Monday, August 22, 2005
National leader Don Brash today unveiled a major restructuring of the tax system, providing tax relief and targeted family assistance worth about $3.9 billion by the third year.
It took National a while to get their calculator up and running on the web, but it's now online at www.taxcuts.co.nz If you want to compare Labour's proposals, their calculator is here.
No doubt Labour and the Greens will pour scorn on the National proposals, but Labour really killed their ability to realistically criticise when they suddenly announced their massive family assistance package last week.
While the debate over tax rages in New Zealand, there are signs that Germany could soon be looking seriously at a flat tax system (a proposal by NZ's Act party which has been rubbished by just everybody else). Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democrat Union (CDU), Germany's principal opposition party, has appointed a prominent advocate of a flat tax system as a finance policy expert to her election campaign team. Kirchof espouses a complete overhaul of the country's tax system, and advocates sweeping away Germany's extensive system of taxpayer subsidies and replacing it with a flat rate of income tax charged at 25%. The move is being interpreted by observers as a statement of long-term radical intent should Merkel oust Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in September's election. An opinion poll last week placed the CDU and Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union on 43%, comfortably ahead of the ruling Social Democrats on 29%.
Australia’s opposition party is calling on the ruling coalition government to clarify new restrictions placed on churches and other charitable institutions, which stipulate that criticism of the government or its policies can lead to revocation of their charitable tax status. Opposition treasury spokesman Wayne Swan said the new measure is the “sort of thuggery . . . typical of a Government that’s drunk on its own power,” according to an abc.net.au report. He said the institutions that represent the underprivileged should be free to voice their opposition to policies that may affect the poor. [Similar concerns were voiced in New Zealand when the Charities Commission Bill was introduced.]
It snuck under my radar that Japan is also having national elections next month (a week before New Zealand). The election was called suddenly last week by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi after lawmakers rejected by a narrow margin his bill to privatize Japan's massive postal system. Laying out a new policy agenda, Japan's governing party outlined a vision for the country's future on Friday that called for shrinking the size of government, taking a more assertive stance in Asia and strengthening the Japanese military. The elections are widely seen as a referendum on the future course of Japan, both the sorts of measures the country will take to rejuvenate its low-growth $5 trillion economy, and whether it will alter a pacifist foreign policy adopted after defeat in World War II.
The way in which electioneering has changed over the last half century is charted in this fascinating article by Colin James. Do you feel manipulated? You should: "Now leaders do 'events' to illustrate the spin of the day, aimed for the 6pm television news. Long expositions of their parties' policies have been largely replaced by subliminal messages, dog-whistles, keywords, sound bytes, stagey photos, gimmicks and slick, nasty or syrupy advertising - with automated phone calls and text messages to come, if Australia is a guide."
Peace is fraying in Hawaii as tensions rise over a bill the US Senate will vote on next month that would create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians. What some see as redress for past injustices, others see as the creation of a racial spoils system that could treat neighbors differently depending on whether or not they have a drop of native blood. Democrat Senator Daniel Akaka has introduced a bill called the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005. Akaka wants to extend the government's policy of self-governance and self-determination to Native Hawaiians. He, and fellow Hawaiian Senator Inouye intend to do this by creating a race-based and racially separate government for Native Hawaiians. Under S. 147 Native Hawaiians would be under the federal Indian law system and would be designated as a "tribe." This new race-based government would have jurisdiction over 20 percent of Hawaii's citizens as well as 400,000 citizens nationwide.
For the first time in recent history, US students have recorded positive results in a series of national tests designed to show progress over time. According to The Economist, “This year's report contained two striking results. The first is that America's nine-year-olds posted their best scores in reading and math since the tests were introduced (in 1971 in reading and 1973 in math). The second is that the gap between white students and minorities is narrowing. The nine-year-olds who made the biggest gains of all were blacks, traditionally the most educationally deprived group in American society.” Commentators suggest that the results could be put down to: a) Accountability (holding schools, teachers, and administrators responsible for educational results); b) Competition (University of California-Berkeley professor Eric Rofes reports that 25 percent of schools faced with competition changed their practices because of the pressure to show better results); c) Quality teachers.
