What Austerity means in practice

[BillyStubbsTears]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31015807

Ignore the headline. Some Tory media manager has obviously been pulling some strings.

Go have a look at the graph half way down the page.

The amount we spend per head on social care for the most vulnerable and lonely old people has dropped by 20% since these bas**rds took power. And the minister acknowledges that local authorities have done their part in reducing Govt spending. While we've given tax cuts to people earning more than £150k per year.

Next time you hear someone saying they want to shrink the size of the state, look at that graph and ask yourself if that is the kind of country you want to live in.

[BobG]

Did you see that some official body reported this week that the English environment is 'deteriorating'?  That 150 odd patients have been taken to hospital in police cars? It's all part and parcel of the same story.  You know. That story that Mick can't read.

BobG

[Boomstick]

Its the amount the state pay,
Recently people have been forced to sell their home to pay for care, so the state pays less. Simple eh?
Which means the lazy and workshy get free care, whilst those who worked hard all their lives, have savings and own a home have to pay for their own. Its wrong.

f**king lefites trying to pluck at straws tosvore political points, when there really is none for them to score

[BillyStubbsTears]

Boomstick

It's about the fact that this Govt has quite deliberately loaded the very worst cuts onto local council budgets. That is a nasty political decision because it makes it seem as though councils are the ones cutting, when in reality it is the Govt that has slashed council's funding by unprecedented amounts. So the Govt gets insulated from the flak.

But what do councils fund?

Libraries. They are being closed by the dozen. A civilised society turning a blind eye to wholesale closure of libraries. Enough to make you weep.

Social care. As that article points out, social care has been cut by TWENTY PERCENT per head while these have been in power. And the utter stupidity of it is that this is having a catastrophic effect on the NHS. One of the major crisis points for the NHS is that they can't discharge old people because there aren't the social care facilities to protect them. So beds are being blocked.

Roads. Basic repair of pot holes and clearing of drains is being slashed. If you don't care about literacy and weak, vulnerable people, maybe that will break your heart instead.

[BobG]

I've thouyght for a wwhile now that the cutting of social care budgets by this Govt has been a brilliant tactical device. Not only is it the Councils that get most of the blame, but the NHS comes in for serious stick too for failing to deliver. And that, of course, is an open door for more privatisation. Maybe I'm wrong, but mud sticks. And there is effing shedloads of 'orrible aromas arouund this government so they can't moan too much if folk stasrt attributing things to them.

BobG

[IC1967]

Lets get something straight. This government has borrowed more in 4 and a half years than Labour did in 13 years. I don't call that austerity. I call it living beyond our means. Something we've done as a nation for far too long.We spend more on debt interest now than we do on schools.

Despite this huge borrowing, public services are still having to be cut. The councils are having to make cuts as part of this process. It is up to councils what they cut. I'd prefer them to cut the numbers of councilors, their final salary pension schemes, their lavish expenses, their political advisers, middle management etc than social services. However they don't do this. They look after themselves, especially Labour councils (Donnygate ring any bells? Rotherham?)

So you can't blame the government for cutting their funding. There is no other option. We are already over borrowed. The pain needs to be shared around. We need to live within our means. We clearly still aren't doing this when you see the vast amount of money the government has borrowed and is continuing to borrow.

If services suffer then so be it. If we can't afford these services then that's just tough. If we don't get a grip on the nations's finances, services will eventually suffer a lot more.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Lets get something straight. This government has borrowed more in 4 and a half years than Labour did in 13 years. I don't call that austerity. I call it living beyond our means. Something we've done as a nation for far too long.We spend more on debt interest now than we do on schools.

Despite this huge borrowing, public services are still having to be cut. The councils are having to make cuts as part of this process. It is up to councils what they cut. I'd prefer them to cut the numbers of councilors, their final salary pension schemes, their lavish expenses, their political advisers, middle management etc than social services. However they don't do this. They look after themselves, especially Labour councils (Donnygate ring any bells? Rotherham?)

So you can't blame the government for cutting their funding. There is no other option. We are already over borrowed. The pain needs to be shared around. We need to live within our means. We clearly still aren't doing this when you see the vast amount of money the government has borrowed and is continuing to borrow.

If services suffer then so be it. If we can't afford these services then that's just tough. If we don't get a grip on the nations's finances, services will eventually suffer a lot more.

