Some quotes from today's Dominion Post Editorial
The modesty of National's tax cut plan is smart politics by Mr Key. It is pragmatic and an astute reading of where the election will now be fought, The Dominion Post writes.
As the leaders of the world's big economies wrestle with how to fend off catastrophe, and as New Zealanders come to terms with the grim news contained in the pre-election economic and fiscal update, the focus has shifted from tax cuts to economic management. That makes its lack of extravagance - it does leave some New Zealanders worse off, rather than borrowing to deliver to all - a virtue rather than a vice. Lavish promises now would be seen as either pre-election rhetoric to be abandoned soon after November 8, or as foolhardy in the extreme.
The package still underlines the fundamental difference in approach between Labour and National when it comes to tax. Mr Key's philosophy is summed up in his desire to reduce the top tax rate to 33c in the dollar over time. His regret is that circumstances mean he could not now make bigger cuts.
Mr Key has been open about where National will get the money. The easy path would have been for him to have made vague promises to make savings through cuts in the bureaucracy to be finalised after National took power, or to have made extravagant claims on the stimulus provided by the tax cuts rapidly solving the Government's deficit problem.
Mr Key's package is modest, credible and affordable. Now it is up to votersto decide whether it is also desirable.
