Political Polls: Multi - Poll Wrap

In a wrap up of political polls over the last few days the trend of a big lead for National over the last 3 years. continues with a drop below 30% for Labour in one poll:

"In two polls published on Thursday, the National Party maintains a large lead over the Labour Party.

In the ONE News Colmar Brunton poll released on Thursday night the National Party has 56% support - the same as its poll in October.

The Labour and Green parties also remain about the same - at 30% and 9%, respectively.

The Greens are the only smaller party registering above the 5% threshold needed to get into Parliament.

New Zealand First has 2.2% support, while the Maori Party is on 1.3%.

ACT, the Mana Party and United Future all have less than 1% support.

The poll was taken between Saturday and Wednesday this week and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.

A New Zealand Herald DigiPoll paints a similar picture. In that poll Labour dips below 30% to 29.1%, with National well in front on 54.2% support.

Again, only the Greens are above 5%, with 10.1% support.

The DigiPoll survey of 750 voters was conducted between Friday and Wednesday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6%". Radio NZ

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C c c Darren Rickard 2011

Show me the Money: Labour hides borrowing & additional taxes

The political intrigue over Phil Goff's failure to accurately cost his election promises came to a head a few days ago at a Wednesday debate when John Key asked Goff to "show him the money".

Even the rabid left's John Armstrong is having a go at him over this serious leadership failure.

Goff had been found seriously wanting as his increased spending to buy an election win showed the flaws on the Labour election balance sheet. The increased debt exposure Goff that the Labour Party would put the country in at a time when debt used in the wrong way is looked at very suspiciously by our lenders and whoever leads us needs to tread the debt boards very carefully should we end up like Greece or the USA.

The billions of extra spending Goff has been campaigning on will come via borrowing from Mums and Dads in China and as there is still an unexplained gap after what Labour say they will borrow, Labour will do what they have always done and introduce a slew of news taxes on the middle classes and those "rich pricks" that Labour hammered in their previous 9 years in Government.

The only problem is there is still a massive gap in funding after the borrowing and funds raised from increased taxes and the only two conclusions the public can come to are that they will have to borrow more than indicated or what is more probable hit Kiwis with undisclosed new taxes or increases in current tax rates.

Phil Goff says he will show us the money today but his credibility must be looked at more than a little askance because one would have to ask why haven't these costings and important figures been calculated before promises were made? He says they have been but it has taken 2 days so far to produce his costings but so far not a sausage.

The public awaits to see with interest what this economic magician can pull out of his hat but judging on this latest incident should voters be putting their trust in someone with their hard earned taxpayer dollars whose maths would have 1+1 equal 3?

Buy Every Bastard Says No - The 42 Below Story, by Geoff Ross & Justine Troy & more @ Fishpond.co.nz

C c c Darren Rickard 2011

Economic Fallout: Is this one any different?

Hiding from ones problems never makes that problem disappear and all the politicians promises, all the borrowed Chinese money they are shoving down our throats and all the soothing from the likes of Warren Buffett, market commentators and others in the investing industry are just a thin veneer of the reality underneath.

That reality is that we are in the midst of a global economic crises and nobody knows how and when it will end but we do know it is not going to be a fairytale ending.

Most of the globe has had two decades of unprecedented economic growth pre 2008 and if we learn anything from history we know that there is always an economic fallout at least equal to the economic prosperity before it.

The minutiae surrounding the 2008 crash might be different but our current economic crises is because of the same old things that have caused every other recession/depression/economic tragedy; greed, fear and stupidity.

The decade of unprecedented prosperity of the 1920s and Wall Street crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression, only ended a few years after World War Two. A good (well bad really) 20 years of economic malaise.

What the hell makes some people think that the fallout from the 2008 economic crash is going to be largely avoided or ameliorated by politicians meddling with the inevitable? Politicians with socialist intentions like Bill Clinton are the reason why we are facing this mess in the first place.

By my humble calculations - and this is just an educated guess - we have at least 10 more years of economic trouble and uncertainty ahead of us, depending of course on what dopey politicians try to do to "fix" the problem.

All the posturing by our leaders, the pouting by greedy socialists who have spent too much in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal , Ireland and the hippie hangers-on at various Wall Street love-ins around the globe will make very little difference.

We have to accept the inevitable, allow it to happen and focus on the economic boom that will come after we pass this current recession/depression, whatever the hell you want to call it.

Stay tuned.

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National's Welfare "Reform" : Is that it?

The much talked about "welfare reform" from the National Party has turned into a bit of an underwhelming damp squib for me:

"All of those currently on the unemployment and sickness benefits will be put on a new 'Jobseeker Support Benefit,' and required to look for full time work. Single parents with children aged over 14 would go on the same benefit.

Parents on the domestic purposes benefit would instead get 'Sole Parent Support' until their youngest turned 14.

Solo parents would be required to undergo work testing when their child turned one and would be expected to work at least part time when their youngest was five.

The term 'invalids benefit' would also be scrapped and those with permanent, severe disabilities and terminal illnesses would instead receive a "supported living payment."

They would not face work obligations". NZ Herald

Why wouldn't you make solo parents look for work after 12 weeks? People with jobs regularly go back to work to provide for the family and it seems a tad bizarre that solo parents would have the luxury of 5 years looking after little Johnny or Susie at home while the rest of us wage slaves only see our kids in the morning and evenings.

It seems like a good start but incentives really need to be focused on making it harder for Mums to pop out kids on the DPB and easier if one chooses to be honest with others and themselves and work for a living to support themselves and their family.

I wait in hope.

Buy Every Bastard Says No - The 42 Below Story, by Geoff Ross & Justine Troy & more @ Fishpond.co.nz

C c c Darren Rickard 2011