Not cutting income tax was an option. One they chose to ignore. So don't say there was no other option. And cutting income tax for the richer is hardly 'sharing the pain around' either.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Or the recent election bribe to wealthy pensioners to stop them voting UKIP. The Pensioner Bonds are as shamefaced a bribe as you'll ever see.

But the one that really got me, the meanest, nastiest trick of this entire Govt's record went pretty much unnoticed  in the first few weeks of this parliament. But it says everything you need to know about this Govt's priorities.

One of the big arguments back in 2010 was Child Trust Funds. Brown had introduced them as a way of trying to encourage families to save for their kids. It was especially aimed at lower-income families, where there might not be the tradition of saving to give your kids a head start when they mature.

Brown's idea was to encourage people to buy into this by giving a £250 bonus in a savings account, then allowing people to put in up to £100 per month in tax free savings policies for their kids.

The Tories howled that the country couldn't afford this. In the first month in power they cancelled the £250 bonus.

OK, there's an argument that if everyone is tightening their belt, then everything has to be cut.

But here's what they did next. They raised the amount that could be put into each child's tax free fund from £100 per month to £330 per month.

Good eh? We can't afford to give a bonus to everyone, that was designed to give aspiration to some of the poorest families. But we CAN afford to give you tax relief if you've got three kids and you're wealthy enough to have £1000 a month going spare. So the poorest kids have got bugger all incentive. And the richest could end up with a tax free nest egg of £72,000 plus interest by the time they reach 18.

I cannot find words to express how much I despise the brazen class warfare of this lot, supported by the Lib Dem lapdogs.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Mick

Go Google "UK HMRC income tax rates".

Then come back and tell us what you find out.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Ha! Looks like he's already done his Googling since his post showing that he knows bugger all about income tax rates has mysteriously vanished.

[IC1967]

Lets get something straight. This government has borrowed more in 4 and a half years than Labour did in 13 years. I don't call that austerity. I call it living beyond our means. Something we've done as a nation for far too long.We spend more on debt interest now than we do on schools.

Despite this huge borrowing, public services are still having to be cut. The councils are having to make cuts as part of this process. It is up to councils what they cut. I'd prefer them to cut the numbers of councilors, their final salary pension schemes, their lavish expenses, their political advisers, middle management etc than social services. However they don't do this. They look after themselves, especially Labour councils (Donnygate ring any bells? Rotherham?)

So you can't blame the government for cutting their funding. There is no other option. We are already over borrowed. The pain needs to be shared around. We need to live within our means. We clearly still aren't doing this when you see the vast amount of money the government has borrowed and is continuing to borrow.

If services suffer then so be it. If we can't afford these services then that's just tough. If we don't get a grip on the nations's finances, services will eventually suffer a lot more.

Not cutting income tax was an option. One they chose to ignore. So don't say there was no other option. And cutting income tax for the richer is hardly 'sharing the pain around' either.

It is a fact that cutting the tax rate from 50 to 45% on income over £150,000 has actually generated more income than when it was 50%. If I hear another Labour politician claim that the Tories have only cut tax for millionaires any more I will chuck my TV off the roof of my house and hope it lands on a leftie. No wonder they made a mess of the economy when they can't work out that someone earning £150,000-£999,999 is not a millionaire.

So it seems like your solution is more tax and borrowing. You lefties never learn do you. Borrowing is what's got us into this mess and over taxing people is also not a good idea. You actually bring in less revenue when you do this. When will you lefties ever learn that money gets spent more wisely by the people that earn it than it ever does by governments. The less they can get their grubby hands on the better. The less money they plunder off us, the less bribes they can dole out for political gain.

[IC1967]

Ha! Looks like he's already done his Googling since his post showing that he knows bugger all about income tax rates has mysteriously vanished.

Evidence man. Where is it?

[BillyStubbsTears]

We've trod this weary path before Mick. In the days after the Grand National. You think that you can parade your ignorance or idiocy through the Web and not leave footprints?

[IC1967]

We've trod this weary path before Mick. In the days after the Grand National. You think that you can parade your ignorance or idiocy through the Web and not leave footprints?

Look. I'd keep off the wacky baccy before posting if I were you. Your mind is obviously playing tricks on you.

Ask yourself a question. If I had shown I was ignorant of the tax rates then why didn't you copy and quote my post before making your ludicrous claim? Surely any buffoon would have done this?

Like I say. Evidence man. Where is it?

