By signing up Obama’s electoral strategist David Axelrod, Miliband will not be fighting the 2015 General Election by debating policies that really matter to the electorate and the future prosperity of this country, he will offer populist solutions that easily resonate with voters, but in reality he can not deliver i.e. low global energy prices by decree and guaranteed above inflation wage packets for all.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/17/ed-miliband-david-axelrod-adviser-2015-election
We know this based on Obama’s last campaign promising broader prosperity to ‘the people’, his win and the ‘No We Can’t’ mediocre results so far that has seen his approval ratings plummet to George Bush levels. So Labour will be certain repeat their 2010 strategy of promising a lot with little detail, hidden within a rhetoric that they and their supporters fill most comfortable, a pathetic class war where taxing the rich and deficit /debt spending, will solve everything.
But I see a problem with that for Miliband IF they are expecting to appeal to a wider set of voters other than the faithful who don’t care how bad Labour screw up everytime they run the country – so is this just a strategy to consolidate their core voter and obtain the dodgy electoral boundary 35% of the vote needed for a working majority in 2015?
I suggest this as even on basic scrutiny, what worked for Obama, can not work for Miliband as unlike post financial crash Obama’s Democrats, Labour was in power over the crash and their fat overspending State during THEIR stewardship of our economy is largely responsible for the unbalanced economy and deficit reduction/austerity that any responsible party would have had to address from 2010.
How can Miliband follow Obama’s populist but hollow inequality and bold spending rhetoric when;
- An extortionate tax rate for the rich and the Private Sector/Businesses, plus fat State deficit /national debt spending favoured by Miliband, and in common with Obama's rhetoric, was tried by France’s Hollande and was a disaster for France, it’s twice cut credit rating and his approval ratings.
And France that had a much better balanced economy and lower budget deficit post crash, has since reversed socialist policies and implemented Osborne ‘Plan A’ type pro business/growth policies, resulting in record 11% unemployment levels are now falling and GDP growth rising.
- The rich paid far LESS Income, Capital Gains and Housing taxes etc under Labour, than under the Conservatives.
- The poor paid more income tax under Labour, than under the Conservatives.
- Our GDP growth under Labour was less balanced and more akin to a giant Ponzi scheme build on the proceeds of City speculation, Retail bank balance sheet growth and a huge increase in government spending/debt stimulation during the boom years, than under the Conservatives.pre 1997 and post 2010