Charity begins at the IRD

In today's Herald, the Mactional Government are still banging on about widening tax rebates/loopholes for charitable donations.
This despite the fact that studies have shown that for most people, the incentive of a tax rebate is low on their list of reasons for giving.

When in opposition, National made noises about how 'complicated' the tax system is and how it needed to be 'simplified' yet now in Government, they want to add an additional layer of complication of which the net benefit to the country will be close to zero. However companies and individuals will now have new ways to avoid/evade paying tax by claiming rebates for 'gifts' that were going to given anyway or imagined 'gifts in kind' that do not exist except on a filed tax return.

In a rather hamfisted way I did try make this point in a comment at The Standard yesterday, but as is traditional amongst Standardnistas it was ignored in favour of calling people 'fuckwits' and 'pricks'.

Show us your Titular Honours!

The Mactional Government has unleashed it's newest and most futuristic idea yet to turbo-charge New Zealand inc. Bringing back Sirs and Dames!
This is wonderful news for (soon to be) Dame Jenny Shipley, now she'll be able to command a much higher fee to sit on the board of a Chinese bank.

And a note to Allen Stanford, if Antigua ever takes that knighthood back off you, we've got plenty for sale down here in NZ.

Video analysis follows.

Guilt upon exaggeration

Guilty upon accusation is a good brand to sell this issue around, however it is just ever so slightly hyperbolic. We have various characters going around saying how "guilty upon accusation" in Section 92A is unfair and not the kiwi way. Yet the Mactional Government recently passed legislation under urgency that allows employees in 'small businesses' to be fired within the first three months with virtually no recourse.
Being fired from a job for no reason, is that not "guilt upon accusation"?
Where is the anger in the NZ wankosphere about this law that comes into effect next week?
There is little outrage about "my rights" and "freedom" around this law since it will mainly affect people on lower wages - the working class (are we still allowed to say that?), not a significant demographic in the NZ blog clique. That's not to say opposing Section 92A is the wrong thing to do, the law is an ass. But it seems people are very choosy and myopic about "rights" and "freedoms" nowadays.

MSD MIA

Funny how our new and wonderful Minister of Social Development was not present at the economic summit/meeting/talk-fest of Ministers yesterday. Her ministry is going be taking on massive numbers of new 'clients' in 2009 and MSD programs should be an essential component of any poverty alleviation and economic stimulus measures.
Instead Mactional's 'plan' so far seems to be to funnel taxpayer money through business and cutting public spending in a repeat of the failed trickle-down policies of the past.

New minister pulls plug on costly summit

An emergency jobs "summit" due to be held by the Prime Minister in February has been axed after Social Development Minister Paula Bennett declared it a waste of money.

Ms Bennett said she was surprised the PM had continued with plans for the conference after his repeated warnings that he wanted careful spending of public money.

"As you can imagine, sipping my tea at 11 o'clock at night reading that made my face turn blue," she said.

"I then suggested quite strongly to the PM that he might like to revisit that in the current economic times. I told him I didn't think the New Zealand public would see this as a good spend."