Get your red-hot budget tips here!

[Ethnic]

Celetina - of course families need a little assistance at times, but this whole baby business has gotten out of control. We haven't even got the infrastructure to support this baby boom that we're currently experiencing.

I have to agree with JP on this. To get out of debt you don't spend more - you are careful with your spending and spend a little less. Rudd is doing exactly the same as Howard did - the difference being the previous government had good revenue, a budget surplus and the economy was doing well. I didn't agree with Howard's spending, but if the deficit is going to be $70 billion this month - what will it be next year - or the year after? Do you remember how long it took to pay off the previous $96 billion debt - ten years of services being ravaged and high taxes. How long do you think it's going to take your generation and the next to pay off this increasing debt and the high interest that goes with it?

Dammit Mantra don't confuse paid maternity leave with the stimulus spending - the two are separate issues. One is (apparently) stimulating the economy, the other is purely a helping hand for financially-limited parents. $260 million per year is fuck all for what it will give parents in return. I doubt it will have any impact on debt levels. Yes I know this stimulus spending is getting out of hand and is off-target and, yes, my generation is in for it with higher taxes and interest rates and reduced services but paid maternity leave won't add to that problem one bit. You want to whinge about inadequate infrastructure for an increasing population then go whinge to the Department of Immigration. In fact go ask the stupid state and federal governments why they aren't fixing the water supply problem. Lord knows they had plenty of money to do something about it. Fucking state and federal government dopey losers.

[Auzgurl]

You know mantra Im a little surprised you just dont settle down and see how it pans out...why cant you just concede they may very well know what they are doing instead of buying into the rightwing nazies propoagnda whose only job it is ,is to pull everything apart and yet offer no solution .Theyre job is to discredit to the endth degree..they want to win the next election right?

And as for JP being right...wtf would he know..he is a slime ball who uses dog porn to get him thru the day...
Monk - yes what you say makes sense in theory, but look at it logically. If you get into debt you don't spend your way out of it. Maybe it's time to let unemployment and the market settle. Unemployment and underemployment are double the official figures we hear about and these stimulus packages are just going into a black hole.

I sincerely apologise if I don't agree with you and Monk all the time Auzgurl. I haven't been happy with Rudd for quite a while and I've made this clear on plenty of occasions. I'm not a RW nazi as you well know and I thought I had the freedom to agree with whoever makes a valid statement.

As far as settling down to see what happens Auzgurl - this is a political forum. If we all waited around to see an outcome - we'd only make posts every 3 years.

And Monk - maybe it's time for all handouts to be cut realistically. We are a greedy nation and we've got ourselves into this mess because we wanted too much of everything. Everyone sits around and waits for the government to bail them out instead of figuring out a way of looking after themselves.

I never said you had to agree with me mantra, when have i ever suggested that?

[Jubial Priest]

I sincerely apologise if I don't agree with you and Monk all the time Auzgurl. I haven't been happy with Rudd for quite a while and I've made this clear on plenty of occasions. I'm not a RW nazi as you well know and I thought I had the freedom to agree with whoever makes a valid statement.

You are an intelligent poster Mantra. You should well be aware of the Modus Operandi of posters like JM and AG. One is an avowed socialist because it benefits his business (can't operate on a level playing field) and the other is a nutter.

Celetina talks about 'only $260M'. If the current govt keeps up this open cheque book that they think they have (and even in economic recovery- there is no reason to believe that they won't continue on their extravagant spending spree. After all, whats another $50Bn when they have already been given license for $200Bn+?

It will happen, like many Labor govts before these bunch of imbeciles and we will all be worse off. In 5 years time when they have made inflation hit 6% and forced interest rates beyond 10%...yoou will still have people like JM saying these guys are the best thing since sliced bread.

Don't be fooled by ideological idiots without a clue

[Auzgurl]

Today your an "intelligent poster"..tomorrow its ...

[Jubial Priest]

I wonder if JP gave his f*king stimulus payment back he received for his kid..Im sure he gave it back out of principle.

I spent it on whores and sluts so I could give your kind a leg up...or over. You should be thanking me

[Leftofcentresalterego]

STIMULUS SPENDING DOES NOT NEED TO BE PAID FOR BY LEVVYING HIGHER TAXES.

THE IDEA OF IT CAUSING 'INTERGENERATIONAL DEBT' IS LUDICROUS IN THE EXTREME.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD DEFINATELY BE RUNNING A DEFICIT AT THIS POINT IN TIME.

Dammit, most federal budgets were in deficit for a long 30-odd year stretch from the end of WW2 to the mid-70's. We experienced extremely low unemployment (2.5% on average), relatively low inflation and nation building went ahead in leaps and bounds. It was significantly more successfull on those fronts than the neo-liberalism that came after it.

You cannot undertake nation-building proper while running a federal surplus.

[Leftofcentresalterego]

Much as I despise Milton Friedman, he was right about one thing : everyone would be much happier if government did not publish it's accounts.

[mantra.]

THE IDEA OF IT CAUSING 'INTERGENERATIONAL DEBT' IS LUDICROUS IN THE EXTREME.

I don't know why you think this Lefty. The money to pay it back has to be found somewhere. Thanks to Howard and his generous welfare to all when times were good - people are expecting it to continue and it can't. Of course new mothers returning to the workforce too early are hurting their babies, but this is the wrong time to implement it and no government can predict how much it's going to cost.

Debt hangover to outlast financial crisis

AUSTRALIA could be bogged down in the red with Budget deficits lasting long after the global economic crisis ends unless politicians find some courage, a leading economic analyst warns.

