Europe and Britain sinking under weight of welfare costs

The Telegraph ^ | 10/8/2012 | Jeremy Warner

[bruinbirdman]

It’s not just that much welfare spending has become bloated, unfair and sometimes outright corrupt, it is also that it is no longer economically affordable.

So how did Mr Nasty – aka George Osborne – do? I give the Chancellor a qualified thumbs-up for his party conference speech, even if the word “growth” was almost as absent from his rhetoric as “deficit” was last week from Ed Milliband. Osborne is as unforthcoming on how to get the economy growing again as the Labour leader is on dealing with our debts.

We can quickly dispense with the “shares for employment rights” initiative – this was just an irrelevant gimmick which will struggle to gain traction even in start-up companies.

But in choosing to focus so strongly on the need for welfare reform, the Chancellor put his finger on the nub of the problem, not just for Britain, but for virtually all advanced economies.

It’s not just that much welfare spending has become bloated, unfair and sometimes outright corrupt, it is also that it is no longer economically affordable. Osborne couched his case in highly political terms, as you might expect after the latest British Social Attitudes survey.

This showed a high degree of public support for further cuts in welfare spending. Where once the Tories were regarded as cruel and heartless for wanting to slash benefits, it now seems that they can’t be tough enough. Politically, Osborne is therefore pushing at an open door when he says this is not just about saving money – it’s about fairness and enterprise.

How can we justify the incomes of those out of work rising faster than the incomes of those in work, he asks, or giving flats to young people who have never worked when working people twice their age

[BitWielder1]

As long as politicians can use taxpayer money to buy votes, numbers won't matter.

[rbg81]

Even less so when you import Muslims who go on welfare...with all their brides. Simply suicidal.

[Chode]

gotta run out of other peoples money eventually...

[kabar]

As long as politicians can use taxpayer money to buy votes, numbers won't matter.

Au contraire. Numbers matter. You can't refute reality when you have unsustainable programs. The rubber met the road in Greece and is in progress in Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Reality is a bitch.

[bruinbirdman]

"The rubber met the road in Greece and is in progress in Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Reality is a bitch."

Let's not forget that "PIIGS" includes Ireland who started the whole thing.

Bankrupt Ireland turned over its fiscal sovereignty to the European Council long before Grease and Portugal.

yitbos

[BitWielder1]

"Au contraire. Numbers matter."

Let me clarify, the numbers don't matter TO THE POLITICIANS. Most lib pols are innumerate.
As long as they can spend taxpayer money to buy popularity, they don't care if they run the country into the ground.
Hey, it paves they way for the revolution that they want.
They believe they can raise taxes forever or print more money.
You and I and most people on this forum knows it will break eventually. Maggie was right.

Should they lose an election, some other guy will have to deal with it, and they can go on blaming him for everything.

[kabar]

Let me clarify, the numbers don't matter TO THE POLITICIANS...As long as they can spend taxpayer money to buy popularity, they don't care if they run the country into the ground.

Tea Party and the "historic" midterms of 2010.