Even before the national budget preparation began to dominate the news, President Alar Karis gave a speech on the anniversary of the restoration of independence, where he pointed out the contradiction that was becoming increasingly apparent.
On the one hand, the taxpayer hears every day from politicians that there is no money. On the other hand, the same taxpayer often sees expenses made from the state budget, which would be difficult to understand and justify even if the economy were growing and the state treasury was in surplus. Added to this is the contradiction between the mandate given to the legislative and executive authorities in the elections and the actual agenda being implemented.
The president pointedly said: “Many people perceive the government as an enemy that wears down the people. This is a dangerous development that cannot simply be blamed on a mistake. People want to understand why they are being taxed and how their money is being used. It is not enough to confirm that the state’s expenses and revenues are not in balance. The government’s policy may be right, but people have to perceive it as right and fair.”
Leadership is hard, especially in a polarized and critical environment like government. A worldview tends to emerge that portrays the press, the opposition, and business as hostile or stupid. The best example is Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi.
But the ability to see yourself from the outside is very important. Together with the solemn announcement that the tax increases have been agreed upon, the three leading politicians of the coalition gave a message this week that the draft budget will be prepared within a week and the details will not be released until then. For some reason, the government considered it necessary to make an exception for one specific state budget expense and inform about the allocation of two million euros for the launch of the Tartu-Riga train connection. Here, one could have thought of the president’s words and realized that these two million euros fall into the same context as the million cut from children’s interest education.
This was a simple example. But what must a person think about the inevitability of tax increases when he learns that high-ranking officials regularly engage in innosprint, myxathon, experiment design sprint and Sherpa practicum? That the State Chancellery is conducting a radical innovation development program for top managers to “build networks and platforms, encourage and support the search for new solutions, enabling experimentation and radically different actions”?
Members of the government and people’s deputies should naturally also have questions. If nothing else, at least that with what plausibility is it possible to justify to the voters the increase of VAT and income tax and the reduction of family allowances without cutting the development programs of myxatones and radical innovation from the state budget?
The most persuasive message is action. Certainly, the motivation of officials in searching for cuts would be many times higher if the first thing in their administration was to stop all comfort and fashion expenses, or at least put them on hold. In private sector austerity practices, there are infamous examples of making the office coffee machine pay, but they are very helpful in sending a message.
The message is also conveyed by the image of 50 hectares of deliberately submerged forest, where the trees literally die standing up. It is ugly to look at, but the price is also high in monetary terms.
No political party has allowed during the elections to flood the forests belonging to the tax payer for the same tax payer’s money. The dead forest is a symbol of the power of officials who have taken over the role of policy makers. At the same time, these officials keep a watchful eye on who are the brave ones who think “wrongly” and criticize the choices based on their worldview preferences.
“The paleo of the Environmental Association has miraculously become a national policy, and in the latest action plan for wet forests, it is planned to convert already 22,400 hectares of forest into swamps.
These passionate numbers have now become impressive shots of the Öörti bog. No one wants to read boring target figures and reviews of strategies in a page, but afterwards they wonder: how did this happen all of a sudden? The Ministry of Climate takes the phrase “flooding forests” as a personal insult,” wrote colleague Mari Kartau in Maalehe.
In Lennartmer’s formulation, the president diagnosed not only the arrogant explanation and the lack of coherence between tax increases and spending cuts, but also pointed to a missing goal. If the politicians are unable to articulate Estonia’s goals, or if they see the balance of the state budget as such, then officials and activists take over. Happy Myksathon to us all.
2024-09-21 05:00:52
#Anvar #Samos #money #purpose
