This budget is an epic fail!

As NZers feel the real pain of this steep recession, what is National's response? A joke masquerading as an economic policy! This is all smoke and bloody mirrors! In May 2008, Treasury forecast growth rates for the next three years of 1.5 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 3.2 per cent. Instead, we got -1.1 per cent, -0.4 per cent and -0.1 per cent. Treasury's claims of 4% growth demands we urine test Treasury for smoking meth!

The real story in this budget is about National Party economic incompetence. The economy was in decline well before the second Christchurch earthquake. Bill English described his GST tax rise which subsidized a tax cut for the wealthiest NZers as 'turbo charging' the economy. It in fact led to a billion dollar deficit in our tax revenue, this is National's mistake and we are paying for it.

While corporate media pundit after corporate media pundit tell us this zero budget in the worst recession this country has seen since the 1929 Great Depression is 'moderate' and will simply 'tinker' with the public services many NZers in poverty need, the reality is that those on the bottom will be worse off after this father of all budgets in drag.

Why should the poorest in NZ suffer and do with less for an economic recession they had NO HAND in making? How many solo mothers were on the phone to their wall st stockbrokers in 2007 buying lite crude in Euros while speculating on the Goldman Sachs derivatives market???

In the words of scribe, not many if any.

We should not be slashing public services, but we should also not be borrowing $380million per week, we should be growing the revenue base so that we don't borrow AND we increase social spending, and we increase that revenue base by implementing a Hone Heke Transaction Tax so corporates pay their fair share, we implement a land tax and a Capital Gains tax. There are alternatives to this austerity and allowing National to privatize our assets for a pittance ($7billion) which will only cover us for 7 months of borrowing is just the pure definition of utter madness.

NZers vote in November to decide if this do nothing Government's tax cuts for the rich at the cost of public services while corporate welfare escalates is really the Country they want. Remember, these changes will be mild compared to what the next Finance Minister Don Brash will implement.



A vote for John is a vote for Don.

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