Juxtaposition: economic reform
I kept going to the people and saying, "We're doing this because we have to save stability, and you just can't keep spending." Even [though] we had a very tight budget, we had to cut it more, simply because we had been hit by external shocks, and what he told us was don't put it off, do it, and explain it to the people, and the people will accompany you if you have credibility and you're taking the steps at the opportunity. If you put it off, if you want to finesse it and forget it and push it aside hoping that things will improve, you'll find it very difficult to apply; it's too late.
--Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada in a 2001 interview
We need to cut spending, address our insolvent entitlements programs and tighten our belt by doing more with less as Republicans propose in our budget. Americans don’t want their taxes raised, they want Washington to get its fiscal house in order, and I call on President Obama, Leader Reid, and Leader Pelosi to follow our lead in cutting spending and rule out raising taxes in our current economy.”
--Eric Cantor in 2011
Take a look at Bolivian political history to see how well that worked out. A good post at The Monkey Cage is a reminder of what "the people" really want.
1 comments:
Budgets can be constructed on public opinion polls otherwise every nation in the world would have to immediately declare bankruptcy. The public always wants less taxes and more spending.
They also may say the want higher taxes on the rich, but they don't necessarily vote for candidates that will impose them. They may also say they want to reduce defense spending, but they tend to support actions (such as blindly backing Israel) that keep the country ensnared in Middle Eastern conflicts.
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