INTEREST RATES AND THE HIGH KIWI DOLLAR

It is absolutely incredible what a free-ride the media give to the National Party over its dangerous anti-New Zealand policies, such as its ongoing calls for big income tax cuts which would mainly benefit those already on high incomes while starving funds for the education, health and other crucial services that lower-income families desperately need more of.

John Key’s non- solutions are the same old ones: Tax cuts, labour deregulation, and privatisation of state assets.

At the moment, the U.S. dollar is in free-fall and international oil price inflation is going through the roof - all because of the failed War Policies of Bush and Blair.

The Kiwi dollar, like the Aussie dollar and the euro, are at historic highs. The Kiwi dollar, like the Aussie dollar, is also being boosted by high international commodity prices for oil, dairy and minerals, also a reflection of the growing strength of China, India, Asia and South America in the world as the U.S. economy becomes relatively less strongerr in the world than it was before Mr. Bush came to power and did it so much damage.

It is difficult to counteract these international trends. But one thing is for certain - the Labour-Progressive government was 100% correct to run big surpluses over the past eight years and to not listen to the nonsense written in the New Zealand Herald editorials and on the National and ACT party websites calling for huge income tax cuts last election. If National had won, and implemented its large income tax cuts that would be hitting the economy at about now, then our interest rates would be at least one percentage point higher than they currently are and the Kiwi dollar would have even more momentum behind it then its already has thanks to the sinking U.S. dollar.

BUT THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY DOES SAY…

It is time to amend the Reserve Bank Act and ensure that interest rates are not hiked so that the dollar becomes the prey of speculators and the economy is choked to death. It is time also to look at the introduction of a capital gains tax on speculative properties so that money does not keep flowing into this non-productive area with the only outcome being enormous rises in property prices contributing to the cycle of higher interest rates and the majority of young people being shut out of owning their own homes. It as time also to look at the Financial Transaction Tax (The Tobin Tax) as an alternative to higher and higher GST. The FTT is also a tax that can take the heat out of the economy without creating a downward spiral.

The Finance and Expenditure Select Committee will receive a submission from the Progressive Party on these and other progressive policies to keep building New Zealand region by region.

NATIONAL WILL TACKLE TELECOM, YEAH RIGHT!

The National Leader gave a particularly hollow speechon telecommunications at his party's recent southern conference.

In a way it is funny. In another way, it is appalling how the media reported it seriously and without criticism.

One of the big themes for National, its leader said, is that it is wants a world-class take-up of broadband.

This is what Mr. Key said in Invercargill: "It's a disgrace that prevarication by Telecom and Labour has choked these opportunities. New Zealand has fallen well behind the Internet eight-ball. Each year of prevarication is another year which New Zealand slips further behind the rest of the world."

( Note : I think he meant procrastination. It is a good thing that he is not the education spokesman)

So who is National's IT & Communications Spokesman? Hon. Mr. Maurice Williamson, who sat in government for nine absolutely critical years in the 1990s while Telecom under-invested in infrastructure, stifled competition and undermined our economic development.

Mr. Key, if he was serious, would hold Mr. Williamson and his own party to account? Why did National's Minister of Communications get a six figure salary for? What did he do to help New Zealand's economic development? Why is he rewarded with being the party's IT & Communications spokesperson and minister-in-waiting in 2007?

Why don't our foreign-owned corporate media hold National to account?

It is of course the Labour-Progressive government that has to tackle the mess of the insane telecommunications policies of the 1980s and 1990s.

The rest of Mr. Key's speech was a bore. He told the faithful to hold out for a National-led government to cut their income taxes - the type of loosening of the government's purse strings that exporters need now like a hole in the head because it would add another percentage point or more to interest rates.

Mr. Key did manage to insult the PM for daring to suggest there is a case to protect the intellectual rights of artists (National against intellectual and property rights? and he also did have time in his dull address to demand the media and government not hold National to account for its record in government in the 1990s.

Yeah right!

http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?ArticleID=10062

U.S. INVADERS PLAN QUICK EXIT AFTER CAUSING UNTOLD PAIN

In the past week, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to approve a war funds bill tying extra cash for military operations to a timetable for pulling the invader troops out of Iraq by March 31, 2008.

