Category Archives: spending

Selfishness and self-fulfilling prophecies.

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Ever feel like you’ve been played for a fool?

 
I’m not sure why there’s a big banner with Thatcher on it, though. Are these people aware that she left Number 10 over twenty years ago? You may as well march around with a banner proclaiming William I to be a bit of a rotter. Let it go.
I really do have sympathy for those staring down the barrel of the cuts, people are going to lose their jobs and that sucks. There are some who will imply that a large number of the (TUC) estimated 200,000 people are lazy, feckless and incompetent. A number of them will be, but nowhere near as much as some would have you believe. There are some who will imply that an equally large number of those marching will be of the opinion that that it is just and right that money be taken from people to fund their job whether it needs doing or not. Again, a number of them will be, but nowhere near as much as some would have you believe. There are also some who would have you believe that the majority of these people would protest against a Tory government regardless of what policies they put in place. Well, you get where I’m coming from.
What frustrates me are the simple facts that have been ignored and will continue to be ignored by the Unions. Firstly there is the myth that these cuts are savage. They aren’t. Not even close. These cuts represent the bare minimum that any government who wants to present even a pretence at cutting the defecit could make. Government spending is increasing, taxation on the public is increasing. This is because of the enormous interest payments we must make. Government borrowing has never been greater.
Many Trade Unionists were howling with rage at Osborne’s comments about the 50% income tax band being temporary. These Trade Unionists demand that their livelihoods be protected whilst others have their’s ripped from them. They see no irony or disparity in this. The self proclaimed great bastions of equality and solidarity would happily see people left destitute. ‘Oh, come on.’ I hear you say. ‘These people are rich, they can afford it.’ Well, yes. But how long will they put up with it? With the sort of cash and skills they have, any country in the world would welcome them with open arms. What happens to the employees when the rich up sticks and move, taking their business with them? What then for the cleaners and clerks? The production line employees and drivers? The shop stewards? What happens when these people lose their jobs? When their tax revenue dries up? You think the cuts are savage now?
The marchers have been whipped up into a state of hysteria by the Trade Unions. It is all very well Brendan Barber, Mark Serwotka and Bob Crow calling for strikes, their very handsome pay packets are not subject to being docked when their members go out on strike. What do they care if someone loses a day’s, two day’s, a week’s wages? Having used their muscle to get their man in the big chair at the Labour party against the wishes of the party membership, they will do anything to destabilise the government and have their puppet put in place, dancing on the end of a string which they hold in their fist. The multitude marching are footsoldiers in this campaign, unquestioningly following the orders handed down to them by their own 50% tax paying overlords. And they are paying for the privilege. I’d be speechless in admiration of the genius if it wasn’t so utterly sinister.
We then have the political placemen in councils and government departments all over the country. After thirteeen years of Labour rule, the placemen in government departments accounts for pretty much all the senior managers, Labour ensured this was the case. Before the cuts they warned it was front-line services that would be hit, and by God they’ve made sure their prophecy has come true. I’ve seen it in my own department; front line staff being given the elbow whilst the cake eating, tofu promoting, community cohesion diversity outreach social engagement inclusivity officers continue to take home one and a half times the wage of those being given the heave-ho. Is it Cameron and Osborn handing out the P45′s? No, it is those people installed by Labour ensuring their prophecies come to pass.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, there is no magic money tree. We have spent the last thirteen years spending, spending, spending, spending, spending, borrowing, borrowing, borrowing, borrowing, borrowing, taxing, taxing, taxing, taxing. The amount taken from us makes us the most taxed people in the world, the amount raised does not match the amount borrowed, the amount borrowed is less still than the amount spent, the amount that continues to be spent. It is always the result of a Labour government.
For thirteen years the Trade Unions have known about it, and they said nothing. They ceased to be bodies representing their members a long time ago, they are now political entities seeking to impose their view without recourse to anything as grubby as democracy. Their silence over the last thirteen years, when they knew full well that the cuts would come in the end, is a betrayal of their members. Now to further their own ends, they send their troops into battle. Sure some of them will fall, but what does it matter? They still have their £145,000 a year pay packets and now they have the leader of the opposition in their pockets.
This is not some idealogical crusade by the Conservatives, they’d spend like a drunken sailor in port to cement their own position, if they could – the fact is that they’ve smashed open the piggy bank to find a button, a washer and a startled spider are the contents. There is no money. OK? There is no money. Remember the letter? There is no money. I don’t know how much more clearly it can be said. There is no money. There is no money. There is no money.
God help us if we end up in the same position as Greece, Ireland and Portugal, because there will be no bail-out. We’ll be on our own. Or worse still, there will be a bail-out, and the strings that come attached do not bear thinking about.
I have a friend due to give birth in June. It will be her first child. I submit that it is the height of selfishness to expect this unborn child to spend their entire life in penury, just so you can continue your lifestyle of new telly, regular clothes purchases, meals out, cinema tickets and two holidays a year.
As a Trade Union member you’ll have to accept that if you voted Labour (and you probably did) that you voted for this, you voted for the spending. You believed Gordon when he banged on about prudence and golden rules. When everyone else was warning you about it, you ignored them, because life was so good. It was so easy.
Like I said, it sucks. It is horrible. But like the alcoholic who has just one more drink, the smackhead who needs just one final hit, you’ve allowed yourself to become addicted to the cash. Well, I’m sorry, you do not have the right to demand money from the unborn. Granted, you didn’t spend the cash, but you gave the OK for people to do it for you. You have the right to vote, but all rights come with responsibilities. You exercised your right. It is now time to be responsible.
The really mindblowing thing is that Labour will be back in power again one day. You’ll put them there. Despite every lesson of history telling you otherwise, you’ll expect a different outcome next time. It is insanity.

