and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space
Yesterday, I heard Mr Swan on the radio describe Ms Gillard as tough and he made the prediction that she would win the next election.
I have heard a number of previous predictions from Mr Swan, as an oracle he is an abject failure.
The next election he was talking about was against Mr Abbott, but first she will need to win an election in 20 minutes.
Brendon O’connor, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Feb 24 on Ten Networks “Meet The Press” …
People said we weren’t going to price carbon and bring in a very important market-based approach to reducing carbon emissions; it was done.
Quite so. For example Mr Swan on Meet The Press, August 15, 2010, said …
What we rejected is this hysterical allegation that somehow we are moving towards a carbon tax …
and on August 15, 2010 …
No, it’s not possible that we’re bringing in the carbon tax. That is a hysterically inaccurate claim being made by the Coalition.
And Julia promised on Channel 10, August 16, 2010 …
There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.
Yes, Mr O’Connor some lying bastards did indeed say “we weren’t going to price carbon”.
How I love ya, how I love ya my dear old Swanee …
Latest report from the Costa Gillardia …
Food and water running out, the toilets are flooded, the electricity cut off, Where are the tugs?
It seems the navigator, Aurora, has been making up the coordinates, several of the crew have abandoned ship, today they can’t find Scotty McClelland. Will there be any lifeboats left for the rest of us.
Nonetheless, Mr Swan, the first mate, is still promising to make port on time even though the fuel is all gone.
Captain Julia hopes to raise everyone’s spirits with a pass close to the shore … as soon as the engines are running.
… a surplus, and that’s what this budget is all about.
… and no surplus.
A sigh of relief from the business community, grateful that we are not going to stop the economy in its tracks just to make the treasurer look less of an idiot. A sigh of relief turned into praise from the ABC for a treasurer ready to make the tough choices. In reality, though, just further evidence that we are governed by a bunch of raving incompetents, left to them we will end up as financially bankrupt as they are intellectually and morally bankrupt.
Remember that the promise of a return to surplus was made at a time when Labor were throwing money around fresh from the printing press. It’ll be alright we will be delivering a surplus … That promise was made over and over again.
When elected Labor stumbled upon a $20 billion surplus, no net debt and $70 billion in commonwealth net assets. The Treasurer of the year has had nothing but praise for the economy that he has managed ever since, it’s the best money can buy. Even this morning he was boasting of anticipated growth, low unemployment and low interest rates. True commodity prices have slipped back … presently they are only three times higher than they were when Labor got in! They have raised completely new taxes. How did they ever run out of money?
The reason is simple, Labor has done what Labor does – spend. This Labor government has spent very enthusiastically and delivered less in return than even Whitlam’s.
Everything they have actually done has gone wrong … from frying apprentices installing insulation in houses that later burn down to an Education Revolution that has seen us plummet to new levels of illiteracy.
To play safe they have replaced action with unfunded promises – the Gonsky spend, the Disability scheme.
Since it took office a government that promised to take “a meat axe” to an already bloated public service has appointed an extra 10,000 public servants. It has increased spending from $271 billion a year to more than $370 billion.
The debt on the nation’s credit card now stands at $144 billion.
The fastest fiscal consolidation never seen …
Peter Costello gives an insight into the performance of the world’s best in the Sydney Morning Herald, the article is well worth reading in full.
Wayne Swan originally announced the 2012-13 budget surplus on May 11, 2010. He has heralded it in each budget and midyear review since. Which makes Monday the sixth time he’s announced it. It’s a forecast surplus of $1.1 billion. Never before in the history of budgeting has so little been promised so often.
We will not know until September 30, 2013 whether this surplus has been achieved. And if it is …
Over four budgets from 2008, deficits have cumulated 12.8 per cent of gross domestic product. Taking this year and the following three budgets, this will be followed by cumulative surpluses of 0.8 per cent (provided the economy grows at trend). Four years of surplus will pay back 1/16th of the four years of deficit. At that rate it would take half a century before we get to the stated goal of “surplus on average”.
As well as the promised “surplus” another of the government’s stated ambitions …
… is to “improve the government’s net financial worth over the medium term”. This measure includes government debt and its superannuation liabilities. Since it decided to set this goal, net financial worth has plummeted. You see, it is not just that the government has racked up debt. The Commonwealth does not even pay the full cost of its staff. It is not paying the superannuation component of public service entitlements. Nor does it count this as a cost in its budget. If a private employer tried to do this they would be prosecuted. It’s the kind of thing that drives the private sector wild. While the government is telling employers to lift superannuation contributions for staff, it is not funding its own superannuation schemes.
Personally, I think Wayne has got Buckley’s of delivering any surplus at all … he’ll be spinning like a top all the way to an election held just early enough to keep the populus from learning the true state of our finances.
bobmcgee 