A Plan to Save our Nation

Today Sinn Féin released their pre budget 2011 plan to the country. Already there are people out there attacking it, while the mainstream media does its absolute best to ignore it. Of course this will be the case. Its a radical plan which unashamedly envisions economic recovery through a number of progressive measures which if imposed, would forever alter Irish society, smashing corruption and slashing the gulf between the poor and the very rich in our country. Its no wonder that there are conservative voices out there condemning it Sinn Féin's budget proposals and desperately trying to prevent good change to protect their vested interests.
No one, including the current government, can credibly deny that Sinn Féins economic plan for recovery would fail as it has been rubber stamped by a number of trustworthy sources including Philip Lane. Mr Lane, who is a professor of Macroeconomics at Trinity College is an economist who has been used on more than one occasion by the current government and his findings cannot be disputed by them or anyone else in the mainstream media. Philip Lane has said that Sinn Féin's plan works.

Sinn Féin recognises that the deficit caused by the disastrous policies of the government has to be reduced and that the state cant continue borrowing large sums indefinitely. Sinn Féin also recognises that the governments budget plan, and similar notions expressed by spokespeople from the other opposition parties, will not work, and will result in prolonged economic misery for the people of this nation.
The plan to reduce the deficit by 2014 by imposing savage cuts to front line services will be hugely damaging. It will deflate the economy and worsen the recession. The general consensus among government and certain opposition parties that welfare cuts are needed is madness. Cutting welfare is a false economy and one that ultimately causes misery for those on the receiving end of the policy. People on social welfare put their money back into the local economy. Cut this welfare and you inflict cuts on the local economy. People on social welfare spend their benefits, and generally cant afford long term savings. This spending is essential to boost our economy.
The governments four year plan time frame was made before they decided to bailout the banks with €50 billion in recapitalization. There is no way that the state can separate the impact of its banking policy on its public finances, no matter what Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour say. The government continues to speak of dealing with our "structural" deficit of 11.9%, but if you factor in the bank recapitalization, our true deficit stands at a frightening 32%.

Sinn Féin's pre budget plan sets out to reduce the deficit by €4.671 billion in 2011 and to finance a 3.5 year economic stimulus package of  €7.595 billion (€2.595 billion stimulus in 2011). Sinn Féin's proposals, as costed by the department of Finance and leading economists, would bring the deficit back to below the Stability and Growth Pact target of under 3% of GDP by at least 2016, with the potential to eradicate it completely that year. The plan will include a complete overhaul of our failed tax system and the thorough weeding out of financial corruption.
Sinn Féin's plan is based on core republican values that call for all citizens to have an absolute right to a home, a decent education for their children and access to healthcare when they need it. In a time of economic difficulty, there is a moral obligation to protect those most in need. The current government and the impotent "main" opposition parties have abandoned the weak and vulnerable, writing them off as causalities of the international recession and the threat of IMF occupation. They have abandoned you. We have not.

The only silver lining this recession offers us is the opportunity to examine our unfair tax system and tackle the rampant corruption that has infested this state. The top 1% of our population own 20% of all the wealth. The CEO of the HSE earns more than the President of the USA. Our public representatives are currently paid among the highest in Europe, despite growing debt levels. Radical change is needed now.
The current government has continually told us that our situation is dire, and that the state is facing bankruptcy. If this is so, we need radical proposals, not the tired policy of spending cuts. We've had three years of Fianna Fail spending cuts and whats happened? The deficit has grown. This government has a singular stubborn plan, to cut spending, not to cut the deficit. Sinn Féin has a radical plan which will save our economy and get the nation back to work. Its time for change.