Foxy says: <<John Howard's office spent $100,000 on limos in 7 months and $2,143,147.34 - over a 30 month total.>>

Yes. And we should not begrudge him a singe cent of it!

It is common business practice that if a company rep. saves the business megabucks s/he should receive a megabucks commission. Howard's --farsighted and astute Pacific Solution (even Rudd.2 belatedly recognized its value and sought to imitate it!)--put a stop to one of the biggest illegal immigration scams and saved the nation trillions of dollars in life-time welfare payments and additional security.

His $2,143,147.34 was well and truly deserved.

Politicians have one law for themselves and quite another for their luckless, long-suffering employees, the public servants.

For example, it is a case of "I'm all right Jack", where superannuation is concerned.

The value of politicians' superannuation is preserved by indexation against increases in average weekly earnings,

whereas (wait for it!),

the value of the public servants' superannuation is consonantly eroded by indexation against the CPI.

That is despite the recommendation of parliamentary committees that Defence force and and public servant retirees superannuation should be indexed fairly.

To give the Greens credit, they have committed to correct the inequity.

<Commonwealth superannuation pensions, civilian and defence, are indexed to the consumer price index. The aged pension is indexed to the highest of the CPI, male total average weekly earnings or the pensioner and beneficiary living cost index.

Under the Howard government, three Senate inquiries considered the indexation of superannuation pensions and recommended reviewing it to better reflect the true cost of living.
..

Mr Sheikh said successive governments had not rectified the problem of unfair indexing, with the result that many retired Commonwealth and Defence Force personnel were struggling financially.

''There are tens of thousands of retired public servants in our community who live on their superannuation pension, often supporting a spouse or partner as well,'' Mr Sheikh said.

''With Commonwealth superannuation pensions not rising as fast as the cost of living, many in our community are missing out.

''Three separate Senate inquiries over the last 12 months have found that, due to the failure to correct a technicality, retired Commonwealth employees miss out.

"Superannuation pensions are designed to take the pressure off our social security system while ensuring retirees can maintain a decent standard of living during their retirement.

"But many of the 300,000 retirees who are on Commonwealth superannuation pensions are struggling to make ends meet.

"The average Commonwealth superannuant is living off $27,000. Often, this $27,000 has to stretch to support two people.>

www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/greens-seek-fairer-super-deal-for-ps-pensioners-20130805-2rai7.html#ixzz2opNvEpaj

Dear SPQR,

The following link gives a more accurate perspective
of Mr Howard's "Pacific Solution," and its high cost to
Australians in more ways than one - despite what you
or the Murdoch media may like to tell people:

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3886792.html

cont'd ...

You may continue to think that Mr Howard
"deserves," his current life-style at the
taxpayer's expense because he's "earned it".
Earned it? For doing his job, and being paid
handsomely for it at the time?

Nobody deserves that sort
of a reward - for life after they leave their job -
especially when they are already benefiting
from a very generous pension. And stating that Mr
Howard "deserves" such generosity because he "earned it,"
what he earned he got compensated for with his generous
salary at the time of his employment - and he certainly
did not earn being compensated for doing his job for the
rest of his life. That's ridiculous.

BTW - do read the link that I cited and see just how much
the Pacific Solution did cost the taxpayers in more
ways than one. It wasn't peanuts!

many ideas
like the idea
in here
http://undergrounddocumentaries.com/constructing-public-opinion/

It would seem more productive to understand the task we give politicians.
Even to know this simple truth, no party no group can do every thing some want.
To do so all to often delivers more barbed comments as the action isolates more than it leaves happy.
We ask too much and understand too little of our politicians.
It like many Aussie throw away lines is without legs to stand on, the thought all politicians are always wrong.
We could start a thread, and fill it, with our nonsense statements that we use without thought.