While we quibble about public-private partnerships to build roads (and John Key even uses the public/private concept to support government getting into the private sector ie KiwiBank buying into the home loan industry) here's a government getting out of maintaining existing highways.
In the biggest highway privatization deal in U.S. history, state officials Wednesday signed an agreement Wednesday to turn the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road over to a foreign consortium that will operate it for a profit for the next 75 years.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Golly - madness
I supose the cops had nothing better to do. We all know the UK is a crime-free haven.So Herefordshire police had time to seize three golliwogs from an alarmed shop-owner who thought, when he was urgently called to his premises on a Sunday, a break-in had occurred.
(Thanks Reason)
Public health - a permanent state of crisis
"The long suffering public is growing weary of reading about revolutionary advances in the world of medicine when it knows that in times of trouble it is nothing short of an achievement to gain admission to a public hospital to be treated by conventional means....last month Wellington Hospital's waiting list was suspended for two weeks because of an unusually high demand for beds and shortage of trained staff."The column goes on to detail the numbers waiting for treatment at Wellington and Hutt hospitals and the new Health Minister's plan to cut the waiting times and lists. Can you guess which year this was?
(Clue; It's not 2006, cause Hodgson doesn't even have a plan.)
Friday, April 14, 2006
Tories axe speech-making
Stop thumping the tub, you're putting off women, Tories told
TUB-THUMPING speeches, the climax of selection contests in the Conservative Party for generations, have been axed by David Cameron to try to increase the number of women MPs.
New rules sent to 100 target seats this week say that set-piece speeches must be replaced by an interview in front of the full membership, to be conducted by a local dignitary, journalist or professional from outside the party.
The traditional barn-storming speech is thought to give men, with their deeper voices and often lengthy experience of public speaking, an advantage.
Speech-making is my achilles heel but I think it's requisite for an MP. Either you get better at it or compensate by being very good in other areas.... Then again politics is changing fast. Turn out for public meetings is very low. Getting your message to voters via the media is more important..... Then again, media cover meetings and won't be kind to a poor speech-maker. No. This seems like a mistake to me. What do you think?
TUB-THUMPING speeches, the climax of selection contests in the Conservative Party for generations, have been axed by David Cameron to try to increase the number of women MPs.
New rules sent to 100 target seats this week say that set-piece speeches must be replaced by an interview in front of the full membership, to be conducted by a local dignitary, journalist or professional from outside the party.
The traditional barn-storming speech is thought to give men, with their deeper voices and often lengthy experience of public speaking, an advantage.
Speech-making is my achilles heel but I think it's requisite for an MP. Either you get better at it or compensate by being very good in other areas.... Then again politics is changing fast. Turn out for public meetings is very low. Getting your message to voters via the media is more important..... Then again, media cover meetings and won't be kind to a poor speech-maker. No. This seems like a mistake to me. What do you think?
Tax Freedom Day last year
On the most apalling day weather-wise we set up a series of signs along the Esplanade, Petone, where the traffic crawls through at peak time. Here's the first;
...followed by example after example of government profligacy (spoilt for choice);
We made the Newstalkzb News and a Herald photographer took some shots. He said he couldn't resist coming down, after hearing my call to the radio, to see what sort of nuts would be protesting in a southerly storm. Committed ones.
Me and Gavin.
...followed by example after example of government profligacy (spoilt for choice);
We made the Newstalkzb News and a Herald photographer took some shots. He said he couldn't resist coming down, after hearing my call to the radio, to see what sort of nuts would be protesting in a southerly storm. Committed ones.
Me and Gavin.
Tax Freedom Day this year
The US Tax Freedom Day is April 26, out 3 days from last year and ten from 2004.
In the UK it is really late - June 3rd. They illustrate it with this chart and question;
How long do we have to spend working for the government, rather than ourselves? The answer is nearly half the year.
Last year, Staples Rodway declared May 24 to be Tax Freedom Day in NZ and May 17 in Australia. According to the NBR Tax Freedom Day -- that magic point in the year when New Zealanders begin working for themselves, rather than the tax man -- will come a week or two later this year.
Enjoy your holiday because when you go back to work on Tuesday (or tomorrow) you'll still be working for the state!
In the UK it is really late - June 3rd. They illustrate it with this chart and question;
How long do we have to spend working for the government, rather than ourselves? The answer is nearly half the year.
Last year, Staples Rodway declared May 24 to be Tax Freedom Day in NZ and May 17 in Australia. According to the NBR Tax Freedom Day -- that magic point in the year when New Zealanders begin working for themselves, rather than the tax man -- will come a week or two later this year.
