So President Barack Obama is postponing his trip to Australia until June.
This may benefit the Government – being closer to the next election.
But is it merely coincidence that this comes after raucous scenes in the Federal Parliament. Has this scared off the President?
That’s nothing. Obama’s dealt with much worse. You’ve obviously never seen Nancy Pelosi up close.
daddy dave
19 Mar 10 at 9:55 am
Doesn’t Obama realise that he will miss the great debate? That said, it is hilarious that yesterday Rudd set his parliamentary trap for Abbott and then it backfires by being blindsided into a televised Press Club debate instead. Rudd will be furious. The great Rudd unravelling gains momentum daily.
DavidJ
19 Mar 10 at 10:10 am
blindsided into a debate.
I doubt it. An opposition leader can’t say anything specific about policy until the Campaign ( courtesy of the charter of budget ‘honesty’) so he will just mouth platitudes.
Tony will feel like he has to announce one major measure which is likely to be costly.
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 10:14 am
So you doubt that Rudd was blindsided. By extension that suggests Rudd must have really wanted a televised debate on health care, but wanted Abbott to do the asking…I guess that would make Rudd the shy girl at a high school dance.
DavidJ
19 Mar 10 at 10:52 am
David,
Every Oppo leader always ‘wants’ a debate.
They are rarely taken up. This now puts the pressure on Abbott to come up with something but have no numbers.
in short he has a Seinfeld policy and will continue to have one until the Campaign.
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 11:00 am
That is exactly my point, every opposition always wants a debate and the incumbanet generally ducks and weaves and eventually gives into having one only, being during the formal campaign.
Rudd would have been strategising that this is the last day of Parliment pull a stunt via Albanese, generate some headlines, see you when we return and they would be that. That is not the case, it is an epic backfire on Rudd.
DavidJ
19 Mar 10 at 11:10 am
you don’t really think do you.
what is Abbott going to say.
He is restricted. However Rudd isn’t because he is in Government
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 11:12 am
what is Abbott going to say.
He is restricted. However Rudd isn’t because he is in Government
Nurse!
dover_beach
19 Mar 10 at 11:17 am
Rudd is clearly rattled, his poll numbers are at all time lows and Gillard is yapping at his heels. Again think strategy Homer, is this really the best time for Rudd to debating a half baked policy on TV which he is yet to gets that states to embrace?
No, it is an epic backfire, this is not what Rudd wanted. Strategy Homer, strategy.
DavidJ
19 Mar 10 at 11:20 am
I think Butters is right on this one – Rudd wasn’t blindsided, and there’s little specific policy info Abbott can give, other than defend Coalition’s previous performance, and criticise Rudd’s current performance.
The debate will be pretty heavily controlled – what Abbott really wanted was not a debate on healthcare, but a debate on Rudd’s healthcare policy.
Fleeced
19 Mar 10 at 11:21 am
I should add that Rudd knows his own policy is weak, and this is an attempt to force some attention onto Abbott’s policy…
Fleeced
19 Mar 10 at 11:23 am
jut remember this is not a debate which Oppo leaders almost always win.
there will be no worm or newspoll after it signalling who ‘won’.
it will be seen by only journos and political junkies.
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 11:52 am
Both increasingly unpopular, both leading failed administrations. It’ll actually be gold to see them together again. Barry has tripled the US deficit and Kev has doubled the number of insulation-related house fires. They’ll have much to discuss.
And who can forget the chemistry between them last time?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P5SshxJZz4
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 11:58 am
Fleeced:
Did you see the goings on in parliament yesterday: the highlights at least?
Rudd is rattled. Every time he tried something Abbott got the meat cleaver out and removed a limb.
His abuse of Rudd really hit home if you look at the faces of the people on the government back benches. Calling him a fake and a flake was a bulls eye.
JC
19 Mar 10 at 11:59 am
CL showing his mathematical skills are still very bad unless of course he believes Obama created the recession.
He is so barmy he probably does
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 11:59 am
Barry tripled the deficit.
Homer’s last contribution to accountancy was to flog Possum’s hilarious claim that Rudd has halved the number of house fires with his incineration/electrocution scheme – the worst public policy debacle in modern Australian history.
The Metro Fire Chief says they’ve doubled.
Oops.
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 12:19 pm
Gallop latest: Obama’s Approval Rating Lowest Yet.
Another commonality: while Abbott was tommy gunning Kevin in parliament yesterday like Sonny Corleone at the causeway, Fox News’ Bret Baier monstered a waffling Barack Obama.
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 12:26 pm
CL hate to tell you this but they are two different things ( one is Asutralia and the other is Melbourne ) and even the timeframe is different.
you are a mathematical genius.
oh the last President to have ratings liek this was err Bill clinton and before hin some bloke called Ronald Reagan
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 12:42 pm
Obama had to reschedule. He failed the Immigration Dept.’s “good character” test.
Infidel Tiger
19 Mar 10 at 12:56 pm
Compared to you, I am a mathematical genius, Homer. Your call that Rudd’s incineration scheme halved house fires (when they actually DOUBLED, according to the Metro Fire Brigade) is the most hilarious piece of mendacious spin since the McFarlane affair.
