Politics Super Thread - keep it all in here

[happy_tiger]

Interesting story just brought up on the SBS news about Swan possibly bringing in a super profits tax if the Banks don't pass on the interest rates cut in the future

I totally agree that really there is no reason for the banks to withhold the interest cuts ,how Swan goes passing that through parliament would be interesting to see

Even better to see is how the banks react to that news ???

Yeah Happy, not a bad move by swan actually. He has a bit more credibility in my eyes now.
I just worry that the banks would compensate with even higher margins on Interest Rates.

My only issue with it is it just Swan trying to scam a few more votes with anti bank sentiment or is dinky di about it Time will tell I guess

Probably pandering to the masses, like you suggest mate.
I wish the liberals would provide some decent economic opposition. It's amazing that they aren't further ahead in the polls with how much this Labor party has messed up. I can't think of any successful policy that they have implemented - and that's while being able to spend truckloads of cash! If you can't win friends doing that, then they have serious issues.

Bringing out policies is like bringing out a big or new play in a football game Don't bring em out til you need them Hammer
Save it until election time I reckon so Labor then can't turn around and say they are changing their policy and basically use the same policy but give it a different name and muddle a few things around

 

[stryker]

Poor old Andrew Wilkie…no longer relevant and furious about it.

He was played perfectly by a far more experienced backstabber.

 

[happy_tiger]

Yeah I agree Stryker but I think the Australian people may have just have had enough of the backflips from Gillard on just about every policy they have introduced

 

[Yossarian]

Happy it's not unreasonable to drop a policy that clearly has no popularity. If she didn't we'd all hear about how stubborn she was and how Gillard doesn't care about what people want.

IMO she is doing the right thing from a political POV, well the only thing. What Wilkie was proposing was a bit OTT but the clubs have lost a lot of respect from me in the way they've acted. Most of them seem to have forgotten why they were established in the first place.

 

[happy_tiger]

Happy it's not unreasonable to drop a policy that clearly has no popularity. If she didn't we'd all hear about how stubborn she was and how Gillard doesn't care about what people want.

IMO she is doing the right thing from a political POV, well the only thing. What Wilkie was proposing was a bit OTT but the clubs have lost a lot of respect from me in the way they've acted. Most of them seem to have forgotten why they were established in the first place.

Well isn't that the issue Yoss

None of Labors policies are very popular Yoss from the amount they are backflipping on

Doesn't that concern many voters to start with if Labor were to get a clear majority ??

 

[hammertime]

I think it's much, much harder to think of things that Labor have done right, compared to what they have done wrong. The list is certainly heavily weighted towards the latter.

 

[Yossarian]

Happy it's not unreasonable to drop a policy that clearly has no popularity. If she didn't we'd all hear about how stubborn she was and how Gillard doesn't care about what people want.

IMO she is doing the right thing from a political POV, well the only thing. What Wilkie was proposing was a bit OTT but the clubs have lost a lot of respect from me in the way they've acted. Most of them seem to have forgotten why they were established in the first place.

Well isn't that the issue Yoss

None of Labors policies are very popular Yoss from the amount they are backflipping on

Doesn't that concern many voters to start with if Labor they were to get a clear majority ??

It was never ALP policy in the first place. They were only showing interest because of Wilkie pushing the barrow so it is not a fair illustration. I think the backflipping thing is overblown. NBN is still happening.

But seriously if people think Abbott will do better they're in for a rude shock.

 

[Yossarian]

I think it's much, much harder to think of things that Labor have done right, compared to what they have done wrong. The list is certainly heavily weighted towards the latter.

Best performing economy in the world my friend. Award winning treasurer, best performing foreign minister in the last 40 years…

 

[happy_tiger]

Happy it's not unreasonable to drop a policy that clearly has no popularity. If she didn't we'd all hear about how stubborn she was and how Gillard doesn't care about what people want.

IMO she is doing the right thing from a political POV, well the only thing. What Wilkie was proposing was a bit OTT but the clubs have lost a lot of respect from me in the way they've acted. Most of them seem to have forgotten why they were established in the first place.

Well isn't that the issue Yoss

None of Labors policies are very popular Yoss from the amount they are backflipping on

Doesn't that concern many voters to start with if Labor they were to get a clear majority ??

