http://www.thestandard.org.nz The New Zealand labour movement used to have its own newspaper. A group of us thought that now might be a good time for it to be digitally reborn: The Standard v2.0. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:11:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Reserve Bank has cut 1.5% off the official cash rate, bringing it down to 5%. The rate has now been cut 2.5% in just six weeks, an unprecendented slashing. Mortgage rates will drop as well, but perhaps not by as much because the banks (excluding Kiwibank) have to borrow ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/slash-and-pray/ Let’s not fool ourselves that what we’ve seen from National over the last 24 hours on to the shortfall in the ACC non-earners account hasn’t been carefully managed in a way to lay the foundation for their arguments in favour of privatising the scheme. I won’t go into a lot of ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/laying-the-foundations/ It often provides an interesting take on what's on people's minds. The top ten was filled out by: Vet Socialism Maverick Bipartisan Trepidation Precipice Rogue Mysogeny Turmoil  Here's the link. http://www.thestandard.org.nz/merriam-webster-word-of-the-year-bailout/ "Far too much irksome regulation is putting unnecessary burdens on households and businesses," says Rodney Hide. Problem is, for all his rhetoric, Rodney can't actually name any 'irksome' or unnecessary regulations. Now, he is "appealling" to us to stop him looking like a puffed up idiot. He wants us to do ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/nowhere-to-hide/ Matthew Hooton calls Drinking Liberally 'a trendy leftie clique'. Well, I'm not sure I would agree with mad Matt on the 'clique' bit, four chapters around the country with as many as a hundred people coming along to events seems a bit bigger than a clique, but it sure is ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/drinking-liberally-christchurch/ Armstrong's a little more charitable in relation to National's dithering on the evacuation of Kiwis from Bangkok than I would have been. Yes, Key got there in the end but we had to endure yet more of the painful "there are a range of options that we're considering" BS he's ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/its-3am-again/ Now that didn't take long. Well rehearsed from the 1990s, National has already started using the privileged position of government to conjure up bogeymen to get their unpopular privatisation agenda past the public. John Key called an urgent press conference yesterday to beat-up a $1b shortfall in ACC funding. 'OMG, ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/a-smoke-screen-for-the-privatisation-brigade/ More gold from Lyndon Hood: Blogger Still Maintains Clark Just Like Mugabe The power-sharing arrangement Helen Clark has permitted after the opposition National party's election victory may dissolve into violence at any time, reports an anonymous blogger who continues to insist New Zealand has become exactly like Zimbabwe. There is increasing concern for ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/godwinin/ John Key's first test as Prime Minister in a crisis is turning into a bloody fiasco, with the leader of the opposition having to tell him how to do his job through the media. Read the linked article, it's extraordinary. For the sake of the hundreds of Kiwis stranded in Thailand, ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/fiasco/ Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar's analysis of prisons today: "Under our present prison policy the inmates are basically running the prison" Why does anyone take this man seriously? http://www.thestandard.org.nz/garth-mcvicar/ The journos don't seem to have been very impressed by Key now that he has returned to take up the reins of government. Several journos criticised his performance at his first post-Cabinet press conference. There is growing criticism of Key's response to the situation in Thailand. Certainly both both his lack ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/first-days-on-the-job-disappoint/ This classic myth is used by National/ACT as an excuse to not do anything about climate change and, now, to attempt to undermine emissions reduction targets in the international climate change agreement to succeed Kyoto. And it is nothing more than a myth. Between 1990 and 2005, agriculture became 30% more ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/mythbusting-we-cant-cut-emissions-from-agriculture/ John Key said yesterday that he expects growth in "the next financial year to be pretty close to zero". That means he's anticipating a serious recession. That's our national wealth shrinking for two years, even as the population continues to grow - a smaller pie for more people to share. Here's hoping ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/more-to-worry-about/ The Sunday Star Times reported yesterday that ACT had "snapped up" former Brash advisor Peter Keenan, one of the lead stars of Nicky Hager's The Hollow Men. The Hollow Men revealed, among other things, that Mr Keenan counselled Dr Brash to campaign on populist issues such as law and order and ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/act-snaps-up-hollow-men-star/ The Council of Trade Unions is calling on National to re-jig its tax package to give it more balance. And fair enough too - despite the media narrative about National's 'moderate', 'centrist' policies the figures show its tax package is actually incredibly regressive. In fact, you could argue it's been explicitly ... http://www.thestandard.org.nz/ctu-calls-for-fairer-tax-cuts/