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 1:14 pm
It is very easy to see the ALP strategy.
Give Abbott as much time to talk.
Given his lack of discipline he will undoubtedly make some blues, as he has, and he becomes the election issue.
As Abbott stays himself he gains a reputation for making gaffes, if he changes he becomes boring …
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 1:16 pm
oh dear you have compared apples with oranges.
The Metro brigade has responsible for what region?
what figures did possum have and which region were they from err and what id he com[pared them to?
gosh you are a mathematical genius you
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 1:18 pm
You may be right, Homer, but if so, that’s a highly risky strategy.
daddy dave
19 Mar 10 at 1:20 pm
Let me edit this:
As Abbott stays himself he gains a reputation for making gaffes, if he changes he becomes boring …
To:
“As Homer stays himself he gains a reputation for making gaffes, if he changes he becomes boring …”
Is that why you keep changing your moniker, Homes?
JC
19 Mar 10 at 1:23 pm
DD not risky if you thinks gaffes will result.
hmm making gaffes like saying Jim Cairns was giving our secrets to the USSR, or saying the Japanese only kill whales for commercial reasons or the government doesn’t use accrual accounting and doesn’t have any assets etc etc.
Gosh I am glad I don’t make gaffes like that
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 1:26 pm
Homer’s call: house fires halved.
Actual story: they’ve doubled.
With accountancy skills like this, Homer should approach Julia Gillard for a job building $2000,000 school toilets.
As gaffes go, electrifying hundreds of thousands of houses, burning down 100 of them and killing four workers is hard to beat. And that’s saying something for a government that appointed a defence minister who turned out to be in the pay of the Chinese.
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 1:27 pm
Gosh I am glad I don’t make gaffes like that
Mark Latham to win!
Skanke-Ho an Asian warlord’s mistress!
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 1:28 pm
This is how CL mathematics goes.
Say Melbourne is the same as Australia.
do not use the same time period and do not do not compare periods before and after a program is put in.
Yeah CL is a mathematical genius afterall he has tried to argue 1960 is 1890.
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 1:29 pm
DD not risky if you thinks gaffes will result.
.
There’s a flip side to Tony Abbott’s style. On the downside, he speaks candidly and off-the-cuff, creating what the opposition call “gaffes.”
In this context, a “gaffe” is something that a spin-doctor would advise against. They will cackle and scream and point at every “gaffe”, like advising his daughters not to sleep around, and assume that the media and the public will follow on.
But the plus side is that in doing so, he comes across as open and honest. Also, he’s quite likeable, as even his critics admit.
If you look at other conservative leaders who are gaffe-prone in this way, like Boris Johnson for example, they remain popular. The style simply has advantages and risks, like any other.
Rudd, on the other hand, never says anything that hasnt’ been vetted by a focus group. he is gaffe-free. But that, too, comes at a cost.
daddy dave
19 Mar 10 at 1:44 pm
sorry, correction:
… “creating what the government call gaffes.”
daddy dave
19 Mar 10 at 1:45 pm
Homer, “time period” is a tautology. There is no other kind of period but a “time period.”
Your grammar is as appalling as your accountancy.
With respect to your quote doctoring of Ian McFarlane, let’s revisit that for the record.
——————————
Rafe:
Homer:
I’ve found the transcript of McFarlane’s Boyer lecture. He said the exact opposite of what Homer attributed to him. He did not say economic growth dropped with population growth but, rather, that the only reason it was as high as it was is attributable to our unusually high rate of population growth.
Australia was wealthier in real terms circa 1900 than it was after the dirigiste Settlement got fully underway. This was Rafe’s point. He was correct. You claimed McFarlane scotched that idea by saying population was the only factor swinging prosperity our way circa 1900. McFarlane made no such claim in the Boyer lecture. He said the EXACT OPPOSITE about the role of population vis-a-vis prosperity – using the two periods comparatively. You bungled the whole subject from start to finish.
Quote-doctoring, verballing McFarlane and outright lying.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 1:56 pm
And the “supermac” quote doctoring is but one of his many faults.
I’d rank his emotional support of nazi economics as perhaps the worst offense I’ve ever seen on ozblodgdom.
That was seriously disturbed.
JC
19 Mar 10 at 2:03 pm
Would you heartless bastards spare a thought for Kevvie!
.
Poor Kevvie. He’s in the men’s room at parliament on the john crying his eyes out. He thought he was a world class player. He thought he was a geopolitical force. But then Obama shortened the trip from 24 hours to 5 minutes, and only then because he heard the burgers were better at Hungry Jacks.
.
He wasn’t going to Canberra to see his mate Kevvie. Can’t say I blame him really. Who’d wanna see Canberra. And Kevvie and Canberra together the same day? Jeez! I think they’d nee order extra sick bags for Airforce One.
.
But poor Kevvie. Obama’s not coming. Not ’til June. And that’s just so he can go snorkelling with Hugh Jackman.
.
.
Poor poor Kevvie.
