Goodbye cruel world...

...of blogging that is.

Mission accomplished with Don Brash taking over the ACT party leadership :-) Seriously, blogging while working and raising a small child, while also in the process of moving and selling two houses, is difficult. Something had to give!

Let's hope for the sake of the country Don can improve ACT's party vote and bring some backbone to National. ACT and National have basically the same fundamental principles (belief in the free market and for small government) so they should be entirely compatible. Could an Australian style long-term Coalition be in the offing?

Don has my vote. Please no walking of planks or trying to squeeze into stock cars.

RWD's prescription to reduce budget deficit

Bernard Hickey has had a go. Now it's my turn:

1. Scrap Working for Families, more accurately Welfare for Families. Low incomes can be targeted much better via different mechanisms. Why a family earning $60k with one child requires $5k pa of taxpayer subsidies is beyond me. 2010 appropriations of $2.2b (Family Tax Credit) and $0.6b (In-work tax credit) = $2.8b.
2. Scrap Kiwisaver member credit and kickstart. $1.1b.
3. Scrap interest free student loans. Would reduce amount of loans plus increase revenue. Net increase of $2b.
4. Sell Kiwirail. $300m pa reduction in subsidy.

These are the easy ones. Without much thought, the deficit will reduce by about $5b.

If the Government was really serious, benefits could be reformed into an insurance type scheme paid for by the employee and employer. Not only would this reduce the deficit, but employees would be far more engaged with their employment and plan for a life without employment. This would increase participation in life insurance, disability insurance and unemployment insurance. 50% reduction in unemployment benefits would result in $500m pa savings. The same can be done for health, education et al.

The government doesn't have to wipe or arse for us. We can provide for ourselves if we want. Health, education, unemployment and superannuation. All can be provided by individuals, instead of the government. The annual savings would be in the billions (>$10b if all options considered) and the increase in efficiency by introducing competition to these government monopolies would be immeasurable. The economy would be stronger. The populace freed from the cold embrace of the State.

I've just woken up from my dream and back to reality....

Faith in humanity restored

So KFC is bringing the double down burger to NZ, resulting in howls of outrage from the food nazis and wowsers.

That said, the comments (179 at time of writing) are overwhelmingly in favour of trying the burger and letting people make their own choices about doing so. Well done people!

War on drugs

Take note, son. This is exactly how your Right Wing Dad feels.

"By any objective measure, the War On Drugs is a disastrous failure. It's time to end this madness now."

The war on drugs is expensive, ineffective and ill advised. Drug taking is a public health issue, not a criminal issue. What you do with your own body is your own business. So long as you don't impose negatively on other people, that is fine. Your actions whilst on drugs may well be judged to be criminal, but the action of taking drugs shouldn't.

h/t American Thinker

Libya: Setting a precedent?

So, now that the free world, lead by the US (well, most of the Tomahawk missiles have been their's), has the precedent been set? Are we now obligated to deal to every despot who attacks their own citizens?

NOT PC has the perfect quote:

It is not a free nation's duty to liberate other nations at the price of self-sacrifice, but a free nation has the right to do it, when and if it so chooses…

Does donating to charity set a precedent? Yes, but I have every right to choose not too the next time. It just depends on the circumstances.

Obama's illegal war

Now, don't get me wrong. Gaddafi is a dictator and a tyrant and should have been removed long ago.

But surely when you launch an attack the first thing you'd do is ensure you were allowed to? Only the US Congress is allowed to authorise use of force against an enemy in this instance, written into the US Constitution.

Obama took the oath of office, stating to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States". Did Obama even read it?

What's wrong with this picture?

There is one highly offensive item in this photo. Why would you celebrate a philosophy and regime responsible for millions of deaths and enslavement of many millions more?

I wonder how the Soviets would have handled a disaster of similar magnitude...