NO ONE IS HAPPY WITH THE BUDGET THIS YEAR
Mar. 7th, 2011 11:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogNot even here in Hong Kong.
And the HK govt ran a surplus in FY2010.
Imagine that.
Here, the unrest is partially a case of not being able to please everyone all the time. Round these parts, the HK govt is generally expected to use surpluses for social welfare purposes, particularly in regard to the less fortunate, but with higher-than-usual inflation to deal with this year, more people are feeling the pinch and thus expect more. And Financial Secretary John Tsang hasn’t helped himself by (1) proposing a budget that helped too few people and (2) backing off from it because he couldn’t please everyone.
That said, the protests are also partially the result of opposition groups like the League of Social Democrats and the Post-80s City Boys & Girls activist group who would protest the executive govt no matter what it did, or possibly even the govt did everything they wanted. Which would be okay if they resorted to actual debate rather than shouting and cheap theatrics. But on the whole they don’t – particularly the Post 80s group, which are mainly college kids who don’t seem to have any real grasp of their own position.
Or maybe they do, but you’d never know from any of their activities. Imagine a TV debate where yr rebuttal to yr opponent’s statement is to run outside the building and lie in traffic shouting slogans over and over until the police haul you off. Or, as we saw last week, suddenly running at you, shoving you in the chest and screaming yr demands. (Yes, well done, children – that certainly fixed it.)
Granted, rational political debates probably seem pointless when you can’t just throw the bums out in the next election, seeing as how we’re not allowed when it comes to the exec branch (because we’re not ready, you see).
Then again, you can throw the bums out in Wisconsin. And look how well that’s working out.
Gimme some money,
This is dF
And the HK govt ran a surplus in FY2010.
Imagine that.
Here, the unrest is partially a case of not being able to please everyone all the time. Round these parts, the HK govt is generally expected to use surpluses for social welfare purposes, particularly in regard to the less fortunate, but with higher-than-usual inflation to deal with this year, more people are feeling the pinch and thus expect more. And Financial Secretary John Tsang hasn’t helped himself by (1) proposing a budget that helped too few people and (2) backing off from it because he couldn’t please everyone.
That said, the protests are also partially the result of opposition groups like the League of Social Democrats and the Post-80s City Boys & Girls activist group who would protest the executive govt no matter what it did, or possibly even the govt did everything they wanted. Which would be okay if they resorted to actual debate rather than shouting and cheap theatrics. But on the whole they don’t – particularly the Post 80s group, which are mainly college kids who don’t seem to have any real grasp of their own position.
Or maybe they do, but you’d never know from any of their activities. Imagine a TV debate where yr rebuttal to yr opponent’s statement is to run outside the building and lie in traffic shouting slogans over and over until the police haul you off. Or, as we saw last week, suddenly running at you, shoving you in the chest and screaming yr demands. (Yes, well done, children – that certainly fixed it.)
Granted, rational political debates probably seem pointless when you can’t just throw the bums out in the next election, seeing as how we’re not allowed when it comes to the exec branch (because we’re not ready, you see).
Then again, you can throw the bums out in Wisconsin. And look how well that’s working out.
Gimme some money,
This is dF
