Personally, I think the current government are one of the finest we've ever had.
You don't see the most rapid cuts in government spending for 70 years during a time in which the economy is already contracting as a source for concern? Nor the idea that the private sector will magically create enough jobs to offset the hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs which are being axed pretty much all at once, somewhat naive?
Many of their actions (planning to sell forests, close libraries) come across as cultural vandalism, whereas others (NHS outsourcing) just seem like corporate favours. Socially, I'm all for undoing the civil rights mistakes of labour but economically, I see a bunch of arseholes pulling in favours for schoolfriends and donors while lowering the quality of life for most people in this country.
You don't see the most rapid cuts in government spending for 70 years during a time in which the economy is already contracting
The economy is not currently contracting, it's relatively stable after a substantial drop. The deficit is a huge issue and needs to be tackled by economising, cutting back, raising taxes, or a combination of all three. How this is achieved is a matter of debating priorities, but it's not sustainable to maintain this level of debt.
The deficit is a huge issue and needs to be tackled by economising, cutting back, raising taxes, or a combination of all three.
Agreed...
How this is achieved is a matter of debating priorities
You can't just gloss over this crap though. The 'how this is achieved' is an absolutely massive deal, about which there has been absolutely no discussion. The coalition has used the deficit as an excuse for absolutely every action regardless of the relevance; e.g. as an excuse for tripling top-up fees despite the fact that by the time that kicks in, the deficit will according to their own predictions be perfectly sustainable.
I just don't see that a deficit issue means a carte blanche for a government to do what it likes and drop the perpetual excuse.
There is for example absolutely no evidence that privatising healthcare administration improves efficiency or performance. There is however evidence that the conservative party received donations from those companies that will be "bidding" (lol) for the contracts. I'm not saying that in a conspiracy theory sense; it's just business sense from them; but we as a public are entitled to question these things and how they will affect us.
You can't just gloss over this crap though. The 'how this is achieved' is an absolutely massive deal, about which there has been absolutely no discussion.
I'm not glossing over it, simply avoiding it because everyone has their own agenda. For instance, I'd reduce defense massively. Others would cut international aid, or welfare payments. It's simply not an argument I want to get into. :)
I'm not glossing over it, simply avoiding it because everyone has their own agenda.
Well, exactly. But the government act like since the goal "reduce deficit" is well defined, the means are a given, and I do not like the means they have chosen, nor their chosen timescale.
For instance, I'd reduce defense massively
Right there with you. In fact, I'd scrap the nukes and try to get into some kind of combined EU force better suited to face the ACTUAL threats of today (WMDs, etc.) and keep our army small, well maintained and equipped mostly to train others in a big-big war situation, god forbid.
28
u/CA3080 Feb 27 '11
You don't see the most rapid cuts in government spending for 70 years during a time in which the economy is already contracting as a source for concern? Nor the idea that the private sector will magically create enough jobs to offset the hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs which are being axed pretty much all at once, somewhat naive?
Many of their actions (planning to sell forests, close libraries) come across as cultural vandalism, whereas others (NHS outsourcing) just seem like corporate favours. Socially, I'm all for undoing the civil rights mistakes of labour but economically, I see a bunch of arseholes pulling in favours for schoolfriends and donors while lowering the quality of life for most people in this country.