Enjoy your holiday because when you go back to work on Tuesday (or tomorrow) you'll still be working for the state!
Invalid benefit snapshot
In 1990 27,830 were on an invalid's benefit. Today there are 74,500.
People on this benefit for psychological or psychiatric reasons make up 27 percent, the highest incapacity group.
In 1990 48 percent of invalid beneficiaries were under 40 - that has dropped to 30 percent, which reflects our aging population.
The percentage that are female has grown from 40 to 47.
75.3 percent have been on this or another benefit continuously for four or more years.
(There is some discussion about the reasons for these steep increases in the comments section of "Sickness benefit snapshot".)
People on this benefit for psychological or psychiatric reasons make up 27 percent, the highest incapacity group.
In 1990 48 percent of invalid beneficiaries were under 40 - that has dropped to 30 percent, which reflects our aging population.
The percentage that are female has grown from 40 to 47.
75.3 percent have been on this or another benefit continuously for four or more years.
(There is some discussion about the reasons for these steep increases in the comments section of "Sickness benefit snapshot".)
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Sickness benefit snapshot
In 1990 28,351 people were on a sickness benefit. Today there are 46,862.
51 percent have been on it for more than a year. In 1990 only 29 percent had been on it for more than a year. Today, more people are sick and they are sick for longer. Really.
51 percent have been on it for more than a year. In 1990 only 29 percent had been on it for more than a year. Today, more people are sick and they are sick for longer. Really.
From Richard Worth's newsletter
Political Quote of the Week
"You know, doing what is right is easy. The problem is knowing what is right" - Lyndon B. Johnson - 37th US President
Richard Worth
It doesn't inspire me - as quotes go. In fact, in politics I would have thought, knowing what is right is easy, the problem is doing it. That would be a better motto for National.
"You know, doing what is right is easy. The problem is knowing what is right" - Lyndon B. Johnson - 37th US President
Richard Worth
It doesn't inspire me - as quotes go. In fact, in politics I would have thought, knowing what is right is easy, the problem is doing it. That would be a better motto for National.
What is going on?
This chart (the result of a PQ from Simon Power) shows the number of CYF placements over the past five years. Family/whanau placements, foster care or youth justice residences. The top figure is also included in the bottom but assuming the numbers have been recorded in the same way each year the increases are quite staggering.
Food stamps
It isn't unusual to hear people talking about routinely providing beneficiaries with a food voucher instead of cash, to ensure that children actually get fed. I point out that food stamps can also be manipulated and used as black market currency. Illinois, US has tried to get around this by using electronic cards regularly credited with funds to be used only at authorised foodstores. But that is still being ripped off.
The latest scam works like this:
A welfare recipient goes to a store with a Link card credited by the government with a dollar amount for groceries -- say, $100. The store clerk swipes the card through a government computer and takes credit for $100 in phony food sales. Then, the clerk hands $70 to the welfare recipient, keeping the rest as profit.
Food-stamp benefits can be legally used only to buy "food or food products for human consumption, plus seeds and plants for use in home gardens to produce food," according to the USDA.
But over and over, federal authorities have watched food-stamp recipients, who find out about crooked stores through word of mouth, use illegal cash from their Link cards to feed their drug habits, not their families.
Baker said the fraud is especially insidious because the family members of Link cardholders often wind up having to stand in line at food pantries for handouts because the Link benefits have been squandered on drugs.
And, just to add insult to injury, it appears that some of the ripped off funds are going to terrorist organisations.
The latest scam works like this:
A welfare recipient goes to a store with a Link card credited by the government with a dollar amount for groceries -- say, $100. The store clerk swipes the card through a government computer and takes credit for $100 in phony food sales. Then, the clerk hands $70 to the welfare recipient, keeping the rest as profit.
Food-stamp benefits can be legally used only to buy "food or food products for human consumption, plus seeds and plants for use in home gardens to produce food," according to the USDA.
But over and over, federal authorities have watched food-stamp recipients, who find out about crooked stores through word of mouth, use illegal cash from their Link cards to feed their drug habits, not their families.
Baker said the fraud is especially insidious because the family members of Link cardholders often wind up having to stand in line at food pantries for handouts because the Link benefits have been squandered on drugs.
And, just to add insult to injury, it appears that some of the ripped off funds are going to terrorist organisations.
Union threatens, patients could pay more
One thing the public always seem to support is more money for nurses. That is, when it comes from the government. It will be interesting to see if they are so keen when they are asked for it directly on their next visit to the doctor. The Nurses Union are threatening that GP fees will rise if the government doesn't stump up with the extra $22 million they want. On one hand, I am always pleased to see user-pays in action. On the other, people have already paid for the nurses through taxation. People should of course be angry and ask again, why are we paying twice?
