So why do people like John Howard

[dreampolice]

Ok so he is the PM and there may be some reasons you may not like the man, such as;

'never never' gst
telstra
his determination to get rid of medicare and bulk billing
his refusal to honor his agreement with Costello to stand down
his continued running down of public schools
his refusal to sign the Kyoto agreement
So on behalf of us all he has thumbed his nose at the environment,the poor, the desperate, and any chance of a working medical system.......



But...
He is cute and cuddly and easy to please......


Please help me here what else should we like about our beloved PM?

 

[Arks]

I like hes stance on imigration. He is liberal as well. He accepts that our allience with America is very important for homeland security. Go Johhny!. Costello will be great as well.

 

[Tinker]

Originally posted by dreampolice
Ok so he is the PM and there may be some reasons you may not like the man, such as;

'never never' gst
telstra
his determination to get rid of medicare and bulk billing
his refusal to honor his agreement with Costello to stand down
his continued running down of public schools
his refusal to sign the Kyoto agreement
So on behalf of us all he has thumbed his nose at the environment,the poor, the desperate, and any chance of a working medical system.......



But...
He is cute and cuddly and easy to please......


Please help me here what else should we like about our beloved PM?

Let's see......the economy is booming after Labor's "recession we HAD to have"..........

There has been a rise in wages and properity ACROSS the board - the poor might still be poor but there is more money in their pockets that in, say, 1995........



Why are Labor hacks so against people paying for services? Is it so wrong that people pay for doctors or education? Why should people get a free ride? I'm not saying bleed people dry and I think there are many Australian's who could use a genuine break - but these bleeding heart lefties seem to think that every Australian deserves a free ride.

I pay my taxes and I dont wish to see them spent on helping people who are not willing to help themselves. I came through life, uni etc the HARD way and I got by and managed just fine. Maybe some people need to just toughen up a bit.

 

[El Scorcho]

I like his progressive attitude and the way in which he quickly voiced his opposition to Hanson, and then made sure none of his policies could be likened to hers.

I like the way in which he thoughtfully found a home for the wretched refuse on board the Tampa, and on a tropical island too.

I like the way in which he genuinely left the door open for real discussion and public comment before deciding whether or not to go to war in Iraq, just to make sure that the majority of Australian people were behind him.

I like the way in which he gave us a fair and unloaded question on which to vote at the republic referendum.

I like the way he is so concerned about kids, that at the slightest mention of them drowning in the ocean he sought to enlighten the public of the dangers of parents who would allow their kids to get into that situation.

I like the way in which Howard has seen the dangers to the north and made sure we aren't seen as a part of that nasty Asia, or friendly with our closest neighbours the Indonesians.

I like the way in which he brought in his ministerial code of conduct to show his integrity, that was great. I'm sure though, that all his ministers are totally decent and he'll never even be called on to use it.

I like the way Howard simply embraces difference. Be it cultural, social, economic, or religous, it never ceases to amaze me how often I see him surrounded by all different types. Makes such a nice change from 40-60 year old white men.

And, finally, I like Howard because he likes the Don.

 

[Tinker]

at least he doesn't pander to minorites.

 

[pazza]

The only reason I can come up with for him being liked so much is the results he has achieved since 1996.

How much pain has been inflicted by these policies has been deflected by the results.

 

[Mead]

I don't like him- frankly, everything I've heard from him makes him sound like an annoying little git.

Having said that, I voted Liberal last election, and I'll vote for him again. Penniless student that I am, my life is pretty reasonable. I can find a job if I want, my folks are a lot better off than they were pre-Howard, so really, thats it for me. Can't argue with results. More to the point, who else would I vote for? Labor under Crean? (ahahahhaa-ahem), or a crackpot, far out minority party like the greens?

I guess I would prefer Costello if it came right down to it- still a very competent economic manager, but a bit less socially conservative.

 

[BloodyPrincess]

Originally posted by El Scorcho
I like his progressive attitude and the way in which he quickly voiced his opposition to Hanson, and then made sure none of his policies could be likened to hers.

I like the way in which he thoughtfully found a home for the wretched refuse on board the Tampa, and on a tropical island too.

I like the way in which he genuinely left the door open for real discussion and public comment before deciding whether or not to go to war in Iraq, just to make sure that the majority of Australian people were behind him.

I like the way in which he gave us a fair and unloaded question on which to vote at the republic referendum.

I like the way he is so concerned about kids, that at the slightest mention of them drowning in the ocean he sought to enlighten the public of the dangers of parents who would allow their kids to get into that situation.

I like the way in which Howard has seen the dangers to the north and made sure we aren't seen as a part of that nasty Asia, or friendly with our closest neighbours the Indonesians.

I like the way in which he brought in his ministerial code of conduct to show his integrity, that was great. I'm sure though, that all his ministers are totally decent and he'll never even be called on to use it.

I like the way Howard simply embraces difference. Be it cultural, social, economic, or religous, it never ceases to amaze me how often I see him surrounded by all different types. Makes such a nice change from 40-60 year old white men.

And, finally, I like Howard because he likes the Don.

Fantastic, and to think that no one has realised that this is a sarcastic commentary. I will use this for greater good.

 

[otaku]

he gives great gobbies

 

[BrisGirl]

Once you have paid 15.5% interest on your home loan in your lifetime.........Howard looks very good indeed.

