Swan has despatched the surplus pledge....

[geopol]

A win for common sense and the economy...See the ABC and SMH websites....

[spindrift]

Agree its a common sense move ......problem is Swan and Gillard promised and continued to promise a surplus. What works in their favour for that broken promise people may forget and overlook this err in judgment on promising a surplus....if such moves reduces the value of the Aussie dollar.

[Freddy]

Better to break a promise, re surplus, than to keep to their promise and for the economy to tank.

[spindrift]

I did state it was a good decision Freddy.... the question in point is Gillard's leadership giving the conservatives a free kick advantage, all too many times.

Economist were saying months ago the surplus objective should not be a promise to keep for the economy.

Gillard has strengths...unfortunately she shows a lack of strength in forming her own opinions and conveying those opinions to the public.

She is a more popular than Abbott, only because no one likes Abbott unless a pea brain, her leadership isn't gaining strength for the Labor party itself and Jules has to show more colour and express her own opinion's rather than being led along the garden path with dodgy advice.

Something Rudd had over her.

[geopol]

The masses will suffer a nation full of shit if we do not wake up and re-elect her!

[spindrift]

The first two items on Abbotts agenda is to attack the Public Service and to take away the carbon tax.....just the same as Campell Newman Qld who has set the agenda for the tea party right wing drongoism....which is cuts to education, health and other major and minor services governments are suppossed to provide as a social and ethical responsibilty, if the people are stupid enough to vote for Abbott and his cronies then they deserve all they get...suffer they will and the people of the future will have to pick up the tab for his mistakes.

[pim]

Spindrift, keep your eye on what's going on in the US. The capacity of international money markets and the leeway they'll give governments in countries like ours to do anything at all is being determined as I type this. Forget about months or years. Forget about the medium term or long term. What's important right now is what's happening right now!!

[spindrift]

The US is the overiding factor as to what will happen 2013 .... while the republicans politicians are silly enougth to drive the US economy over the 'fiscal cliff', (which is more of a slope than cliff), their constituents are not so silly and will be hollering blue murder if they did.... we will wait and see what Prez Obama comes up with, I'm putting my money on he will get a solution to the fiscal polices that have their due date. and impliment polices keeping the US from a recession.

While the mega rich can survie a recession not all Republican voters are in the top end catergory.

Well is my guess..wait and see.

[geopol]

SMH today suggests the surplus could be back on the agenda as the demand for iron ore and coal has surged again in China.....I hope Swan sticks with his more socially progressive views and forgets about a surplus until next year at least...

[pim]

Geopol, the possibility of a budget surplus trumps every other policy consideration. If the Gillard Government is given an opportunity to go into the elections this year saying "We got a surplus! We got a surplus! Nya nya nya!", Swan wouldn't settle for a unicycle and a vuvuzela to announce it. It'll be the full panoply of pipes & drums and a dozen brass bands with Bruce Springsteen at the centre of it all. It'll be bigger than the Edinburgh Tatoo!!

[geopol]

Yes, it's all a bit of fairy floss and bells these days, but as long as the true believers win out I will be happy....

[Earl Grey]