(This new negotiator isn't a very good comrade. Laila Harre would never have suggested such an idea. She would have known instinctively you don't get offside with the public by threatening to put your hand directly into their pocket. You do it stealthily, through the government. Laila was smart. And the public are, by and large, stupid.)
(This new negotiator isn't a very good comrade. Laila Harre would never have suggested such an idea. She would have known instinctively you don't get offside with the public by threatening to put your hand directly into their pocket. You do it stealthily, through the government. Laila was smart. And the public are, by and large, stupid.)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
The state by any other name ....
The British Conservatives have signed up to Labour's child poverty reduction target. BUT it is up to the supportive state to make child poverty disappear. So says Oliver Letwin, head of Conservative Party policy UK.
"It is a problem of demoralised neighbourhoods, of broken families, of drug and alcohol dependency, of poor schooling, of poor housing and decrepit estates, of unemployment and unemployability, of children growing up with too little hope and too much fear."
These problems, Mr Letwin said, could only be dealt with "bottom up, from the locality, from social enterprise meeting local needs" – local campaigners were the "heroes" and it was up to the state to set up the framework in which they could flourish.
"It is not the commanding state but the supportive state that we need: enabling society to support, inspire, mentor and lead young people out of deprivation," he wrote.
As long as the state keeps paying for all of the afore-mentioned, that is what we will get. How we describe the state won't make a blind bit of difference.
Then the Guardian asks, What would Margaret Thatcher think?
Certainly the Conservative switch is unlikely to have been entirely altruistic. Any party trying to remove its "nasty" label needs to do something dramatic. Inequality has become so familiar it is easy to forget just how rapid its growth was under the Conservatives in the 1980s. Three decades into the welfare state, both inequality and relative poverty in Britain were at their lowest points in 1979. Seven years later child poverty had tripled: from one in nine to one in three living below the poverty line. No other country except New Zealand suffered such a brutal reverse.
Child poverty is largely bound up with sole parenthood. Yet it is discussed in terms devoid of any association. The state paid for it - the state got it. When the state started doing it, the politicians of the day most certainly would have described themselves as proponents of a "supportive" state.
"It is a problem of demoralised neighbourhoods, of broken families, of drug and alcohol dependency, of poor schooling, of poor housing and decrepit estates, of unemployment and unemployability, of children growing up with too little hope and too much fear."
These problems, Mr Letwin said, could only be dealt with "bottom up, from the locality, from social enterprise meeting local needs" – local campaigners were the "heroes" and it was up to the state to set up the framework in which they could flourish.
"It is not the commanding state but the supportive state that we need: enabling society to support, inspire, mentor and lead young people out of deprivation," he wrote.
As long as the state keeps paying for all of the afore-mentioned, that is what we will get. How we describe the state won't make a blind bit of difference.
Then the Guardian asks, What would Margaret Thatcher think?
Certainly the Conservative switch is unlikely to have been entirely altruistic. Any party trying to remove its "nasty" label needs to do something dramatic. Inequality has become so familiar it is easy to forget just how rapid its growth was under the Conservatives in the 1980s. Three decades into the welfare state, both inequality and relative poverty in Britain were at their lowest points in 1979. Seven years later child poverty had tripled: from one in nine to one in three living below the poverty line. No other country except New Zealand suffered such a brutal reverse.
Child poverty is largely bound up with sole parenthood. Yet it is discussed in terms devoid of any association. The state paid for it - the state got it. When the state started doing it, the politicians of the day most certainly would have described themselves as proponents of a "supportive" state.
Michelle
This is my friend Michelle. She sat for my portrait entry in this year's National Portrait Competition, currently showing at Shed 11. I am delighted to learn the painting is one of twelve selected for a further exhibition "Double Exposure 3" to be held next January in Wellington.I believe it has been selected because of the subject. My aim was to capture Michelle's warmth. The painting itself was a rush job but it must have "connected".
Teenagers and welfare don't mix
Minister for Social Development, David Benson-Pope announces another scheme to spend taxpayer's money. "It's estimated that up to 45,000 15 to 19 year-olds do not enrol in tertiary study or get a job after leaving school. This is a waste of human potential," said Mr Benson-Pope.
That is as clear as mud. 45,000 over what period? Whatever the period, it is 45,000 too many. So the answer from the government is to pour more money into services to get these people into jobs. Wouldn't it be far simpler to take away the alternative to a job? Why oh why are we giving welfare to kids straight out of school?
