Politics

[TasChris]

You implied that being gainfully employed in a government job was not on the same level as being a wealth creator and was on par with being a welfare recipient. Might not have been your intention but the wording wasn't great.

If the silent majority is such a majority, why the **** don't they speak up? Such a meaningless term.

I have reread my post and I implied nothing of the sort...interestingly both my wife and I are in the 67% state paid group


They do.
The mainland may not be getting coverage of the pro mining and forestry rallies in Smithton, Burnie, Launceston and Hobart over the last 3 years.
The news may not have shown the counter protest in Tassie's NW protesting the occupation of a mill by fringe environmentalists

The majority did speak up at the last Tas state election when 88% of the state did not vote green.

The majority of the country did speak up when a similar percentage of the nation did not vote green.

But Lab/Green we got at both state and federal level

We will see a backlash by the majority and I can hardly wait

 

[manticle]

@labels - It is a safety net. A safety net that comes with a big pile of shame and guilt. Might as well tease a guy in a wheelchair. Are you aware of how little welfare recipients actually receive to live on?
Very few would make a deliberate choice to see that as an ongoing life option.

How being employed by government is considered similar to being a welfare recipient, I am yet to understand but it is the second time I've read it tonight. Public school teachers, public hospital nurses, ambos, the military, police, fire........?????

 

[manticle]

@chris - if they speak up they are no longer silent are they? I'm being facetious but the term itself is utter rubbish.

 

[TasChris]

How being employed by government is considered similar to being a welfare recipient, I am yet to understand but it is the second time I've read it tonight.

Where did you read the above...not on this thread any where I can see

Cheers
Chris

 

[labels]

Governments don't make money, they don't generate an income, they collect tax. If they spend more than they collect, they've got to borrow. Simple maths really.

They borrow by issuing government bonds. Some are bought here, most are bought by overseas investors - Chinese government and alike. The interest rates float. Our current government is $300Bn overdrawn - quite a lot of money. Two things can go wrong here. Firstly, the government will compare our borrowings as a percentage of GDP with the worlds worst performers and say we're doing okay. Secondly, when inflation starts to move upwards again - and it will - the repayments go through the roof and hold the country back.

All these moves are wrong and are short term vision. In any case Labor has no idea about just about anything

 

[manticle]

@tas chris- I'm on a phone at the moment so quoting is difficult but read your first post and label's post and see how the two have been separated from people working in private enterprise and by association categorised together. I'm happy to accept this was not your or labels' intention but you have both implied a connection between the two (or at best worded your posts badly enough to conflate the two eadilyenough).

 

[bradsbrew]

In any case Labor has no idea about just about anything

And there lays the problem. The current opposition are just as bad.

 

[manticle]

@labels - ignoring the fairly shortsighted statement that governments don't generate an income, can you seriously suggest that income generation is the only worthwhile way of contributing to society? Are non profit generating occupations less meaningful than subsidised agricultural or motor / manufacturing industries

 

[TasChris]

@tas chris- I'm on a phone at the moment so quoting is difficult but read your first post and label's post and see how the two have been separated from people working in private enterprise and by association categorised together. I'm happy to accept this was not your or labels' intention but you have both implied a connection between the two (or at best worded your posts badly enough to conflate the two eadilyenough).

Manticle Im on the piss, this also makes quoting and reading difficult!!

Cheers
Chris

 

[manticle]

This is a politic I understand

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Oh dear go.....Christophere Pyne is on Lateline.....he carries on like a spoilt school boy who cant get his own way...

 

[labels]

Manicle, it is not a short sighted statement. If private enterprise collapses, the government collapses, the country collapses, you only have to look at the worst performers in Europe who are now on the verge of collapse. All are heavily socialist societies with the government spending more than they were collecting and mainly spending on welfare. Governments don't make money. How on earth can a governement make money which it is paying back to itself - it's ludicrous, You cannot have an internal system going around and around with a system within a system - can't you see that???
We need money from private enterprise, we need foreign currency in the form of exports, we need more people to at least have a little bit of understanding of macro-economics - not much, just a little bit.

 

[manticle]

And if government collapses???

Both need each other unless you believe in some kind of anarcho- capitalism.
You're comparing AU economy to European economics and blaming socialism. French government is right, not left during current gfc as an example.
However my expertise is not in economics and my argument is not based around economics - my argument is that we focus too much on economics and forget social reality. The two are connected, not exclusive.

 

[TasChris]

First thread in 12 months to stay on topic over three pages...until now

 

[manticle]

Which euro/eu govts during gfc were considerrd left and which right for illustrative purposes?

 

[philmud]

Governments don't make money. How on earth can a governement make money which it is paying back to itself - it's ludicrous, You cannot have an internal system going around and around with a system within a system - can't you see that???

This is a really strange point. The aim of governments is not to make money, but they certainly have a vested interest in facilitating the making if money by private enterprise and a huge proportion of spending policy is structured accordingly. I'm not just talking about industry bailouts and the like, child care subsidies boost workforce participation and therefore contribute directly towards wealth creation.

Also, Government employment creates wealth, many communities benefit from Government as a major employer. These people spend that money and in turn help keep small (and large) business viable.

 

[Bizier]

The Norwegian made money, lots. And it would seem that they distributed the dividends of their resource boom like a pack of dirty pinkos.

 

[punkin]

See who the largest employer is in any small town in NSW. Local Government. Go out and smell the roses. People paid by Govt pay as much tax as people paid by private employers.

 

[goomboogo]

Better off with leaders that want to think ahead rather than the naysaying dickheads like abbot that want to drag everything backwards. I haven't heard a single thing from that man that looks at where this country is going

I assume his choice of destination is 1953.

 

[pk.sax]

If you don't see Label's point, you are being naive. Take it as an analogy, if you run a candy shop, nice clean windows, great display cases, big lettering labels, colourful candy on the displays. Great way to make people come in and get some. However, there is now a recession. People aren't paying for your overheads. Isn't it good sense to bail on the shop and take the good candy, put it on a roadside cart and sell by the street corner?
Adjustment to reality. Not ditching social responsibility (like the idiot at libs wants to) but making it realistic. A recession needs to see decreases in prices and drops in interest rates, intervention in the right places to make repayments for the industry that is needed realistic (lots of them borrow in a boom and are stuck wih debts that aren't worth that much anymore). Do I see the lib/nationals wield a stick to the banks?! Nooooooo. Now there is a teet sucker that's been pouring the common man's wealth overseas and collecting the returns into fewer hands.