Can You Buy An Election?
October 17th 2007 08:54
Greetings readers,
It's been a funny old start to the election campaign already, what with over 30 billion dollars being 'found' in the budget to offer income tax relief for the nation. Now it has to be made crystal clear, no one dislikes a tax cut. You're not going to find someone in full ownership of their wits to talk them down. Generally speaking it's a good thing, but why couldn't Peter Costello have pulled this particular rabbit out of his hat at the last budget? It seems like a very cynical and flashy way to try and woo voters with big numbers and golden promises. It's a good thing that Labor haven't been drawn into a big swinging appendage contest. We wait on that reply eagerly.
You see what's happening here? The constant chorus throughout 2007, ever since Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard stepped up to sail the good ship SS Labor, has been the Coalition sinking in the polls, Howard hates Costello and vice versa and a series of strange and desperate moves on the part of John Howard to wrest control of things like select hospitals and Aboriginal communities. Everything it seems is either up for sale, worth throwing money at, or both. Not even a good budget with some solid tax relief seemed to catch the imagination of the voting public. We've been over Howard et al until this bombshell.
Are you going to buy it? Or maybe closer to the mark, are you going to be bought? Labor's measured response to this opening salvo from Peter Costello, has been to err on the side of caution. Howard has been quick to point out too that "it was Peter's idea" - they've even gotten a bit chummier, (Howard now using his partner's first name instead of the terser Mr. Costello during the leadership fracas), which kind of makes you wonder why everyone didn't see the $34 billion in the first place. Make no mistake, this was conceived to be brutal and now the beast has two faces.
It's something that clearly no voter is going to forget, so Labor have a real task on their hands to get over the size of the problem. In today's Australian Rudd at least sounds like he knows what he's doing: "…I believe we have got to get the balance right ... Remember we have been presented with an entirely different set of budget numbers. In May they put out a set of budget numbers on the future surplus. It is now billions and billions of dollars bigger than that.’’ It doesn't quite sound fair does it? While Rudd is keen to put it into some sort of real context, it's not like you can down play the size of the offer.
Rudd went on to say, "When Mr Howard talks about these tax cuts it is very important to put it in the context of family budget,’’ he told Brisbane radio. "…What are all the other things that are impacting on a families budget? One is a mortgage or your rental accommodation, both of which have gone through the roof, soaring grocery prices ... you have got soaring petrol prices, you have 12 per cent increase in childcare costs and, to cap it all off, you have Mr Howard’s Work Choices legislation which enables penalty rates and over time to be stripped away from working families." Those tax cuts may well be swallowed up by all of the above, which leaves way for the other bogeyman of Coalition to step forward: The Unions. See you on the flip-flop for that one.
Cheers
Michael.
It's been a funny old start to the election campaign already, what with over 30 billion dollars being 'found' in the budget to offer income tax relief for the nation. Now it has to be made crystal clear, no one dislikes a tax cut. You're not going to find someone in full ownership of their wits to talk them down. Generally speaking it's a good thing, but why couldn't Peter Costello have pulled this particular rabbit out of his hat at the last budget? It seems like a very cynical and flashy way to try and woo voters with big numbers and golden promises. It's a good thing that Labor haven't been drawn into a big swinging appendage contest. We wait on that reply eagerly.
You see what's happening here? The constant chorus throughout 2007, ever since Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard stepped up to sail the good ship SS Labor, has been the Coalition sinking in the polls, Howard hates Costello and vice versa and a series of strange and desperate moves on the part of John Howard to wrest control of things like select hospitals and Aboriginal communities. Everything it seems is either up for sale, worth throwing money at, or both. Not even a good budget with some solid tax relief seemed to catch the imagination of the voting public. We've been over Howard et al until this bombshell.
Are you going to buy it? Or maybe closer to the mark, are you going to be bought? Labor's measured response to this opening salvo from Peter Costello, has been to err on the side of caution. Howard has been quick to point out too that "it was Peter's idea" - they've even gotten a bit chummier, (Howard now using his partner's first name instead of the terser Mr. Costello during the leadership fracas), which kind of makes you wonder why everyone didn't see the $34 billion in the first place. Make no mistake, this was conceived to be brutal and now the beast has two faces.
It's something that clearly no voter is going to forget, so Labor have a real task on their hands to get over the size of the problem. In today's Australian Rudd at least sounds like he knows what he's doing: "…I believe we have got to get the balance right ... Remember we have been presented with an entirely different set of budget numbers. In May they put out a set of budget numbers on the future surplus. It is now billions and billions of dollars bigger than that.’’ It doesn't quite sound fair does it? While Rudd is keen to put it into some sort of real context, it's not like you can down play the size of the offer.
Rudd went on to say, "When Mr Howard talks about these tax cuts it is very important to put it in the context of family budget,’’ he told Brisbane radio. "…What are all the other things that are impacting on a families budget? One is a mortgage or your rental accommodation, both of which have gone through the roof, soaring grocery prices ... you have got soaring petrol prices, you have 12 per cent increase in childcare costs and, to cap it all off, you have Mr Howard’s Work Choices legislation which enables penalty rates and over time to be stripped away from working families." Those tax cuts may well be swallowed up by all of the above, which leaves way for the other bogeyman of Coalition to step forward: The Unions. See you on the flip-flop for that one.
Cheers
Michael.
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