Lexi, be a bit more specific, are you challenging the names and the deeds associated with them, given I gleaned the information from public record tell me what you doubt and I will qualify it for you...many thanks.

Dear SOG,

The Liberals build up a surplus by taking cutting back on essentials like - hospitals, roads, rail, schools, aged-care, and a whole litany of essential services. You don't achieve a suplus unless you have cutbacks, as Pericles pointed out on another thread. But saying that you had a surplus - does sound good.

As a result of the cutbacks and the damatge caused by this surplus and the global financial crisis - the government had no choice but to utilise the surplus to repair the damage, keep Australia out of the world recession, and in the process create jobs.

Now if that is a bad reflection on the present government then by all means go back to the "Glorious Howard years."

As for the list that you keep presenting - I don't see the relevance regarding the current government and their set agenda for this country. It was afterall individuals who committed these offences and not the government in office. It smacks of a rather cheap-shot to me -
and un-fitting behaviour for any fair-minded person.

Lexi you’re abrogating of responsibility from the corium to the individual does have legs if the indiscretions are infrequent and isolated, but Labor has an ongoing track record.

I researched the number of coalition members indiscretions while in office over the same period and there were a hand full, and most of them were Nat Party MP's from Qld, and that is no surprise.

Re your astute comment that the Libs take from hospitals, roads, rail, schools, aged-care etc to build in a surplus has validity, but your inference is that this Commonwealths monumental deficit came from investment in social and communal infrastructure, and it has not if value for spend and best possible outcomes are the yard stick for competency and ROI.

Billions wasted on batts, $900,000 demountable sheds without air conditioning for the stupid public schools (the private and Catholics spent their money wisely, but they had that choice) solar rebates, millions spent on grocery and petrol watch, billions now spent on asylum criminals, a record BILLION dollars spent on spin and bullsheiser PR co’s and consultants etc and etc and etc .

Lexi as I drive down my new road past the no waiting Federally managed hospital right next to one of the many aged care facilities that have sprung up near the new interstate rail network, which is adjacent to the new child care facility conveniently near the new Aboriginal housing complex situated within a kilometer of the new GP Super Clinic I will consider your comments on how well this lot have spent the money we had, along all they could borrow since that went, at a rate of $120 million a day, day in day out to this very day, and tomorrow, and next week, month, year.

Lexi this is serious stuff in a way never before seen in Australia so post grad ideological rhetoric and defense of an indefensible position if the facts are not your terms of reference is simplistic and ego serving.

Dear SOG,

Fair enough. We can only see things the way we chose to. And do what we think is best for ourselves and our families.

cont'd...

Dear SOG,

Here's a few quotes to sum things up in a nutshell:

Perhaps you won't regard them as simplistic or ego-serving:

"The politicians of both the Coalition and the ALP have performed well at what they set out to do. Both need to hold the centre, for without middle Australia, each is done for. Both are redistributive parties. The Coalition wants the growing inequality of income, wealth and power distribution to keep going. The ALP wants to tone it down a bit. The Coalition is made up of AGW denialists, and hence the home insulation scheme to them was a total waste of money.

The ALP endorses AGW, and its home insulation scheme was by and large successful, but it was naively managed and rorted to buggery by the sort of "entrepreneurial" cowboys who are Abbott's natural constituency.

Why do we have two parties, each saying much the same thing? Because a stick has two ends: a proverbial sh**ty one, and a sweet one. Each party tries to hand the other's constituency the end it prefers they have. The Coalition does that best, I grant you."

The question you need to ask yourself SOG is - do the Libs have better policies than Labor? Anything else is irrelevant.

<< Our branches are as interesting and attractive as spending the night up to your arms in cow dung. >>

Ooow, that sounds nice!

Belly, given that I like the smell of cow poo (I’ve done lots of work out there in the rangelands on cattle grazing properties), I might have to go along to an ALP meeting and check it out.

Oh hold on, I’d have to be a member wouldn’t I.

Well, that will never happen…………unless the ALP embraces the philosophy of one of their members –

Kelvin Thomson, Federal Labor member for Wills.

THIS, Belly, is the CRUCIAL point. If the ALP can embrace genuine sustainability, including a stable population, and an economy that is not based on never-ending growth, instead of worshipping this MADNESS of continuous expansionism with no bloody end in sight, THEN they will resonate with the Australian populace and win great acclaim!

If they can’t do this, they will continue to be held in contempt.

Whichever major party sees the light and divorces themselves from this INSANE continuous growth mantra will win the day, well and truly.