Mark Latham’s views on Rudd.

Cartoon: By Nicholson.

Mark Latham is vilified among Labor purists, but he understood just what sort of disingenuous piece of shit Kevin Rudd was and is.

Generally I have no interest in political diaries or autobiographies, as I usually have little time for the type of people who write them, politicians or their acolytes. Apart from a short time in history, (the founding of the US) where government was considered to be for the protection of the liberty of the people, politics and its manipulators have sucked.

In this country the sort of people attracted to politics are not those who believe in free people doing their own thing, but the more authoritarian view, that we need both them and governing.

The problem with the state is that it is seen as ‘authority’ and as such, like any institution involving that aspect of life, attracts the worst in people. There is little difference between the attraction of politicians to politics, pedophiles to schools or scouts, and sadists to Abu Ghraib. The attraction of flies to crap is more honorable – flies are just being flies, politicians are just being politicians, both are pretty disgusting but the flies only want a feed.

Mark Latham is one of the most extraordinary and most controversial figures to walk the political stage here. He was a divisive figure in many ways often due to his intemperance in language and behavior. After losing to John Howard he resigned from parliament after criticism, both for his tactics during the election, and for being out of communication. During the election and afterwards he was suffering from pancreatitis.

He wrote a great op-ed on the folly of the need to be seen to be doing something, a major problem in government.

Andrew Bolt in his Herald Sun article relates some of the things one of his commenter’s gleaned from “The Latham Diaries,” on his opinions of Rudd, and examples of his behaviour such as:

Another slice of Caucus chaos: Kevin Rudd. On Wednesday, ‘ The Australian ‘ carried a front-page story saying that if Rudd didn’t became Shadow Treasurer he would go to the backbench. My thoughts went back to December last year and his tantrum over his title. He’s such a prima donna.

Rudd came around to see me yesterday morning, lobbying to be Shadow Treasurer. He went into a long explanation of why he’s so wonderful. When he finished I put my cards on the table: that I regard him as disloyal and unreliable, and he only holds his frontbench position because of his media profile and public standing among people who have never actually met him. I also told him that if the newspaper report was true, he should get ready for the backbench, as there was no way I could give him the Shadow Treasury.

He appeared surprised, protested his innocence and then broke down badly, sobbing over the recent death of his mother, just before polling day. I told him to leave work and go back to Brisbane to rest with his family. But he wouldn’t give up. Even though he was crying, he kept on lobbying to be Shadow Treasurer. It was becoming quite sad. Then he said words that I will never forget: ‘I swear on my mother’s grave that The Australian story is wrong, totally wrong, and that I’ve been loyal to you and will continue to be loyal to your leadership’.

I don’t mind people bullshitting to me in politics, but not like this. Last week he rang around Caucus to gauge the mood after our loss, and told Trish Crossin that my leadership was on notice: I had until the Budget Reply speech next May to prove myself. He’s always bagging me to journal­ists and that’s not going to change any time soon. I don’t trust him, no matter what he says.

Rudd’s Resource Rent Tax.

With attribution to Ron Kitching.

Some commentators writing about Rudd’s 40% Resource Rent Tax, are saying that he is the greatest social reformer since Whitlam. The term ‘social reformer’ is used to infer changing the basis dynamic of individualism from being the basic element around which society is formed to one in which the individual is subservient and reliant on society.

Gough's social reform taught people that they did not have to pay for their education and health services. He was one of the great believers in the theory that by increasing social welfare spending at the expense of the productive sector, it would stimulate the economy. The Whitlam government was so inept, corrupt, incompetent, and out of control that he was able to make Fraser electable, in the same way Rudd has done with Abott.

It has taken the Labor Party 35 years to produce a worse Prime Minister than Gough was.

Ken Henry is a trained interventionist. State interventionism in all forms destroys the impartial co-ordinating ability of the market and turns what may have been profitable investments into malinvestments.

Xtrata has made $44 billion in Australian revenue since 2002. Of that, $27bn was paid to employees, to suppliers, the stake holders in communities and towns and to the states and commonwealth tax offices.

The remaining $17bn, and another $1bn outside the country, has been invested in Australia to develop or acquire new mines and infrastructure. That is a fair share for Australians.

There is no such thing as a windfall profit. Huge profits indicate that a producer is serving its customers well. Profits have a social function:

* Profits induce competitive producers to enter production.

* Profits generate new capital.

* New capital generates exploration activity.

* Exploration activity generates new discoveries.

* New discoveries generate production and jobs for the entire spectrum of society's workers.

The Rudd government's RRT is a capital destroying exercise and as such becomes a production and job destroying activity.

