She's a bit of a heifer - But I think I love Paula Bennett

[Scorp]

Now you are talking!!! And heck if she [Thatcher] were young and fit that country needs her again to sort out another Labour Government mess.

She was a loathsome bitch and she fucked Britain up. I'll never forget the bleak fog of despair that hung over Britain during her time. Makes what the UK is going through now seem a doddle in comparison. (Yep, I'm a POM).

[Scorp]

The solution therefore, would seem to be to work test ALL benefits....

Which would probably cost much more than it would save. Clever.

[mashman]

She was a loathsome bitch and she fucked Britain up. I'll never forget the bleak fog of despair that hung over Britain during her time. Makes what the UK is going through now seem a doddle in comparison. (Yep, I'm a POM).

She started off by dealing with the unions... she put her finger to the lips of the unions, the people, told them change was coming, don't panic... and then sold off publicly owned assets to whoever wanted it for some investiture capital and most likely some favours. Is that the one we're talking about... Worse was it was 10 years after we had gone through decimalisation. The house we lived in in 1970 cost 11,000 pounds, 28,000 bucks (give or take)... that's the price of an ok car today... do ya think it went wrong somewhere and a real gap started to increase between rich and poor? and for what?

[scracha]

She started off by dealing with the unions... she put her finger to the lips of the unions, the people, told them change was coming, don't panic... and then sold off publicly owned assets to whoever wanted it for some investiture capital and most likely some favours. Is that the one we're talking about... Worse was it was 10 years after we had gone through decimalisation. The house we lived in in 1970 cost 11,000 pounds, 28,000 bucks (give or take)... that's the price of an ok car today... do ya think it went wrong somewhere and a real gap started to increase between rich and poor? and for what?

Indeed she was truly a cunt. I can't understand why RT idolises her. If there's a hell then she'll surely be burning in it soon enough.

[MisterD]

Indeed she was truly a cunt. I can't understand why RT idolises her. If there's a hell then she'll surely be burning in it soon enough.

There's alot of our generation that didn't survive the "alternative comedy" brainwashing...I'm glad I grew out of it. Thatcher is still vilified because people didn't like the taste of the medicine she had to dispense to the country - don't be fooled, it had to happen and the money that Tony B.Liar had to splash around was there because of her.

She still ranks as one of the most thoughtful and intelligent PMs that the UK has been lucky enough to have.

[Tank]

Word is that Bennet also breached the the Privacy Act as well when she released the details of two woman on the benefit.

That report is due out shortly.

Skyryder

Who gives a fuck about a report??

Fuck - they were advertising on Trademe telling people how to 'max' there benefits to get over 1k per week. Bennet did a public service.

labour lefties - who happily ignore reports, police, and courts and still wont say anything bad about a MP who abused his position and is now in jail (Field) - yet are up in arms about this.

Same lefties ignore the report that Bill English was cleared - yet still go on re Double Dipton.

Cant have it both ways - it just makes you look like fools.

ps - you want a fun report - just wait to you see what comes out of the Credit card OIA request - word on the grapevine is that there are a lot of very unhappy labour members. Shades of the UK scandal coming me thinks.

[davereid]

She still ranks as one of the most thoughtful and intelligent PMs that the UK has been lucky enough to have.

Britan had virtually destroyed its economy when Thatcher was elected. It was financially in a worse state than Eastern Block countries. Britan re-emerged as a major economy, although its has been working on getting back to its former misery.

[Indiana_Jones]

New Zealand is just too soft and too PC its time to harden up folks and lets go minning

Agreed.

-Indy

[Scorp]

Thatcher is still vilified because people didn't like the taste of the medicine she had to dispense to the country - don't be fooled, it had to happen and the money that Tony B.Liar had to splash around was there because of her.

That's fine to say. But not actually factually correct. The Tories had had a small recession after Thatcher's big one, and handed the country over to Labour in rag order. The Tories handed the country over to Labour in 1997 with a larger deficit than they actually declared pre-election, they fudged the figures, lost, then said: "oops, sorry!" and let Labour sort it out.

As for Thatcher's recession - 3 million unemployed, 18% inflation, 35% drop in business revenue, that's not medicine - it's gross mismanagement.

Britan had virtually destroyed its economy when Thatcher was elected. It was financially in a worse state than Eastern Block countries. Britan re-emerged as a major economy, although its has been working on getting back to its former misery.

Simply not true. Britain had recovered from the 1973 Oil Crisis recession by 1976 and the economy was growing. Go check out the actual figures. Here's a snapshot for starters »

Thatcher came to power in '79 and immediately threw the country back into a worse recession. It went on for a full 4 years. By 1982 she was the most unpopular PM in history, and was only saved by the Falkland's jingo-fest.

It's interesting to note that both the 1979-83 Thatcher recession, and the 1990-93 Major recession, were caused by Tory monetary policies and mismanagement, while the 1973-76 recession and the current UK recession were caused by external factors. The former was the 1973 Oil Crisis, and the current one the Global Financial Crisis.

