Tax Cuts For The Blues
National make their most important policy announcement in a few days.
Tax cuts.
Labour will argue whatever National promise that (thanks to years of their own wasteful spending and building a welfare culture) it is unaffordable, a bribe and too much. ACT will argue it's not enough. New Zealand First won't comment and United Future will come out with a blarney policy to split incomes and provide more welfarism for breeders.
As Labour have made beneficiaries out of most middle income families in New Zealand a tax cut won't actually assist them as already they receive more money back than they put into the system.
But tax cuts are about sending a message.
A message that you are rewarding taxpayers for their graft. That you give them hope that your regime will not steal more money back from them than they have to in order to fund a now bloated bureaucracy in Wellington. That National IS different to Labour because National respect people who are earning the cash.
That you are NOT going to treat taxpayers as they have been treated for the past nine years. With utter and complete contempt. A cow that is there to be milked and not fed.
Will Key have the balls to announce a huge cut in taxes as the economy is to head into recession? I don't think he has the goolies. Most idiotic New Zealanders think a cut in tax will mean a cut in airy fairy things like education, health and transport. Thing is for nine years New Zealand has become a pit for consultants, experts and philanderers employed by their Pinko mates. Billions has been poured into health, education and transport. Billions on welfare. What has the result been?
More violent crime, more congestion on roads, longer waiting lists and terrible educational standards.
A Maori Party that knows that Labour have done NOTHING for Maoridom for nine years to improve their lot as a separate people. Pacific Islanders, the backbone of the Labour Party past are poorer and sicker than ever.
Tax cuts are an important message. The larger the tax cut the better. But tax cuts are the START. Without measures to fix the areas where billions more have been poured into the pit by Labour, a tax cut is meaningless.
Which is why the only Party so far that has a comprehensive package to solve these issues AND cut taxes is ACT. They put together a 20 point plan
No other Party has such a comprehensive policy platform. No other Party has actually got a plan at all to date. Labour are so devoid of policy and ideas that they have been stealing National's and leaking them to the media.
Labour = more of the same
National = more of the same but we've got a bloke in charge.
So let us see what National is going to present to differentiate themselves from Labour. To give us hope that they do respect taxpayers and taxpayers hard earned money.
And that means presenting an entire platform of at least 20 points that answers the one question everyone will ask:
But how can we afford it?
I say after nine years of being over-taxed New Zealand simply can't afford NOT to make large tax cuts.
Forget the uber-rich, OE hounds and the upwardly mobile 30 something single professionals like myself.
Even the working class are packing up ready and waiting for the first available flight on 9th November to Australia.
Tax cuts.
Labour will argue whatever National promise that (thanks to years of their own wasteful spending and building a welfare culture) it is unaffordable, a bribe and too much. ACT will argue it's not enough. New Zealand First won't comment and United Future will come out with a blarney policy to split incomes and provide more welfarism for breeders.
As Labour have made beneficiaries out of most middle income families in New Zealand a tax cut won't actually assist them as already they receive more money back than they put into the system.
But tax cuts are about sending a message.
A message that you are rewarding taxpayers for their graft. That you give them hope that your regime will not steal more money back from them than they have to in order to fund a now bloated bureaucracy in Wellington. That National IS different to Labour because National respect people who are earning the cash.
That you are NOT going to treat taxpayers as they have been treated for the past nine years. With utter and complete contempt. A cow that is there to be milked and not fed.
Will Key have the balls to announce a huge cut in taxes as the economy is to head into recession? I don't think he has the goolies. Most idiotic New Zealanders think a cut in tax will mean a cut in airy fairy things like education, health and transport. Thing is for nine years New Zealand has become a pit for consultants, experts and philanderers employed by their Pinko mates. Billions has been poured into health, education and transport. Billions on welfare. What has the result been?
More violent crime, more congestion on roads, longer waiting lists and terrible educational standards.
A Maori Party that knows that Labour have done NOTHING for Maoridom for nine years to improve their lot as a separate people. Pacific Islanders, the backbone of the Labour Party past are poorer and sicker than ever.