It was never ALP policy in the first place. They were only showing interest because of Wilkie pushing the barrow so it is not a fair illustration. I think the backflipping thing is overblown. NBN is still happening.

But seriously if people think Abbott will do better they're in for a rude shock.

But the problem is the people who need NBN aren't getting it as a priority over people who don't necessarily need it

No doubt we will see it is a whole heap of fringe Labor seats they are hoping to hold on to

 

[hammertime]

I think it's much, much harder to think of things that Labor have done right, compared to what they have done wrong. The list is certainly heavily weighted towards the latter.

Best performing economy in the world my friend. Award winning treasurer, best performing foreign minister in the last 40 years…

haha…. Award winning treasurer. That still makes me laugh! The guy had to call up the blokes (my mate incl) at JP Morgan during the crash to get them to explain what was going on.

If he was smart, he would have created a clearing house for all derivatives in Australia (Like Futures have). GFC would never have happened if OTC products were made to trade on an exchange and were reset/cleared frequently.

Plus, it would be building a major Govt asset for sell off (like the ASX).

He had the perfect excuse to reform the finance industry and has done nothing except throw a lot of cash around. Most of it wasted or ill-targeted!

He only got the award because Australia had a good balance sheet to start with.

 

[Yossarian]

I think it's much, much harder to think of things that Labor have done right, compared to what they have done wrong. The list is certainly heavily weighted towards the latter.

Best performing economy in the world my friend. Award winning treasurer, best performing foreign minister in the last 40 years…

haha…. Award winning treasurer. That still makes me laugh! The guy had to call up the blokes (my mate incl) at JP Morgan during the crash to get them to explain what was going on.

If he was smart, he would have created a clearing house for all derivatives in Australia (Like Futures have). GFC would never have happened if OTC products were made to trade on an exchange and were reset/cleared frequently.

Plus, it would be building a major Govt asset for sell off (like the ASX).

He had the perfect excuse to reform the finance industry and has done nothing except throw a lot of cash around. Most of it wasted or ill-targeted!

He only got the award because Australia had a good balance sheet to start with.

If Costello won you'd be talking it up! Only major economy to avoid recession. You can take whatever pot shots you want, accuse of being dumb or underqualified but his results speak for themselves. I know it eats you Libs up that the government have done a fantastic job with the economy and without stripping away worker's entitlements.

 

[happy_tiger]

Yoss trying to compare Costello with Swan is like trying to compare Benji Marshall with Wade Graham

Not even on the same page sorry

 

[Flippedy]

Happy it's not unreasonable to drop a policy that clearly has no popularity. If she didn't we'd all hear about how stubborn she was and how Gillard doesn't care about what people want.

IMO she is doing the right thing from a political POV, well the only thing. What Wilkie was proposing was a bit OTT but the clubs have lost a lot of respect from me in the way they've acted. Most of them seem to have forgotten why they were established in the first place.

A very balanced and unbiased perspective, Yoss - well said.

 

[happy_tiger]

I think it's much, much harder to think of things that Labor have done right, compared to what they have done wrong. The list is certainly heavily weighted towards the latter.

Best performing economy in the world my friend. Award winning treasurer, best performing foreign minister in the last 40 years…

haha…. Award winning treasurer. That still makes me laugh! The guy had to call up the blokes (my mate incl) at JP Morgan during the crash to get them to explain what was going on.

If he was smart, he would have created a clearing house for all derivatives in Australia (Like Futures have). GFC would never have happened if OTC products were made to trade on an exchange and were reset/cleared frequently.

Plus, it would be building a major Govt asset for sell off (like the ASX).

He had the perfect excuse to reform the finance industry and has done nothing except throw a lot of cash around. Most of it wasted or ill-targeted!

He only got the award because Australia had a good balance sheet to start with.

If Costello won you'd be talking it up! Only major economy to avoid recession. You can take whatever pot shots you want, accuse of being dumb or underqualified but his results speak for themselves. I know it eats you Libs up that the government have done a fantastic job with the economy and without stripping away worker's entitlements.

