"It was the other three, not me"

Ah Rick, your quote is so useful.

Howard took back his sorry, or rather rectified it to mean 'It wasn't my fault but I am sorry it happened'. Which is more akin to his views on the stolen generation.

See here.

Now Howard goes on a merry dance here explaining how inflation rising is not him, it was oil, the drought, and the strong economy. Except...

"We're to blame for the strong economy," he said.

"We accept full responsibility for the strong economy - we're proud of it."

Actually the economy is a reason why inflation went up. Part of it is because there's job pressure for skilled employees. As in where are they? As in there's a shortage of skilled people?

The children in year one in the first year of the Howard government are now in year 12. Why the fuck didn't the Howard government see this coming? Why the fuck did education spending drop?

Here's the relevant para (via Crikey) from the RBA announcement.

During 2007, the pace of growth of demand and output has also increased. There are few signs of that strength diminishing as yet, and reports of high capacity usage and shortages of suitable labour persist. Growth in labour costs has been contained so far, and high levels of investment are adding to productive capacity in some sectors. The rise in the exchange rate will help to contain pressure on prices. But growth in aggregate demand will, nonetheless, need to moderate if inflation is to be kept to 2‑3 per cent in the medium term.

By the way, he's not to blame for the strong economy. He spent a couple of years balancing the books then spent the next few in targetted spending not to boost skills or infrastructure but to boost his chances of staying in office.

Besides, let's not forget all the non economic related stuff he's done. And there's so, so, so much of that to kick him for.