How to cut a fifth of government spending like Canada

[patslatt]

The Nordic countries do run their states according to socialist principles, it's just that you don't understand what socialist priniples are. Look up 'sharing'. And you are correct on one thing, compared to the US and other capitalists places, the Nordic states are indeed paradise, they even admit people to hospitals based on their clinical need and not the depth of their pockets.

BTW, regarding the general line of the thread, are you in some sort of competition, Guinness Book of Records maybe, to see how many different ways you can say the same thing. Or are you totally fixated with the same single idea? You really need to get out more.

Scandinavian countries were running their economies according to capitalist principles with hardly any nationalised industries,albeit with very punitive taxation on business people enforced with jail sentences and very punitive progressive income taxes. Then in the 1980s,a workshy young generation of welfare staters began to exploit the system of benefits and social housing to the point that the work ethic handed down by the older generations in the labour force began to be undermined. That ,coupled with prolonged stagnation in the economies,led to reforms and reductions in punitive tax rates. While the taxes they pay are still a lot higher than Ireland's,most people are happy to pay them given the high quality of government services.

[riker1969]

My own theory is that PATSPLATTER works for the current Government and is under a delusion that he has 'influence'. The threads are mind numbingly repetitive. If he does not work for the Government then I would like him to state who provides his bread. I wont hold my breath.

Im not sure what use the analogy with Canada is. When their Government imposed cuts in 1994,how long had they been in power? FF are clearly the creators of this mess. No matter how fairly they cut Pat-you and your FF buddies will suffer to the point of political oblivion.

[patslatt]

My own theory is that PATSPLATTER works for the current Government and is under a delusion that he has 'influence'. The threads are mind numbingly repetitive. If he does not work for the Government then I would like him to state who provides his bread. I wont hold my breath.

Im not sure what use the analogy with Canada is. When their Government imposed cuts in 1994,how long had they been in power? FF are clearly the creators of this mess. No matter how fairly they cut Pat-you and your FF buddies will suffer to the point of political oblivion.

The Canadian federal government introduced the advanced stages of welfare state starting in the 1970s under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of the Liberal Party,a party which has been in power for most of the 20th century. For the Liberals to chop their beloved welfare state was astonishing,even though the deficit financing had to stop.

I am eclectic in my choice of political parties and take advantage of the multiple choices in elections to vote for various parties.

I am self employed.

My repetition of themes is unfortunately necessary to communicate ideas. For example, many US presidential candidates give the same speech at every stop all over the country for months on end,which is very boring for the journalists following them around in the hope they will slip on a banana peel.

[hopi watcher]

Scandinavian countries were running their economies according to capitalist principles with hardly any nationalised industries,albeit with very punitive taxation on business people enforced with jail sentences and very punitive progressive income taxes. Then in the 1980s,a workshy young generation of welfare staters began to exploit the system of benefits and social housing to the point that the work ethic handed down by the older generations in the labour force began to be undermined. That ,coupled with prolonged stagnation in the economies,led to reforms and reductions in punitive tax rates. While the taxes they pay are still a lot higher than Ireland's,most people are happy to pay them given the high quality of government services.

You clearly do not understand the differnce between the varioius isms that you post about and you also have a problem distinguishing between fact and right wing propoganda. The fact is that the Nordic countries generally run a high tax system that provides vital services and they lead the world in this regard. The safety net in place prevents the vulnerable falling into penury etc. They spend large amounts on early education and this gives all citizens a strong base to develop.
The nonsense about 'workshy' dolesters was a propoganda campaign initiated by right wing parties in an attempt to change the government policy and style. It was exposed as such and these countries remain bastions for equality, justice and civility.

[grassroots]

The prolem is in this country we have a low level of public services delivered by overpaid and in some cases cheating public servants. Look at the CSO data on the 48% premium enjoyed by public service workers and look at the CAG report which shows the shambles that is the deal for paid substitution for absent teachers. This is an ASTI version of benefit fraud or tax evasion.