Yesterday in the electorate office I met an articulate middle aged woman at her wits end. She is a skilled person- a business analyst and project manager in the IT sector. She has been out of work for most of the last two years. She has used up all her savings and has now had to sell her home. She came to see me because she is being given the run around by Work and Income about her eligibility for support. As she said she felt like the staff at Work and Income made her feel it was her fault she was unemployed. She knows its not their fault, they are only following the directives from the top. She is stressed and struggling.
We talked, my office staff went away to talk to Work and Income, and I suggested some ideas for helping with her job search. She said towards the end of the conversation, ” I am working really hard here, but what is the government doing to help create jobs.”
Well, apart from obfuscating about the latest rise in unemployment, Mr Key has been having a great old time this week. I can’t sum it up better than Duncan Garner
But the figures out yesterday are John Key’s problem. He’s promised Kiwis that National would bring better jobs, higher wages and voters flocked to him. He has now said jobs are coming and we just need a little more patience. But time is ticking.
Key can dance badly and he can smile, he can laugh at himself and pick which of the ladies are hot – and in many ways his opponents have totally underestimated his ability as a politician and his ability to reach into ordinary New Zealand households.
But ordinary households need the recovery to kick in too, and Key needs more jobs to be created – his political credibility and the credibility of his economic plan relies on it.
Spin alert^
Hey buddy, what you owe the Government in income tax, is NOT YOUR MONEY. When you work and make a dollar, you don’t do it for yourself you do it FOR YOUR COMMUNITY.
You want to play word games to cover the fact that millionaire earners got given a $1000 p.w. tax break, a gift to the rich which now means that the Government has to cover that loss of revenue by borrowing that same $1000 from the Chinese and having to pay it back with interest.
Hey George, those other social sciences didn’t just cause US$4 Trillion in global losses in the last 3 years, did they?
But they are documenting the damage that your free market economics mates are doing to our societies and our communities.
Hey buddy, what you owe the Government in income tax, is NOT YOUR MONEY. When you work and make a dollar, you don’t do it for yourself you do it FOR YOUR COMMUNITY.
Perhaps, in this election year, some of the many Labour MPs who read CV’s comments will express an opinion as to whether they endorse his/her views or not.
Are they core Labour views, or those of the lunatic fringe?
I eagerly await your responses.
Hey George, those other social sciences didn’t just cause US$4 Trillion in global losses in the last 3 years, did they?
I’ll take that as a ‘No’, then… LOL
George, I think such quasi-Marxist views are probably deep down what many in Labour believe in, there was an MP citing Marx here recently. But ultimately Viper doesn’t have to worry about living in the real world and being part of his/her beloved society…being a beneficiary and all.
I think such quasi-Marxist views are probably deep down what many in Labour believe in, there was an MP citing Marx here recently
Which is why I don’t expect anyone from the caucus to step up and publicly disagree with CV.
They won’t dare publicly agree, of course, because that would frighten the horses…
… there’s a deathly silence in this corner. You’ve frightened all the politicos away CV!
lolz George. Yeah, looks that way doesn’t it. I guess democratic socialism is still my corner then
That’s not democratic socialism CV, that’s communism… 80%+ of the electorate would be horrified by that statement…
You and the State don’t own us…
Meh, nothing I said implies anything you said. You’re reaching for baseless conclusions.
And yeah, when you put in an hours work Jeremy you don’t do that (just) for yourself, you do it for your boss, your workmates, your colleagues, your family, oh yeah FOR YOUR COMMUNITY
No, your failing to understand how society works (and works best)… When we are in paid employment we all work in our own best interest and by doing so we benefit our colleagues, family, community and country…
NZers almost work as many unpaid hours for their community as paid, it’s one of the best features of our society, that it inspires that kind of sense of community – but your desired ever and ever higher taxes undermines this and private charity, encourages dependence and loss of self reliance and ultimately productivity and living standards…
Our society is based on freedom and choice, both in enterprise and socially – what you stand for, undermines what has made Western Society successful and prosperous and if you (and seemingly the Labour Party) get your way economically – over time – unemployment will skyrocket like it has in “democratic socialist” Western Europe”…
Also I’ve told you many times I don’t support Ayn Rand’s theories, I’m not an objectivist… Maybe failure to absorb any new information (and the ability to reject information that doesn’t agree with your world view – like say economics) is why you believe such an obviously flawed social construct…
Dude I’m impressed you still think that pure individualistic self interest will somehow automatically equal the community’s best interests.
More simply put, it is very often the case due to externalities and other issues that
Individual Good =! Collective Good
Aren’t you the guy who backs free market capitalism to the hilt because its the best there is – even though there happens to be no countries in the world who use it? And you don’t regard that as being “an obviously flawed social construct”?
Oh please just get over your speech making rhetoric, the top income tax rate in the United States between 1956-1964 was 91% and those were years of massive industrial growth, technological advancement and middle class income/employment increases in the US.
Put it another way a fair distribution of societal resources makes for a better and more productive society.
Yet when those tax rates were that high, the individuals and corporations hired an army of lawyers and accountants such that the total federal tax take was never over 20%… The same thing happened in NZ when the tax rate was lowered from 66% to 33% – the tax take went up..! Because it was suddenly cheaper to pay the tax than the professionals (a few loopholes were also closed)…
None are as blind as that wont see… Don’t let the reality get in the way – just claim economics don’t matter, incentives are imaginary..!
You’ve been sprouting that same stats for a couple of years now and I’ve shown you evidence a couple of times that while on paper a tax rate is a certain percentage, it doesn’t mean that is the take…
Similar to how you state I’m a follower of Ayn Rand after being told over and over I think she was incorrect in her world view… Heck I’m not even a libertarian…
Nothing penitrates that skull of yours does it..?
(1) Not sure where you got this figure from – link please. Income tax for the top tier was 91%, and the foundations of US economic exceptionalism, social equality and middle class income growth were laid with it.
(2) If you are talking about income tax, no it didn’t. Especially as tens of thousands of public servants and manufacturing workers lost their jobs and went on the dole instead.
Come on, that’s just clumsy Jeremy.
(1) I’ve provided the link twice for you before…
(2) Total tax take…
I think the PM is an extraordinary talent. His most effective effort at job creation turns out to be an Earthquake. Earth shattering stuff indeed.
His govt will take credit for an upswing almost entirely born out of the Canterbury earthquake BUT they wont geographise the statistics they will use them as a whole number and leave out the truth.
No links at all then, Jeremy?
Go on, at least give me the link saying total Govt revenue increased around the time that income tax levels were dropped to 33%.
Of course, this was the same time the first ACT Govt also dropped tariffs and licensing from a wide range of industries, measures which also contributed large amounts of Govt revenue.
And you say total Govt revenues went up as dole queues massively expanded and these sources of state revenue dried up?
I’d really really like to see that.
This lady really cannot be at her wits end – I never received her CV.
I actually have a job going that is paying iro 110 to 120 sitting there. I need a BA / PM.
I read a post about this ‘poor woman’ – offer to take her CV and then what ………. nothing……..
So what was it – did you not pass on my details – why not it would have taken a lot less time than writing this post.
If you did and she did not reply – it shows just how desperate she really was dosnt it.
Really annoyed reading a bleeding heart post – try to make a genuine offer to help and it just a waste of time. grrrrr
No email from her today either. If I get one by the end of the weekend I will pass it on – if not consider the offer retracted – I was being legit in the offer, but it seems it really wasn’t an issue for someone else.