Last week, when Chris Carter, Roger Douglas and Bill English were getting pounded by the media about the way they spent their parliamentary expenses, Bill said something really dumb like “haven’t you people got anything more important to talk about – like the recession?”
Well, I was flicking between stations while I was driving up to a FLAG hui in Whanganui, and guess what everyone was talking about? Parliamentary expenses.
Seems that with government cutting back on programmes, benefits and support services right across the country, cabinet ministers playing fast and loose with taxpayer-funded expenses were always going to get hammered, and that’s exactly what happened.

Is anyone really surprised that the majority of submissions to the HCC were supportive of Variation 13 and a hardline approach to residential housing. This is after all the country where apparently the majority of “thinking people” support the notion that smacking children is a sign of good parenting.  Wow, I thought we were long over “thinking” that the following beliefs are okay.  “I’m doing this for your own good”, “This hurts me more than it hurts you”  Yeah right!  In the rush to assure yourself that smacking did you no harm have you forgotten what you felt when your parents said these words to you as they carried out those “good” parenting techniques. And who says you haven’t been affected. What are your value systems, your beliefs about humanity?
We are a punitive society and becoming more so. We are quick to blame others and further more we want our pound of flesh.  This abuse, because lets call it what it is, permeates our society from the highest corridors of power down.