Cullen on tax cuts
Dr Cullen is saying he is “not ideologically opposed to tax cuts”.
This is like Annabel Chong saying she is not ideologically opposed to monogamy!
The NZ Herald says Dr Cullen is “sensitive about being portrayed as having a natural or ideological resistance to tax cuts”.
Well actions speak louder than words. Dr Cullen better get over his sensitivity.
I posted yesterday about how far outside the norm NZ Labour is with refusing tax cuts.
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Tags: Labour
May 20th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Except Cullen once said “We just don’t believe in tax cuts – it’s against our fundamental philosophy – after all we are socialists and proud of it.”
Yep thats right he did say that.
May 20th, 2006 at 10:56 am
What’s the mystery?
Cullen is your garden variety ideologically sound lefty and therefore believes tax cuts are the natural enemy of dependence on government.
He’s correct.
Want to see him glaze over?
Then tell him you don’t want more of his ‘services’, instead you want your money back.
It will not compute.
May 20th, 2006 at 11:42 am
I see that Jordan Carter has contributed his 2c on the budget and tax cuts here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3672231a4621,00.html
It’s a great Budget. I get no tax cut out of it but my student loan goes interest free and soon I’ll be able to afford a doctor’s visit again. Next time I go home to Auckland I might even be able to avoid a traffic queue!
Cheers to a government that invests for the future, and doesn’t give us a little jam today for a whole bunch of pain tomorrow (like the National Government did in the 90s).
Jordan Carter
The irony is that Jordan gets his little bit of jam today through interest free student loans, and he’ll get a whole lot of pain in future paying high taxes.
May 20th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
“soon I’ll be able to afford a doctor’s visit again.”
Unless I’m mistaken, Jordan Carter has told us before that he is in the top tax bracket. In other words a single guy earning over 60k can’t get the cash together for one single solitary visit to the doctor? And then this guy feels qualified to lecture the rest of us on budgeting?!
Or maybe he really can afford a visit to the doctor and is just doing his usual “make shit up and publicly lie to help the Labour party” routine.
May 20th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
Wow. What jam is Jordan talking about? As I recall, much of the 1990′s actually sucked. That was part of the painful reform we needed to get the good times that Labour has recently been wasting.
People don’t move to Australia because the taxes are lower. They move because this country makes them GIVE UP. It hurts to put up with painful reform and it hurts 10 times more that it would work if we didn’t then waste the opportunity.
The longer this Labour cancer grows in our brain, the less chance we ever have. More and more of us get sucked into the maw of state dependancy or the allure of Labour’s short-termist ideology driven by jealousy and power.
We’ve already lost this positive cycle, like a child starved of food in its growing years. Unlike a child, we can grow another day, but we can’t get the last few years back. For many, it’s easier to walk away.
May 20th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Well said Camryn, so true. But sadly many reading your post are blinded by their socialist ideology. I would like just one leftwing nut to show me a country where socalisim can be shown to work.
Every country that has followed the path of socalism has been nothing but an abject faliure and I would have thought the great doctor who has study history would be well aware of this fact. The reason thousands of people leave this country every year is because their dreams are been taken from them by this sick government that only wishes to subjugate its population, to put it simply for many the dream is over.
May 20th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
farmerbob,
I would like just one leftwing nut to show me a country where socalisim can be shown to work.
ALL countries are socialist by definition. There is not one single nation in all of modern history that has operated a 100% private, 0% public economy.
I have consistently argued in favour of the synergy between both sectors…I have never condemmed capitalism nor do I sneer at it.. I merely point out that the social contract is the essential counterweight to capitalism’s obvious shortcoming’s.
By contrast it is you that takes the extremist position here, and then have the temerity to label me the “nutcase”. Back to the boozer bob…try harder next time.
May 20th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Cullen will provide tax cuts alright, just prior to the 2008 election campaign. They know it’s an issue that will otherwise strangle Labour. By 2008 the “It’s Time” factor will be in full play, so Labour can’t afford to have the public howling for cuts.
May 20th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
The tax free low income zone in the Aussie tax rates looks like such a sensible thing to have. If NZ had a tax free zone of say $10K then tax relief would be fair under Labour’s terms. All tax payers would get approx $32/week. Although the biggest difference is surely the incentive to work. Working tax free until an income higher than the basic unemployment benefit can only be a good thing, although perhaps ideologically unacceptable.
May 20th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
“Cullen will provide tax cuts alright, just prior to the 2008 election campaign”
That’s exactly right- and that’s the reason for Cullen’s recent flip-flop on taxation.
We all know Labour ran out of new things to do a while ago, and now it’s time to pinch National’s policies and call them their own (in election year of course).
I just hope that Cullen doesn’t have the balls to offer anything significant in the way of tax cuts, thereby giving National the opportunity to market a more attractive package to voters.
National also needs to diversify its campaign away from solely the tax-cut issue. If it is mentioned too much it will begin to lose its value.
I’m getting too worried about the 2008 election already!!
May 20th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
The only (openly) Labour supporter in our cul de sac had quick-setting cement poured into his toby last night. I must say that it was hilarious seeing him come out this morning in his dressing gown to check why the water wasn’t working. I’m still laughing about it.
May 20th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
I would hope DanF that you only joking.
If not then you and your half witted neighbours
are just a bunch of fuckheads.
You may want to hope that he doesn’t respond in kind
May 21st, 2006 at 9:23 am
DanF: Your post implies that he had his toby concreted because he is a labour supporter. It also implies that you were aware of the action before he was. This action (and your enjoyment of it) is absolutely appalling and abhorrent behaviour. If it was politically motivated it speaks volumes about the intolerance of your neighbourhood.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:13 am
Don Brash, National Party and the business round table want tax cuts for their rich mates but will brain wash the public that our taxes are high. What a load of rubbish as an ex Aussie worker taxes are about the same but the wages are higher over there. Don Brash should tell his rich mates to pay higher wage in New Zealand.
May 21st, 2006 at 11:43 am
“Don Brash, National Party and the business round table want tax cuts for their rich mates…”
Excuse me, where are you getting this information about National only wanting to help out its “rich mates”?
Their 2005 tax policy was going to cut tax across the board, especially benefiting low and medium income earners.
In actual fact, it is Labour who is brainwashing the electorate into thinking it is out to help the poor. The “rich” in this country have it great- they effectively have a flat tax rate right from $60k up, and now Labour’s paying them money they don’t really need, to have kids.
As of Costello’s latest budget, people earning the lowest are getting taxed nearly 1/3 more here than in Australia.
Cheers Labour !!
May 21st, 2006 at 11:52 am
You are wasting your time CH. It’s easier to repeat Dr. Cullen’s lines than to read the facts and assimilate them.
May 21st, 2006 at 6:26 pm
CH do you know Brash and National Party only what tax cut for high income people and big business.
It is best to cut GST tax 12.5 per cent back to 10 per cent so we all benefit from it. This is one way the whole country share in any cut.