Kevin Rudd

[Mofra]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

I totally believe in the policy positions of government rather than the individual. Unfortunately the way the media is these days it is more about the personality of the leader than what they are actually espousing.

Totally agree, although the information is there for those who dig.

Notice how PM Rudd has sidelined Garrett, Wong, Combet, Gillard etc etc to NOT speak to the media.

Gillard is the only thing remotely successful in the labour party (strangely, she was the one I was most suspicious of before the last election) and is given a fair reign to speak to the media.

The rest of them do get their chance to front the media - Rudd never announces backflips and policy adjustments himself, they are left to the junior ministers.

 

[sails]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

I would have to see some serious change in his management ability. I wouldn't vote on a 20 year future promise. I would have to see action immediately.

Snake, what about the pattern of exorbitant and apparently compulsive spending with OPM (taxpayer's money) since he has been in government? Maybe that doesn't worry you, but it certainly does worry me.

Three more years is a long time to do an awful lot of damage to our country financially if he can't help himself with these spending sprees. Who then is going to bail us out if we go bankrupt?

 

[noco]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

Where are all the freaks that voted for this trainsmash of a government? "It wasn't me that voted for him" I hear them bleat.

WILL THE PERSON WHO VOTED FOR THIS GOVERNMENT PLEASE STAND UP !

They've all gone into hiding!!!!!!!

 

[Julia]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

I mean, by all means, go out there an call yourself a Keynesian who believes in 'big government' and nationalising the private sector. Be honest about it. Just do not go and try and spin all this spending and big taxes as being conservative!!

This is the bit that really infuriates me, too. His refrain of "we are taking the tough decisionsto make Australia a better place and to ensure the security of Australian working families, carers and pensioners", uttered in that sanctimonious, pious tone, when what he's doing is selling our future down the gurgler is beyond belief.
Note how his minders must have told him not to just refer to working families.
He now remembers that people who are not part of his beloved 'working families' also vote.

If the WSJ have reported the above correctly, it is shocking. That's 49 billion down the drain. How can he possibly think he is economically conservative... Maybe he actually believes his own spin...

Sails, I doubt the WSJ would have got this wrong.
And yes, I think he may genuinely believe in what he's doing.
Hitler did, too.

Notice how PM Rudd has sidelined Garrett, Wong, Combet, Gillard etc etc to NOT speak to the media.

I'm not sure that's quite fair, TS. I've seen both Wong and Gillard in extensive interviews on ABC TV in the last week. In both cases they were being asked to account for the Dear Leader's actions, putting both of them in a very unpleasant position.

Ms Gillard is an accomplished performer. I've never seen her rattled, and recently she seems to have dropped some of the repetitive party line and has actually addressed some of the questions asked.
But heavens, ain't it bad when we feel grateful that a politician should actually answer a question in anything like a genuine fashion!!

 

[sptrawler]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

Well I can see why we got rid of the Liberals. They said if we have a surplus that means we are taxing you too much. So therefore we will give you tax cuts and not take as much.
Kev says I have a dream I want to give a laptop to all children and a plasma t.v to all homes that can't afford one and a multistory canteen with a lift to all primary schools and to anybody who isn't worried about efficiency and has spent there money on something else I want to put insulation in your roof and whether you need it or not I want to put high speed broad band to your house. BUT KEV THATS MY MONEY YOU ARE SPENDING WHY NOT ASK ME FIRST IF I WANT IT. OR ELSE PAY FOR IT OUT OF YOUR OWN POCKET YOU D!!!K

 

[bunyip]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

Standing up!!!!!!!

I helped get rid of Howard. Maybe I'll help get the the libs back but not with "big ears and bike riding budgies". I'll vote for a Turnbull led government.

Did I get called a freak? I just checked in the mirror and I think I looked like a normal Aussie. A little weatherbeaten but that is what happens when you spend many many years attending the school of hard knocks.

So you voted out a government that returned Australia to a budget surplus in just one term after Hawke & Keating (in typical Labor fashion) ran up a huge deficit.
You voted out a government that had given us many years of responsible economic management and solid growth and prosperity.

And as their replacement you voted in a rabble consisting mostly of union stooges and a rock star, a mob with limited if any economic credentials or managerial experience, a bunch of irresponsible spendaholics who have thrown money around with reckless abandon and racked up a huge debt in the process, a bunch of fools who have virtually laid out the welcome mat to illegal immigrants, a pack of socialist morons who now want to tax the heart out of the very industries that have given Australia much of its prosperity.

Well done, Nioka - you must feel very pleased with yourself as you watch Rudd stuffing up our country!

 

[It's Snake Pliskin]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

Snake, what about the pattern of exorbitant and apparently compulsive spending with OPM (taxpayer's money) since he has been in government? Maybe that doesn't worry you, but it certainly does worry me.

Three more years is a long time to do an awful lot of damage to our country financially if he can't help himself with these spending sprees. Who then is going to bail us out if we go bankrupt?

