- The Today Show >>>>>>> Sunrise
and
- Kevin Rudd needs to spend our pocket money a whole lot better.
First off, The Today Show. Karl and Lisa have got a good ship running on Nine. Karl is a funny guy. I'm serious. He really is. And not in the Kochie "I'm everybody's lame, dirty uncle" kinda way. Karl is friendly, likeable, and also a serious journalist, with years of experience and the ability to ask tough questions. Lisa is bubbly enough, but not in the over-strained Jessica Rowe style. Georgie does a good job with the news, and Cam is great on sport. The weather, well, who cares really? But Steve Jacobs does his bit fine.
In contrast, Sunrise is looking a bit tired. Kochie and Mel seem to be going through the motions. Maybe the years and years of breakfast television have taken their toll. I think the show probably peaked with Kevin Rudd and Joe Hockey going head-to-head, giving Kevin07 the chance to build his profile every week. Now it just seems to be dropping off a bit. Today ruled the mornings for years and year and years, before Sunrise knocked it off. But I think Channel Nine has got the mix right and is winning the battle.
It helps that Nine has included pretty reporters like Sarah Harris, who gets involved in the show and isn't afraid to make fun of herself. She also has a few fans out there in cyberspace.Okay, second thing.
I saw Peter Costello talk about this on Today, and I have to say it's something I've been thinking about ever since the stimulus package was announced.
Our Prime Minister is just about to dump $42 billion into the Australian economy. The 07/08 budget (from Costello) left him with a $20 billion surplus. That's all gone now. Allllll that money is wiped off the table. And what do we have to show for it?
- The Kevin Rudd National Highway program, designed to stimulate transport and reduce travel times for goods and services?
- The Kevin M. Rudd Australian hospitals program, which builds new hospitals in key areas and funds extensive training for specialists?
- The K. M. Rudd dam project, which ensures Australia's water needs for the next 80 years?
- The K. M. R fibre optic cable network, spanning the length and breadth of the country, ensuring business and residents get the best access to the online economy?
- The Rudd Education Value-Adding Scheme (REVAS), where teachers are funded to dramatically lift their standard of teaching, and schools are rebuilt and revamped to ensure the next generation of Australians has every opportunity to succeed?
Orrrrrrrrr....
A bunch of cash dumped into pockets of people, based on how much money they didn't make last year, and how many kids they've had?
Basically, I want to know: what's in this for Australia? How is this $42 billion spend going to take our country forward? Rudd's saying it's going to stop us from going backwards. That's good, I guess. But $42 billion????? That's a freakin' HUGE amount of money. Our economy isn't big enough to consistently deal with spends of that nature. If we're going to be spending something like that, it should be on things we can use. Things that will help the Australian economy for 40-50 years, not just until the next election.
If you're eligible for the cash (and I think I am, but I've never been before, so who knows), then by all means take it. In these times, people shouldn't look free money in the face. Except that it's not free. And our taxes will be paying back the repayments on it for the next 30 years. But whatever. Let's get Commander Kevin's cash and do whatever we like with it. If he's lucky, we'll re-elect him in a year or two. After he's spent another $40 billion or so to buy our vote.
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