After invading an innocent nation on false pretences of having nuclear-weapons, when in fact two of the biggest stockpilers of nuclear weapons of mass destruction are the U.S. and U.K. themselves, and after being responsible for the deaths of many tens of thousands of innocents, and the utter destruction of some of the world's most ancient minority cultures including those of the Iraqi Christians (half of whom have taken refuge in Syria, Jordan and beyond), the U.S. invader occupiers now plan their hasty retreat.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/85ECB516-16C1-4BA2-9502-0D61181C27D1.htm

http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2007/4158/

Iraq war lost says top Democrat

The U.S. Republican/U.K. Labour Party war on the Iraqi people is lost and a further build-up of the illegal army of occupation in the country will not recover the situation, according to the senior Democrat in the U.S. senate.

"This war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week," Harry Reid, the senate Democratic majority leader, and told reporters after meeting the Commander in Chief, George W.

Only political, economic and diplomatic means could bring success, he said. Reid's assessment of the situation in Iraq came before the House of Representatives voted 215-199 to uphold legislation ordering troops out of Iraq next year.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E37E4CB2-622B-445C-A96C-C7B79219CB70.htm

NATIONAL SHOULD SAY IT WON'T RISK KIWI LIVES IN IMPERIALIST WARS

The current and former leaders of the National Party, Mr. John Key and Mr. Bill English, have an awful lot of explaining to do to the people of New Zealand.

When English was National leader in 2003, and Mr. Key a senior National Party MP, I had to listen to that party in Parliament thump their tables and demand the Labour-Progressive Government "join our allies" in the illegal war on the poor and long-suffering Iraqi people.

The truth is that New Zealand cannot afford to ever have these people in positions of authority in Aotearoa. These men are serious liabilities - and they are not being held to account by the media in our country which is an indictment also on the corporate media outlets that aren't doing their job holding National to account.

If I am wrong, I'd be happy to eat humble pie. But I would challenge the media to ask the National leadership before the next ANZAC Day comes along if they can promise they won't risk young New Zealanders' lives in imperialist wars dreamt up by the British Labour Party and U.S. Republican Party should National ever become the government in the future.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E37E4CB2-622B-445C-A96C-C7B79219CB70.htm

Saving the planet require cooperation between nations

The National and ACT parties in New Zealand, and United Future, think New Zealand should pull out of the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change.

These far-right parties take their lead from the U.S. government, which is a well known breaker of international law and hostile to the very idea of cooperation between nations to tackle common challenges.

The American Government's stance on global climate change is utterly disgusting and disgraceful, and it is repulsive that National, ACT and United Future would have the current generation of New Zealanders join with America in robbing our grand-children’s' rights and interests.

It is worth reflecting, for example, how much progress was made in the past when governments cooperated on common challenges, when the United States government worked with the rest of us instead of thumbing its nose at the world.

It was reported this week that global consumption of Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, that contribute to ozone depletion, stood at 000.04 million tonnes in 2006, down from 1.08 million tonnes in 1986.

What caused this dramatic change?

The 1987 Montreal Protocol on CFCs.

Soon, when the vandals in the Republican Party are out of office, the United States Government might join the civilised world to combat global climate change the way we all did so effectively against CFCs.

http://ozone.unep.org/Assessment_Panels

April 25 MORGAN POLL – NO TIME TO SIT BACK

RIGHT 59 SEATS VS LEFT 53

PARLIAMENT 123 SEATS (62 NEEDED FOR MAJORITY);

MOST LIKELY RESULT: NATIONAL-NZ FIRST (63 SEATS)

OR MINORITY NATIONAL-ACT GOVERMENT DEPENDENT ON NZ FIRST (65 SEATS)

OR NO CHANGE TO CURRENT LABOUR/PROG/NZFIRST/UNITED FUTURE & GREEN COMBINATION WITH 62 SEATS (vs. 66 now);

RIGHT : 59 LEFT:::::::::::53
NATIONAL 56 LABOUR 41
UNITED 2 GREEN 11
ACT 1 PROGRESS 1

OTHER
NZ FIRST 7
MAORI: 4

http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2007/4158/

ENDS

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