Posts by Steve Barnes
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Gordon Campbell On National’s asset sales debacle
November 7th, 2011The concession by Finance Minister Bill English that National may not get the $5-7 billion it expected from its asset sales programme is a hammer blow to the government’s credibility. A less charitable view would be that having made an ideological commitment to the sales process, English is now talking down the likely sale price that the corporate sector will have to pay for getting their hands on them.
He goes on to say…
So…if English doesn’t really know what the returns will be, does he have a reserve price for these assets where he will withdraw them from the market – and if so, what is it? What’s his bottom line for say, Meridian? Just asking.
So, where’s the money?.
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Legal Beagle: Referendum Fact Check #5:…, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
MPs have not really crossed the floor against their party in a very long time in New Zealand.
This is something I would like to see more of, you know, a proper Parliament instead of a blatant abuse of power.
At the end of every debate that is not supported by the opposition, regardless of being Labour or National, a vote is called for. This is now merely a formality.
The party Whip's are not even necessary it appears, nobody seems to be bothered by the lack of members in the house, in fact a one man party can still get to have his vote counted without ever having heard the arguments or even attending the debate, the fact that urgency can be used at all under these circumstances dumbfounds me.
Then there's thisOfficial party whips are almost exclusively found in legislatures based on first-past-the-post electoral systems, as FPTP discourages the formation of small parties and therefore tends to create a few larger "big church" parties where the distance between members on the parties' right and left wings may be significant, which in turn can easily lead to internal rebellion against the official party platform when certain issues are voted on. In legislatures based on proportional representation elections such party officials are rarely found
Do we need to change the rules of the House? and if so, how do we do that when we have no power against a house that is beholden to powerful interests and MPs fear losing their list position?.
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Speaker: Why Auckland, and New Zealand,…, in reply to Patrick Reynolds,
Nat, have you seen the Herald? No Chance, I’ve tried.
If you introduced yourself as Dr. P. Reynolds you may have a chance.
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Whenever I hear that old saw (preferably played with a violin bow) about how music is destroying our kidz I think about John Lennon's "Imagine" and how little that effected the world.
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Legal Beagle: Referendum Fact Check #5:…, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
199A Publishing false statements to influence voters
So, 2 days before the election National must take down its hoardings promising a "A Brighter Future"?. The luminance of the Sun will be influenced by National, a statement of fact that the person knows is false in a material particular.
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Speaker: Why Auckland, and New Zealand,…, in reply to BenWilson,
better options for boozy nights unless you’re walking distance from a train station.
Trouble there is you can easily fall asleep on a train, I once ended up miles from home as the sun was coming up.
(I could have “Coddingtonised” that)
“I once woke up hundreds of thousands of miles away”
“Where are we Neil?”
“One small step for… what the f….” -
And then there's This Guy who doesn't think he pays enough, DOH!
Geoff Burton's house at [redacted], Glendowie, has gone from a capital value of $2.3 million to just $1.5 million - despite the suburb's values rising by 7.79 per cent overall.
Mr Burton is one of more than 1000 homeowners who have so far complained to the council about the new valuations.
I also wonder how happy he is about the paper publishing his address.
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OnPoint: 3 News Exclusive Investigation…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Yep, our equivalent of Alec Baldwin, for better or worse.
Pah! 30 Rock was way betterer than Outrageous Fortune, no contest.
(unless you disagree that is ;-) -
Prime Minister John Key has conceded National risk losing the election should the Green Party hold the balance of power.
A Green vote it is then. Thanks Mr. Key.
And don't forget to wave goodbye. -
Hard News: We interrupt this broadcast ..., in reply to DexterX,
The choice you have is to vote for the option that is likely to do the least harm – as in not make a bad situation worsen; I can’t see that being Labour.
No, it's going to be a party we have never heard of appearing at the last moment to save the day, Super Batman party to the rescue.
Stop living in cloud cuckoo land, it is either going to be National or Labour with the big numbers and unless you believe an all powerful National; Govt. is the answer and, let's face it, they had the numbers to rush their shit through under urgency, then the only option is a vote for Labour electorate in marginal seats, party vote for Green and let MMP do the rest. A vote for Natzional is just giving them rope to hang you with.