical tourists?!
http://www.medtral.com/Destination-New-Zealand/Why-is-New-Zealand-so-affordable/default.aspx
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The “grandma’s hip operation” argument is worthless: all governments allow a budget for many things that are not a matter of literal life and death.
And, at the risk of sounding callous, a hip operation might not necessarily be life and death anyway. I've been starting to wonder if that sort of medical expense may start to be questioned if the economy continues to sputter for years to come. I would hate to be involved in deciding what does & does not warrant funding when it comes to health.
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Henry lacks the spine and sense of honour required for a similar course of action.
Its a bit stink, but I suspect he feels he's probably got enough support that he can get away with this sort of thing. His People's Choice award probably speaks to that conviction.
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Do iPhones not allow tethering? The 2.2 android update comes with an app which lets your phone act as a modem and router with its 3G connection.
You can tether an iPhone via USB or Bluetooth, but unless jailbroken you can't set it up as a wireless router.