Very rarely does one find a politician with the moral clarity to provide the blunt and necessary truth about a controversial issue, but that has finally happened. But this is a good news/bad news situation for American taxpayers. The good news is that a politician has proposed to slash both bureaucrat pay and public pensions and publicly stated that, “The state sector is like a fat man of 200kg sitting on the back of a 50kg little man who is the real economy.” The bad news is that this politician is the President of Romania. A caveat is probably appropriate at this stage. I have no idea whether Presdident Basescu actually is a genuine small-government proponent. Perhaps he is just an ordinary politician forced to do the right thing by extraordinary circumstances. Nonetheless, I have a hard time imagining we will see a better quote from an elected official this year. Here’s an excerpt from a story in the Irish Times:
President Traian Basescu said officials had decided…to reduce the pay of state employees by 25 per cent from next month and pensions and unemployment benefits by 15 per cent this year. …He said the cutbacks would also help reinvigorate an economy that is being crushed by a bloated and inefficient state sector, and allow Romania to avoid steep tax hikes that could hamper investment and destroy hopes of a swift recovery from recession. βThis plan was inevitable. The state sector is like a fat man of 200kg sitting on the back of a 50kg little man who is the real economy,β said Mr Basescu, who narrowly won re-election at the end of last year.
@Alex: You’re (still) probably sympathetic with the National Liberal Party and Crin Antonescu, isn’t it? I’ve been too. A lot! From 1990 until they decided to support the left’s candidate in 2009. You know what? I’ve been thinking about it. Why the “Libertarian Party” is not represented in the House, nor in the Senate in the US? That’s a question, the NPL should definitely try to find an answer for it. I am absolutely sure that right now they are scratching their heads hard to find a reasonable answer for it. π Mr. Basescu is a former Communist? Mr. Reagan was a former Democrat before he became a conservative Republican.
And, BTW, “How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.” – Ronald Regan
Mr Basescu is a former Communist, who made a name for himself as a state reformer.
Well, this state reformer bought from the state a house in 2003 and refused to give it back in 2005 even if the law did not allow him to buy it.
He is the same person who agreed that his liberal-democrat party increase the percentage of state clerks by 8% last year. The very same reformer who agreed that Romania needs 5 (five) different secret services.
The very same reformer who agreed that the state should read and store our emails and phone calls.
Finally, he is the same state reformer who said last year that the state pension should be risen about 50% and this year said about that statement “I was drunk when I said it”. I am not making this up, it is all over the papers these days.
So, yes, Mr Mitchell, you are right, he is just an ordinary politician, but one forced to SAY the right. Don’t worry, he won’t do it.
As someone living in Romania, yes, I can confirm that Mr. Basescu is highly committed with his “State Reform” project he promoted in his campaign for his second-term. A smaller and more efficient Government while trying to keep taxes lower to stimulate the private sector, which is the “real economy”. Yes, I think he is a Reagan-like President. Well, I never had the opportunity to live in Reagan’s America, back then I’ve been in my high-school years during the communist regime, but I think that I am pretty close. π I also notice that something strange happens in America these days under presidency of Barack Obama where Government is increasing at a rapid pace, taxes are going higher, Wall Street is bashed and threaten more than ever. If you don’t know what socialism really is, you could simply just ask us and make the right decision. π
As someone living in Romania, I find your comparison cringe inducing. Basescu is a demagogue of the worse kind. The cut is deliberately made in a uniform fashion in order to prevent any actual reform of the state bureaucracy – they’re just waiting for “the crisis to pass”, hoping they will be forced to change as little as possible of the state structure in the meantime.
Actually Mr. Mitchell we have one here in Orlando, home of UCF Knights, running for Orange County Mayor. Matt Falconer
http://www.taxpayerbudgetreviewboard.org/
http://matthewfalconer.com/contribute.htm
gathered 30 professionals to study bloated local government and wrote a pretty damn good book about it. He is a businessman/developer and really put the screws to our local government. I read the book and while it is not A Monetary History of the United States it’s pretty friggin good look at local government. Check it out and give Matt some props.
βThe state sector is like a fat man of 200kg sitting on the back of a 50kg little man who is the real economy.β
That is an old metaphor, I heard Netanyahu saying the exact same thing some 5 years ago (on some conference).