As it's more than 100 days now, it has been suggested that a new thread was needed. The current govt has been breaking promises and telling lies at a rate so fast it's hard to keep up.
This below is worrying, "independent" pffft, as if your own doctor is somehow what? biased, it's ridiculous. So far there is talk of only including people under a certain age 30-35, for now. Remember that if your injured in a car, injured at work or get ill, you too might need to go on the DSP. They have done a similar think in the UK with devastating consequences.
and this is the 2nd time recently where the Govt has referred to work as welfare???? So when you go to work tomorrow (or tuesday), just remember that's welfare.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-20/disability-pensioners-may-be-reassessed-kevin-andrews/5400598
Independent doctors could be called in to reassess disability pensioners, Federal Government says
The Federal Government is considering using independent doctors to examine disability pensioners and assess whether they should continue to receive payments.
Currently family doctors provide reports supporting claims for the Disability Support Pension (DSP).
But Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews is considering a measure that would see independent doctors reassess eligibility.
"We are concerned that where people can work, the best form of welfare is work," Mr Andrews said at a press conference.
honestly, they are pure 'genious" the budget emergency of last year has magically disappeared 
Federal budget 2015: Australia needs a stimulatory, deficit-cutting budget
I wouldn't like to be in Joe Hockey shoes as he prepares to deliver the budget on Tuesday night. Which is not to say I or any other commentator will be going easy on him. It's too important a job for that and, after all, he volunteered for it.
To be bringing down our eighth budget in a row with a substantial deficit when, according to popular opinion, we didn't even have a recession, is pretty hard to explain.
....Hockey inherits the adverse budgetary consequences not just of Labor's reluctance to find ways to pay for its big spending plans, but also all the profligacy of his sainted Liberal predecessors.
...Hockey also inherits all the crazy things said by someone called J. Hockey while in opposition. Almost every sensible thing he says today can be countered by a clip of him saying the opposite a year or two ago.
....And, of course, Hockey also "inherits" all the government's loss of voter goodwill and now-blocked-off options from last year's ill-judged and ill-prepared budget. How any, even a Coalition government imagined it could get away with a delivering a budget designed to gratify the Business Council is beyond comprehension. I thought you guys were professional politicians?
....But even if he pulls it off without resort to creative accounting — and I'll be watching — it won't be enough.
....But isn't a stimulatory, deficit-cutting budget a contradiction, an impossible combination? Only if you haven't thought much about how fiscal policy (budgets) works.
There's a simple, age-old distinction that makes the impossible possible: capital versus recurrent. We need faster progress in reducing the recurrent budget deficit, which can be achieved at the same time as you stimulate the economy by spending on needed, productivity-enhancing infrastructure projects.
The irony is that Hockey has already attempted to implement such strategy — last year. The structure of last year's budget was first rate — even before the economy's continuing weakness became so evident.
The problem last year was the unfairness and poor quality of the measures proposed to achieve the strategy. Then, Hockey didn't manage even to explain the concept.
This time, I fear, he may not try to meet the economy's need while busy trying to repair the government's political standing.
An impressive C&P (again) A3, but do you have anything at all to add to Gittins comments?.
This caught my attention:
"....Hockey inherits the adverse budgetary consequences not just of Labor's reluctance to find ways to pay for its big spending plans, but also all the profligacy of his sainted Liberal predecessors."
But did not the profligate Libs hand over coffers replete with money? Did not Swan spend a few budgets (and a lot of money) attempting to replicate those halcyon days, and failed, and failed, and failed.?
He still got us through the GFC in much better shape than we are In now, kept the triple A rating and won the treasurer of the year award. (forbidden history that is a
Swan managed because he was left reserves and no deficit, he then drained the coffers and ran up debt. Treasurer of the year in a field of fiscal incompetents
Do you think things would be different if hockey and abbott hadn't talked the economy down last year.? Last year, the economy? The ALP were doing that. My investment/returns were good though, and the XAO, green line is for the year average/10
Real World
But anyone who thought BHP were OK were faced with this
Stand by for some evening twitter.
Actually D9275, whilst being aware of the GFC problems I was not bothered with capital gain paper losses. This was because my portfolio was arranged for income. i.e. take CBA below .
In the GFC the share price fell 50% ($60.00 - $30.00) , not good if you intended selling. However for just one dividend (franking included) it fell $3.80 to $3.35 or 11% and the next dividend was back to where it would have been without the GFC.
The market continued as it always does, removed from the government, of either colour,