 

[pazza]

Interesting point that BrisGirl

Wasn't it during thew 1982/83, that the interest rates were already around 13-14%, with Howard as the treasurer?

 

[BrisGirl]

Originally posted by pazza
Interesting point that BrisGirl

Wasn't it during thew 1982/83, that the interest rates were already around 13-14%, with Howard as the treasurer?

I am not sure about the accuracy of that time or interest rate but at least is was less than 15.5%, plus I hated Keating with a PASSION!!

 

[Bombers 2003]

I agree with Anniswan.

 

[Tim56]

It is unfair to blame Keating for the massive interest rates and recession. Keating wasn't entirely wrong when he said it was the recession we had to have. Interest rates are set by the Reserve Bank, which, in theory and mostly in practice, is independent of the government. They should have done more to stop the economy getting overheated, although Keating did run contractionary budgets. The massive economic reforms of Hawke/Keating, such as floating the dollar, deregulating the banking system, etc. are largely responsible for Australia's economic prosperity in recent times. Paul Kelly's 'The End of Certainty' is an excellent source for information about this period.

 

[Weaver]

The Australian government, Liberal or Labour, has next to no say in the economic cycle of this country. I think crediting or blaming Keating or Howard for things like interest rates is wishful thinking.

The best they can hope to do is massage the edges of whatever is dealt out.

 

[TheWackedYak]

Originally posted by otaku
he gives great gobbies

That and the green and gold tracksuits.

As a master manipulator of big dumb populism (Liberals = battlers ha ha ha ha...tell Mal Turnbull), he's done extremely well for an uncharismatic little dwarf. But you only play as well as your opposition lets you, and Kimbo and Sime have very much been the Bangladesh and Zimbabwes of the political cricket field.

 

[Mead]

Originally posted by Weaver
The Australian government, Liberal or Labour, has next to no say in the economic cycle of this country. I think crediting or blaming Keating or Howard for things like interest rates is wishful thinking.

The best they can hope to do is massage the edges of whatever is dealt out.

True to a certain extent, but the reality is that when the economy is up **** creek, those in power cop it. If things are good, then it would seem churlish not to give a government credit for it- they are the ones whose head is on the block when the bad times come.

Furthermore, its worth noting that Australia isn't exactly coasting on a world wave of prosperity at the moment- the impression I get is that its economy is performing significantly better than most in asia or europe. The government in power has to take some credit for that.

 

[demon_dave]

Howard is the worst PM this country has ever seen, he has racist beliefs which have been proved over the last few years the way he has treated minorities. Its been seen in the past as far back as early 70's when he supported apartheid in South Africa, anti Asian in the 80's and his own policies on treating refugees since becoming PM. He doesn't mind going into these countries and bombing the **** out them so the yanks can get their greasy hands on oil, but when the victims of these atrocities turn up on the Australian shore he does his best to demonise them by lying and decieving the majority. He plays on the worst traits of the population of this country, such as underlying racism and xenophobia, you should be ashamed to vote for this imbecile..........Dave

 

[Jars458]

Because they are terrible judges of character.

 

[Mightypies]

Originally posted by Arks
I like hes stance on imigration. He is liberal as well. He accepts that our allience with America is very important for homeland security. Go Johhny!. Costello will be great as well.

Its not football arks, its polotics.

 

[llosis]

I don't know if like is the right word, more like respect. I can't imagine having a beer with Howard under the patio at my place.

But I think, like pazza said, the scores on the board in the last 7 years. Economically in particular things have been very good. Whilst individual policies have not been universally popular I think they have contributed to the strength of the economic cycle we've been in.

 

[llosis]

Originally posted by Weaver
The Australian government, Liberal or Labour, has next to no say in the economic cycle of this country. I think crediting or blaming Keating or Howard for things like interest rates is wishful thinking.

The best they can hope to do is massage the edges of whatever is dealt out.

Interesting comment Weaver. What makes you say that?

I agree much of the economic environment is global and is out of the governments control, but you don't think policy can play a big role in how it is managed and ultimately what condition the local economy is in?

 

[Jars458]

Originally posted by llosis
Interesting comment Weaver. What makes you say that?

I agree much of the economic environment is global and is out of the governments control, but you don't think policy can play a big role in how it is managed and ultimately what condition the local economy is in?

The beauty of economics is that you will never know the answer to that question.

So many different variable and factors at play - who knows whether a policy has had a positive effect or not.

Ceterus Paribus (not sure on spelling) - the great leveller.

 

[llosis]

Originally posted by Jars458
Ceterus Paribus

All things being equal.....

If it weren't for this economic theorists would be out of a job.

THe point I was trying to get to was I don't think you can say the economic philosophy of the government and it;s fiscal policies etc have no effect on the state of an individual economy. I would say that they do - even though they may be hard to assess - they have an effect none the less.

 

[TheBloods]

Originally posted by Weaver
The Australian government, Liberal or Labour, has next to no say in the economic cycle of this country.

Rubbish. The global economy certainly has a major influence, however domestic policies can also be critical. Have a look at 2002 - the rest of the world was in recession while Australia was still motoring along nicely. It's happened before and it will happen again, similarly Australia's economy has performed worse than the average. It also doesn't just happen to Australia. Even within the EU you can see major differences between the performances of countries, which is significantly influenced by the policies of the governments.