You’re quite right, Jake! – esp in the last 2 paras. Whilst it’s easy enough to slag off the LP, an objective look at PN fiscal policy says it all: they have only one solution to any given problem, namely, throw our money at it, in copious amounts. This is how they finally squashed the Drydocks cockroach, probably how they will do likewise to the Airmalta one (before the Laburisti start banging on, let’s recall that Airmalta only ever made money when it enjoyed a virtual monopoly) and probably how the pensions time-bomb will be defused.

How many (admittedly, much-needed) projects ever went to budgeted cost? ALL overran by many millions.

Fenech’s budget gets about 60% of its revenue off the Common (or garden) Man. This is shocking, but necessary, because under the PN, despite one of the proportionally biggest civil services in the known universe, it gets very little done. In fact, it’s usually via some ‘private/public’ partnership that anything happens. The civil service still has half-days, low productivity, lax practices like skiving, throwing sickies etc. Latch on the myriad quangos and authorities, who seem to be staffed solely by well-paid managers/consultants and you see the need for oodles of cash.

The much-touted VAT introduced in 1995 by Johnny Cash has loopholes through which one could drive a bus.

PN’s record on oil exploration – let alone discovery – is abysmal.

It’s easy to call Dr Muscat a chump but we shouldn’t wet ourselves over PN’s financial wizardry, coz there ain’t any!

Dissett is not ‘off air’ (that expression applies to radio only).

I’m not going to quibble on the idiom you follow or the one I should use on your blog. Oxford American dictionary gives it as referring to broadcast (implying radio & TV), it also included cable in the definition. But it’s not important as my message wasn’t ambiguous in that sense.

Plans to cancel the show have been cancelled

that’s news to me. There’s nothing on the times website on this I only found a snippet on the independent. For me the damage is done though. PBS is a public service and dissett was a respected programme that balanced WE.

If billboards upset you, I hope you fully understand that the Joseph Muscat ‘leader 1 to 12’ series is designed for billboards

the billboards in question didn’t serve as public information service but to burnish the PN government’s image before the election

Yes, when your political views are the result of personal bitterness, they are discredited

thanks for the info. I’ll make sure to tag it as a disclaimer to my comments from now on.

———–

disclaimer: I might be a disgruntled voter. Take my comments with a pinch of salt.

you’ve suffered some personal upset which has coloured your perspective

so discrediting my post is enough to win the argument? I’m not a labour party candidate, I’m a voter…

This government’s communication is anything but slick

at least we’re not seeing billboards paid with public funds telling us how good the government is… but we still get dissett off air to leave bondiplus as sole purveyor of truth

[Daphne – 1. Dissett is not ‘off air’ (that expression applies to radio only). Plans to cancel the show have been cancelled. 2. Yes, when your political views are the result of personal bitterness, they are discredited. 3. If billboards upset you, I hope you fully understand that the Joseph Muscat ‘leader 1 to 12’ series is designed for billboards.]

The campaign is on going, they never let go. The talking points are well rehearsed and the spokespeople (usually ministers and PS for packaged media appearances) are well trained in mock Q&A exercises. Bondiplus looks like a government commissioned PR piece…as usual.

I’m sorry daph but I’m not impressed anymore. Slickness is not enough. Looking at the results of all these PN government years, I’d have to say that being slick only means that you have more money to spend to dress your message. But the message is getting awfully dry. Churchill lost the post war election, thank goodness. After EU accession, PN is starting to look stale.

It’s going to be a PL victory and Austin will smash his laptop again in frustration.

I don’t believe the polls Bondi was showing.

[Daphne – Oh dear, it sounds like you’ve suffered some personal upset which has coloured your perspective. ‘Slickness is not enough’. I agree. And that’s why Malta is where it is today, because slickness is not enough. Indeed, slickness is pointless unless it communicates the real skill that lies beneath. This government’s communication is anything but slick. Most people in the field would describe it as rather the opposite. Also, there’s no need to apologise. It’s not as though I’m running the country or the Nationalist Party.]

[Daphne – Is there one? They usually start three or four months before the general election. It’s a little early for that. Labour is the one running a full-on election campaign, which means it’s going to burn out before 2013. This is the period when a solid foundation should be built for that campaign (and ensuing term of government), but this means researching and writing policy not producing YouTube videos.]

My microwave oven doesn’t bake.

[Daphne – Then it’s not an oven.]

Yeah, it looks like straight out of Gordon Pisani’s baking oven.

[Daphne – Do ovens do something other than bake? And I don’t think Gordon Pisani does much cooking.]

Chris Ripard, your comment in reply to Jake was deleted by mistake.

Do you still have a record, and if so, could you post it again, please? Thank you.

How lucky we are that Joseph Muscat’s premiership pretentions are merely his own dreams. Why bother him? Let us leave him enjoy his happy dreams.