Tax cuts are an important message. The larger the tax cut the better. But tax cuts are the START. Without measures to fix the areas where billions more have been poured into the pit by Labour, a tax cut is meaningless.
Which is why the only Party so far that has a comprehensive package to solve these issues AND cut taxes is ACT. They put together a 20 point plan
No other Party has such a comprehensive policy platform. No other Party has actually got a plan at all to date. Labour are so devoid of policy and ideas that they have been stealing National's and leaking them to the media.
Labour = more of the same
National = more of the same but we've got a bloke in charge.
So let us see what National is going to present to differentiate themselves from Labour. To give us hope that they do respect taxpayers and taxpayers hard earned money.
And that means presenting an entire platform of at least 20 points that answers the one question everyone will ask:
But how can we afford it?
I say after nine years of being over-taxed New Zealand simply can't afford NOT to make large tax cuts.
Forget the uber-rich, OE hounds and the upwardly mobile 30 something single professionals like myself.
Even the working class are packing up ready and waiting for the first available flight on 9th November to Australia.
posted by Cactus Kate at 2:20 AM
17 Comments:
I'm curious how you or ACT justify the claim that education standards are poor or even failing when their clearly not. In relative and absolute terms, NZ school students' performance in all key measures has improved.
Yes Paulie
Any statistics I put up you won't deem appropriate and you will waste my time for the next week arguing about.
Here's a lovely article about the falling literacy of the thickest students (bottom 20%)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10527425&pnum=0
Look at what employers are saying....skill shortages. Many comment on the blog here about falling standards in graduates and the quality of their applications.
Ask teachers about the worth of NCEA.
Ask University tutors about how students come out of High School expecting to be spoon fed and how many students at University are just too thick to be there.
And ask why after 9 years of Labour students are still leaving school in South Auckland unable to read and write and into a life of crime.
I thought billions of extra dollars spent on state funded education was meant to fix this?
Your head must be truly up your backside not to realise that there is something wrong in the system other than spending levels.
What I really struggle with is the mentallity of the average New Zealander around government spending cuts. Food, electricity, and petrol prices are skyrocketting, and people are having to make "spending choices" - in effect, they are having to make spending cuts on luxuries to afford the basic necessities. Yet the government point-blank refuses to cut spending, and increases it instead. When all the peasants are tightening their belts, why doesn't the government do it as well?
But that's the wrong angle. Its not just about why the government won't cut spending, its about when the government scares people saying the tax cuts mean service cuts, people get all worried about it, buying the scare stories hook, line & sinker. In my opinion, government spending cuts are GOOD!
Kate, that's a cop out. This story makes the point I needn't, and which you've ignored, but I agree that the 'tail' is overly long and needs attention. By any and every international measure, NZ schools are improved and improving. Pretending this isn't relevant isn't credible.
I know precisely what employers are saying having spent years working with them. For instance, I don't recall BusinessNZ saying anything negative about NCEA since around 2000 - they've got criticisms I know, but they have supported NCEA publicly on numerous ocassions because it reflects what their members are saying.
Teachers concerns about NCEA have tended to relate to workload - it's some principals that have opposed NCEA. Fair enough, no one's got a monopoly on truth. All that aside however, by any credible international measure, NZ schools are performing well.
Also, what's the alternative? ACT says vouchers - but when asked, Deb Coddington couldn't tell me how they improve educational outcomes; her support for the policy was ideological, not evidentiary.
I've heard uni lecturer bemoan standards for ever - participation exploded in the '90s and they've never gotten used to it.
Lastly skill shortages; since Labour was elected, the participation in workplace training has increased three-fold. Again, ask businesses - in my dealings with the business associations they nothing other than entirely supportive of industry training which explains the record numbers and record investment.
With respect Kate, I don't believe you know what you're talking about.
Oh come on Kate.
It's not illiteracy or poor spelling, it's freedom of expression.
They may not be able to read or write but their tagging skills are world class.
