Wow, are you implying that mothers should not care for their children? I would certainly hate to grow up all deprived in your household. I would prefer to grow up in a household where my mother and father cared for me.

Apparently Joe Hockey is out there attempting to defend the Lib plan. Honestly, isn’t that guy tired of eating shit sandwiches yet? Although he does seem to have quite an appetite for them.

Since when was it a left-wing principle to oppose a great big tax on great big companies to fund a great big parental leave benefit?

It’s not a principle, but wedging is effective politics. It is a political principle of success that you don’t want your enemies to get a discount on putting together constituencies that can’t live easily with each other. Howard showed how good that could be in 1998 when he squeaked home with a minority on the basis of Democrat support.

If Abbott is pitching social welfare, he shouldn’t get all the business vote too.

CW are “committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless, exiled, hungry, and foresaken. Catholic Workers continue to protest injustice, war, racism, and violence of all forms.”

They’re most famous for helping to end the “duck and cover” air raid drills in the United States and for promoting “plowshares” actions to symoblically or literally disarm military hardware (which aren’t all by CW people, but a lot are).

I’ve always said it. Scratch a Jesuit and you find a socialist.

Make that a great big new nanny-state direct action socialist, Liam.

Just remember that he’s a conviction politician. Don’t know how long that meme can stand the harsh light of reality.

As for Abbott’s stunt, it’s a classic wedge isn’t it? In one stroke, he defuses two perceived electoral points of weakness – women voters and unionists. He appeases the deficit fetishists by fully funding it. AND he does so by putting his hand in the pockets of big business, thereby channelling community post-GFC anger.

I like Paul Burns’ point: This gives Rudd the green light to stop treating the business lobby with kid gloves.

By the way, have you seen the ABC’s online coverage of the Abbott stunt? It looks as if it was written by his press secretary. Do the ABC hacks have have any bullshit filters at all or are they working for the ABC board directly these days?