Diary of our stinking opposition

[village_person]

Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh shifts position on previous support for a GP fee

Labor's shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh was once a strong supporter of a compulsory fee for visits to the doctor - a policy now slammed by the opposition as a “GP tax” that would hurt the community’s most vulnerable.

But in a 2003 Sydney Morning Herald article Dr Leigh, then a PhD student in economics at Harvard University, argued a Medicare co-payment was “hardly a radical idea”.

“As health researchers have shown, cost-less medical care means that people go to the doctor even when they don't need to, driving up the cost for all of us," Dr Leigh and co-author Richard Holden wrote.

“But there's a better way of operating a health system, and the change should hardly hurt at all.

“As economists have shown, the ideal model involves a small co-payment - not enough to put a dent in your weekly budget, but enough to make you think twice before you call the doc."

Dr Leigh argued the fee should be enough to deter “frivolous GP visits”, but not enough to limit genuine preventive care. The fee should apply to everyone, including pensioners, except those who are chronically ill, he wrote.

Dr Leigh, who has opposed the proposal in media appearances over recent weeks, told Fairfax Media: "Since 2003, a lot has changed in the health care system, and I've changed my view on co-payments.

 “A GP co-payment was originally a Hawke government proposal led by Brian Howe, a member of the Left faction,” he said.

“As long as it is applied fairly across the community, a co-payment is a perfectly valid policy measure. If Andrew Leigh, before he had to toe the party line, recognised that then I welcome his contribution to the debate. I respect Andrew Leigh as a sensible economist.”

On Saturday, Dr Leigh, a former professor of economics at the Australian National University, distanced himself from an article he wrote in 2004 supporting fee deregulation for universities – another policy opposed by Labor.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/labor-frontbencher-andrew-leigh-shifts-positio...

Yes, it’s the very well respected ALP whey-faced Dr Andrew Leigh who virtually declared his previous books and speeches as mere works of fiction. This brings into sharp focus Dr Leigh's economics degree.

[cherry*135]

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@idlewhile wrote:

He's a union hack, what else do you expect from this type.

He started out with the "single mother"  mantra, then went feral on his lies and scaremongering re poles and wires being "sold off" a complete lie, then he insults a whole electorate. Loser.

Loser

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Can I ask you a question? If another poster said Abbott or Hockey were losers, you would react quite badly to that. My question is, why do you think it is OK for you to call a PM/MP a loser and or a liar but not for others to do the same?

If you want an example, here is the most recent one ( I would swap PM for Leader of Oppostion)

....also it's so very funny how they all fall on every little thing to hate about our Prime Minister.

I feel sorry for them, what a sad life, what a sad pastime.

[cherry*135]

Isn't this thread designed to fall on every little thing to hate about the Opposition/Leader of? Does that show a sad life/sad pastime as well?

[tezza2844]

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@am*3 wrote:

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@tezza2844 wrote:

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@idlewhile wrote:

Very funny Icy, also it's so very funny how they all fall on every little thing to hate about our Prime Minister.

I feel sorry for them, what a sad life, what a sad pastime.

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Sounds a bit like some of the Gillard haters, but then again you were not around to see all the vile innuendo aimed at her.

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I wouldn't be too sure about the last part of that sentence.

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Surely. but idlewhile could not have been around if he/she thinks Toxic Tony is badly done by compared with the treatment Gillard received. if so one can only wonder what if Gillard had told as many lies, broken so many "promises",insulted so many, attended so  many party/wedding/cylcling functions at the tax payers expenses, and looked after so many mates.

[cherry*135]

Simply, it is double standards.

[tezza2844]

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@am*3 wrote:

Simply, it is double standards.

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Double ????????, That's a bit of Underestimation.

[cherry*135]

Probably 

[idlewhile]

Musing about my ID? wondering where I was under the Gillard years?

l am not the subject so playing the man is what you are indulging in. 

[icyfroth]

SELF-promoting self-professed “roving imam” Keysar Trad has mounted a rationalisation for the radicalisation of young Australian Muslims that should forever destroy what remains of his credibility.

Trad, who last year joined with Labor and the Greens in opposing a laudable suite of anti-terrorism laws proposed by the federal government to deal with returning Islamist murderers, told a Western Sydney forum that young Muslims join terror groups because their “blood is boiling” at what he termed “domestic persecution” and international atrocities committed by the West.

In contrast, he said, IS propaganda tells young people: “Join us and you will belong, you will not be discriminated against, you can go wild, let loose your facial hair and you become the law.”

What a fatuous commentary from someone who a ­series of state and federal governments have given a cloak of credibility to over the past 20 years, even though his history as a translator for the pro-­jihadist and pro-Osama bin Laden Nida’ul Islam magazine is a matter of record.

Trad finds he can “feel the same fire” but how often have we heard him or other self-nominated Islamic leaders and imams claiming their “blood is boiling” at reports of honour killings, forced marriages, or female genital mutilation — all part of the rich tapestry of traditions that exist in sections of the Islamic community.

The leftist “progressives”, even as they glorify feminism and equality, have ignored the routine debasement of women, the persecution of homosexuals, the regular denigration of Christians, Jews and non-­Muslims in general.

The flood of migrants who came here post-WWII had no doubts about their destination or their hope that they and their children would one day be Australians.

Assimilation, not isolation, is the solution — and the people of this nation have shown they are the most welcoming in the world to those who wish to engage and participate in this society.

Entire Article Here

"Some Islamic figures in Australia are now demanding the federal government spend tens of millions more on deradicalisation programs for Trad’s angry young men"

Yeah milk the cash cow the Australian taxpayer has become

[vicr3000]

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@icyfroth wrote:

"Some Islamic figures in Australia are now demanding the federal government spend tens of millions more on deradicalisation programs for Trad’s angry young men"

Yeah milk the cash cow the Australian taxpayer has become

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Either not let them back at all or spend a few $ to make sure if they do come back they come back in a Pine box,

well the pieces that are left !

Not sure how you fit 72 Virgins + 1 in a Pine Box

(I'd like to try the 72 virgins though)

[vicr3000]

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@icyfroth wrote:

Mr Shorten interviewed on WSFM this morning:

about his twin brother Robert:

"he was born 15 minutes after me so I'm 15 minutes older"

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Icy

Re him being a "non identical" twin, his brother was very lucky

I wonder if his brother is also a possible rapist wife cheater ?