Media rabbits abound on the left & right in the carbon tax debate

Has anyone noticed the amount of mindless chewing being done in the media hothouse on the subject of the carbon tax, tax compensation and what it means to the number 46.

What a tedious dialectic (although this is too grand a word for the claptrap about on both sides of the divide). On one side Gillard and all who sail in her are grossly incompetent, recalcitrant, lying misanthropes who want to destroy our bourgeois inheritance. At the other extreme Gillard et al have not moved nearly fast enough to claim the high ground of environmental sanctity in a quest for the holy grail of carbon sequestration, presumably in a metaphorically large place where the sun doesn't shine (yelp).

On some of the more enlightened blogs you can find a reasoned approach to the subject, trying to pick the lumps of gold out of cow pats strewn about the media landscape. These are thin on the ground. Yesterday Crikey, through its political correspondent Bernard Keane, had another crack at Labor for not getting the message right on the carbon tax. Methinks a lot of selective hearing is going on, with the prejudiced mindset only hearing what tickles the pre-determined fancy. I commented on this piece as follows:

"Hmm, methinks there is a bit of rabbiting on here. From day one the Govt. has said that the major polluters will be taxed and the revenue stream will be used to compensate low & middle income earners and applied to renewable energy initiatives. The detail of said compensation will be in the budgetary process mix, presumably to be outlined on budget night. Garnaut’s prescriptions will be thrown in with elements of the Henry review to extract a politically saleable package. If it doesn’t capture the electorate’s fancy Labor will be tossed out at the next election. However, if it does they will come back with a majority in the House with a Green dominated Senate. Thence your environmental ‘carrots’ will be easier to get through the Parliament. Its all about real politic in a 3 yr cycle. As Rudd discovered, if you get the rhetoric out of tune with the art of the possible, you get the shaft. I think Gillard et al get this and they are trying to get the timing right, but yet again, they may get it wrong (phew!)."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I wanna hold your haaand, I wanna hold your haaaaaaaand!