Monday, October 15, 2007

Costello Cuts to the Chase

Peter Costello is never so happy as when he's announcing tax cuts, and here he is again, encouraging the very rich to keep working and buying stuff and hopefully voting Liberal while they're at it. Well, to be fair, there are tax cuts for lower-income earners too. It's a taxcutpalooza.

I don't mean to spoil everyone's fun, but... isn't it a little early for this? The election was announced a mere 24 hours ago, and we're already on tax cuts? I'm not saying I don't want my extra $67 a week - heaven knows I like my weekly manicure-pedicures as much as the next battler - but it's just that there used to be some kind of decorum with these things. The way they're beginning their campaign with tax cuts, it's almost as if Howard/Costello & Co thinks the Australian electorate can be... bought off.

Meanwhile, the resources boom isn't going to last forever, and some of us, over on the communist union-boss side of politics, have an uneasy feeling that there are better things to do with $34 billion than buying more plasma screens. Funding universities, say, or investing in clean energy technology, or even, God forbid, increasing our non-tsunami-related foreign aid budget just a little. But we - at least, our elected representatives - are not going to say it out loud. We have an election to win. Right? Right.

UPDATE, October 16: Over at Crikey, Peter Brent has his own theory about why tax cuts so soon, and predicts a "controversial announcement" the first week in November. Can't hardly wait for that one.

5 comments:

Diego Luego said...

At least Mr Costello is not going to waste our 35 billion dollars on anything frivolous like education or health.

But instead of giving it back to us in dribs and drabs he could just buy us all a really big thank-you present like Fiji or Vanuatu... or even put a holding deposit on New Zealand.

On second thoughts, with global warming I think I''d prefer somewhere snowy and cold like Andorra.

l9ms said...

The way they're beginning their campaign with tax cuts, it's almost as if Howard/Costello & Co thinks the Australian electorate can be... bought off.

Yep... it's pure lowest common denominator policy that "no one" could object to. If there's one thing Howard is good at doing, it's turning the public's attention towards their own pockets.

But come on, we should have expected this. I think he's going to use everything he has in this election (i.e. $$$)

Diego Luego said...

In the spirit of true multiculturalism, along with the pork in the barrel, Howard-and-Costello must ensure there are adequate supplies of beef bacon (for the pork abstainers), and tofu burgers for the vegetarians.

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