And here's another thing. At May 2005 there were 37,631 single parents on a benefit who had started on welfare as a teenager. But not necessarily on the DPB. Here's the breakdown;
So sitting around on the dole or independent youth benefit is a pathway to pregnancy.
(I don't know how one managed to start their welfare career on NZ Super but nothing surprises me any more.)
That is as clear as mud. 45,000 over what period? Whatever the period, it is 45,000 too many. So the answer from the government is to pour more money into services to get these people into jobs. Wouldn't it be far simpler to take away the alternative to a job? Why oh why are we giving welfare to kids straight out of school?
And here's another thing. At May 2005 there were 37,631 single parents on a benefit who had started on welfare as a teenager. But not necessarily on the DPB. Here's the breakdown;
So sitting around on the dole or independent youth benefit is a pathway to pregnancy.
(I don't know how one managed to start their welfare career on NZ Super but nothing surprises me any more.)
Strange court case
Police have charged three men with the same drink-driving offence because they could not establish which one was driving the car. They surely cannot be convicted.
Defence counsel Sonia Vidal said she had huge concerns about the legality of the charge.
Police had charged all three because they did not know who had been driving.
They have no proof of who the driver was or the exact vehicle that was driven so police have entered the house and charged all three flatmates.
I have huge concerns about the legality of many steps in the process.
Queenstown men Cameron Milford Hoyle (23) and Phillip Parker (24) are also charged with dangerous driving and with driving with breath-alcohol levels of 856mcg and 763mcg respectively.
They are due to appear in the Queenstown court on April 24.
Judge Flatley said he could not understand how police would get over the burden-of-proof threshold.
Defence counsel Sonia Vidal said she had huge concerns about the legality of the charge.
Police had charged all three because they did not know who had been driving.
They have no proof of who the driver was or the exact vehicle that was driven so police have entered the house and charged all three flatmates.
I have huge concerns about the legality of many steps in the process.
Queenstown men Cameron Milford Hoyle (23) and Phillip Parker (24) are also charged with dangerous driving and with driving with breath-alcohol levels of 856mcg and 763mcg respectively.
They are due to appear in the Queenstown court on April 24.
Judge Flatley said he could not understand how police would get over the burden-of-proof threshold.
The same Frank Macskasy?
What a surprise to see the name Frank Macskasy on the front of the DomPost this morning. It usually appears on the letters page after another go at the failure of the 80's reforms. On more than one occasion Frank accused me of "living in a world of her own" or "determined to ignore the evidence". It was always his contention he dealt in the truth. Yesterday, in the Upper Hutt District Court, a Frank Macskasy admitted a fraud charge of stealing a dead baby's identity to obtain a passport. He was remanded for sentencing next month.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Hard to listen to
US Correspondent Steve Merczynski speaks to Newstalk ZB host Larry Williams about phone calls played in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. One is replayed from a young woman on the 83rd floor of the South Tower. I can't listen to it again. But we shouldn't forget the enormity of the horror, the great sadness of that day and the years following for families and friends of the dead.
On how many counts can Hone get it wrong?
From a speech Tobacco Companies – It’s Time To Go, released today;1/ And I have fired people for smoking in the wrong places.
It hasn’t made me the most popular son of the North, but as Errol Flynn once said “frankly I don’t give a damn”. Tobacco is killing my people, and I will use every weapon to defeat this monster.
2/ Liberals will say though that smoking is about Maori people making choices. But I say no. HELL NO!!!
3/ Addiction to cigarettes is also part of institutional racism,
because tobacco companies use their structures, their policies and their practices to oppress our people in the same way as government agencies have.
4/ And honestly folks, getting rid of tobacco is the only logical conclusion to the work you and many others have been doing for years. It makes more sense than just trying to manage the impact of tobacco.
5/ And I look forward to when Maori people can finally enjoy the same rights and privileges as everyone else, because we have given so much, and because we deserve better.
Student loans
Statistics from the Integrated Dataset on Student Loan Borrowers show that borrowers under 25 years, and those aged 60 years and over, had the highest median amount transferred for 2004 from StudyLink to Inland Revenue, Statistics New Zealand said today.
I have a question (when don't I have a question?) As a student loan only has to be repaid when a certain earning level is reached, $17,000, which is more than a single person's Super, do people over 60 expect to repay their loans?
I have a question (when don't I have a question?) As a student loan only has to be repaid when a certain earning level is reached, $17,000, which is more than a single person's Super, do people over 60 expect to repay their loans?
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