Adrien
19 Mar 10 at 2:06 pm
Obie gave SBY a personal phone call to apologise for the delayed visit. KRudd found out via twitter.
Infidel Tiger
19 Mar 10 at 2:11 pm
CL needs English lessons he doesn’t know what circa means. It doesn’t mean 1960 oh brilliant one!
indeed Supernmac doesn’t even talk about circa 1900 but our brilliant genius doesn’t know this .
( circa [?s??k?]
prep
(used with a date) at the approximate time of circa 1182 bc Abbreviations c., ca.)
He is awarded another Golden Credit Crunch Forrest award for JCing perpetually.
Absolutely brilliant.
Again showing his understanding that 1960 is 1890.
Supermac said we had the highest income per capita BECAUSE of a small population hence the Kuwait of the 1890s aside but of course you would need to understand that and you don’t.
oh by the way Possum actually assumed ALL fies after the insulation program happened because of the program.
This is a bad assumption because as we have seen many more fires happened per insulation BEFORE the program happened.
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 2:42 pm
Homer and his accountant, Possum, believe Rudd’s incineration scheme deserves plaudits for making Australian houses safer.
What can explain this, apart from drug abuse?
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 2:57 pm
News reports today cause me to re-work my description of the home incineration scheme. Apparently, at the government’s stated rate of checking, it will take till the year 2200 for the all clear to be given. Home owners are now routinely being told their houses cannot be insured without checking and a 77 year-old Mrs Mills was informed by a government official to check the batts herself. Number of houses at risk: 1.1 milion. Number burned down: 106 and rising. Cost, including the “fix”: approximately $2 billion. Death toll: 4.
It is now, without doubt, the worst public policy debacle in Australian history.
Rudd ought to resign.
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 3:02 pm
now we have established your rarefied statistical qualifications it is pertinent to point out many more houses burnt down prior to the policy per insulation completed.
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 3:20 pm
Yeah, “Possum” “proved” it with a graph!
The latest thing on fire is Homer’s bong.
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 3:23 pm
“Supermac said we had the highest income per capita BECAUSE of a small population”
No.
Homer has also compared two historical average costs. What matters is marginal cost.
Semi Regular Libertarian
19 Mar 10 at 3:29 pm
….now we have established your rarefied statistical qualifications it is pertinent to point out many more houses burnt down prior to the policy per insulation completed.
Actually if you read Professor Possum’s account, which I have no reason to dispute, it was roughly the same as before and after Lurchgate™.
According to the Laurel and Hardy team of statistical analysis- Homer and his buddy Possum- we can only conclude that the Lurch incineration program helped save homes fires with faulty insulation installs.
Yes that’s correct. Laurel and Hardy are suggesting that faulty installation of insulation actually prevents fires.
90 homes destroyed before and after Lurchgate.
Normalized market before lurchgate 67,500 existing homes insulated annually.
Luchgate policy 1,100,000
Therefore:
90/ 67,500 Vs 90/ 1,100,000
This means that not only should the government NOT stop the Lurch program. It should continue and expand it to ensure more faulty insulation is installed to prevent fires.
This according to Dr. Laurel and Professor Hardy (aka Homer and Possum).
JC
19 Mar 10 at 3:38 pm
Obama is delaying his trip until he finds out where he is staying and which contractor laid the insulation
tal
19 Mar 10 at 3:53 pm
Nice one tal.
Obvious when you point it out.
Ken Nielsen
19 Mar 10 at 4:30 pm
Mmm. Good point, JC. Homer and Possum are actually saying the real scandal here is that Rudd is endangering people’s lives by not continuing with the pink batts incineration scheme.
C.L.
19 Mar 10 at 5:40 pm
Sign him up for your Opera Ken
tal
19 Mar 10 at 5:44 pm
Marky they aint even costs.
you are awarded a golden forrest award
Butterfield, Bloomfield & Bishop
19 Mar 10 at 6:37 pm
Hey, can we recruit a few more oppositionists? The current lot are pretty well worn out. Understandable in the circumstances.
Can we post an ad on Craig’s List or somewhere?
Even invite Phil back. But not Bird, please.
Ken Nielsen
19 Mar 10 at 7:44 pm
not Phil. She was a terrible troll – and it really was “trolling” – abuse, insults, off-topic rants, lies, slippery logic, ignorance of history, inability to understand arguments, naked hatred of the West, of men, and of modernity. If Phil returned I wouldn’t stick around.
Give me Homer’s terse condescension any day. At least Homer is up to speed on Labor and Democrat talking points (he tends to use them); and occasionally says things that are correct.
daddy dave
19 Mar 10 at 8:49 pm
Yeah, I guess you’re right dd.
Ken Nielsen
19 Mar 10 at 9:38 pm
…and occasionally says things that are correct.
When? Name the decade.
Ken, lefties don’t like getting beaten up and shown to have silly inconsistent positions. They can’t take it.
Take the beta boys at LP. They would all end up crying after 30 minutes.
JC
19 Mar 10 at 11:31 pm
Ken I’m to lazy to be in opposition, sorry pet
tal
19 Mar 10 at 11:36 pm