Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 12/10/2026The Greens have to get enough votes first! Labour does too for that matter. I’m not an election prognosticator. But, if we assume that Labour needs the Greens to form a government, then you’re on 🙂 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 12/10/2026Besides, Labour has much more to lose. Would they risk it all and force a new election because the Greens insist on tax policies that the public likes? Highly doubt it. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 12/10/2026The Greens would risk an open revolt among their members if they can’t turn a 20% party vote into laws providing for a wealth tax at least. They care more about passing it than Labour does blocking it, especially given how popular it is. 120
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 11/10/2026Why nearer zero? If the Greens hit 15-20%, will Labour really be in any position to refuse popular tax reforms like a wealth tax? 100
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 11/10/2026The quote isn’t in the Herald interview that’s linked in the post, and I can’t find it in any other interviews she gave over the weekend. 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 11/10/2026What’s the context of this quote from Quilae? There’s a big difference between “we won’t push for a land value tax this term,” which is consistent with what TOP has said for weeks, and “we will affirmatively oppose other tax reform policies,” which would be quite the announcement. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Now imagine if the evidence against capital flight received the same amount of media attention as concerns about it. Wouldn’t it be nice! 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 09/10/2026He’s been a prominent public figure since his 2020 campaign for Senate at least, in a state with a large Republican political apparatus. And he’s one of the president’s most strident critics. If there were anything damaging to find out, it probably would have surfaced already. 000
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Ossoff is the real deal. He’s relatively moderate on most policy issues, representing a right-leaning state, but he’s got killer political instincts and outspokenly makes the moral case against who are abusing their power and hurting the public. It’s why he’s going to win this race in a landslide. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 09/10/2026The latest installment in the long-running series, "Why It's Worth Trying to Move Public Opinion." People can and do change their minds as the facts change. So remember kids: don't triangulate, negotiate! 030
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 09/10/2026It’d be one thing if those sorts of headlines were alongside “tens of thousands of public sector workers, jobseekers, and low-income people worry about further cuts,” or “millions fret over sluggish growth and high unemployment,” but… 051
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 07/10/2026And the themes themselves have a decidedly pro-business bent, framing “the future” narrowly in economic terms. 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Yeah, what… is this? You get the sense that the organisers chose the panellists and topics in order to prime the audience to accept a particular set of themes, before putting them to the candidates. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The Wall Street Journal alone ran 128 pieces about her during her 3.5 year tenure as Chair. That's about one piece per ten days! www.economicliberties.us/data-tools/t...economicliberties.usThe Wall Street Grumble - American Economic Liberties ProjectThe American Economic Liberties Project has been tracking the number of editorials published in the pages of the Wall Street Journal which raise concerns about the antitrust enforcement record of FTC ... 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 06/10/2026A similar thing happened to former US FTC Chair Lina Khan. She made a clear, persuasive case for breaking up and preventing concentrations of market power and tasked the agency with doing just that. Apparently a young progressive woman taking on monopolies did not sit well with pro-business media. 120
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 30/09/2026One other question on this. Many (if not most) businesses in the city don’t own their premises. They rent. If the idea here is to reduce commercial rates and make up lost revenue by increasing residential rates, wouldn’t that be taking money from homeowners and giving it to corporate landlords? 011
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026It’s just disappointing that the council seems to be limiting its imagination and long-term plans by what this government has said it would do, rather than identify what’s needed reinvigorate the city, cost a plan to do so, and then figure out how to fund it from there. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026You’re right or course that the council can’t assume a change of government and needs to be ready to comply with the legislation as drafted. And there’s nothing wrong with consulting on the matter now of course. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Chris Hipkins has said, repeatedly, that you can’t cut your way to growth. He’s right! The council should do everything within its power to increase investment, employment, and incomes in the city before it even considers starving itself with rates cuts. 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026It doesn’t have to be this way. Why accept rates capping as not merely inevitable but binding today, when they’re being proposed by a government your party is seeking to change and, in any event, wouldn’t go into effect for years? 210
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Would love to have a more in-depth discussion about this, because it gets to the heart of what we can and should do to improve the city. What’s frustrating is the tacit acceptance of the idea that our local economy is busted, we can’t borrow anything, and we should just accept our doomed fate. 100
