"Me too" wants to spend more of your money

Labour has pledged over $400 million of your taxes (not petrol tax but general tax) to pay for the frightfully expensive Transmission Gully motorway. This doesn't even cover half the cost.

Now politicians pushing Transmission Gully are pushing a simple truth about democracy and how people think.

Most of those who want Transmission Gully are simply gunning for the government to make other people pay for it - you see if central government pays, it will be virtually invisible to those who benefit from it, as on a per person basis nationwide we are talking about over $250 for every man, woman and child. Politicians can hide that through borrowing. For property owners in Kapiti, Mana and Pukerua Bay, this is nothing compared to the uplift in values they will experienced. John Key wants the votes of people out there and Wellingtonians generally - he's willing to make the whole country pay for this piece of pork.

John Key could have said the following on Transmission Gully:

"Look, Ministers shouldn't be involved in decisions about what roads are built where. We have had nine years of Labour meddling in the decisions of government agencies as to what road funding should be built on, with special funds for "regional development", "walking and cycling" and goldplating of projects for little apparent benefit. Labour delayed the bypass of Orewa that is currently being built, and advanced other projects instead. It delayed Wellington's Inner City Bypass to placate the Greens through to the 2002 election. It suddenly found money for Tauranga Harbourlink to placate Winston. National wont play favours with motoring taxes.

You see I don't know whether or when Transmission Gully should be built. No Prime Minister should be making these decisions, because spending money on something so large takes money away from other projects. In fact Transmission Gully can't be funded by existing motoring taxes alone, so it would mean either taking more money in taxes or asking the users to pay for it. I say if the private sector is willing to pay for it, and users are willing to pay through tolls, let it be built. However I wont promise to spend over $1 billion on a big road in Wellington, because next week I might be asked about a big road in Auckland, and then one in Christchurch, and Hamilton and so on. What I will promise is I'll take politics out of road funding decisions once again, and let the decision on Transmission Gully be one of merit - not one of politics".

What he actually said according to the Dominion Post was:

"His party, if elected, would look at increasing the Crown contribution." Oh so general taxpayers in Invercargill, Auckland and everywhere else should pay for a big motorway to Kapiti?

"It's a possibility. We need to put it into the mix. It's a big issue and obviously things can move around. There's got to be a point where it works." Does there? Maybe it doesn't John. Maybe it's an expensive political bribe.

National would also introduce a greater use of debt-funding and relax provisions for public-private partnerships for major projects such as Transmission Gully.

"I think it can be built. A solution is going to have to be found."

John, it's just "me too" isn't it? Spending more taxes so you can buy a bigger slice of pork than Labour.

Embassy gets offended

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is upset that the Wellington Film Festival is showing an animated film called Persepolis, which clearly offends their sensibilities.

According to the Dominion Post it says the film is ""full of lies and unreal fantasy", "exploitative and unfair" and "anti-peace and insulting".

Iran should know, since its leader called for Israel to be wiped off the map, since it is Iran that has been testing old missiles in a show of "mine's bigger than your's" and Iran that hosts a holocaust denial conference. It is Iran where men are routinely executed for being homosexuals, teenage girls who have been raped may get executed and girls are imprisoned who defend themselves against rapists.

So to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran quite simply - go fuck yourselves. You have no moral ground to claim over the Wellington Film Festival. If you can represent a misogynistic bigoted violent government and not be offended by that, then your opinion isn't worth spitting on. The world will be a better place when you're mindless filthy twisted bigoted bloodthirsty terrorist breeding regime is overthrown.

18th again

And thanks to Tumeke for the effort involved. It does mean I can't take weekends off blogging though!

So what if the Maori Party rejects Labour

John Key will do a deal, he'll sell out National to a neo-Marxist authoritarian racist political party and the result will be more taxpayers' money to organisations that this party thinks are important, and the Maori seats (and local authority Maori seats) will remain. This party that only now acknowledges that the situation in Zimbabwe is bad, but carefully doesn't blame Mugabe or Zanu-PF, that hitches itself to the Barack Obama groupies (ignoring that he votes for higher agricultural protectionism), will be embraced by National.

After all, it needs policies to come from somewhere other than Labour doesn't it?

Posh isn't that posh

Victoria Beckham flying Air New Zealand (according to The Sun)?

Seriously, how poor is that!

Now I'm not saying Air New Zealand is bad. She would have flown Business Premier, which is one of the better business classes around.

However that is my point - it is BUSINESS class. A class that anyone one a high income can afford. Air New Zealand has no First Class.

What the hell is she doing flying LA to London on business class?

She should be on a private jet - it's how Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne travel between California and London. Is David getting too cheap?

Even if that wasn't available, how about first class? BA and Air France both have perfectly reasonable First Class cabins on direct flights on that route. United and American also have First Class, but Air NZ would be as good.

Oh and so why is this in the news in the first place? The flight had a bird enter an engine before takeoff so was cancelled and she was allegedly in "airline pjs and no makeup" which wouldn't do to return, and it wouldn't do to be bussed to the terminal (yes read the Sun if you care). Now I know Air NZ doesn't have pjs (unless this is a very new and welcome addition to the service), so she was taking used airline pjs!

Anyway, unless there is some record shortage of private jets, this is not the way someone of her wealth should be travelling. It's how I travel.