Now in the absence of any evidence, I'd be grateful if you could get an abject apology sorted pronto and we'll let the matter drop.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Ha! Looks like he's already done his Googling since his post showing that he knows bugger all about income tax rates has mysteriously vanished.

Looks like we'll have to quote everythng he posts so he can't get at it and change it. Again.

[Filo]

Ha! Looks like he's already done his Googling since his post showing that he knows bugger all about income tax rates has mysteriously vanished.

Evidence man. Where is it?

Here you go Mick

Quote from IC1967

But they haven't cut income tax. Not really. In actual fact they have put it up. Under Labour it was 20% and 40%. Under the Tories it is 20% and 45%. They have put taxes up not cut them. Don't try and say Labour put it up to 50%. That was a shamefaced stunt at the fag end of their time in office so they could have a go at the Tories if they brought it back down. Under Labour 40% was the going rate until they knew they were about to be kicked out of office.

Seems like your solution is more tax and borrowing. You lefties never learn do you. Borrowing is what's got us into this mess and over taxing people is also not a good idea. When will you lefties ever learn that money gets spent more wisely by the general public than it ever does by governments. The less they can get their grubby hands on the better. The less money they've plundered off us the less bribes they can dole out for political gain.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Now there's a real photographic memory for you.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Mick

You wanted an abject apology? Here you go.

I can't begin to express how sorry I am. For you.

[BobG]

I really can't see why we tolerate a bloke that now, effectively, resorts to telling lies.

BobG

[BillyStubbsTears]

Leave him Bob. He's comedy value.

Course, he'll have gone into eyes-closed, finger-in-ears, "la-la-la I can't hear you mode" again.

A strange case. It really wasn't such a daft thing that he did, forgetting about the 40% higher tax rate. But it's his reaction afterwards that's so bizarre. When I ribbed him about it, he deleted the post then accused me of making it up.

That's genuinely weird behaviour. And far from the first time he's done it.

[IC1967]

Hahaha! Call that evidence. Where's the date and time?

You lefties do make me laugh.

Now, you'd do better trying to refute the excellent points I make. I notice you don't do this so once again I proclaim that I have won the debate.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Hahaha! Call that evidence. Where's the date and time?

You lefties do make me laugh.

Now, you'd do better trying to refute the excellent points I make. I notice you don't do this so once again I proclaim that I have won the debate.

As a mod, Filo has access to the records of all posts made that were subsequently amended. I'm sure he wouldn't mind accessing all the other previous 'adjustments' you've made too, if asked.

I take it then that you're calling Filo a liar? That's the only possible implication you're making.

[Filo]

Hahaha! Call that evidence. Where's the date and time?

You lefties do make me laugh.

Now, you'd do better trying to refute the excellent points I make. I notice you don't do this so once again I proclaim that I have won the debate.

Date and time Mick?

January 30th 04:18:59

Is that good enough for you?

Would you like me to reinstate the post in question?

[Glyn_Wigley]

Looks like Mick's been battered.

[BobG]

Looks like even he hasn't got the brass face to show his stupid mug again after that.

I really do think he's ill.  There's something seriously wrong with a bloke who behaves as he does over such a long period of time. He's psychotic.

BobG

[IC1967]

Looks like even he hasn't got the brass face to show his stupid mug again after that.

I really do think he's ill.  There's something seriously wrong with a bloke who behaves as he does over such a long period of time. He's psychotic.

BobG

Excuse me. I've gone nowhere. This topic has been discussed on other threads. Duplicating responses is a waste of time. You obviously haven't been reading and learning from the other threads. For example, may I refer you to the excellent 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' thread. You'll notice that you are in the minority in your view. The people have spoken.

IC1967

[BobG]

You know what Mick? The first time you ever (ever!) post a constructive response to a post, I'll buy you a bunch of flowers.That means playing the ball. Not the man. Your average is in the high 90's. The wrong way. It does you absolutely zero credit and, it means my point above scontinues to stand.

BobG

[IC1967]

You know what Mick? The first time you ever (ever!) post a constructive response to a post, I'll buy you a bunch of flowers.That means playing the ball. Not the man. Your average is in the high 90's. The wrong way. It does you absolutely zero credit and, it means my point above scontinues to stand.

BobG

Hahaha! Pot, kettle, black springs to mind! You and silly Billy are always slagging me off and referring to me in an offensive manner. I on the other hand stick to the issue at hand and for the most part don't sink to your level.

You'd do well to follow my excellent example.


IC1967