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[Darq Gus]

But skexis, my little nazi think tank, what if the Economy wasn't the only issue Australians might possibly vote on? Like Global Warming*, Education, Industrial Relations, or Not Killing People Overseas. On these issues Howard is a short stuttering Satan.

What is good for Howard's Economy is digging up and burning a lot of coal. But people who weren't shaken so much as a baby are starting to see that this has consequences for our children. Not that you're likely to produce offspring should consent still be required but for others its a real concern.

But this thread was about Keating. And Paul Keating would have hated you.


* left wing fiction, yes yes I know you read both Bolt and Mein Kampf

[DiddlySquat]

I saw most of the Keating interview. He's brilliant. We need more of him on both sides of parliament. He's a man of vision who speaks his mind.

Sure he's out of the hot seat now so has the freedom to lob a few grenades without fear of retribution, but he always did talk hard and straight.

Keating was responsible for the first 5 years of the current 16 year cycle of economic growth. He claimed again the other night that it was his reforms (tariffs, enterprise bargaining, de-regulation, etc) that kicked off the cycle that we are now enjoying. I have never heard a decent rebuttal of these claims. And the Labor party have made a fatal mistake over the last 10 years of running away from everything related to Hawke and Keating.

He also claimed that the only major "reform" of Howard's has been the GST, and this was simply a new way to generate revenue, it wasn't a fundamental economic change. We now have AWA's but these have been in for just over a year so they've had no real impact yet, and I think that they'll prove to be a huge backward step.

Tony Jones "bemusement" at the end was because they'd covered so much ground with no-bullshit, hard-hitting commentary in the time it takes one politician today to dodge the simplest question.

I don't get the "boy Keating stuck the boot into those Labor dolts" line of attack. Naturally the libs are going to take that tack, but he also gave credit to many of the Labor side. If anything he had nothing nice to say about Howard and Costello. Why not run that headline?

He's a smart guy and his comments were directed at putting a rocket underneath Labor for all the right reasons. His message to Labor was "you've got a good foundation, your opponents have been resting on their laurels for too long, get rid of your deadwood, see the vision and go for it".

[DiddlySquat]

And what's with this pillow biter crap?

I don't know if Keating's gay. I only met him once and that didn't come into the conversation. But so fucking what

Is that why you hate Bob Brown

[Crux]

But skexis, my little nazi think tank, what if the Economy wasn't the only issue Australians might possibly vote on? Like Global Warming*, Education, Industrial Relations, or Not Killing People Overseas. On these issues Howard is a short stuttering Satan.

What is good for Howard's Economy is digging up and burning a lot of coal. But people who weren't shaken so much as a baby are starting to see that this has consequences for our children. Not that you're likely to produce offspring should consent still be required but for others its a real concern.

Indeed there are other issues.  You might have wanted to state some in which Labor would have done better.  Labor is committed to not doing anything over Industrial Relations other than reversing some of the progress the Howard Government has made.  They also don't dare speak out too strongly about troops in the middle east.  Notice it was a Labor leader that sent forces to the first gulf war?

Labor has made some progress in making empty promises about the Environment yes.  Pity it won't work.  We can't get rid of coal-burning without bankrupting the nation.  And assuming we were that stupid, Australia's contribution is tiny compared to the big polluters like China and the US.  So we'd be fucking up our nation for nothing, something that only appeals to the far left.

[Darq Gus]

Notice it was a Labor leader that sent forces to the first gulf war?

What's your point exactly? I have trouble wading through knee deep crazy. That Labour has sent troops to fight in a war? The first Gulf War was a coalition of 33 countries led and authorised by the United Nations after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Howard sent troops to Iraq because Saddam had links to al-Qaeda. (He didn't.) And that they had weapons of mass destruction. (We found this spoon, sir.)

Did Keating stop and beat you in the street once? Steal your choc top? What's your beef with him? Is it because he has a charismatic personality that you and John "The Cartoonists Friend" Howard lack?

[Crux]

I like how you describe Keating as having a "charismatic personality" instead of mentioning what he did to the country as PM.

[DiddlySquat]

I like how you describe Keating as having a "charismatic personality" instead of mentioning what he did to the country as PM.

I already have mentioned it i.e. set us up for 16 years of continuous growth, which Peter Costello has kept intact.

[pseudonym]

But skexis, my little nazi think tank, what if the Economy wasn't the only issue Australians might possibly vote on? Like Global Warming*, Education, Industrial Relations, or Not Killing People Overseas.

And there's the rub.  There are more important things than money, and most of these are more difficult to quantify than interest rates, inflation, or the NasDaq index.  Work/life balance, quality family time, clean parks, health - all of these I rate as more important than having the money to buy a second car or a fifth TV.

The political conservatives will of course argue that a healthy economy is the first step to a happy, prosperous population, but all the evidence that I have seen would indicate that we're becoming more unhappy, even as we become more wealthy.  There have been 16 years of economic growth in this country, but as far as I can tell, we're not better off for it as whole.  There is more to life than money, and I think it's time to shift our focus.

[Crux]

Good point.  There's no reason to have money.  Come on everybody, sing

All you need is love
love is all you need

Right.

I already have mentioned it i.e. set us up for 16 years of continuous growth, which Peter Costello has kept intact.

Set us up?  The eternal cry of Labor.  The Liberlas did nothing, it was all the stuff we had already did.  Do people really believe that?

[Darq Gus]

...are ...are you using... sarcasm against her? I'm sorry but you can expect to hear from the moderators over this. This time skexis you've gone too far.

[DiddlySquat]

Set us up?  The eternal cry of Labor.

Because it's true, and born out by the numbers.

The Liberlas did nothing, it was all the stuff we had already did.  Do people really believe that?

I didn't say that the Libs did nothing. Of course they've kept the country on its economic course.

But please tell me one structural economic reform by the Libs in the last 10 years that's made a measurable improvement to the economy.

[Fritz]

No he misses it. I was criticising these moronic "lol shows you what the loopy Left are like " posts repeated ad nauseum on this forum, in unthinking opposition to any Labor, Greens or Democrats idea, regardless of its merit.

Mine were lovely personal attacks which the moderators tellingly ignored, given that the kicking of warthogs is a matter not for them but the RSPCA.

The only thing that is making sick is your attempt to sound intelligent

Signed.

The moronic one.

[Darq Gus]

The only thing that is making sick

Hey Fritz... if it took you 5 days to come up with that gem imagine what you could have accomplished with a whole week!

[Fritz]

Hey Fritz... if it took you 5 days to come up with that gem imagine what you could have accomplished with a whole week!

Hey dickhead, I will let you in on a little secret. My father created the world in 6 days and decided to give the 7th a rest.

[DiddlySquat]

And I'm still waiting for the answer to........................

And what's with this pillow biter crap?

I don't know if Keating's gay. I only met him once and that didn't come into the conversation. But so fucking what

Is that why you hate Bob Brown

Perhaps this is one of those 40 day jobs