Access Economics says in its latest Budget Monitor, released today, that the Rudd Government will face an uphill battle to sell tomorrow night's Budget measures.

The leading forecaster also tips that the Budget deficit for the next financial year will be $61.2 billion.

Government sources have indicated the Treasury estimates the Budget will not hit surplus again until at least 2015-16.

But Access Economics warns that there will be "deficits until politicians on both sides get some courage".

Access Economics director Chris Richardson said raising $25-30 billion a year - which could be at least half of next financial year's Budget deficit - would be painful.

It would be the equivalent of abolishing the entire Defence Department and all Defence spending or scrapping the aged pension.

The money could also be saved by lifting the GST to 15 per cent and not passing anything on to the states, raising the marginal tax rate for workers on $40,000 to 45 per cent, or abolishing Medicare and all hospital funding.

"We will regret the lost years of Australian policy-making for some time," Mr Richardson said.

"But we will regret it even more if Budget night doesn't mark the start of the many hard decisions which now need to be taken."

He said the Budget was in such a bad shape that after the two more promised tax cuts, Australians would "have to wait close to a decade" for the next tax cut.

He said the damage was done to this year's economic blueprint well before the past year of turmoil.

"It was done during the glory years when a boom in the economy generated an even bigger boom in the Budget, which was then turned into a series of personal income tax cuts as well as large increases in middle class welfare," he said.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 21,00.html

[Jovial Monk]

Access Economics have been pretty much right all along:

Tip never had a budget structurally in surplus, i.e. when you strip out the asset sales and mining boom revenue his budgets were in deficit.

The cash surpluses were then spent by Howard on tax cuts, middle class welfare & Regional Rorts, i.e. wasted. There was also the private health insurance rebate that took money from public hospitals and paid it to wealthy people going to the gym, massage, 'rolfing' and other crap. Ditto superannuation rorts etc etc.

Swan will have to start undoing all Howard's rorts and middle class welfare. They were going to start on this last budget but Swan & Rudd on separate trips to Washington heard how bad the subprime mess was going to be and made the budget expansionary and paid the tax cuts economists were begging them to cancel to fight inflation. Apparently all the tax cuts legislated are going ahead but the removal of tax rorts will actually increase income tax collections.

The stimulus spending is a very small part of the budget deficit, most of it is due to decline tax receipts and higher unemployment benefit payments.

[Auzgurl]

Access Economics have been pretty much right all along:

Tip never had a budget structurally in surplus, i.e. when you strip out the asset sales and mining boom revenue his budgets were in deficit.

The cash surpluses were then spent by Howard on tax cuts, middle class welfare & Regional Rorts, i.e. wasted. There was also the private health insurance rebate that took money from public hospitals and paid it to wealthy people going to the gym, massage, 'rolfing' and other crap. Ditto superannuation rorts etc etc.

Swan will have to start undoing all Howard's rorts and middle class welfare. They were going to start on this last budget but Swan & Rudd on separate trips to Washington heard how bad the subprime mess was going to be and made the budget expansionary and paid the tax cuts economists were begging them to cancel to fight inflation. Apparently all the tax cuts legislated are going ahead but the removal of tax rorts will actually increase income tax collections.

The stimulus spending is a very small part of the budget deficit, most of it is due to decline tax receipts and higher unemployment benefit payments.

mantra..

I don't know why you think this Lefty. The money to pay it back has to be found somewhere. Thanks to Howard and his generous welfare to all when times were good - people are expecting it to continue and it can't. Of course new mothers returning to the workforce too early are hurting their babies, but this is the wrong time to implement it and no government can predict how much it's going to cost.

Yes when times were good Howard spent up big on middle class welfare, he did nothing to boost pensions for the aged and and infrastcructure , what , where? he did nothing..the way Libs dealt with debt was to strip 5% from Education and not only NOT spend on Health but strip money from that too, the Dental health in this country is appalling and pple dying on waiting lists, the only country going backwards on Education and Health in the developed world ..he stripped money from the aged and gave it to middle class...he sold TELSTRA to pay debt..most of the problem we have atm is because during the boom, Howard paid the wealthy/middle class and stripped it from the pooor..We Now have Swan and Rudd trying to address these issues.

Dont forget what Howard and Costello did..for it was only a year ago they passed this mess onto to Rudd and Swan and we were frightened for them then how they would cope..Now they are trying we have
to get behind them . So I guess to get out of this mess, the one where Howard never invested in our country/pple when times were good, we could get Labor to sell of an Icon or two..that would do it.

The difference between a Labor and Lib govt is Libs only care about the bank balance and taking care of theyre rich mates at the expense of the poor, Labor always runs with a bit of debt but takes care of pple..Its not possible, if you care about pple,[ not just the haves as Howard did], where its possible to be in surplus [ barring a boom]and taking care of pple. Howard couldnt do it in a BOOM..why is is it hard to understand that this Govt are struggling in a recession.?

Imagine what Labor would have got done with all that boom money at its disposal..there would be no infrastructure problems, no shortfall in health and education, pensions would have been taken care of a long time ago...

I am a mother ,as a lot of us are in here, I know that to take care of my kids and give them the some kind of life,I have to run with a bit of debt..the alternative is miserable deprived kids.Running a govt is not so different. Id like to know how many households who dont run with a bit of debt? There wouldnt be too many..we should never forget where Libs got they're surplus..they stripped it from the most disadvantaged and squandered billions from the boom..they had nowhere near the amount in Govt coffers to what they should have had.

The bust was always coming.Rudd is a true Labor pm..he is not a left centre after all..thank god.