David Cormack
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The hole returns
🕑 Added 2020-09-20 01:18:02 +0000 UTCAlready this year we've seen Grant Robertson reveal his enormous package, several times in fact. Today we got a hole.
We all remember Stephen Joyce's hole of the 2017 election. It was an alleged gap in Labour's budget of $11.7 billion (11.7 being a cursed number as it's the number of millions being given to the Green School).
This time round, Grant Robertson has accused National of having a $4 billion hole in their alternative budget.
Something about using the wrong numbers from treasury to work out how much National would save from stopping payments into the super fund.
How embarrassment, as the old Girlfriend magazines would say.
At the end of it all, it's not that big a deal to me. I suppose it speaks to carelessness on National's behalf, and I'm sure lefties will stretch it out to say it shows that National can't be trusted with the recovery budget if they can't even do simple sums, but shit we all make mistakes right?
So yeah, to me it's a screw, but it's not calamitous. It has come at a bad time. National is about to do its (virtual) campaign launch, and the first debates are this week, so it will no doubt be used as a cudgel to beat Judith with.
So, fuck ups get fixed. I just want a government that bends left. Is that too much to ask?
Of more substantive importance is we finally have a difference between National and Labour.
National swung for the (right side) fences by saying there'll be tax cuts for 16 months. Funnily enough they benefit the wealthy. If I earn $30k a year, I'll get $560 over that 16 months. If I earn $90k, I'll get $4k over that 16 months. So, if I earn three times what you earn, I'll get 7 times back what you do. Because obviously I'm seven times better as a human being.
The next day Labour said it would double sick leave entitlements to 10 days and reaffirmed its commitment to raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour.
National did not like this.
In fact, here's National's workplace relations spokesperson, and intellectual heavy hitter, Dan Bidois arguing against more sick leave for workers, right when there's a pandemic on.
National argues that we should have more money in our pockets, hence the tax cuts, because it will act as an economic stimulus. And they're right. Tax cuts *do* act as a stimulus. But only to a point. Because the higher up the salary chain you go, the more people squirrel their tax cuts away, or pay down their mortgages, or do things that don't stimulate the economy.
The people who stimulate the economy the most with spare cash are those who don't earn a lot. Therefore, it makes sense to raise the minimum wage as an act of stimulation.
It would make more sense to increase benefits, or I dunno, create a guaranteed minimum income, but neither of our two biggest parties seem to have any appetite for that.
Also, treasury has forecast that the shit times are going to last a long time, so it's weird that National will in effect be implementing a tax increase on *everyone* in 16 months’ time.
All of this is immaterial of course because you will all be sensible people and party vote Green, the ones who are actually offering left wing policies.
Comments
David Cormack
I'm genuinely thrilled that's your takeaway. That was my favourite line.
Bibijirante Sonteneguro Homesutony Kalmandole Poposu
Fuck I haven't thought about Girlfriend magazine in forever
