Friday, November 07, 2008
Same old National, same old shit
Well, I can't ignore the obvious. This morning's polls vary between very bad for Labour, and absolutely appallingly atrocious.
At this point a 10-point loss is probably the best we on the left can hope for. While there's life there's hope (perhaps these polls will scare a few?), but to be honest there's precious little life left in the Labour government. Although neither I nor Mrs_Red have been polled, and we're both voting Labour, so perhaps there's some systematic undersampling of folks like us? Or perhaps not...
Where I disagree with Yamis is that National will govern as Labour Lite. I agree they're campaigning as Labour Lite, for the very good reason that Labour's policies have been popular, and the country in 2008 is infinitely preferable to the one Labour inherited in 1999, but there's no way in fuck someone joins the Natioanl Party, let alone becomes a National MP, to preserve Labour's social and eocnomic policies.
Mark my words: National will interpret it's whopping great victory as a mandate for radical neoliberalism, just as they did in 1990. This will be rendered easier by its minor ally, ACT, and by the fact that the National front bench consists largely of nasty 90s neoliberals, plus a hectoring conservative in the form of Judith Collins standing in for Jenny Shipley. I bet Tony Ryall, for example, just can't wait to re-Uptonize the health sector: CHEs competing for patients, $50/night hospital charges. Then Williamson or his replacement will talk about selling the roads to competing companies. And Yamis' school will be compelled to adopt some renamed version of Bulk Funding. Universities will be starved of cash, and become even less internationally competitive than they are now, and there will be a return to the redundancies and austerity of the 90s.
The revolution resumes the minute National gets its greasy hands on the instruments of power. And New Zealand will have thrown away 9 years of progress, and a great Prime Minister, for nothing.
Postscript: Labour's post-election analysis. 1/ Shouldn't have touched the Bradford anti-smacking bill with a fucking barge poll. It was the right thing in principle, but it was electoral poison. 2/ Shouldn't have scrapped the three-years-in-the-making tax bracket adjustments in April 2008.
At this point a 10-point loss is probably the best we on the left can hope for. While there's life there's hope (perhaps these polls will scare a few?), but to be honest there's precious little life left in the Labour government. Although neither I nor Mrs_Red have been polled, and we're both voting Labour, so perhaps there's some systematic undersampling of folks like us? Or perhaps not...
Where I disagree with Yamis is that National will govern as Labour Lite. I agree they're campaigning as Labour Lite, for the very good reason that Labour's policies have been popular, and the country in 2008 is infinitely preferable to the one Labour inherited in 1999, but there's no way in fuck someone joins the Natioanl Party, let alone becomes a National MP, to preserve Labour's social and eocnomic policies.
Mark my words: National will interpret it's whopping great victory as a mandate for radical neoliberalism, just as they did in 1990. This will be rendered easier by its minor ally, ACT, and by the fact that the National front bench consists largely of nasty 90s neoliberals, plus a hectoring conservative in the form of Judith Collins standing in for Jenny Shipley. I bet Tony Ryall, for example, just can't wait to re-Uptonize the health sector: CHEs competing for patients, $50/night hospital charges. Then Williamson or his replacement will talk about selling the roads to competing companies. And Yamis' school will be compelled to adopt some renamed version of Bulk Funding. Universities will be starved of cash, and become even less internationally competitive than they are now, and there will be a return to the redundancies and austerity of the 90s.
The revolution resumes the minute National gets its greasy hands on the instruments of power. And New Zealand will have thrown away 9 years of progress, and a great Prime Minister, for nothing.
Postscript: Labour's post-election analysis. 1/ Shouldn't have touched the Bradford anti-smacking bill with a fucking barge poll. It was the right thing in principle, but it was electoral poison. 2/ Shouldn't have scrapped the three-years-in-the-making tax bracket adjustments in April 2008.
Labels: labour, mark my words, nineties all over again, NZ election 2008