Hi Sails,

Perhaps I should have mentioned spending. I agree with your comments. In wanting a smaller government, lower taxes, and an environment which isn't socialism and good for entrepreneurial pursuits, naturally I would want reduced spending of the public's money.

After thinking about it more I feel a change of government is paramount. I guess I was policy dreaming with hope. The reality is much different as we can all see.

 

[GumbyLearner]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

No.

He is famous.

 

[So_Cynical]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

WILL THE PERSON WHO VOTED FOR THIS GOVERNMENT PLEASE STAND UP !

I actually live in Howard's old electorate and was happy to play my part in Australia's political history and vote him out.

On the rare occasion that i simply cant in all honesty vote Labor i just vote informal due to our stupid 2 party preferred system...except in the senate of course where your vote actually counts.

 

[GumbyLearner]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

I actually live in Howard's old electorate and was happy to play my part in Australia's political history and vote him out.

On the rare occasion that i simply cant in all honesty vote Labor i just vote informal due to our stupid 2 party preferred system.

That's awesome So_Cynical. The second sitting PM to lose his own electorate since the Great Depression Earle-Page Government. What happens after that???

Oh o?

What happened to Jack Scullin?

Oh o?

 

[todster]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

So you voted out a government that returned Australia to a budget surplus in just one term after Hawke & Keating (in typical Labor fashion) ran up a huge deficit.
You voted out a government that had given us many years of responsible economic management and solid growth and prosperity.

And as their replacement you voted in a rabble consisting mostly of union stooges and a rock star, a mob with limited if any economic credentials or managerial experience, a bunch of irresponsible spendaholics who have thrown money around with reckless abandon and racked up a huge debt in the process, a bunch of fools who have virtually laid out the welcome mat to illegal immigrants, a pack of socialist morons who now want to tax the heart out of the very industries that have given Australia much of its prosperity.

Well done, Nioka - you must feel very pleased with yourself as you watch Rudd stuffing up our country!

Gee must have been a huge deficit if they returned it to surplus in one term what did they sell that term
Its real easy to stay in surplus when you dont do anything at all
How is this government actually physically affecting you?
You must be busily trying to find a way to blame this government for the current plunge in the market good luck
You must be excited about the budget

 

[trainspotter]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

I'm still offended. I did an IQ test and got a result of 146. That was a challenge to the cerebellum. That makes me "cerebrally challenged" so I am offended that you relate CC to freaks.

LMAO@nioka .... an IQ of 146 puts you in the same league as Stephen Hawking then? What's the air like up there? Ergo you are a freak! Albeit a very smart one. Most genuis's I know actually have never tried to do an IQ test let alone tell everyone their grade.

todster ... are you trolling again? try this instead www.google.com.au

How is this government physically affecting me? Try some research.

 

[todster]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

LMAO@nioka .... an IQ of 146 puts you in the same league as Stephen Hawking then? What's the air like up there? Ergo you are a freak! Albeit a very smart one. Most genuis's I know actually have never tried to do an IQ test let alone tell everyone their grade.

todster ... are you trolling again? try this instead www.google.com.au

How is this government physically affecting me? Try some research.

not with live bait
Front page West Australian Robust economy to force up rates
Maybe you could try Crikey.com instead of google
I tend to worry about things that affect me and try not to take politics terribly seriously, something about getting the government you deserve

 

[Julia]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

I tend to worry about things that affect me and try not to take politics terribly seriously, something about getting the government you deserve

You are, of course, entitled to just focus on yourself. I - and many people I know - are quite comfortable and unaffected in any personal sense by the Rudd government's woeful mismanagement.

But we still are appalled at such profligate waste of taxpayer money, plus further borrowed funds, the repayment of which will cost us dearly.
We won't be hearing about just how until after they're re-elected, of course, other than the mining tax, but hell, just wait until they know they're safe for another three years. Then the pain will start.

And the phrase 'you get the government you deserve' is irritatingly illogical.
Those of us who voted Liberal in no way deserve to have to put up with the incompetent arrogance of this lot. It's just another cliche which completely lacks any logical meaning.

 

[Purple XS2]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

They've all gone into hiding!!!!!!!

Hmmm, maybe. Consider me out of the closet, then.

Is Rudd a conservative? Yes. I haven't heard much in the way of strategic defence of the resource super-tax, but it makes perfect (conservative) sense to me to 'conserve' or rather, to maintain as long as possible, our resources which we all own, as citizens not just the mining co. shareholders.

How is it good policy to mine, drill and sell every locatable resource now, this year, this decade? Once upon a time the ocean spawning grounds of the orange ruffy were located, and it took quota imposition to restrain trawlermen from fishing those spawning stocks to near extinction. A communist policy perhaps? And mineral resources don't even breed. They exist. Once. They're mined. Once.

A conservative would slow things down a bit. Our grandchildren may appreciate our restraint; there may be some left in the ground for them to enjoy too.

