Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Unusual Democracy

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  • Hadyn Green,

    Mass bikini streak?

    I thought streakers were supposed to be naked?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report

  • bob daktari,

    first to post.... last vote counted

    democracy is a wonderful thing, if you control it

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 540 posts Report

  • Paul Campbell,

    sigh - exchange rates - so my take home has gone down this year by about 20% (I contract to companies in the US) but my mortgage has gone up - apparently it's a good thing .....

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Morgan Nichol,

    The cat isn't current. I mean, even friggin' Sideswipe has already covered it.

    And this thing with the streakers... Since when were we so goddamn American? What are we, Puritans?

    Auckland CBD • Since Nov 2006 • 314 posts Report

  • Hadyn Green,

    RE: Americans

    There was a streaker at the same Superbowl where we all saw too much of Janet Jackson. He got nailed by a very large linebacker in full pads. Great to see.

    But the Americans have the same streaking problem as everywhere else. They just don't televise it. Just like they don't here.

    The streaker bill is mainly to stop those internet casino companies from sending people covered in ads onto the pitch.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    And this thing with the streakers... Since when were we so goddamn American? What are we, Puritans?

    No, I just don't want to see actual sporting events become a channel for commercially-sponsored attention-seekers. Lisa Lewis's vision of mass bikini-streaks just sounds idiotic and tedious.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Sarah Flynn,

    No surprises that the US election was rigged, what really amazes me is how blatant it all was - very Macbeth (..."What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?"). At least Lady Macbeth had the decency to be racked with guilt, though...

    As to NZ's interest rates, I reckon it's time to revisit the dreaded tax on investment property - might be more palatable to the general public now that people who don't own homes feel like they're competing with investors, and exporters are getting such a pounding. I'm no expert though - any thoughts from people more qualified to comment??

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 16 posts Report

  • Heather Gaye,

    Here's a nightmare for Kiwiblog readers:

    I don't know if it'd constitute a nightmare, or all their christmases come at once. If they had the choice of a decent, hardworking leftwing government and an overtly corrupt one, which do you think they'd choose?

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • andrew llewellyn,

    "the dreaded tax on investment property "

    Um... what about holiday homes :)

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report

  • Ben Austin,

    Speaking of which, any documented, serious cases of electoral fraud in NZ? I'm talking to you, oh scholars of NZ elections.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report

  • anjum rahman,

    "As to NZ's interest rates, I reckon it's time to revisit the dreaded tax on investment property - might be more palatable to the general public now that people who don't own homes feel like they're competing with investors, and exporters are getting such a pounding. I'm no expert though - any thoughts from people more qualified to comment??"


    not particularly qualified, but i'll comment anyway... a capital gains tax on investment property won't work, cos it didn't in oz. another alternative would be to limit the amount of loss property investors can claim against their other income to (say) $2,000. that would mean that all those heavily mortgaged investment properties could no longer be funded out of a hefty tax refund, which would probably bring house prices down. probably political suicide though...

    hamilton • Since Nov 2006 • 130 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    probably political suicide though...

    no probably about it.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Sarah Flynn,

    Um... what about holiday homes :)

    Given that owners don't make much (or any) money off a holiday home that they use themselves, I don't see why they'd be too scandalised by the idea; while (I presume) a capital gains tax would only be incurred in the event that the property was sold (and you made money on it) - which just seems fair cop to me, as a windfall gain from any other investment would get taxed. Would people really be so outraged by that?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 16 posts Report

  • hamishm,

    The sad thing about the Ohio story is that it shouldn't have mattered. Anyone should have been able to see that,while Kerry was not the most exciting guy, he would have been an infinitely better Preznit than Mr. Who'd have thunk it?
    But he got swiftboated and his own good military record was made to look worse than Bushs' manufactured record.
    Anyone else see McCain on The Daily Show? To me he seemed that he beleived what he was saying but that just made it wotse.

    Since Nov 2006 • 357 posts Report

  • hamishm,

    Just made it wotse?
    OMG this used to be an adequate brain.
    Made it worse.

    Since Nov 2006 • 357 posts Report

  • Marcus Neiman,

    I'm a bit sceptical about the degree tightening tax on investment homes would be political suicide for the current government (Sure, if the Nats were to do it, there might be a revival of ACT's fortunes).

    Just how many Labour-voting investment house owners are there? And surely, I imagine, most of them would already be so marginal that if they were to defect they would have do so already over other issues that upsets their intuitive conservatism - taking away the right to whack your kids, civil unions for the non-heterosexuals etc.

