By: Barry Soper | Tuesday, June 26, 2012 7:12 AM

Break out the Kleenex, that nasty Prime Minister's turned the Kermits into a blubbering mess.

State Homie John Key had a swipe at The Greens for dipping into their taxpayer funded leaders' budget to pay for people to circulate the citizen's initiated referendum aimed at stopping the partial sale of assets.

He said this is now a taxpayer funded referendum coming from a party that said they didn't have enough money to pay for transcription services for their profoundly deaf MP Mojo Mathers.

Kingpin Kermit Russel Norman's outraged saying Key's rattled and desperate because he's losing the argument on asset sales and he's picking on someone with a disability to do it.

In fairness to The Greens, their moaning about Mojo wasn't that they didn't have the money but felt someone with a disability should be looked after by the system so The Homie was being a bit cheeky.

But is he losing the asset sales argument? Well it's a fair bet to say that he knew he was never going to win it and recent polls reinforce that.

Sixty four percent don't like state assets being flogged off but just 24 percent agree with the sales. Curiously if you ask whether they'd buy shares in the assets 60 percent say yes and 31 percent say no which could mean they don't like the sales because they can't afford to buy shares.

As the grizzlies file into Parliament's bear pit today the anti sales protesters will once again be out on the streets as will the petition pushers. But for them it's a bit like closing the stable door long after the horse has been sent to the knackers yard.

Just as it is for those well meaning souls who're intent on saving TVNZ's Channel 7. Like the asset sales, they were warned well in advance and if they were really serious about stopping the decision their campaign would have been kicked off long ago!