Thursday 11 May 2006

Why is ACOSS so quiet for once?

Sheesh, the first tax cuts in living memory where there is the blessed sound of silence from the Popes of Poverty, otherwise known as ACOSS. I never thought I would live to see the day where no one gave a toss whether these tax and welfare clowns made a thunderous pronouncement or not. For all I know, they have been bleating on enviously about tax cuts for the "rich", but I haven't seen a crumb of a story in any of the fish wrapping rags. I have watched about 5 minutes of news on TV, and in that time, not one champion of the poor has been given any publicity oxygen. Normally, they'd be given a chance to mouth a catchy soundbite, but this time, the media seems to have grown sick of them and has written them off.

Either that, or after many bumper years of economic growth, everyone has figured out that if you are still stuck on welfare, you really are a hopeless bloody case and there's no reason why any should get worked up about your condition. Even the dimmest nuf-nuf can find employment in this boom. That is, unless you are Tasmanian and too damn lazy to pack up and move to the mainland.

The Democrats however provide some ripper ideas in their alternative budget. One of them is: "Provide incentives to motorists and auto manufacturers to take up fuel efficient cars."

Guys, the market is already providing those incentives. It's called higher petrol prices. In case the news hasn't made its way down to the bottom of the garden via pixie post, sales of 4WD's have plummeted recently. The Democrats want to bring in emissions trading to reduce CO2 output, but can't bring themselves to promote higher petrol prices as policy.

Wimps.


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