Auspundits

Water, Water Everywhere

By Pete*

The Rudd government is running around with a Razor gang looking to keep down government spending, so they can subdue what is still a fairly tame inflation result (historically), and then try not to cop the blame if a roll-back of Workplace reform leads to a real inflationary spiral.

Their first target is $643 million of Howard Government programs.

The Inherent "Conservatism" of Australia's People

When the narrative of the federal election campaign gets written, many will wonder why a government with such a good economic record was voted out by the people of Australia.

Rising from the Ashes

Australian Politics has undergone a significant shift today.  Kevin Rudd has been elected Prime Minister, and John Howard has had a long career ended by his own electorate.

I'll do the same thing, but only differently...get it.

Sometimes political satire is made easy, especially with absolute gems like this from Kevin07.

Some APEC sanity

APEC is about to get underway in Sydney.

You would thing it is a good thing to have world leaders meeting together and discussing problems, kinda like a mini-UN without all the tinpot dictatorships...but you would be wrong.

Dividends from Strong Economic Management

I still remember the first Howard Government budget being delivered in 1996. The Government found itself facing a fiscal deficit of $10 billion. On the night of the budget, I wasn't near a TV, but the talking points were all negative. This budget was the origin of the "non-core" promise. The Government was faced with a situation where they saw it as economically irresponsible to keep Australia in debt. It was a tough budget, with tough measures to try and pay down debt.

Company tax rates were higher, personal income tax rates were higher, a myriad of wholesale sales taxes existed, and the government was not able to fund what it needed to. The textbooks showed government debt as an ever increasing phenomena, and unemployment always never quite got past the point it reached before the recession just gone.

Painting themselves into a corner

There is a reason why Ned Lamont is not a US Senator but Joe Lieberman is. Despite losing the Democrat nomination, Lieberman won the Conneticut Senate race on a platform broadly against withdrawl of troops in Iraq, along with his track record of serving his people.

The Democratic Flaw

This article comes from another esteemed collegue of mine, Pete. - Ed

When Democracy works, it can provide an incredible recipe for relative peace and stability.