It isn’t fair and it sucks.

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Well, we’ve all had a couple of days to chew over the figures released in the spending review. For my part, the department in which I work is not the worst hit, but is certainly not getting off lightly. There will be a significant reduction in posts over the four year plan, but I think the majority of those will be covered by retirements, natural wastage and the opportunity for people to take a voluntary package, we’re also in a position where we can raise a bit of revenue independently of the public purse. It will take some reorganisation in the way that staff are deployed, both as individuals and as units, and that will upset some people.

In my district I think there’s the potential for a pretty major change which would be welcomed by some staff, but would also lead to some front line positions going. If that major change were to come to pass, one section of the press will probably have kittens. Quite how all of this will change how I work, or even if I work, remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, if I am caught in the storm, you’ll not hear any whining or complaining about it. I refuse to be a victim and will look at the situation as an opportunity rather than a tragedy.

The crying from the left has been predictable. It is going to hurt the poorest the worst and so forth. Some of the gloating from what is called ‘the right’ has also been predictable and is a very unbecoming way of behaving.

As stated before, I support these cuts. Not because I enjoy seeing people lose their jobs, but because we simply cannot afford the money we’ve been borrowing and then spending. We’ve never been able to afford it, there was no way we could afford it the day we took the credit card out and the bill has just got bigger and bigger.

It is true to say that I think the State does far too much. I want the power and intrusion of the State to be pared back to the bone, but I’d rather it was done as a gradual process, rather than by ripping it aside.

Here’s the shocking news; this spending review is not a ripping aside of the State’s and their client class’ addiction to borrowing money, taking money from the productive part of the economy and spending it. This spending review amounts (if I’ve understood the figures properly) to 3% of the defecit. It is nothing. It is even less if the figures from the TaxPayers’ Alliance are anywhere near accurate. This is a gradual reduction, and it hurts.

Is it fair that these public servants will lose their jobs? No. It isn’t. These people are not responsible for the defecit, it is the holders of the public purse who bear that responsibility. These people saw the jobs advertised and applied (and make no mistake, we’re not talking about managers of departmental budget losing jobs here, it will be the grunts) with the reasonable expectation that the people advertising the positions knew what they were doing and could afford to take the staff on.