It also leaves countless millions of tonnes of otherwise profitable ore in the ground. Low grade producers are wiped out completely.

Rand Paul; battling the establishment.

While Rand Paul is comfortably ahead in the polls for the Kentucky Senate seat, he is in a much more insidious battle against the business as usual elements of the party. While Paul has the support of fiscally responsible republicans, and the Tea party, there is an element within the party of good old days Republicans who will move heaven and earth to maintain the status quo, by supporting his main opponent, Trey Grayson.

It is probably a great thing that Congress, the house of ill repute has such a low approval rating that the endorsements they have given Grayson have caused his electoral chances to drop with each one.

Here is a clip that puts things in perspective, including the prospect of his opponent being in charge of the count in the election:

Wayne Root; “Obama knows what he is doing.”

Photo: Wayne Allyn Root.

And it's bad news.

It’s been a while since I mentioned Wayne Root the former VP nominee of the Libertarian Party. Wayne is one of the best Presidential candidates we have seen in recent times form any party and caused considerable concern among some of the more insightful Republicans as to the votes he could get from small government members of the Party. Fortunately for the GOP the LP went into meltdown at the prospect of mainstream candidates instead of the usual ideological whackos.

A Goldwater republican with a strong commitment to the constitution, a deep belief in individual liberty, and a determination to reduce the size, scope, and cost of government that would bring joy to the hearts of all Tea-partiers, Wayne is an articulate voice for freedom. He adopts a reasoned approach to issues and is not prone to extreme statements.

For this reason it was something of a surprise to read his article, “The Real Obama Economic Plan: Overwhelming the System to Destroy Capitalism and Freedom” on his blog. This is not some wild eyed radical right winger, but a solid, sound, and well reasoning person and for that reason we should take notice:

"It’s time to stop mincing words. Obama is not a fool. He is not incompetent. He is not a madman. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He is purposely overwhelming the U.S. economy to create systemic failure, economic crisis, and social chaos- thereby destroying capitalism and our country from within. But the bonus is brilliant…as he destroys and taxes to death business owners; he also cripples his political opposition.

Rahm Emanuel cynically said, “You never want a crisis to go to waste.” It is now becoming clear that the crisis he was referring to is Obama’s Presidency. As Glenn Beck correctly predicted from day one, Obama is following the plan of Cloward & Piven, two professors at Obama’s Columbia University. In 1966, they outlined a plan to socialize America by OVERWHELMING the system with government spending and entitlement demands. Add up the clues below. Taken individually they’re alarming. Taken as a whole, it is a brilliant, Machiavellian game plan to overwhelm the system, wreck the U.S. economy, damage or destroy the free market, in order to turn the U.S. into a socialist/Marxist state with a permanent majority that desperately needs government for survival.

Universal healthcare. The healthcare bill had very little to do with healthcare. It had everything to do with adding millions of new union and government employees (sixteen thousand new IRS agents) feeding at the public trough. Obama doesn’t care that giving free healthcare to 30 million Americans will add TRILLIONS to the national debt. Or that not one new doctor was added to the system, thereby causing a healthcare crisis. What he does care about is that it overwhelms the system and cements the dependence and loyalty of those 30 million voters to Obama and big government. Who but a socialist revolutionary would pass this reckless spending bill in the middle of a depression? Why now? Why the rush? Why risk destroying the economy on a reckless, unproven scheme? There is only one answer -- OVERWHELM THE SYSTEM." ....

He goes on to comment on Cap and trade, making Puerto Rico a state, legalizing 12 million illegal immigrants, card check, stimulus & Bailouts, and raising taxes with the same theme in mind.

Well worth the read. His site is Root for America.

Right Network launch.

Kelsey Grammar is one of the few Hollywood celebs who has the courage to be an advocate of the right. Kelsey of course has too much going for him to have to worry about going on the blacklist, a sort of modern day leftist McCarthyism, and can do pretty much as he likes.

He is about to unveil Rightnetwork and says, he is proud to be a part of the new network. "RightNetwork is filling a big gap with entertainment programs that combine compelling content with a perspective we don't generally get from the media," Grammer said in the network's promotional materials. "We're bringing outstanding talent and production values to our television, internet and mobile platforms. I'm proud to be part of this team!"

It obviously has a lot going for it as is shown in the following clip, when you make Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World” list you know it just doesn’t get any better than that:


Right comedy is one of the themes, with among other things some rather irreverent Obama humor. The left will no doubt scream “Racist,” and disrespect for the institution of the Presidency, but in fact they get better than they have shown for the previous administration so I guess they will just have to suck on it. The left don’t know too much about what they want, they rely on the DNC to tell them that, but they sure know what they hate:


Their reality based show “Running,” features six first time candidates, and follows their campaign with some interesting perspectives, “And I am running for the Congressional seat currently infested by Henry Waxman.”

