Posts by Paul Campbell
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I like the idea of shorter disclosure deadlines - hell they could set up a web page, campaigns could type in the information whenever they cash a cheque, it would be published in seconds
After all the whole point is that there should be no secrets
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remember I predicted 3 years of winter ..... (mind you it's a lovely sunny day to day, I can see right out to the horizon .... but it feels like winter)
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yeah, I haven't seen them either, and I did leave the car in the street so they could work - maybe they'll get done today
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I think Judith's recent falling into bed with big music leaving ISPs in a legally dubious position pissed a lot of people off a lot
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I was wondering about specials too - especially with this rush to enthrone a govt - shouldn't we wait until they're counted?- I wonder what happens if it turns out that something really does change because of them? (ooh look all the people in rest homes voted for Winnie, and here are the student's votes: Labour and the Greens got few more seats too) does someone at Elections NZ have a quiet word in the GG's ear suggesting he wait for the finals
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Rich - I remember another TV miniseries with a similar plot "Whoops Apocalypse!" - staring John Cleese - it was something that never ever ever played in the US - the ending was the same.
"Get you're souvenir mushrooms here ...." -
Rik: remember that nothing's ever equal - that's just a first level approximation (people comparing US federal tax rates with NZ's tax rates just gets up my nose - it never makes sense)
Lots of details are different, in the US you can income split (average your income with your spouse and pay on that) even given that - here it's a wacky Peter Dunne thing - in the US it's uncontroversial, largely a middle class tax perk (for those families where one partner earns much more than the other - families who can afford a stay-at-home or working-part-time parent). US tax payers also have MANY tax breaks available if they try - that why they fill out 100 page tax returns every year.
BTW the other issue that grates is when people talk about US ''capital gains taxes - there is a 25% capital gains tax - but it's not the alternative to the 0% we have here - it's an alternative to the 33-35% normal income tax rate - you only get to claim it if you hold the thing that's getting the capital gain (property, stock, whatever) for a minimum time (2-3 years from memory)
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in the US the top tax federal rate of 35% kicks in at $357k
But you have to compare apples with apples - in Calfornia I paid 9% state tax (for stuff like schools, police, etc etc) so you have to add them together - the NZ 39% rate is equivalent to a US federal 30% and state 9%, you also pay 6% extra social security tax (superannuation) on the first $90k you earn so 24% - best comparison is the US 25% rate which kicks in at $32k (filing singly which is all you can do in NZ) at that point the state tax is ~8% so 25+6+9 = 40% close enough to NZ's 39%.
So in California (other states do their taxes very differently, but CA represents 20% of the US) you hit the NZ top tax rate at ~US$32k of income, given the current exchange rate it's almost comparable
Of course the US top rates are much higher than NZ's, they just keep going up - in CA top tax rate is 35% Federal and 10% state - total 45% (plus 6% on that first 90k)
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I've been trying to explain Act to some American friends - both their politics and demeanor - best short thing I could come up with was "sort of Ayn Rand meets Dancing with the Stars" - but that really doesn't reflect the scary/ugly side I see in them
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Robyn: that's mostly always been true - reducing the number of electorates for MMP smushed some cities and country bits together, but really little has changed