    Sydney • Since Feb 2007 • 107 posts Report

  • Neil Morrison,

    There's one big hole in the Ohio was stolen theory - the Dems never fought it. They fought bitterly, all the way to the Supreme Court, over Florida. Had Kerry believed that Ohio was rigged he would have done the same.

    Since Nov 2006 • 932 posts Report

  • Andrew Smith,

    "No surprises that the US election was rigged"

    Sarah, please provide hard evidence. Easy to intimate that it was rigged, hard to proove.

    Since Jan 2007 • 150 posts Report

  • Andrew Smith,

    oops...'prove' is the correct spelling

    Since Jan 2007 • 150 posts Report

  • Hadyn Green,

    "No surprises that the US election was rigged"

    Sarah, please provide hard evidence

    Why does she have to provide evidence that she wasn't surprised? :)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    Had Kerry believed that Ohio was rigged he would have done the same.

    i seem to remember that, at the time, kerry favoured not fighting "for the good of the nation". a repeat of florida would have been too much of a fiasco.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    There's one big hole in the Ohio was stolen theory - the Dems never fought it. They fought bitterly, all the way to the Supreme Court, over Florida. Had Kerry believed that Ohio was rigged he would have done the same.

    There was quite a bit of disquiet at Kerry's speedy concession at the time - perhaps he was mindful of the way Gore got clobbered pretty hard with the "bad loser" stick after Florida, and didn't want that label if he ran again.

    But it's not correct to say the Democratic Party didn't pursue the issue. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House judiciary committee presented the report that said this:

    We have found numerous, serious election irregularities in the Ohio presidential election, which resulted in a significant disenfranchisement of voters. Cumulatively, these irregularities, which affected hundreds of thousand of votes and voters in Ohio, raise grave doubts regarding whether it can be said the Ohio electors selected on December 13, 2004, were chosen in a manner that conforms to Ohio law, let alone federal requirements and constitutional standards.

    This report, therefore, makes three recommendations: (1) consistent with the requirements of the United States Constitution concerning the counting of electoral votes by Congress and Federal law implementing these requirements, there are ample grounds for challenging the electors from the State of Ohio; (2) Congress should engage in further hearings into the widespread irregularities reported in Ohio; we believe the problems are serious enough to warrant the appointment of a joint select Committee of the House and Senate to investigate and report back to the Members; and (3) Congress needs to enact election reform to restore our people's trust in our democracy. These changes should include putting in place more specific federal protections for federal elections, particularly in the areas of audit capability for electronic voting machines and casting and counting of provisional ballots, as well as other needed changes to federal and state election laws.

    With regards to our factual finding, in brief, we find that there were massive and unprecedented voter irregularities and anomalies in Ohio. In many cases these irregularities were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio.

    It's impossible to to say for sure whether, or to what extent, there was electoral fraud in Ohio. But the bizarre irregularities are a matter of record. If it wasn't fraud, it amounted to incompetence and inappropriate behaviour of a degree that should have seen heads roll. And, frankly, would have in any other western democracy.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi,

    Russell Brown wrote:

    Lisa Lewis's vision of mass bikini-streaks just sounds idiotic and tedious.

    I don't know. I'd have to see a few myself to make that call.

    It's interesting that the term "election fraud" in the States can mean two vastly different things. You have the questionable outcomes and inherently partisan nature of the electoral machinery that results in outcomes that can't be trusted as being legitimate (even if they are, which is the sad thing.)

    Then you have all the individual voters prosecuted for "voter fraud" for things like registering to vote (but not actually voting) when one is ineligible, or electoral workers registering "ghost voters" (who are never actually going to go into a polling booth, obviously.)

    The former seems to be predominantly a Republican issue, while the latter is generally restricted to Democratic voters. And despite the first being reasonably able to significantly influence election outcomes while the second could never add more than a few thousand illegitimate votes nationwide, they both receive the same airtime, and the same emphasis, muddying the waters significantly.

    In fact, the current "Attorneygate" dramas swirling around AG Gonzales are fairly significantly tied up with investigations into the latter kind of fraud. Via TPM, there's a great rundown on the connection from McClatchy.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • 3410,

    Re: 2004 US election.

    Robert Kennedy Jr.'s Rolling Stone article Was the 2004 Election Stolen? is the best place to start.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    The former seems to be predominantly a Republican issue, while the latter is generally restricted to Democratic voters. And despite the first being reasonably able to significantly influence election outcomes while the second could never add more than a few thousand illegitimate votes nationwide, they both receive the same airtime, and the same emphasis, muddying the waters significantly.

    Classic Rove. Your opponent has strong ground, and you're weak, on electoral fraud. So you attack them on ... electoral fraud.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

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