The Conversation
“What happens if we just write bad legislation?”
Actually said the senior ranked New Zealand politician in the private sector meeting I personally sat in on (ie…. this is not hearsay – I’m not making this up).
“We really want to give a tax break to the rich. But in THIS political climate, we can’t be seen to be giving tax breaks to the wealthy. That will never fly with the New Zealand public and is political suicide!”
“… so what if… “
“… what happens if we write really bad legislation about XXXXXXXX? ..”
“That way, those taxpayers who can afford to retain the very expensive lawyers who are capable of seeing this loop hole, will exploit it and evade avoid the tax. Everybody else who can’t afford the really expensive lawyers will pay the tax.”
“… and … Only the rich can pay for this quality of high-end tax advice… … so … only the rich will evade the tax…. we can write ‘bad legislation’ which is equal for everyone… but actually gives rich people a tax break? It will come across as ‘balanced’ to the wider New Zealand public, right?”
“… and .. if people do find out its poorly written…
“… well we can blame the officials for being bad at their job! Everybody already believes they’re bad at their jobs, so we’re halfway to blameless already!”
Not fiction
Yep, in a former life, I heard that conversation. That’s how inequality is promulgated – I’m not telling whether this is a left – centre – right party senior member conversation. I genuinely doubt that conversation would have changed based on the parties colours.
This is politics, and why smaller governments and clamping down on the size of government reduces the opportunity of these wolves-in-sheep’s-clothing doing this legal slight-of-hand in front of our eyes.
“Things are seldom as they seem; skim milk masquerades as cream.”
What reminds me of these slight of hand tricks is this: an excerpt between Donald Trump, Elon Musk and some goose called Sean Hannity reported on www.whitehouse.gov.
I’m going to cut-and-paste just in case the website ever changes. And I’m also going to highlight some bits of it in orange. And those bits, I want you to think about the above conversation where the legal process was used to convey an advantage on the rich “outside” of the “other” legal process.
In this instance, I think this is a pretty clear example of Elon Musk (through Twitter) making Twitter give Donald Trump a $US 10 million political donation without having to declare it as a donation. And you know what? I bet that since its a legal settlement, that money will be tax deductible for Twitter, although this bit, I’m guessing.
Read the below with the above story in your mind.
Roosevelt Room
11:48 A.M. EST
Q Mr. President, great to see you again.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you.
Q How are you?
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q Elon Musk.
MR. MUSK: Hi.
Q Great to see you.
MR. MUSK: Thanks. Thanks for having me.
Q I’ve been reading a lot about you. I’ve got to start with this. So, he’s working for free with DOGE. He’s — he’s kind of put a lot of his life on hold, and you sued Twitter a number of years ago. You just made him pay you $10 million?
THE PRESIDENT: That’s right. That’s right.
Q That’s — that’s right. (Laughs.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I sued — I sued from long before he had it.
MR. MUSK: Yeah. Yeah. (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: And, I mean, they really did a number on me, you know. And I sued, and they had to pay. You know, they paid $10 million settlement.
Q You’re okay with that?
MR. MUSK: I mean, I left it up to the lawyers and, you know, the team running Twitter. So, I said, “You guys do what you think is the right — makes sense.”
Q I think it’s funny.
THE PRESIDENT: I think —
Q Because —
THE PRESIDENT: — it’s a very low — I was looking to get much more money than that.
Q So, you gave him a discount w- — in the lawsuit?
THE PRESIDENT: He got — oh, he got a big discount. I don’t think he even knows about it.
Q He’s become one of your — if you read and believe the media — he’s become one of your best friends. He’s working for free for you. He’s —
MR. MUSK: Well, I love the president. I just want to be clear about that.
Q You don’t care about that?
MR. MUSK: I — no, I love the pr- — I —
Q You love the president?
MR. MUSK: I think — I think President Trump is a good man, and — and he’s, you know — I — I —
THE PRESIDENT: That’s the way he said that. You know, there’s something nice about. (Laughter.)
MR. MUSK: No, it is. I, you know —
THE PRESIDENT: It is.https://www.whitehouse.gov/remarks/2025/02/interview-of-president-trump-and-elon-musk-by-sean-hannity-the-sean-hannity-show/
… sigh…