F2F Class Notes (Dan) [r]

Before delivering his second budget, Scott Morrison introduced the idea of good and bad debt, where good debt is used to fund big, growth-producing projects and bad debt is incurred to meet everyday expenses.

The public reaction suggests another distinction is not only understood, but embraced by voters: the idea that a budget can make you worse off for a good reason or a bad reason.

Tony Abbott’s 2014 budget was a stinker not just because 74 per cent of voters believed they would be worse off because of it. It tanked because, overwhelmingly, people saw it as unfair, unsatisfactory and a massive breach of faith.

Precisely half the population expects to be worse off as a result of Morrison’s “better days ahead” budget, but it gets a tick because voters, on balance, think it is fair, good for the country and based on values they share.

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/a-tick-for-the-federal-budget-but-hold-the-champagne-malcolm-20170514-gw4lfs.html

Vocabulary

Gossip columns – Small articles that typically base their discussion on rumor and innuendo

Tabloid- Historically an A3 page size newspaper that would focus it’s discussion from local culture standpoint. Analysis of the news was from how it affects the average person in the community.

Broadsheet- Historically an A2 page size print. It would try to abstain from giving too much opinion or bias. A modern trend is for broadsheets to become more politically aligned.    

Worse off – Emotionally or financially affected rather than health based detriment. Antonym: Better off.

Overwhelmingly- To overwhelm is to defeat/be overridden via the sheer amount of something.
e.g. After my mother passed away I was overwhelmed with grief.
e.g. Australian Basketball team was overwhelmed by the skill of the USA team.

Tanked- To perform incredibly poorly. Usually used to describe financial performance, political performance and possibly athletic performance.
e.g. After rumors of bankruptcy the companies shares tanked on the stock market.
e.g. The politician that was caught taking bribes, public opinion polls tanked.
e.g. The sport team tanked at the competition, we expected them to do well but they didn’t even win one game.

Stinker- Derived from something giving off a foul odor that makes you feel unwell.’ A stinker’ is used to describe a unsatisfactory performance that is used to warrant an emotional response similar to feeling unwell.
e.g. I played a stinker on the golf course today. On one hole i lost three balls and ended up taking 12 strokes to complete a par 4.