Federal Elections

[aphrodite]

Paul Murray wrote this in his Saturdays newspaper column about the Federal Elections (which are coming up in Australia for those not in the know) and the budget.

"Is it ethical to hold back resources in order to save up enough for the euchre game once every three years?"

I *liked* that, so true!

Comments

[drakk]

I had that very thought myself but then to get around it the whole political system would have to be changed and like thats ever going to happen

[aphrodite]

It would have to change? How? Couldn't they just spend money on things that need it over the years instead of saving it to make us vote for them?

I just liked the quote, it rang so true.

[drakk]

Its a nice idea and there is nothing in the way except for the fact that its just not going to happen because there is nothing going to make them do it and without something to make them do it - governements are always going to "pork barrel" with all the election year goodies as they have and always will have

There is a way actually to do it. Line them all up against the wall ...

[aphrodite]

Ohh, I thought you meant it *couldn't* be done! You mean it *won't* be done, lol. Yeah, no way would they change it if it gets votes

[pennae]

i thought it was called "budgeting"

and wouldnt it be worse if like past labor governments they spent spent spent spent and then elections come along and they still need to spend and so get into debt debt debt? ;)

[wolfman]

oh come on penny , you have bought into the john howard dribble,

in 1981 under fraser ( liberal govt ), the interest rates in australia were at 19% rates in the USA were at 20%, the world economy was totaly fucked.

fastforward to hawke keating era, interest rates were on a downward slide, the aussie dollar was floated in the markets, this was the start of the long journey to get the australian economy where it is today.

john howards rein of terror will end in this election, he is making the same mistakes richard court made here , he constantly kept on about WA Inc , howard is still staying negative and soley focusing on economics while the rest of society in australia is in decay.

[pennae]

and this is exactly why i dont vote liberal, or labor ;) i throw my vote away to the greens or the independents, depending on their party line in my area, because i think there needs to be a real focus on sustainability. if only a couple get in, then hey... at least they're making others aware of the non-money-money-money issues :)

oh... and neither liberal or labor support gay marriage, and that just sucks in my teenager-terms-opinion!

[aphrodite]

I read about the Greens today and I've decided I don't really like them... plus, they support labor so thats another bad thing against them

[stringy]

It's a good quote - this year Howard has been flinging money around with the Baby bribe oops! Bonus and now he's got a surplus he can spend it all on the health system, which is something he should have done years ago.

There's more to the economy than interest rates though. And they go in cycles anyway - low rates are followed by high rates, which are followed by low rates, and so on. Political parties like to pretend that the lows are the result of their hard work, and the highs are the Opposition's fault, but the reality is that they're mostly controlled by the Reserve Bank anyway. I'd never vote based on interest rates.

[aphrodite]

I thought you might appreciate that quote!

I also read an interesting article about Peter Costello, saying he's less likely to pork barrell, which is what John Howard seems to be doing a lot of (ie, baby bribes)

Interest rates are a huge factor to me, lol

[stringy]

Oh definitely, for you interest rates are really important! I hope they're that important to me one day soon (still saving up) :) But it's not something that you can safely base a vote on, as much as politicians would like you to.

There's no way I'd ever vote Liberal: their social policies are from 1950, and I can't in good conscience vote for a party that thinks seeking asylum is a crime and women should stay at home to make babies instead of having jobs. But I reckon I'd be less irritated by the political news every day if Costello was heading them up. Heaps of people in the party reckon Howard is running his own policies instead of Liberal ones.