By: Larry Williams | Wednesday, October 31, 2012 4:34 PM

Hurricane Sandy has swamped the eastern seaboard of the US. It has caused enormous damage both in human and economic terms. The death toll seems to vary but it’s a lot. The cost will escalate over $20b.

My feeling is that the disaster will likely propel Obama home in next week’s election. He's looking in command. He's getting all the exposure. Money couldn't buy the profile Obama is getting right now. And he's already spent a billion or so on his campaign. The bump he will get now cannot be underestimated. Romney cannot really make any play on this disaster. The mess will still be around through to election day and Obama will still be on the TV talking it all through.

Romney more or less has to take a back seat. He will want to see this end quickly. Obama says there is still more to come. Truth is, that suits Obama not Romney.

The latest polls though do fluctuate and it really is hard to come to a definitive position.

 

SAS

The PM denies a report that the SAS troops have been redeployed to Afghanistan to carry out a "revenge mission" for the killings of five New Zealand soldiers.

The claim comes from Jon Stephenson a correspondent in Afghanistan. He says that sources in the US-led coalition in Afghanistan and the NZ SAA community had told him SAS troops were going back to attack.

"Not true. Completely wrong," the PM said.

Enter Labour.

Labour is calling on the Prime Minister to confirm that our SAS troops in Afghanistan are sticking to their mandate of ‘gathering intelligence’ as previously stated by the Government.

“John Key has said that our SAS are in Afghanistan to help with logistics, planning and intelligence gathering,” Labour Leader David Shearer says.

You know what? I kind of think that when Key says "not true. Completely wrong". That looks to me like he has said all that stuff.

Actually I don't care if the SAS have gone back to hunt down and kill the insurgents responsible for killing NZ soldiers. I don't think the majority of Kiwis would care. Indeed they would likely applaud the initiative. Its war. You kill the enemy.

On Stephenson I have the impression that he is over there in Afghanistan to undermine our troops.

 

ACC

Accident Compensation Corporation payouts should be extended to those disabled by disease or because of congenital deformities to address a long-standing injustice, says former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer.

The Law Commission had recommended in 1988 that sickness should be covered by the scheme as soon as possible. "We are still waiting," Sir Geoffrey said.

Here's the thing:

ACC is an accident type insurance scheme. We pay premiums for the cover.

Bringing sickness into the scheme is fine, as long as you then charge a premium for the sickness cover over and above the payment for the accident cover.

I don't think the Law Commission recommended the same premiums for extended cover.

I'm all for it. But premiums will have to go up. Period.

 

WARRIORS SPONSOR

A new sponsor of the Warriors.

Fernbaby is a Chinese owned company that produces baby formula.

Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah said the sponsorship was "an exciting new direction for us and for sporting brands in New Zealand", bringing a potential to expand the game into Asia.

Sure it will.

Breast-feeding advocates are outraged at the sponsorship. Infant Feeding Association national co-ordinator David Newton says "They want you to think it's a magic powder that's going to make your kid into a Warrior," he said. "But it's just milk powder - one that's unbelievably expensive and with an extra gold label that means nothing."

Forget the nonsense about taking the game to China it’s the Warriors support base that the sponsorship is aimed at.

Clearly the target of the sponsorship company is the supporters of the Warriors, Maori and Pacific Islanders in particular.

Look, these breast feeding zealots, should butt out. It’s an individual mother’s choice. If a child is old enough to go to the fridge and get the milk -that seems fair enough to me.

I don't see anything demonstrably wrong about this sponsorship and the breast feeders will just have to suck on it.

Photo: Getty Images