Only huge taxes can pay for Left's spending plans
The Left is using this economic crisis to make us turn to the state as our saviour. Once it tethers us to the state, it wants to grow it
No one doubts that Mary Harney is a fine politician and a fine person, but watching her the other night on 'Questions and Answers' (soon to be of blessed memory) was a thoroughly depressing experience.
Mary Harney, let it be remembered, is a former leader of the PDs, but the other night you wouldn't have known it. As ICTU's Paul Sweeney, backed up by a woman in the audience, assailed and lambasted 'neo-liberalism' -- that is, the free market -- Mary ran for cover behind 'pragmatism' and the Government's spending record.
She declared that now is not the time for a debate about ideology and then proceeded to boast that during its 12 years in power this Government has increased spending on education three-fold and spending on health more than four-fold.
On the contrary, Mary, now is exactly the time for a debate about ideology because, like it or not, we are in one and the left is winning it hands down for the want of any real opposition. Proof of that is that you found it necessary to defend yourself not by an appeal to political principle, but through citing a spending record that is, in fact, awe-inspiring in its sheer recklessness. Is it any wonder the PDs are dead?
The left is doing an excellent job at shifting all the blame for the crisis on to that malign thing, 'neo-liberalism'. Labour and the trade unions, backed up by RTE and the left-wing commentariat, are persuading an ever-growing portion of the public that if they turn to the State and allow themselves to be enfolded in its compassionate, social democratic arms, all will be well. There they will find refuge from merciless, pitiless neo-liberalism.
The reality is that the free market is only partly to blame for our current woes. It's true that there has been too little regulation of the markets, especially the banks, but it's even truer that what regulations we had were not used. If they had been, we wouldn't be in half the mess we're in now. So it would be more accurate to blame the regulators rather than the lack of regulation for our current predicament.
That is one part of the story. Out-of-control public spending is another. Mary Harney shouldn't have been boasting on Monday night about the Government increasing education spending by 300pc and health spending by 450pc, she should have been embarrassed. An incredible amount of that money has been wasted and everyone knows it.
The final part of the story is how Democrats in the United States forced financial institutions there to give mortgages to poor people in the name of equality. This was one of the biggest contributors to the sub-prime mortgage problem, namely left-wing social engineering.
So, to what extent is neo-liberalism really to blame for our present woes? The answer is not half as much as the left would have us think. There is not a politician or an economist in Ireland, no matter how enamoured of the market, who believes in no regulation at all.
But there are plenty of economists, including many of the hated neo-liberals, who issued warning after warning against excessive public spending; while in the US, Republicans like John McCain were warning four years ago against the sub-prime lending explosion but were ignored by Democrats.
On 'Questions and Answers' ICTU's Paul Sweeney was practically salivating at the prospect of a bigger State. Pressed by John Bowman about public sector pensions, he called for a bigger state pension to be offered to everyone. How are we supposed to pay for that? He didn't say.
He also said we need a better health service. We do. But he didn't say how we'd pay for that either. The fact that health spending has already been increased by 450pc in just 12 years without a 450pc improvement in service, appeared to be lost on him.
We are at a critical juncture. That hardly needs to be said. But it is more critical than we realise because if we don't analyse correctly what has got us into this mess, and what will get us out of it, things may get even worse.
The left is using this economic crisis to make us turn to the State as our saviour. Once it tethers us to the State, it wants to grow it. The only way it can do this is through big and permanent increases in taxation.
Taxes will be increased further in the upcoming Budget. That is inevitable. But if the left wins this argument about the cause of, and the solution to, the current crisis, it will only be the start.
The future the Left wants is a much bigger State paid for by much higher taxes. We need to start asking ourselves whether this is what the rest of us want because if we don't start asking that question, it's what we're going to get. That is also inevitable.
dquinn@independent.ie