Of course it had nothing to do with the state of the economy that Labour inherited from the Coalition did it Yoss Spending our surplus so people could buy brand new TV's , or have a swanky meal (my restaurant had back to back sales records when the hand outs were recieved ) was exactly what we needed 😱pen_mouth:

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Happy it's not unreasonable to drop a policy that clearly has no popularity. If she didn't we'd all hear about how stubborn she was and how Gillard doesn't care about what people want.

IMO she is doing the right thing from a political POV, well the only thing. What Wilkie was proposing was a bit OTT but the clubs have lost a lot of respect from me in the way they've acted. Most of them seem to have forgotten why they were established in the first place.

A very balanced and unbiased perspective, Yoss - well said.

Agree Flip, it is a fairly reasonable assessment of things.

I don't think this was the answer to curbing problem gambling anyway. Limiting the amount of poker machines in premises, limiting the maximum bets to, say, $1 and curbing the likes of raffles, giveaways and cheap/free drinks would be a start.

 

[Yossarian]

Best performing economy in the world my friend. Award winning treasurer, best performing foreign minister in the last 40 years…

haha…. Award winning treasurer. That still makes me laugh! The guy had to call up the blokes (my mate incl) at JP Morgan during the crash to get them to explain what was going on.

If he was smart, he would have created a clearing house for all derivatives in Australia (Like Futures have). GFC would never have happened if OTC products were made to trade on an exchange and were reset/cleared frequently.

Plus, it would be building a major Govt asset for sell off (like the ASX).

He had the perfect excuse to reform the finance industry and has done nothing except throw a lot of cash around. Most of it wasted or ill-targeted!

He only got the award because Australia had a good balance sheet to start with.

If Costello won you'd be talking it up! Only major economy to avoid recession. You can take whatever pot shots you want, accuse of being dumb or underqualified but his results speak for themselves. I know it eats you Libs up that the government have done a fantastic job with the economy and without stripping away worker's entitlements.

Of course it had nothing to do with the state of the economy that Labour inherited from the Coalition did it Yoss Spending our surplus so people could buy brand new TV's , or have a swanky meal (my restaurant had back to back sales records when the hand outs were recieved ) was exactly what we needed 😱pen_mouth:

My sarcasm detector has gone crazy! Of course it was built under sound fundamentals that were largely Keating/Hawke reforms after our old mate Honest John sat on his hands in the years before then when you chose whether to pay tax or not.

The spending you are talking about was the desired effect of the payments - to encourage spending. Spending keeps people in jobs, people in jobs means more tax revenue/less social security and more money to keep spending. You guys keep talking it down but most global observors praise the policy and it did keep unemployment down and the economy out of recession.

 

[Yossarian]

Yoss trying to compare Costello with Swan is like trying to compare Benji Marshall with Wade Graham

Not even on the same page sorry

I think Costello was a bit better than Wade Graham but then again Wade probably didn't waste a golden era of revenue by giving out $5 tax cuts instead of investing in infrastructure.

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

The spending you are talking about was the desired effect of the payments - to encourage spending. Spending keeps people in jobs, people in jobs means more tax revenue/less social security and more money to keep spending. You guys keep talking it down but most global observors praise the policy and it did keep unemployment down and the economy out of recession.

Yes, but the debt! It is so big with so many zeroes. Somehow we all have to pay that debt - our economy is stuffed! Don't you know the mantra…."deficit bad, surplus good, deficit bad, surplus good..."

 

[happy_tiger]

And now we are fronting up about $ 8 billion dollars to the IMF as they are requesting about $600 Billion Don't see the Americans fronting up their 17.5% as has been requested

Why are we fronting up the dosh if others aren't

Can someone explain to Gillard and Swan this isn't a popularity contest :brick:

I didn't give Labor permission to spend my money to bail out the IMF

 

[Yossarian]

The spending you are talking about was the desired effect of the payments - to encourage spending. Spending keeps people in jobs, people in jobs means more tax revenue/less social security and more money to keep spending. You guys keep talking it down but most global observors praise the policy and it did keep unemployment down and the economy out of recession.

Yes, but the debt! It is so big with so many zeroes. Somehow we all have to pay that debt - our economy is stuffed! Don't you know the mantra…."deficit bad, surplus good, deficit bad, surplus good..."

:laughing: I sense (well I hope I do!) some sarcasm there! People get far too excited by surplus and deficit. The ratings agencies obviously feel we're a good risk.