Not that I'm a fan of New Labour. Tony Blair pursued economic policies that were more Thatcherite in substance than anything since Thatcher herself. It's one of the great ironies of the last 12 years, that Labour has presided over a deeper widening of the gap between rich and poor, than Thatcher did herself. Why do you think the Tories hated him so much? Cos he was a virtual Tory in Red clothing, and they had no answer to that.

[Scorp]

I think it's really funny when people blame everything they don't like on the demon PC. It's like they're wearing a badge that says: "Hi, I can think for myself, but I've decided not to."

Unemployment Benefit has nothing to do with PC, it is a basic necessity for the smooth running of a capitalist free-market economy.

For anyone out there who truly thinks of themselves as a free-market capitalist, you should be embracing the idea of unemployment benefit. Because it keeps the free-market system you purport to like stable, and it subsidizes local business.

National, and all other free-market, capitalist political parties need unemployed people. And they need to pay them benefits. Here's why...

1. Without approx 4% to 6% unemployment, you end up with runaway inflation and an overheated, uncontrollable economy. So for free-market capitalists, unemployment is a necessary evil.

2. What do people on benefits spend their benefit money on? Food, drink, rent, utility bills, a small car, petrol, some modest local retail shopping. But not a lot more. Not enough to save, or to spend abroad in foreign markets. Point being, they don't actually keep their money - it goes from the government, through benefit claimants, and straight back into the NZ economy. Effectively, UB is a government subsidy for local business.

If you pulled the entire plug on UB, which I think accounts for about $1.6 billion a year, then there would be a corresponding drop in nationwide retail spending of $1.6 billion a year. New Zealand cannot afford for $1.6 billion to be sucked out of the retail economy - not without widespread retail redundancies.

And if you work in retail, and get made redundant, just remember, the above scenario means you've got no UB to fall back on.

[MisterD]

That's fine to say. But not actually factually correct.

You cannot argue that the reforms in terms of lowering the level of state-intervention and breaking the unions were not absolutely neccessary to restore the UK's fortunes.

A small example - the British car industry had been effectively destroyed by the combination of state ownership and union militancy and idiocy. British Leyland was, and remains to this day, an international laughing-stock.

Thanks to Thatcher the conditions were set that Nissan were able to build a factory in Sunderland which is now world-leading in its productivity.

[Scorp]

You cannot argue that the reforms in terms of lowering the level of state-intervention and breaking the unions were not absolutely neccessary to restore the UK's fortunes.

Yes I can. The unions were smashed, not reformed. Fleet Street was decimated to the detriment of UK journalism. The miners were kicked in the nuts, ass-raped, and mugged for the change in their pockets. British mineral resources were privatized and sold to foreign interests for quick cash and party coffer funds, but no long term benefit to the country whatsoever. International business won - the ordinary Briton lost.

A small example - the British car industry had been effectively destroyed by the combination of state ownership and union militancy and idiocy. British Leyland was, and remains to this day, an international laughing-stock.

I think that's probably the only example. But BL was a joke before Thatcher, and remained a joke after Thatcher, she didn't solve that problem.

The Sunderland Nissan factory is another issue altogether. A very good deal for the people of the NE of England, and a straw in Thatcher's cap. She didn't need to smash the entire UK union movement to sign that deal. All she had to do was get one union to agree to a single-union deal for that plant. Which she did.

[Ixion]

1. Without approx 4% to 6% unemployment, you end up with runaway inflation and an overheated, uncontrollable economy. So for free-market capitalists, unemployment is a necessary evil.

So, how come during the 50s 60s and most of the 70s we had insignificant unemployment (averaging < 1%), stable wages, low inflation (2-3%) and living standards among the best in the world?

[MisterD]

Yes I can. The unions were smashed, not reformed.

The word I used was "broken" but "smashed" I like...

I think that's probably the only example.

Nonsense. Even just sticking with cars, there's Toyota in Derby. If you think that the Steel industry would still be a major employer had it not been privatised, your're dreaming and the high-tech investments in Livingston, South Wales and Northern Ireland were down to the investment climate that she allowed to exist.

But BL was a joke before Thatcher, and remained a joke after Thatcher, she didn't solve that problem.

Ya reckon? Want to comment on the success of Land-Rover and the Mini brand since the death of BL? Care to think about the paralles with the problems GM and Ford have in the US now?

[Skyryder]

Who gives a fuck about a report??

Fuck - they were advertising on Trademe telling people how to 'max' there benefits to get over 1k per week. Bennet did a public service.

labour lefties - who happily ignore reports, police, and courts and still wont say anything bad about a MP who abused his position and is now in jail (Field) - yet are up in arms about this.

Same lefties ignore the report that Bill English was cleared - yet still go on re Double Dipton.

Cant have it both ways - it just makes you look like fools.

ps - you want a fun report - just wait to you see what comes out of the Credit card OIA request - word on the grapevine is that there are a lot of very unhappy labour members. Shades of the UK scandal coming me thinks.

And if Labour MP's have been rorting the system then I for one will not be condoning this any more than I have condoned Nat MP's for this.

As for the Privacy Commisioner's report............................I expect MP's no matter what political persuasion to comply with the law. It is pretty obvouse fropm your posts that you only expect Labour MP's to honour the law but if it is the Nats who break it then it's ok.


Skyryder