If National wins ...

[fungus pudding]

Also experience fp.

I wonder why the likes of Colmar Brunton spend so much collecting data when they could just hire an experienced guesser then!

[fungus pudding]

Here's the gen on the state of manufacturing FP, from a coalition of the out-of power parties. They'll force an enquiry of some sort.

No doubt - they're enquiry mad.
Anyway, I like your drum, but unfortunately it's got a way to go before it's flat.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

The money National has just spent on the education service pay computer & wasted because it does not work. Would have paid for the repairs to the Gisborne Railway Line. At $36 000 000.00 Plus how many years would that have paid for to be done manually. What was wrong with the previous computer? was it to good. Are national MPs cable of doing anything correctly? Let us advance the next election to the 3rd of November. And so get rid of this bunch of incompetent politicians. No sitting members may stand.

[slimwin]

Oh yay, another enquiry or submission! That'll produce a net bonus to the economy.

[slimwin]

From Bryce Edwards.

The Greens - and MP Holly Walker in particular - are discovering that what they thought would be a popular measure of increasing transparency on the 'fat cats' is turning into a major embarrassment for them. This comes at a time when the party is more popular than ever. Of course one of the unwelcome side-effects of political success and profile is greater scrutiny, and so it is beginning to bite for the Greens. Similarly, their advocacy of quantitative easing certainly generated a lot of comment but most of it wouldn't have helped their drive to be taken seriously as economic managers. Other recent important or interesting political items include:
* The Green Party is currently fundraising to 'reduce child poverty' in New Zealand. But will the financial donations they're seeking actually go to children in poverty? Of course not - it's a political fundraiser for the party itself

[elZorro]

Slimwin, wouldn't a Centrist such as yourself be keen to see all points of view before sitting squarely in the middle? Since our Labour and National parties are often only just left and right of centre, and even poach each other's areas at times, it's hard to stay with one party.

The Greens do have other policies I'd expect, which would stand up anywhere. I think insulating all of NZ's draughty houses while employing many, was their good idea, they probably plugged away at that for years until Labour helped make it happen. As a comparison with the Green party fundraising, the Salvation Army has some very good buildings, and they are employers too. It's a thriving business.

[slimwin]

I've never thought of it as poaching ideas, I would call it taking up a good idea and I wish there was a hell of a lot more of it in NZ governance.

I do like to look at all views and make up my mind on voting. I think people who stick to the same party line blindly because they always have or their parents did, are idiots. Sought of like people who stick with the same bank cause they " always been with them" and are getting a bad deal.

I like the greens around as part of an opposition to hold check with the ruling party but my industry,aviation, would be killed by them. They still have way too much of an activist streak running through them to be credible managers for all of NZ.

I could be wrong but I though the Nats took up the insulation program with the greens,or did they just continue it?

As for the sallies,they were closing my local school without parents knowledge and teahcing the kids about the bible for half hour a week.Called it values education. That's got stopped now thankfully. I know they do a lot in the community but i'm dead against charity with conditions. 4 years of working in the poo holes of africa taught me that.First charity flights in were bibles not food.

[elZorro]

I was wrong about Labour helping with this scheme. It was indeed National that helped set it up in 2009. Must have been an economy boost idea. Labour should have been onto this earlier, but for some strange reason were frosty towards the Greens. Anyone know the story here?

Only a few of the available rental properties have insulated under the scheme (stingy landlords?). Talk in August about sorting that out.

[slimwin]

Yeah a bit sad that. We had a student rental in Dunedin and I asked the property manager to insulate it and he managed to talk me out of it. Not my finest moment I guess. His main argument was that as soon as the subsidy came out, the insulators hiked the price. I looked into it and it seemed true. For our house, it was cheaper to pay an un-acredtited(sp?) builder to do it than the companies that are in the scheme.

That needs to be a target or fair go episode if it hasn't been already.

[fungus pudding]

Yeah a bit sad that. We had a student rental in Dunedin and I asked the property manager to insulate it and he managed to talk me out of it. Not my finest moment I guess. His main argument was that as soon as the subsidy came out, the insulators hiked the price. I looked into it and it seemed true. For our house, it was cheaper to pay an un-acredtited(sp?) builder to do it than the companies that are in the scheme.

That needs to be a target or fair go episode if it hasn't been already.

That is true and highly predictable. Any such scheme will cause a price hike. Hard to believe the govt. could have been so naive. There are better ways to implement such programs without favouring certain suppliers. That removes competition.