Posts by uroskin

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  • Cracker: Another Capital Idea...,

    IIRC the CGT in the US is linked to your marginal income tax rate, not a flat 15% proposed by Labour here. I hope family trusts get caught by CGT too. On a side note, I think trusts should be taxed at the highest marginal rate in use anyway to lower their attractiveness as a tax avoidance scheme.

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • Hard News: Radio NZ: Sailing on in…,

    I wish NatRad would take at least as much care in pronouncing English as it does Maori. The Great New Zealand Vowel Shift hasn't stopped its aftershocks even on Morning Report where "the roising croime in Chroistchurch" and "the deed moiners in the Poike River Moine" get me out of bed in a foul mood. (And this coming from a non-native English speaker)

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • Legal Beagle: Referendum Fact Check #2:…,

    Yes, PR in The Netherlands, with its fractured political landscape, a small party like the Party for the Animals recently succeeded in banning halal and kosher slaughter methods with large backing from other parties, despite fierce lobbying by Islamic and Jewish interests (and everyone knows how dear to the Dutch political heart Israel is). If they had less than proportional representation it may have never surfaced as an issue.

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • Legal Beagle: Referendum Fact Check #2:…,

    It's a pity the "Pure Proportional" system isn't an option in the MMP referendum. All the alternatives on offer are less proporttional than MMP. I would prefer an 1/120 threshold with lists only (plus voting for a candidate on a list allowed to rank successful list places). No need for pakeha or Maori seats with the attendant gerrymandering, backroom deals and coat tail MPs. Simple to understand too. And you can base your vote on party policy rather than local personality.

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • Muse: That Book, The Ban That Isn't,…,

    Any thoughts of how, as a consumer, you can rigthfully boycott a book (by not buying it) but you are powerless when your Council uses your rates to buy that same book for its public libraries.

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • Hard News: What the kids do,

    If we reclassified King's College as a South Auckland school there wouldn't be a reason for moral panic.

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…,

    Consider too that buying/owning/running a car in Denmark is considerably more expensive than in NZ (no cheap Jap imports, eye-watering road and petrol taxes, etc). Plus you have to be 18 (as in every civilised country) to drive. This alone would encourage cycling too (and cut the child/teen obesity rate)

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • Legal Beagle: Voting Referendum: Jus' Sayin',

    The playing field isn't level when any party obtains overhang.

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • Legal Beagle: Voting Referendum: Jus' Sayin',

    If there were no electorate seats (i.e. a parliament of 120 list MPs) we would need no Maori seats (Maori would be proportionally represented when getting multiples of 0.8%, like everybody else). Simple system, simple maths. Lists could still have preferences by voters built in.
    FPP does not guarantee stable or majority government. Was NBR asleep during last year's British election??

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Budget 2011: A Credible Path to…,

    there must be a really huge benefit NZ will get from the ultrafast broadband, right?

    My porn downloads will finally stop buffering.

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report

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