Resources in the ground aren't going anywhere. The talk of mining wealth leaving the country as a result of the super-tax is absurd a comment as I've ever heard. It may however not reach your or my back account in the volume expected. A bit less. Oh, the horror ...

But strategy is a dirty word. The future is a dirty word. Grandchildren, great-grandchildren, are dirty words.

I voted A.L.P. (in the lower house). Don't like P.M. Rudd, but much prefer to the previous, and to the opposition de jour.

In the senate I voted Green.

The horror, the horror ....

 

[Trade wind]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

Depends how you define economic conservative. Neo-conservatives strive for a no tax, no government, no regulation ideal, and have a radical market-driven agenda. Traditional conservatives, like most Liberals, are best defined as do nothing. Economically, they see surplus as the holy grail of government, which is why infrastructure ran down for 11 years, and they preferred to squander boom revenue on vote buying at election time.

It's nonsense that a mining tax will bankrupt the country and lose hundreds of thousands of jobs, and if taxes on our national resources are used to build roads, ports, hospitals etc that benefit all Australians, then go for it. But alas, I fear Rudd is much like Howard, a do-nothing economic conservative with an eye on opinion polls rather than good policy. Of all Henry's proposals, he took the soft options, the vote winners acceptable to the mortgage belt.

If the mining lobby and "big new tax" Abbott can turn public opinion, Rudd will backflip. Doing nothing wins elections in this country.

 

[trainspotter]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

Hmmm, maybe. Consider me out of the closet, then.

Is Rudd a conservative? Yes. I haven't heard much in the way of strategic defence of the resource super-tax, but it makes perfect (conservative) sense to me to 'conserve' or rather, to maintain as long as possible, our resources which we all own, as citizens not just the mining co. shareholders.

How is it good policy to mine, drill and sell every locatable resource now, this year, this decade? Once upon a time the ocean spawning grounds of the orange ruffy were located, and it took quota imposition to restrain trawlermen from fishing those spawning stocks to near extinction. A communist policy perhaps? And mineral resources don't even breed. They exist. Once. They're mined. Once.

A conservative would slow things down a bit. Our grandchildren may appreciate our restraint; there may be some left in the ground for them to enjoy too.

Resources in the ground aren't going anywhere. The talk of mining wealth leaving the country as a result of the super-tax is absurd a comment as I've ever heard. It may however not reach your or my back account in the volume expected. A bit less. Oh, the horror ...

But strategy is a dirty word. The future is a dirty word. Grandchildren, great-grandchildren, are dirty words.

I voted A.L.P. (in the lower house). Don't like P.M. Rudd, but much prefer to the previous, and to the opposition de jour.

In the senate I voted Green.

The horror, the horror ....

Closet dwelling duly noted.

How is taxing the mining companies a "conservative" measure on saving a finite resource? A conservative government would ban uranium mining seeing how we only have ONE nuclear reactor in Australia to play with and it is only expermimental and not a fully functional model. This is not a conservative governement by any means. It is a taxing government that has run up a debt that we will have to pay for in the long run. By over taxing multi national companies has never worked. It means they will look at alternate profit making ventures outside of Australia. This will affect us all by these companies not employing as many people who contribute huge sums in tax dollars to the ATO. They also spend their income on cars, boats, property etc ... you get my drift.

To compare mining to orange ruffy is a bit oblique ? Are you saying that by introducing a quota to stop plundering a finite resource is the answer?

My issue with this governement is the SHEER WASTE OF MONEY we have been watching disappear down the gurgler. BER, ETS, PINK BATTS, LAPTOP FOR EVERY STUDENT, STIMULUS $900 X 3 yadda yadda yadda. Then, when they are caught out doing the wrong thing they simply deny it was their fault. "Nope, we don't have to answer to the inquiry because it is a Liberal stunt" and "We did get all those expert reports 10 months ago but we did not read them so it is not our fault that those people died and those houses burned down" and so on and so forth.

 

[wayneL]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

Is Rudd a conservative? Yes.

No.

Any politician espousing the perverted Keynesianism typical currently in western economies must be social democrats by definition, whether under the banner of Labor or Liberal.

Ergo, not conservative.

 

[medicowallet]

Re: Is Kevin Rudd an 'economic conservative'?

I'm still offended. I did an IQ test and got a result of 146. That was a challenge to the cerebellum.

I forgive you. I guess that even having an IQ of 146, you may not know that the cerebellum is not involved in complex thought processes and calculation.

 

[trainspotter]

Re: Does Rudd inspire confidence?

The economic stamp of this governement will be borne when we visualise their blueprint on Tuesday. It will be one of the best Clayton budgets we have had and not even close to the Keating era of "Bringing home the bacon" budget that delivered the biggest ever surplus for Australia. This will be one that resembles Swiss cheese with that many holes in it you can drive a Mack truck through it. I am waiting in anticipation to see some hard line economic reform and not some wishy washy "tax the rich to give to the poor" Robin Hood kind of document. No wait ........ they already rolled this one out and blamed Ken Henry for the 40% "super profits tax" ........ nice on Kev.