Posted on 02/12/2014 10:45:22 AM PST by managusta
In my last column, I discussed the difficulties of distinguishing between right and left in Sweden’s election politics, at least when it comes to the Social Democrats.
The example I used is how the party recently promised to cut the scope of the Swedish central government by 10 billion kronor ($1.5 billion).
But it doesn’t stop there. The Social Democrats have gone from challenging the scope of government bureaucracy to criticizing over utilization of the social safety net.
The Social Democrats in the capital region of Stockholm recently published a "Contract for the future – for the Stockholm region".
The first of four points is entitled: "No one who can work should be on social security". The Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reported that, on the national level, the party has gone even further.
A new goal is to sign an “education contract” with those under 25-years-old who have not completed their studies. According to DN, "Those who are not ready to fulfill their studies according to an individual study plan will not be granted social security".
It might seem as a shock that Swedish Social Democrats would go so far in challenging generous public benefits. But then again, in neighboring Denmark, which has an ever bigger welfare state, this has been a common practice during the latest few years.
Social Democrat Finance Minister Bjarne Corydon last year explained: “If we are to ensure support for the welfare state, we must focus on the quality of public services rather than transfer payments”.
Perhaps we should change our name to Social Democrats and keep fighting to pare down entitlements. Make leftist heads explode.
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