rosy23 said:
How would anyone know what they're getting if they vote Johnny Bonsai in? He's only there because he didn't have faith that Elvis could lead the party to victory and he's admitted he'll be stepping down sooner rather than later and won't be there for the next election. Nobody knows Costello's policies and how he plans to run the country so to me voting for Johnny is a vote for the unknown.
Did it stop you voting for the ALP when Bracks/Thwaites pulled the pin so soon after being re-elected?
Or Beattie up in Queensland?
We now have Brumby as our Premier after the Victorian people voted for Bracks and HIS policies/style, yet we have gone into the unknown with Brumby now running the show.
The difference between Howard bailing out, and Bracks/Beattie bailing out, is that Howard has openly told everyone what he plans to do. I didn't hear such declarations from the two ALP state premiers before their respective elections.
rosy23 said:
I haven't decided if I'll vote or not this year but I have decided I won't be voting Liberal...if you say you get what you deserve I'm protesting the way they deserve because of their disregard of the working class. I'd never vote for someone who gave us the GST and makes me do dreaded the dreaded BAS each month and the Industrial Relations laws are out of touch with the every day person. Action might have been needed but Johnny has it horribly wrong.
You've used the GST as a reason for not voting for the Libs...we've touched on this before:
Rudd in 1999:
When the GST came up for a vote back in 1999, Rudd rose to tell us: “When the history of this parliament, this nation and this century is written, June 30, 1999, will be recorded as a day of fundamental injustice ... the day when the social compact that has governed this nation for the last 100 years was torn up.” The only GST injustice we hear about these days is when states wail about not getting enough of the pie.
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/janetalbrechtsen/index.php/theaustralian/comments/pms_success_has_paved_the_way_for_kevin_rudd/
Yet, is Rudd rectifying this great injustice by announcing that he will rid this country of the GST once he is elected?
No...of course not....now he is saying this:
The federal Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, has comprehensively ruled out any increase to the GST under a Labor government.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/03/30/1885574.htm
Oh....so now he is downplaying his initial outcry over the GST. :
Also, while contemplating your vote about the issue of the GST, remember this:
Tax reform, especially the introduction of a goods and services tax, is the issue currently straining the credibility of our political leaders.
Both sides of politics have been in favour of it. At least substantial sections of it. Keating was in favour of it for a long time. Kim Beazley was once in favour of it. I think it's hard to know who is genuine in their beliefs now. I think John Howard is genuine in his belief that it is a good thing.
John Howard was first to moot a GST while treasurer in the Fraser Government, but it was Labor that placed it firmly on the national agenda. At the tax summit in 1985 the then treasurer, Paul Keating, supported by Kim Beazley and Gareth Evans, ran hard on a consumption tax.
But Bob Hawke scuttled the idea and it remained on a shelf until opposition leader John Hewson led the coalition into the 1993 election campaign.
Surprisingly, Paul Keating, once the champion of the GST, now decried it.
But then Howard won the ‘96 election. Rather than "never ever" being part of a coalition platform, the GST is now its central plank. And its greatest advocates from the ‘80s still predict it will be a disaster. Who to believe? And is there some way we can stop the lies?
http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/cover_stories/transcript_259.asp
Whether Howard gets back in, or Rudd wins the election is inconsequential regarding the GST, as it is here to stay, and there is no way the ALP are going to get rid of one of the great cash cows the government have.
rosy23 said:
Livers I have a question. You seem very biased in your political views. You post to build one party up and bring another down. Would you ever admit to any common ground being a good thing?
I wouldn't use the word "biased" because I am open and honest with who I am voting for....unlike posters who sit on the fence, or others who don't have the balls to declare who they are voting for but still give a backhander on here to the party they are NOT going to vote for.
Common ground is good if it is fair dinkum and sincere.
rosy23 said:
You make it sound like Rudd agrees with everything Johnny says but that's not the case at all. I don't see why you keep bagging him for agreeing with some of the Libs actions. To me that's natural, I can see good and bad on both sides and Kevin Rudd being willing to publicly reinforce
some things Johnny has said and done is refreshing and a welcome change from Kim Beazly bagging everything the Gov did just because they were an opposition party.
Did you notice the tables turn a bit last night and Johnny wasn't beyond agreeing with Kev?
Some of the Libs actions? :rofl
We have seen with immigration, tax reforms, Aboriginal affairs...the list goes on and on.
Did you see Mark Knight's cartoon (on Saturday I think)...."Me too"....and so it isn't just myself sprouting on this forum about Rudd agreeing with much of the Government's policies and initiatives as you are suggesting....but it is widely known by the public that Rudd is The Echo...or "me too".
While you asked the question that we won't know what we're going to get once Howard retires and Costello takes over, and his policies and style....then I ask the same question to you:
Is Kevin Rudd going to continue with the same policies and initiatives that the Government have and are introducing, as he keeps stating to the media and to the public? or are we going to see backflip after backflip once he gets into power?
A perfect example of this was when McClelland spoke about the ALP policy on the death penalty and what they were going to do....did Rudd support this minister and the ALP policy?
No...he took him aside for 'counselling' and then agreed with what Howard was doing.
So it remains....once elected, would Rudd still agree with Howard and the Government's stance on the death penalty? or would he then, and only then, support the true ALP policy?
And if the ALP policy is so great and of benefit to Australia and Australians....then why doesn't he openly show the true ALP policies on a range of issues, instead of just agreeing with Howard until the election is over?
To me, there is a difference between 'sincere agreeance' and 'insincere agreeance', and due to the number of polcies and initiatives that Rudd is agreeing upon, I would class him in the latter.
