tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post8782605251717588829..comments2024-03-19T15:05:56.959+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: Johnny & Billy - Zombie Slayers?Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-26471655502303051562009-06-16T22:47:07.552+12:002009-06-16T22:47:07.552+12:00A "third rail issue" is an issue of such...A "third rail issue" is an issue of such sensitivity that, even to discuss it, a politician risks a catastrophic loss of public support.<br /><br />The metaphor is American in origin. The "third rail" of the subway track is the rail that carries the massive electric charge which powers the passenger cars along the underground network. <br /><br />To touch the third rail is to suffer instant death.Chris Trotterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-40832778645394182002009-06-16T18:33:56.627+12:002009-06-16T18:33:56.627+12:00Chris,
What do you think Roger Kerr means when he ...Chris,<br />What do you think Roger Kerr means when he uses the term 'third rail issue'?Robin Johnson's Economics Web Pagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12924305800986441792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-68437618073418745422009-06-15T12:15:36.230+12:002009-06-15T12:15:36.230+12:00Chris, isn't it actually a bit of both? Nation...Chris, isn't it actually a bit of both? National does have some parts that want the far right return - the neoclassical experiment writ large, regardless of the human tragedy that would (and did) result.<br /><br />But they want more to win, and they will govern in prose that sends Kiwis to sleep. They will be modest, and moderate, and do not much. For they know that despite all the rhetoric, things are actually in many ways quite good in NZ from a conservative point of view, and that change isn't really what will deliver them long runs in power, which is their focus.<br /><br />Anyone who believes they will lurch into Douglas-like frenzy is silly. The problem with our campaign last year in Labour was that we did not make a good enough forward offer, and people didn't believe that Key was what some of us said he was. I think that the biggest difference is timescales - if Key is PM for a long time, more and more of that "secret" right wing agenda will happen, for that is what the National Party exists to do.Jordan Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00722110022945310097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-50122514313503464872009-06-15T00:29:20.800+12:002009-06-15T00:29:20.800+12:00In Michael Cullen's valedictory he made the po...In Michael Cullen's valedictory he made the point that many of the reforms we undertook in the eighties and nineties happened in Australia, but more gradually and without the same level of social trauma. His speech may become something of a touchstone for viewing this administration. The biggest promise of the last election was signalled in all the pre-election swallowing of dead rats and the banning of Roger Douglas from cabinet - no big traumatic changes visited on large swathes of the population. If they were going to break that promise this term then the current world economy would be the perfect excuse, it probably would have happened this budget. If they can make some progress in their favoured direction, and the economy recovers, the Nats will keep the same approach next election; they will want to bed in the reforms they make - and take the country with them, shuffling, en masse, slowly and relentlessly to the right...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-74583242816470744152009-06-12T15:16:53.436+12:002009-06-12T15:16:53.436+12:00I always felt Cullen and English would agree far m...I always felt Cullen and English would agree far more than disagree despite the rhetoric. I can't wait for the explosion from ACT between English's 2nd and 3rd budget.ajnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-2735067786480114192009-06-12T11:13:14.049+12:002009-06-12T11:13:14.049+12:00Jeez Chris! People have suddenly realised John Key...Jeez Chris! People have suddenly realised John Key is a moderate centrist?! Anyone who believed Labour's foolish "secret right wing agenda" smear at the last election is a fool. Reading between Kerr's lines there it is obvious Key and English have thwarted him at every turn. The worst accusation you can level against Key is that he is Mr Steady-As-She-Goes as the country maintains much the same course in economic and social policy as it has done for the last couple of decades.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07950688406475072365noreply@blogger.com