Australian Exceptionalism

[Nekosan]

similarly over here, if we don't acknowledge we are in a good position, chances are people will try to solve problems that don't exist, wasting time and money.

That can never happen, not unless you remove the media monopoly and politicians all together, just listen to how much you hear the words "boat people" in the news as opposed to "visa violations by airline passengers", controversy sells.

So where exactly do we get the money from to give private health care standard to everyone?

Removing tax breaks for religious organizations would be a good start, funnel all that tax they aren't paying into healthcare (never going to happen, imagine the fit Abbot would have lol).

Private health insurance is the direct response to this fairly intractable problem. Maybe it's not an ideal response, but it is a response, that isn't totally bad if the income of low income earners keeps increasing to the point that they can afford it.

Pay increases and price of living increases aren't happening at the same rate, it's a bit of a dream to think that there will be a time when all low income earners can afford private health insurance. Even if they COULD all afford to putchase it then wouldn't that entirely defeat the reason for government healthcare? Private healthcare doesn't fix the problem it only patches it, as an Australian citizen i want everyone to have the right to decent healthcare rather than only people who can afford it.

[Sathias]

similarly over here, if we don't acknowledge we are in a good position, chances are people will try to solve problems that don't exist, wasting time and money.

That can never happen, not unless you remove the media monopoly and politicians all together, just listen to how much you hear the words "boat people" in the news as opposed to "visa violations by airline passengers", controversy sells.

This is the whole point of the article, the last sentence is "Maybe just a little less unhinging". Both sides of politics (but mostly the right at this point in time) are guilty of hysterically exaggerating the failings of the other side to the point that our political discourse has become negative, nasty and vile. I mean we have psychopathic shock jocks ranting on air about killing the PM of a country which is doing this well? Really? How insane it must look to people in countries that have major major issues.

All of it to maximise "their side" of "winning" rather than improving the country. Where the reality is that we are doing pretty damn well, and we can probably improve our country even more by acknowledging that and building on it rather than trying to tear it down for personal political gain.

There is no suggestion that we should be complacent and not try to improve our lot.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Hearing what's been bandied around among the Republican nominees over in the U.S, I think we should be fairly grateful for the political system we have here.

[Nekosan]

Hearing what's been bandied around among the Republican nominees over in the U.S, I think we should be fairly grateful for the political system we have here.

It continually astounds me that US politicians are actually being serious, I swear to god the whole thing has to be one gigantic troll by the administration. Between recent comments like

"if i were incharge i'd close down the syrian (i think it was syrian) embassy" (note: they dont have one, that's the brits) and

"the palestinians are an invented people" (blatantly trolling for the jewish vote)

it really has me wondering, how is it that people so stupid not only get into power in the first place but manage to make stupid comments (to prepared questions) when they have whole teams advising them on what to say? If those morons really get the votes the there's some kind of messed up stockholm syndrome type thingy going on all over that country, seems like this year i've heard more blatantly stupid comments than in every previous year of my life combined.

Some of the junk these people spout would get you fired from most jobs in australia (or at least ostracise you from co-workers) and their pollies are spewing it on national tv, i wont even start on how their media just totally censor any mention of one of the frontrunning candidates (it's between first and third here people, honorable mention to the guy in fourth, second? what's second?).

[Sathias]

Not to mention Bachmann's "if gay people want to get married they should marry someone of the opposite sex"

[skitzor]

"if i were incharge i'd close down the syrian (i think it was syrian) embassy" (note: they dont have one, that's the brits) and

"the palestinians are an invented people" (blatantly trolling for the jewish vote)

it was Iran, and Bachmann said it.

and that second one was Gingrich.

Not to mention Bachmann's "if gay people want to get married they should marry someone of the opposite sex"

she was trying so hard to not call that poor girl an animal in front of her face.

It continually astounds me that US politicians are actually being serious, I swear to god the whole thing has to be one gigantic troll by the administration. Between recent comments like

quite a few people are starting to think it's deliberate by the party. you put out a bunch of candidates (there have been something like 8 semi-serious to serious contenders) and then tell a few of them to act **** bat **** insane. this accomplishes two things. it makes the democrats looks like more to the left, and it makes the other republican candidates that aren't **** crazy look more centre-ish.

it's interesting to note the two different types of idiots running for the republican seat. there's people like Cain, Bachmann and Perry that are just clearly a bunch of idiots. what they say is what they actually believe. then you have people like Romney and Gingrich that are actually probably quite intelligent, but they use their intelligence to look like idiots, because that caters to their really conservative base.

here is a decent article on the issue. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/opini ... yt&emc=rss

I think the election is getting pretty close. damn it's going to be interesting and entertaining. I'm also really glad I don't live in America, and Australia doesn't have any where near the ridiculousness that goes on in their political system. that's another thing most people probably aren't thankful for in Australia.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I don't want to derail this into a U.S. presidential thread (perhaps we need one?) but Romney stupidly made a $10k bet during a debate with Rick Perry. He's being ripped apart for making such a casual bet in a country where the median average income $26,197.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but some of our politicians tend to hide the fact that they are self-made millionaires and would rather appeal to the Aussie battler.

[Sathias]

Another good article on this topic

Our economy is a dream. The debate is a nightmare

Sound too good to be true? It's not. Australian three-year bond yields are currently hovering just above 3 per cent. Ten-year bonds are trading a bit higher, but still below 4 per cent. The Reserve Bank's official interest rate is 4.25 per cent. The Government can make free money simply by selling bonds and depositing the cash it makes in the RBA.

Seen in this light, much of the current economic debate in this country is amazingly ill-informed. If the Government was a merchant bank, it could be making billions simply by exploiting this spread. Of course, it's not a merchant bank and the role of government is not to speculate on international markets. But that's no reason why it shouldn't take advantage of cheap credit to invest wisely in the future of the nation. And yet, according to nearly everyone – the Opposition, the Government, the business lobby, many economists – the aim for the Government should be to return the budget to surplus as quickly as possible.

When people earning $150,000 a year can suddenly become "battlers", you know that something has come adrift. The Opposition's continuing rhetoric about debt and deficits, for instance, misses the point that global financial markets are crying out for more Australian government bonds. If we wanted to, Australia could be borrowing money – effectively for free – and using it to invest in things that generate future economic growth: roads, ports, education and training, research and development, further micro-economic reform, and so on. It's hard to see why the Government doesn't double the budget the Australian Research Council tomorrow: in the long run, it won't cost a cent. Instead, we're embarking on what Treasury itself calls the fastest fiscal consolidation in modern history, at a time when the Reserve Bank is cutting interest rates and the international economy is stalling.

[Nekosan]

Never in my life have i heard of someone earning 150k a year being called "a battler", i wonder where he got that from?

[MaddMoose]

Never in my life have i heard of someone earning 150k a year being called "a battler", i wonder where he got that from?

Me neither.

[Bato]

Never in my life have i heard of someone earning 150k a year being called "a battler", i wonder where he got that from?

Go read the Herald Sun. People were **** horribly back when the Carbon Pricing was announced because at "150k with two kids, they were feeling the pinch" and couldn't afford the extra $10 a week.

Every time I see someone earning 100k+ a year talking about feeling the pinch, I want to slap them with their flat screen TV.

[Sathias]

Never in my life have i heard of someone earning 150k a year being called "a battler", i wonder where he got that from?

Parts of the media were whining (esp the shock jocks etc) when the Gillard government were winding back family tax payments for households earning over $150k a year.

One example from the Tele

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/youre- ... 6054271328