Is it fair that the people who rely on public services will lose the support? No. It isn’t. These people have been conditioned to believe that the State is a cure all for their ills. The State has been the pusher which has got these people addicted to the heroin of quick fix money and having things done for them. Like all pushers, the State doesn’t care about the people in their thrall, they just care that the people are in their thrall, and their actions ensure that they live in hopeless squalor. Is it true to say that the cuts will hurt these people the most? Of course, they are the ones who have become enitrely reliant on a State which cannot love them, which cannot provide what they need and will always, always let them down. It is an abusive relationship of the worst kind.

Unfortunately, the simple reality of the situation is that these cuts have to be made. Nothing will change that, and hearing the coalition and Labour arguing over the depth and rate is like hearing two sailors in a sinking oil tanker arguing over whether they should bail it out with a saucepan or a jug.

Ask yourself this question; who is really to blame for the situation in which we now find ourselves? There are two obvious answers.

Firstly, the Labour party, it is they who have spent the last thirteen years spending and borrowing, taxing and spending, taxing and borrowing. Surely it is they who have overseen this disaster whilst making insane claims about abolishing boom and bust and non-existent prudence? No, say their supporters, it is the fault of a global recession that the borrowing and spending has had to increase, to prevent an even bigger economic disaster.

They will point the finger at the second obvious answer; the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition. It is they who are gleefully tearing through public services, abandoning those who rely on them, those who have no option but to rely on the State to look after them. It is they who are throwing these public servants on the scrapheap, pushing up the benefits bill whilst reducing the tax take. Of course the point about the public servants is missing one vital aspect. Granted these public servants may push the benefits bill up, but how much are they paid now? How does that total compare with what they’d be paid on benefits? Less, of course. Now, where does the money to pay these public servants their salary come from? Taxes. Where does the money to pay the benefits come from? Taxes. The point about the taxes paid by these public servants is a red herring as well, the tax take is not a tax take at all, the wages are taken from tax, paid out, and then a proportion is taken back. This does not represent a loss to the public purse.

Either way, the obvious answers are wrong, it is not the fault of the Labour government, nor is it the fault of the coalition. It is the fault of every single person who voted for the big three, not just at this election just gone, but in every election for the last thirteen years.

Every time it is the same. The Tories become more and more self serving, they destroy public services trying desperately to reduce spending. Then they are kicked out and a Labour government come in. They become more and more self serving, they spend huge amounts making large swathes of the public reliant on the manna they send and then the country ends up broke.

This cycle repeats, time and time again, the same pattern emerges on every occasion. Wasteful Labour, evil Tories. And it is all YOUR fault. You put them there, you go to the polling station, really believing that this time it will be different. Labour/Tories have learned their lesson, they’ve changed. Well they haven’t, never have, never will. Yet every time you allow yourselves to be hoodwinked, you refuse to learn the lessons of history.

‘Oh, but there’s no alternatives.’ Rubbish, there are a plethora of alternatives, the Greens, UKIP, BNP, English Democrats, Libertarians, the list goes on ad infinitum. Hell there’s plenty of people on that list I detest, but can they really be any worse than what we have? How many times do these people have to fail for you to learn the lesson? You put them there, and you removed them, then you put them back in again, why did you think it would be any different this time?

Look at the people running the show. Do you think Cameron and Osborne really care about you? Or do they only care about having power and their own wealth? Do you think Clegg and Cable give a damn about you? Or do they only care about their European project and being able to press some of the buttons? Do you think Miliband and Harman give a flying fuck about you? Or do they only care about their social engineering plans and having control over your life?

Just as the poor are made reliant on the State for their survival, these politicians are reliant on YOU putting them in the position where they can ignore you and do what they hell they want. Remove your support, take your succour back from these people who lie, who cheat, who steal, give it to someone else.