He Wouldn't Dare

He Wouldn’t Dare

By John Kelly on April 14, 2014 • ( 61 )

No
matter what Joe Hockey says, he wouldn’t dare upset today’s aged
pensioners…would he? As much as he would like to, the consequences of
such an act would terminate his tenure as treasurer very quickly.


Yes, he will probably increase the pension qualification age to 70,
but it is unlikely it would come into effect before 2024 when the
increase to 67 introduced by Kevin Rudd was to take full effect. That
will give those in their forties and early fifties time to think about
their future. Sound alright? Of course, it might also make them
sufficiently angry enough to change their vote though….like now!


As an aged pensioner, I can tell you how I longed for the day when I
turned 65. I literally counted down the last 5 years, day by day as I
continued working a 60 hour week making an average $10 an hour driving a
taxi.


Having finally achieved that glorious age and be accepted into the
hallowed halls of the government’s financial reward program, I can tell
you it is not something I would surrender…ever. Well, maybe if I won
Tattslotto or something but hey, that’s never going to happen.


There are just so many ways for Hockey to find the money to improve
the bottom line and in time balance the books, he would have to be a
Grade A failure at his job not to see them. Slugging pensioners is the
cowardly way out. He could start by retaining the carbon tax and the
mining tax. That will create more revenue than hitting pensioners could
ever generate.

There was a time, albeit a very brief one, when I saw Hockey as the only
responsible minister in the government. But over the past few months,
having listened closely to his rhetoric, his cleverly chosen words and
having watched his mannerisms, my view of him has changed. He is the
quintessential Liberal. Their mantra is freedom; every man, woman and
child should be free to do what they like; free to succeed and free to
fail, all of which sounds great until you dissect such freedoms down and
discover what happens when they become the catalyst for wonton
destruction of our everyday way of life.

Image courtesy of pbs.org

The wonderful documentary, ‘The Inside Job’ was on television the
other night. Narrated by Matt Damon it gives a step by step analysis of
how the GFC was created. It began with government deregulation of the
financial industry during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Subsequent
presidents, Clinton and Bush gave away further controls granting money
hungry morons the freedom to rip the heart out of the American dream.
And because the economies of so many countries were inextricably linked
with America, it brought the rest of the world to its knees.


That’s the sort of freedom Liberals in this country want for us. From
the loosening of controls on financial advisers to the repeal of racial
discrimination laws, to slugging pensioners. All these measures are
designed to put financial power back into the hands of unregulated
morons who will have the freedom to play havoc with our money. All this,
in the mistaken belief that the principle of ‘trickle down economics’
works. It doesn’t and it has been proven so.


And as for broken election promises, we can be certain that there is a
small Liberal army of ‘double-speak’ cretins who are, at this very
moment, crafting the language we will hear, denying that any promises
have been broken, that the government has been true to its word and that
no one will be worse off, blah, blah, blah.


This ensures Joe Hockey will be able to continue with the forward
guard rhetoric preparing us with what sounds like responsible, sound
economic management when, all along the way, he is in fact laying the
groundwork for an attack on our social welfare system; a system that has
defined our nation’s responsibility to those least able to defend
themselves. All this in favour of opening up the gates to those, he
thinks will expand and develop the nations resources for the benefit of
us all. What balderdash!


And
so for the aged pensioner who has been protected from the heartless,
greedy eyes of Coalition governments ever since Gough Whitlam
established the formula that ensured they would receive 25% of male
weekly earnings back in 1973, a new paradigm is about to unfold; a time
honoured, sacrosanct principle is about to be scrapped.

He wouldn’t dare…..would he?

Yes, he would. It’s part of what being Liberal today, is all about.