Allowing the State and Society to Squander and Waste Is More Serious than Piling Up Debts

Allowing the State and Society to Squander and Waste Is More Serious than Piling Up Debts

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

July 12, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

Premier Su Tseng-chang ruled on the 9th to prepare a special “Bailout 3.0” budget bill of NT$200 billion, and the Legislative Yuan a week ago had passed a follow-up, four-year budget bill for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Construction Program, thus adding NT$420 billion to the special budgets. The Tsai government's special budgets have piled up a debt of NT$1.4 trillion, expecting to surpass "the eras of Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou", increasing the total national debt. Precisely at this point, the government was impacted by the pandemic, and tax revenues greatly declined. In order to contain the pandemic, it had to make a big flip-flop in its policies by throwing money around, while the government's finances continued to deteriorate, and it would be inevitable to leave debts to our children and grandchildren.

Both the ruling and opposition parties say, "Money must be spent where it is most needed." However, in the face of the urgent needs of industries hit by the pandemic, whether the few waves of bailouts were indeed prescriptions to the symptoms is no longer the focus of government concern. The diagnosis and restructuring of industries are no longer the salient point of bailout policies. The government did not change its countenance when raising debts to throw money around, and even the opposition parties did not dare to put up barriers.

From the mothballed Nuclear Power Plant No. 4 to the difficult birth of the Taipei Dome, from the stagnant and recession industries to the multiple rail construction in the future, all this is to bequeath to our children and grandchildren a big task of salvaging the end game resulting from the decisions of politicians who have made no progress and exhibit no accountability leaving debt to our children and grandchildren. The practical lesson is at hand. It is just that politicians never admit their mistakes or make improvements, making it difficult for Taiwan society to look forward. Instead, they are constantly squandering and wasting. Finally, the people have to shoulder the heavy burden of a shared quandary for which no one is held accountable.

Attachment : none