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Racing to the bottom against other councils is a losers’ game. What’s most important to businesses looking to set up shop is a large customer base that’s keen to spend. We get that by increasing employment and incomes, not cutting rates and hoping it trickles down. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026What our city needs is investment that creates jobs, spurs economic activity, and increases aggregate demand for goods and services. The council needs to invest what it can and make the case loudly and often that central government needs to invest more too. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I don’t think you were elected to accept and oversee a “managed decline.” You’re the deputy mayor of our capital city, and your party is actively campaigning to change the government. You don’t have to accept decline; you can fight it. And you should! 100
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026“Cut taxes to grow the economy… maybe” sounds more like a National policy than a Labour policy, doesn’t it? 100
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Where did they commit to forming a government with Labour? Asking honestly; I’m not aware of that. 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 29/09/20262026 is shaping up to be quite different than 2017, isn’t it? Back then the Greens leveraged their 6% to commit Labour to passing the Zero Carbon Act. Now the Greens’ policy ambitions go both wider and deeper, and hitting or exceeding 16% would give them far more leverage than they had 9 years ago. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 28/09/2026And as an added bonus, public ownership of that new entrant means that its benefits will flow through to the public. Heaps to love about the plan! 020
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Among many other differences! The Greens’ plan also deals with critical distribution assets, addresses the market power of Woolworths, and ensures that the third major player is accountable to the public and applies maximum competitive discipline to the other big grocers. 020
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Maybe we should cut the latecomers some slack. It’s not like one of the other political parties already understood that and designed their plan to ensure that no single supermarket chain gets outsized scale advantages and distributional efficiency gains, right? 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Just coming out the other side of a fight with flu A. Took the better part of two weeks to have a full day’s energy, even with the latest jab. Hope you feel better soon! 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 15/09/2026I lived in Rosslyn for a couple of stints before moving to other parts of Arlington. If you’re keen on great views of DC and the river, you could check out Top of the Town, an events venue that’s very close by. 120
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 14/09/2026... except that it means the strategy, messaging, and institutional architecture that they had built up are no longer fit for purpose, and it looks like they're having a hard time adapting on-the-fly. 020
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Came across a great theory from Allison @m-e.allison683etc.servegame.com the other day. Labour had resigned themselves to this election being unwinnable, only to find that they really could win. Which you'd think would be welcome news to them... 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 13/09/20261. Curious that this was announced over the weekend, when the market can't immediately trade against or price in the announcement. 2. How many shares did these guys sell before the announcement? 1212
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 10/09/2026It was such a short time ago that Labour recognized the need for Keynesian counter-cyclical spending to pull a struggling economy out of the ditch. You invest when times are hard, and pay down debt when times get better. Except times are very much not better yet! 120
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Great piece. The insistence on maintaining such a low debt level is especially self-defeating for Labour, because if you can’t finance investments in critical public services and infrastructure through debt, then the alternative is… tax. Which plays right into National’s main line of attack. 121
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 10/09/2026There’s a more charitable reading of this complaint, I think. They’re contrasting your freedom to engage directly with the public versus the staff’s limited ability to engage, aren’t they? 100
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Struggling with whether weak sauce is better or worse than pure applesauce. 001
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 08/09/2026What's especially wild is that providing better pay and benefits helps the company! Satisfied workers means more productivity and less turnover. 020
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Exhibit #39,426 in the long-running trial of “The Fascists v. Basic Art Literacy” 000
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 03/09/2026static.klipy.comLotr You Bow To NooneAlt: The moment on Return of the King where Aragorn tells the hobbits, “You bow to no one.” 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Unless National promises the same, the practical result of this would be that only conservatives’ preferred projects will ever happen. 130
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Glad to hear it! Didn't mean to suggest you were on the sidelines. 010
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 31/08/2026The way to make the system work for working people (or at least work better) is to do politics: voting, organising, demonstrating, and building solidarity. You can be pessimistic about the outcome and yet still find motivation in your community and hope from the labour movement's past successes. 110
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Voting matters! The more votes a party gets, the closer they get to having the power to enact their agenda, which has real consequences. 100
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Fast forward to today. A Labour government would never have passed the move on orders bill, or fired tens of thousands of public sector workers, or cut funding to hospitals, or rolled back measures to address climate change. 200
Wells @arltearoa.bsky.social · 31/08/2026This is the sort of nihilism that gets harder to defend the more you think about it. We know from this government’s hands-off response to the flu epidemic that National’s response to COVID would have been more than a little different than Labour’s, the latter of which saved thousands if lives. 210
