blogging it real

Here at BIR HQ we've been seething as we heard from mainstream media that most people just don't understand the issue at all, which is the most bitterly disappointing element of this fucking outrage.

We cannot believe that when a Minister abuses her access to departmental information for political reasons and thereby causes a serious breach of two individuals' privacy (she'd clearly breach the Privacy Act were she covered by it) the majority response is anger over the amount the two women receive in state support. Nevermind that a proportion of it likely comes via the fathers' child support payments to the IRD.

Poor show New Zealand! It's ironic that Paula Benefit and the public overlook the fact that Benefit surely approves of the amount they receive by virtue of the office she holds. She is responsible for the actions of her department, which determines and pays the support.

We know that there are privacy guidelines for Ministers that she followed (followed in the sense that she's a clueless bitch) but her actions were unprincipled in the extreme. It would have been illegal had her Ministry done it on her behalf. She has scored political points against two beneficiaries by abusing laws and then hiding behind the protections of her office. Fucking outrageous.

Our favourite analogy (from the Herald's "Your Views", where beneficiary bashers are in the majority about 20-1):

If I decide to go down to the local IRD office with a placard and protest that I am paying too much tax, I do not expect the IRD to release my tax records to the press.

Although it should read Peter Dunne, rather than "the IRD", which would increase the impact and accuracy!

Our favourite analysis (from norightturn):

The other question is where the matter stops. What say a minister decided to release the tax return details of a complainant? Or their shonky work history? Or some criminal conviction that had been long buried? Let's face it, it's not a fair fight (Colin Espiner)

And that's the real problem here. The government collects all sorts of information about us as part of its ordinary business - information on tax, crimes or criminal complaints, health, travel, education - and we expect that the relevant departments will generally keep that information private. We do not expect it to end up in the Minister's hands to be used as political ammunition if we dare to raise our voice.

The BIR Team

Labels: ird, nasty brutish and short, national, paula bennett mp

Today, Darth is a stout defender of liberty! Unfortunately for him, the freedom he longs for is unlikely to be delivered by any likely National Government. He in fact espouses the 'nanny state / pc gone mad' rhetoric common to ACT and Libertarianz supporters (and a large proportion of the Your Views community), but not the current National Party.

After asserting strangely that no one gives a damn about the economy, tax cuts, the environment, privatization, or working for families (contrary to all that, y'know, polling stuff), Ole Smokey declares the election is actually about "the freedom of the individual to live his or her life with as little interference as possible from the state, its politicians and minions."

I didn't know that Darth was a supporter of drug liberalization, the decriminalization of prostitution, and (by a small stretch of the imagination) civil unions - in that the latter allow consenting adults to receive official recognition of their own choices about domestic partnership, rather than the choices of the state.

Of course, Darth doesn't actually care about any of these liberties: instead he claims he doesn't want the state telling families how best to spend their money (too bad government spending as a proportion of GDP is essentially the same under Labour as it was under National), how to use their property (Darth, I look forward to building a tannery next to your suburban Rotorua home), and how we run our families (apparently Darth's concern for liberty doesn't extend to the rights of children not to be assaulted by their parents).

What else does Darth want?

" to fill up our cars" - Surely Labour, the biggest road builders NZ has seen in a long time, would agree with this?

"turn on our heaters" - Labour supports warm homes. And will even help low-income families ensure that heat doesn't disappear straight through an uninsulated ceiling.

"light our homes" - I have no idea where he's going with this. I, for one, wish Darth couldn't see his keyboard sometimes, but even so, is there a political party opposed to home lighting?

"run our taps (and showers)" - building standards are not a threat to this, Darth.

"eat our food, smoke a cigarette, have a few drinks" - here's the crux of the matter, Darth doesn't like health promotion. But that isn't a Labour government initiative, Darth - you fuckwit - and is certain to continue under National. Lest that overburdened health care system you so frequently bemoan be crippled under the weight of the obese, emphysematic and chronically inebriated.

"sell land or buy or develop property" - where the fuck have you been for the last 9 years, Darth? Do you not recall a property boom of heretofore unseen proportions?

And it's all about freedom from presidential-style politics. We want - nay, need - to be rid of a dictatorial leader so that consensus politics again has a chance to flourish.

Yes, I distinctly recall the consensual style of the last National government, as they went about raping and pillaging.

Labour makes much of its Working for Families scheme, but its inventors don't seem to realise that recipients would much rather have that money in direct income tax rebates.

They don't want to have to go cap in hand to Inland Revenue, fill in interminable forms that want to know everything about them and theirs except what they had for breakfast or when they last went to the toilet.

And they don't want to be left feeling beholden to the Government for the largesse when they could have received the same amount directly in tax breaks without it costing them, as taxpayers, as much again as they receive in administration costs.

None of us who don't qualify begrudges families a financial boost, but there are better ways to do it.

I'll explain this in terms you can understand, Darth: NATIONAL HAS PROMISED NOT TO CHANGE WORKING FOR FAMILIES.

I guess the poor, unfortunate families offered tax relief under this immensely popular scheme will continue the hardship of filling out "interminable forms". Dick.

The Greens have made it clear, fortunately, that they won't have a bar of National. They will, therefore, be powerless in the new Parliament so a vote for them is essentially wasted.

So voting for a party likely to be in opposition is a wasted vote is it, Darth? You truly are a disgrace.

He ends with the height of humour, likening Helen Clark to a shrew.

I hope you choke on your Rothmans, old man.

Labels: darth george, dickheads, herald, ird, national, NZ election 2008

Just to get a blog out there because there's a lot of popular demand for me to post.

What the fuck is with the IRD who have continously for three years ballsed up the amount that I get paid. Here's how it usually goes, I get a pay rise and call them up to tell them the new amount, they change my details and then send a letter confirming this. Then a month or two later they send me a letter saying according to their figures I am getting paid x amount a year which is always a totally bull shit amount.

This has happened once or twice a year EVERY YEAR. I call them up, ask them wtf? and they say "oh, yeah, we have a record of you contacting us and telling us what you get paid". Today I got a letter in the mail saying I earn 8,000 a year more than I actually do according to "the information we regularly receive". I don't know what information they regularly receive but a simple fucking calculator that can multiply my bi-weekly pay by 26 will tell them that I get paid EXACTLY what I told them I get paid.

And that's not all. Their website login NEVER works for me. So I can't update jack shit on line. I gave up with my first efforts and today I try to do it again, call up, get it verified and straight away try to log in but of course it tells me it can't. And then what do you know, the website is now down for a day while they do major maintenance work on it.

I suppose I could call them but I did try that already today and the "more than ten minute wait" was 'right'. I gave up after being on hold for 26 minutes. But who's counting, because they sure as fuck can't.

Labels: incompetent time wasting fucks, ird