Dec 09 2008
Payments from on high
I am interested with the government’s current trend of giving money to its citizens. Going all the way back to Howard’s baby bonus through to Rudd’s latest Aged Care bonus and Family bonus the government has seemingly made a decision to give away cold hard caaaaasssh.
Does this achieve the government’s goal? Well I guess we need to know what the government’s goal is. My understanding is that they are trying to artificially stimulate the economy, give it a Viagra so to speak. This should ensure that the economy is pumping and ready to produce some quality results.
As a single man living marginally above the poverty line without children I am fairly indifferent to the latest lifeline. I have a feeling our collective money could be put to better use to achieve something for all of us. But you may have a different point of view, where do you sit on this? Should the government tax us then give our money to the people that ‘need’ it or should the government tax us and put the money into services we all need?
Well SJ, you have opened a can of worms here. As one of the “high-income” earners who doesn’t qualify for any of the “bevan” bonuses, I could be forgiven for disagreeing with the handouts…..however I believe K-Rudd is doing the right thing for the economy in this instance. This injection of funds is required to stimulate spending in order to attempt to avoid a recession. I think it’s worth a try.
By the way I hope you enjoy the new sound system in your Monaro.
Good on Kevin for doing this. They have to do something to stop the crisis. Just sitting in their offices and hoping it goes away does not work.
Been reading the site for a while and finally had to chime in. I am happy the PM is finally doing something with this mountain of money. The government’s role is not to build a nest egg their role is to distribute money for services for the people as required.
Suckers, you have all fallen for the vote buying tactics.
This hand out is a poor way to stimulate the economy as most of it will go on mortgages, pay of credit cards and on disposable goods.
There is no long term benefit to the country or the economy.
They should focus on nation building activities, now is the time to invest in building effeciency and capability within the country, not piss money up against the wall to gain popularity. Also by building infrastructure now we will get it at a much cheaper rate than when the world takes off again.
IASM, I’m afraid you disappoint me with your ‘it’s worth a try’ comment, I don’t want the government gambling my tax dollars. If you haven’t already I would increase the price of your Pensioner Special Chicken Meal for the next 3 weeks.
I expected nothing less from iamadipstick.com. Of course you are in the “high-income” earners bracket champ! You have already been made out to be a liar. Why should we believe you now.
My thoughts – Happy for the govt to help boost the economy, in particular for carers and pensioners
I have to go with IASM here. I don’t think long term is the aim Tiger. The govt is hoping people will whack the cash into the marketplace now to keep us out of the shit whilst the global issues play out, which they will definitely do. Sure, they will pay off their credit cards first, but then they will go out and fill them up again, so job done. Last time I looked, disposable goods cost money so that would work too. I would also argue the vote grabbing bit. Big Kev’s only one year in mate so I reckon vote grabbing starts in another 9-12 mths. Much as I hate to admit it, even if it doesn’t work, he’s been decisive when we needed it and given the money to those who need it most.
Some sense from the Fat One!! Has the world gone mad during this silly season?
No, I just dumbed it down enough for you to understand it this time.