They're called "synthetic biologists" and they boldly claim the ability to make never-before-seen living things, one genetic molecule at a time. They're mixing, matching and stacking DNA's chemical components like microscopic Lego blocks in an effort to make biologically based computers, medicines and alternative energy sources. The rapidly expanding field is confounding the taxonomists' centuries-old system of classifying species and raising concerns about the new technology's potential for misuse.
At a church planting congress in 1998, representatives of Latin American nations set the very ambitious goal of planting a total of 500,000 new Christian churches by the year 2010. Dawn Ministries has published a progress report on their website, which shows that the target will be reached if the development continues at the current rate. Five nations have already reached their original target and set new national targets. Guatemala, the first Latin American nation to have a process based on the Dawn strategy following their initial Congress in 1984, reached the target of 7,000 new churches in only five years. They then set another target of a further 5,000 churches, which has also already been reached. In the small nation of Uruguay, 30% of the population considered themselves atheist in 1996. Between 1996 and 1999, 1,000 new churches were planted, three years faster than planned. In the meantime, only 10% of the population now consider themselves atheists. Following 30 years of Communism, Cuba had less than 800 churches, the same number as at the start of the Communist revolution. By 1998, Cuban Christians had already reached their aim of planting 5,000 new churches, most of which were house churches. That was two years before their target, 2000.
Tail-out: [I am wondering whether the following is a hoax, as I can find no mention of it elsewhere on the Internet news wires - but TVNZ seem to think its genuine:] Some young Japanese graduates will literally have a mountain to climb to get their first job. One of the country's top Internet apparel retailers wants to make sure new employees have what it takes to scale the heights of business by interviewing them at the summit of the 3,776 metre Mount Fuji. Some 50 hopefuls will need to be at the peak of their powers to get one of the four jobs on offer when they climb the mountain with company executives on August 24, aiming to reach the summit for a dawn interview the next day. "We are aiming to be the No.1 Internet retailer, so the No.1 mountain in Japan is very suitable," said Yoshifumi Tsunada, head of public relations for Image Co, the parent company of ImageNet Co., which will do the hiring.
It took National a while to get their calculator up and running on the web, but it's now online at www.taxcuts.co.nz If you want to compare Labour's proposals, their calculator is here.
No doubt Labour and the Greens will pour scorn on the National proposals, but Labour really killed their ability to realistically criticise when they suddenly announced their massive family assistance package last week.
While the debate over tax rages in New Zealand, there are signs that Germany could soon be looking seriously at a flat tax system (a proposal by NZ's Act party which has been rubbished by just everybody else). Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democrat Union (CDU), Germany's principal opposition party, has appointed a prominent advocate of a flat tax system as a finance policy expert to her election campaign team. Kirchof espouses a complete overhaul of the country's tax system, and advocates sweeping away Germany's extensive system of taxpayer subsidies and replacing it with a flat rate of income tax charged at 25%. The move is being interpreted by observers as a statement of long-term radical intent should Merkel oust Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in September's election. An opinion poll last week placed the CDU and Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union on 43%, comfortably ahead of the ruling Social Democrats on 29%.
Australia’s opposition party is calling on the ruling coalition government to clarify new restrictions placed on churches and other charitable institutions, which stipulate that criticism of the government or its policies can lead to revocation of their charitable tax status. Opposition treasury spokesman Wayne Swan said the new measure is the “sort of thuggery . . . typical of a Government that’s drunk on its own power,” according to an abc.net.au report. He said the institutions that represent the underprivileged should be free to voice their opposition to policies that may affect the poor. [Similar concerns were voiced in New Zealand when the Charities Commission Bill was introduced.]
It snuck under my radar that Japan is also having national elections next month (a week before New Zealand). The election was called suddenly last week by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi after lawmakers rejected by a narrow margin his bill to privatize Japan's massive postal system. Laying out a new policy agenda, Japan's governing party outlined a vision for the country's future on Friday that called for shrinking the size of government, taking a more assertive stance in Asia and strengthening the Japanese military. The elections are widely seen as a referendum on the future course of Japan, both the sorts of measures the country will take to rejuvenate its low-growth $5 trillion economy, and whether it will alter a pacifist foreign policy adopted after defeat in World War II.
