4 ms·

In large corps maybe, where it's pennies for each share holder. In Government (particularly local government) that amount, while still a small slice of the pie,

by RobAley 13y ago

In large corps maybe, where it's pennies for each share holder. In Government (particularly local government) that amount, while still a small slice of the pie, can do real life-changing stuff for e.g. vulnerable people in the local community.

brudgers 13y ago
The Valencian Community Government serves more than 5 million citizens - a population greater than that found in more than half of the U.S. states. It's not local politics, and the budget is correspondingly in the billions. For scale, the Valencian Government had a budget surplus over 300 million in the first quarter of 2013. http://www.catalannewsagency.com/politics/item/the-catalan-government-ended-the-first-quarter-of-2013-with-a-deficit-of-021?highlight=YTo0OntpOjA7czo2OiJidWRnZXQiO2k6MTtzOjk6InZhbGVuY2lhbiI7aToyO3M6OToiY29tbXVuaXR5IjtpOjM7czoxOToidmFsZW5jaWFuIGNvbW11bml0eSI7fQ== http://www.catalannewsagency.com/politics/item/the-catalan-g... I am all in favor of government services to the less fortunate. I am not in favor of magical thinking and a lack of rigor.
- RobAley 13y ago
  Indeed, as I stated it's still a small slice of the pie, but it doesn't change the fact that even a few hundred dollars in intervention funds, for instance, can turn someones life around, and local (or regional, if you prefer, as opposed to National) Government still struggle for every penny. To dismiss it as a rounding error is to not understand the impact of that money in public service.
briandear 13y ago
Or they can cut taxes by an equal amount and therefore put more money in each taxpayer's pocket. Or drop the sales tax by a point and make life less expensive. 1.5 Europe isn't much but multiplying that by other non-painful cuts (I.e. no resultant loss of services) the operating costs for government are reduced with no loss of services. We should all strive to reduce waste and paying license fees when there is a reasonable free substitute is definitely a dead-weight loss.

by RobAley 13y ago

brudgers 13y ago

The Valencian Community Government serves more than 5 million citizens - a population greater than that found in more than half of the U.S. states. It's not local politics, and the budget is correspondingly in the billions. For scale, the Valencian Government had a budget surplus over 300 million in the first quarter of 2013. http://www.catalannewsagency.com/politics/item/the-catalan-government-ended-the-first-quarter-of-2013-with-a-deficit-of-021?highlight=YTo0OntpOjA7czo2OiJidWRnZXQiO2k6MTtzOjk6InZhbGVuY2lhbiI7aToyO3M6OToiY29tbXVuaXR5IjtpOjM7czoxOToidmFsZW5jaWFuIGNvbW11bml0eSI7fQ== http://www.catalannewsagency.com/politics/item/the-catalan-g... I am all in favor of government services to the less fortunate. I am not in favor of magical thinking and a lack of rigor.

RobAley 13y ago
Indeed, as I stated it's still a small slice of the pie, but it doesn't change the fact that even a few hundred dollars in intervention funds, for instance, can turn someones life around, and local (or regional, if you prefer, as opposed to National) Government still struggle for every penny. To dismiss it as a rounding error is to not understand the impact of that money in public service.

briandear 13y ago

Or they can cut taxes by an equal amount and therefore put more money in each taxpayer's pocket. Or drop the sales tax by a point and make life less expensive. 1.5 Europe isn't much but multiplying that by other non-painful cuts (I.e. no resultant loss of services) the operating costs for government are reduced with no loss of services. We should all strive to reduce waste and paying license fees when there is a reasonable free substitute is definitely a dead-weight loss.