"0tterbot" wrote in message
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message

Doctors, hospitals and TAFEs are jsut 3 off the top of my head
where I
know services have dropped in standard or failed to keep up.

the federal liberal (sic) party is killing tafe. remember that at
voting
time!

Howard lost me totally and irretreivably over the Tampa. In a matter
of weeks he took us from the incredible euphoria as a Nation of "We
CAN take on the world and WIN" following the Olympics to a cringing
and scared "THEY are coming to get us" nation. If he'd had any vision
or talent as a real leader he would have used that euphoirc feeling to
take us forward but he took the low road and turned us backwards and
all in the name of winning an election to keep him and his cohorts in
power.

He has no real vision or leadership talent at all, but having said
that, the man is probably the BEST politician this country has ever
seen. That is NOT a compliment, but I can't recall anyone who can
fool most of the people most of the time like he can. That ability is
what being a politician is all about. Politicians govern for
themselves and to keep themselves in power and they try to fool us
that they are doing it for us. It's a rare politician who does have
ethics or morals - there are a few I know (even some Liberals) but
they aren't part of the clique.

And the really sad thing about this current government is that their
dirty tricks (which most Australians are incredibly ignorant about)
will have now been learned by Labor, so they might do the same thing
when they get into power. Things like politicis\ing the public
service (check out what's happened with Howards new appointee to the
"independent" Electoral Commission!!!!), changind electoral
boundaries, changidg how things such as unemployment stats and the
shopping basket for the CPI etc are counted. The dirty tricks jsut go
on and on. But it fools most Australians and they are complacently
happy so I guess that is what it's all about. Sigh!

And all that without even thinking of their record of "achievement"!
The lie that REALLY gives me the poops is the one about "the lowest
unemployment in 30 years" - absolute ********! I went back to the
time they made changes to how they counted the figures and the Social
Security changes that went with it and read the papers form that
time - took me a few trips to the library, I can tell you! All they
did was shuffle people off to other forms of counting them for Social
Security so they either wouldn't appear any more in the umemployment
stats, or, if they worked for an hour a week they were condsidered to
be 'employed'. One would have to be a Barrister or a QC to live on
the money from one hours work a week.

And not a peep from the media. Don't these *******s do any research
any more? If I can do it so can they. Must not suit the media owners
to expose the lie.

Roads are looked after by local rates UNLESS it is a major State
highway.

well, yeah.

Why do you think country roads are so shitty? Schools and
hospitals are fuunded from grant to the States from the Federal
Governement and much/most of this revenue is now raised from the
GST.
Since the GST is a comsumption tax, then most rampant consumers
are
the ones who pay. I guess you were thinking of city people being
those rampant consumers?

well not necessarily -

I know, I did have my tongue in my cheek when I wrote that.

based on sheer numbers it's purely a fact that they
contribute (slightly more than) 4/5 of state revenue in nsw. there's
actually many more taxes and similar than gst. gst did away with
precisely
one (1) that i know of, although undoubtedly there were a few more
that i
don't know of. (it's nowhere near as "efficient" etc as was touted -
it's a
mess :-)

It did away with many and it was SUPPOSEFD to do away with many more -
that is part of the ongoing barny between the Sates and the Feds on
State taxes. Costello has been arguing with the States on this issue
for eyars. The stupid Feds introduced the GST on a promise from the
States that they'd do away with many of the other State taxes, but of
course they got the cake before they had to act and now they are
eating it too.