Gillard’s Budget promise exposed for the con it always was

Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"Many pro-Gillard commentators will now try to praise Gillard for being “responsible” by abandoning her surplus promise with the economy “unexpectedly” brittle. In fact she should be condemned for breaking yet another false promise - one that gave her cover for spending too much for too long. Gillard has been not just dishonest but reckless and must pay. Else what are political promises ever to mean? A final warning. There will be many apologists now saying there is little difference between a small surplus and a small deficit anyway, so what’s the big deal? The deal is this:
 - a broken promise
 - a promise that excused huge deficits in previous years.
 - a failure to deliver a surplus even when the economy was growing well and commodity prices were at record highs.
 - the removal now of one last brake on Labor’s spending, with many commentators and special interests demanding a deficit blowout. (If Gillard can be forgiven, say, a $3 billion deficit now, why not round that out to $5 billion and cram in a few more election bribes?
 I fear a Rubicon has been crossed. If China falters now, we are in terrible trouble.

Ed: Like Blair/Brown New Labour UK government, the Rudd/Gillard Labor Australian government has racked up colossal debt during a time of plenty for others to pay off.