This looks promising and I wish them the best with it.

“Taxing the Heart out of Australia.”

By Viv Forbes.


Chairman,

The Carbon Sense Coalition

The Carbon Sense Coalition today claimed that the Rudd Resource tax was just another in a long line of taxes helping to depopulate rural Australia.

The Chairman of “Carbon Sense”, Mr Viv Forbes, said that depopulation of the outback started with the fringe benefits tax and the removal of accelerated depreciation, both of which penalise companies who provide housing for employees.

“Every government since then has accelerated the drift to the coastal and capital cities.

“The heavy burdens of excessive fuel taxes, coal royalties, rail freights and infrastructure bottlenecks have for years restricted the development of the outback resource industry. Only deposits that are rich or close to the coast can pay their way, which is why the Galilee Basin has been undeveloped for so long.

“The vegetation control bans, water mismanagement and growth of carbon credit forests are depressing agriculture and will depopulate rural towns.

“Humans and their industries are also prohibited from vast areas of our land and sea sterilised by a confusing mixture of exclusion zones. And the lack and high cost of outback infrastructure has fed the fly-in mentality of industry and governments.

“Had the money wasted just on roof insulation been spent on new infrastructure, Australia would be a more decentralised and productive place.

“The climate alarmists urge still more carbon taxes and force the usage of expensive alternative energy. All outback industry relies almost totally on carbon fuels for motive power. None of our quad bikes, cars, trucks, road trains, tractors, dozers, trains, planes or ships are powered by solar panels or wind turbines – they need diesel, petrol, gas and electricity (from coal). And our biggest outback industries are focussed on exploring, developing, supplying or transporting carbon products. Coal, gas, oil, beef, sheep, dairy and timber are all threatened by more carbon taxes.

“The Rudd Resource tax is yet another centralising force, depressing outback industry and stimulating the population of drones around the government honey pots in Canberra. It increases the risk that the belated rush to build infrastructure will leave new trains without freight and new ports without ships.

“Taxes are creating ‘A Nation without a Heart’.”

An old dog with plenty of fight left in him.

Those who read the comments section of the online editions of the Australian or Courier Mail will occasionally run into some rather pithy and ‘right to the point’ ones from regular contributor, Ron Kitching. Ron is one of my regular contacts, a friend, and a guy I have got to know well since I worked for him in the early 80s. He was a supporter in my unsuccessful campaign for Bob Katter Senior’s seat in a federal election back then.

Ron was in fact probably one of our first Classical Liberals/libertarians, having freed his mind of the clutches of the state after reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged while trying to find out how and why governments could regulate the economy to such an extent that an ostensibly booming industry (like mining) was reduced to penury.

An author, life member of the Mont Pelerin Society, and a major contributor to F.A. Hayek’s lecture tour of Australia in 1976, Ron at 80 years of age still has a great deal to offer. His comment on the article, “Kevin Rudd may give ground to miners,” is telling:

I am annoyed by Rudd's talking up economic nationalism, insofar as he has been braying that BHP is 40% foreign owned and Rio Tinto is 70% foreign owned. The implication is that foreign owners are enemies and criminals and should be heavily taxed.

Then Rudd claimed in a TV statement that his wonderful reforms would increase exploration and mining by 5% plus. And Treasurer Swan keeps parroting "These are the resources of the Australian people".

That implication indicates that ALL business resources including farms are the resources of the Australian people.

I thought the remarks of Mac Nichols, in a letter to the press, spot on:

Any of these resource rent or royalty tax legalised plunder initiatives are based upon the premise that mineral wealth is for all to share. Each and every mineral deposit is a testament to our indomitable spirit, is a patentable invention and not a public asset.

A legally plundered mining royalty is identical to the concept of a government demanding a tax from a current model Intel Computer CPU, as the ideas were always there, it just happened to be Intel that discovered them.

And again the following:

I well remember how Whitlam's reign wrecked Australia's Exploration and mining industry during and for long after his disastrous term.

There is no such thing as a windfall profit. Huge profits indicate that a producer is serving his customers well. The social benefits of profits are that they generate new capital.

New Capital generates exploration activity. Profits also induce competitive producers to enter production.

The Rudd government's Resource rent tax is a capital destroying exercise and as such becomes a job and production destroying activity.

It also leaves countless millions of tonnes of otherwise productive ore in the ground. Low-grade producers are wiped out completely.