Just read the One Man Poll in the Herald, look how intelligent and thoughtful these young people are. They are going to vote Labour, because National are rich pricks and ACT have that Rogernomics monster. He did bad things you know. Labour really care and Helen is really in touch with what people need. Free money and lack of accountability.
Paul,
Yes, on average, we're doing OK, but all that should tell you is taking the average of anything doesn't really tell you very much.
But we have an unusually large proportion of people in the lower group.
MY source? Helen Clark's speech to Business NZ a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was an abject admission of failure.
Good post but Im not holding my breath. The only way to ensure you are not ripped off is to arrange your affairs to play only the amount of tax they YOU believe is fair and justified. As one who worked in the UK in the 1970s arranging their clients affairs around a 95% unearned and 85% earned max reime one learnt how to minimise clients tax to very little or even zero. As you are a tax specialist you know the more legislation and regulation the more opportunities to drive a coach and four through. I used to always argue against moves to simplify the tax law a sit decreased my opportunities to take advantage of the loopholes or to create new ones.
In my case my taxation pain thresehold is 20% no more no less regardless of the gross
gd
It entertains me that Paul managed to contradict himself with a grammatical error.
Paul, best for you to avoid claims that NZ's educational standards are not falling when your own brief comment (a mere 36 words)contains a glaring grammatical error.
In line 3 your word "their" should be "they're" (= they are). A small example of the kind (lack?) of standards in basic communication in English that has employers in despair at the quality of job applicants.
Kate's right - educational standards are poor and still falling.
You two are flirting.
Paul, I hope you can debate coherently after two bottles of champagne (and paying for four, plus dinner).
Excellent post Cactus!
http://motella.blogspot.com/
Labour are making the same mistakes that the British Labour Party are making. The NCEA standards are terrible and do not give anybody a clear "pass" or "fail" result.
The levels of literacy and numeracy are falling badly, law schools in NZ have problems with their students unable to spell and read the work given to them.
The bigest problem is that exams have been set at an easier level which are then spun by the Education Dept as fact that people are improving across the board, when in reality it is falling backwards.
No wonder teachers unions are militantly against paying better teachers more than shit teachers.
Paul
With no respect, you are a knob. Everyone here disagrees with you. Most more derogatorily than I have.
You are obviously a plant from The Standard to keep me busy replying to your stupid arguments therefore distracting me from the neverending quest to slam Pinkos.
Rotten trick around election time.
I shall not be swayed from the target.
Paulie was one of the authors of Kiwiblogblog...I rest my case!
ACT justify the claim that education standards are poor or even failing when their clearly not. In relative and absolute terms, NZ school students' performance in all key measures has improved.
"Improved" to the level where the country is worse than fucking Bosnia just after their war? and where the South Auckland is actually worse than Bagdhad on some standardised tests? You've been drinking in the Labour and Union lies, my friend...
I don't recall BusinessNZ saying anything negative about NCEA since around 2000
It's because they are shitscared under Helen! don't you get that yet? No serious lobby group has taken on the government except those that are totally financially independent - like the SST. Because if you say "NCEA is fucked, state schools are just pathways to prison, NZ's Polys and universities are a joke --- and point out that basically everyone
with any sense sends their kids to do the Cambridge exams and then to the UK or Aussie for university..." --- you will just get nailed.
I know about this: if you want to get into a good course at the University of Auckland --- you must do Cambridge and cannot do NCEA because Auckland - NZ's only serious uni, knows that NCEA is completely crap.
But the lecturers and profs actaully working in Auckland make damn sure their kids of Aussie or UK or US degrees - and ideally overseas citizenship - because even they can see that NZ's education system, if not the whole country is basically fucked.
Thak you Labour. Thank you Helen.
Kate, do you make a habit of not publishing comments that you don't like? Is it a rule; don't point out the host's limitations?
Paul - I enter argument with the one's I don't like.
When the comments person is a withering prat and argues full circle without adding any value, I simply cut off the oxygen.
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