The way in which electioneering has changed over the last half century is charted in this fascinating article by Colin James. Do you feel manipulated? You should: "Now leaders do 'events' to illustrate the spin of the day, aimed for the 6pm television news. Long expositions of their parties' policies have been largely replaced by subliminal messages, dog-whistles, keywords, sound bytes, stagey photos, gimmicks and slick, nasty or syrupy advertising - with automated phone calls and text messages to come, if Australia is a guide."
Peace is fraying in Hawaii as tensions rise over a bill the US Senate will vote on next month that would create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians. What some see as redress for past injustices, others see as the creation of a racial spoils system that could treat neighbors differently depending on whether or not they have a drop of native blood. Democrat Senator Daniel Akaka has introduced a bill called the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005. Akaka wants to extend the government's policy of self-governance and self-determination to Native Hawaiians. He, and fellow Hawaiian Senator Inouye intend to do this by creating a race-based and racially separate government for Native Hawaiians. Under S. 147 Native Hawaiians would be under the federal Indian law system and would be designated as a "tribe." This new race-based government would have jurisdiction over 20 percent of Hawaii's citizens as well as 400,000 citizens nationwide.
For the first time in recent history, US students have recorded positive results in a series of national tests designed to show progress over time. According to The Economist, “This year's report contained two striking results. The first is that America's nine-year-olds posted their best scores in reading and math since the tests were introduced (in 1971 in reading and 1973 in math). The second is that the gap between white students and minorities is narrowing. The nine-year-olds who made the biggest gains of all were blacks, traditionally the most educationally deprived group in American society.” Commentators suggest that the results could be put down to: a) Accountability (holding schools, teachers, and administrators responsible for educational results); b) Competition (University of California-Berkeley professor Eric Rofes reports that 25 percent of schools faced with competition changed their practices because of the pressure to show better results); c) Quality teachers.
They're called "synthetic biologists" and they boldly claim the ability to make never-before-seen living things, one genetic molecule at a time. They're mixing, matching and stacking DNA's chemical components like microscopic Lego blocks in an effort to make biologically based computers, medicines and alternative energy sources. The rapidly expanding field is confounding the taxonomists' centuries-old system of classifying species and raising concerns about the new technology's potential for misuse.
At a church planting congress in 1998, representatives of Latin American nations set the very ambitious goal of planting a total of 500,000 new Christian churches by the year 2010. Dawn Ministries has published a progress report on their website, which shows that the target will be reached if the development continues at the current rate. Five nations have already reached their original target and set new national targets. Guatemala, the first Latin American nation to have a process based on the Dawn strategy following their initial Congress in 1984, reached the target of 7,000 new churches in only five years. They then set another target of a further 5,000 churches, which has also already been reached. In the small nation of Uruguay, 30% of the population considered themselves atheist in 1996. Between 1996 and 1999, 1,000 new churches were planted, three years faster than planned. In the meantime, only 10% of the population now consider themselves atheists. Following 30 years of Communism, Cuba had less than 800 churches, the same number as at the start of the Communist revolution. By 1998, Cuban Christians had already reached their aim of planting 5,000 new churches, most of which were house churches. That was two years before their target, 2000.
Tail-out: [I am wondering whether the following is a hoax, as I can find no mention of it elsewhere on the Internet news wires - but TVNZ seem to think its genuine:] Some young Japanese graduates will literally have a mountain to climb to get their first job. One of the country's top Internet apparel retailers wants to make sure new employees have what it takes to scale the heights of business by interviewing them at the summit of the 3,776 metre Mount Fuji. Some 50 hopefuls will need to be at the peak of their powers to get one of the four jobs on offer when they climb the mountain with company executives on August 24, aiming to reach the summit for a dawn interview the next day. "We are aiming to be the No.1 Internet retailer, so the No.1 mountain in Japan is very suitable," said Yoshifumi Tsunada, head of public relations for Image Co, the parent company of ImageNet Co., which will do the hiring.
