Can we really support the 13 pork-barrel bills tabled by the opposition parties, especially in Taiwan's difficult financial situation today? The answer should be obvious. The question now is how dare the opposition lawmakers be so irresponsible as to turn a blind eye to the nation's collective interests and try to use taxpayers' money to curry the favor of small interest groups? How could they fail to consider the public's inevitable angry reaction? What has gone so wrong with Taiwan's democracy that the legislature has spawned such bizarre proposals time and again?
In fact, the recent fracas over the NT$4 trillion-plus proposals was a repeat from the previous legislative session. The greedy lawmakers did not have their way then, and so now they are launching a second offensive, yet again bent on bribing their respective constituencies with political "red envelopes."
The sole purpose of their proposals is to win the necessary votes in the December elections for their parties to increase their number of legislative seats. Placing self-interest above national interests and the people's welfare is an act that deserves condemnation as well as substantive boycotts. At the very least, the names of the lawmakers who tabled the bills should be made public in the news media again and again, especially in their constituencies, so that voters will know who not to choose.
According to a recent report from the Ministry of Finance, Taiwan's actual tax revenues totaled NT$78 billion in September, a fall of NT$20.7 billion from the same period last year. Tax revenues from January to September totaled NT$1.024 trillion, down by NT$87.6 billion from the same period last year. The figures should be a cause of concern for anyone who cares about national affairs.
Meanwhile, the central government's debt has already risen to NT$2.9 trillion, most of which is left over from the KMT era. The government's difficult financial situation after typhoons Toraji and Nari is also well known. Combine this with the specter of a global recession and there should be a consensus among all Taiwanese that the government should be asked to cut spending. Lawmakers, being representatives of the people, should also be watching the government's purse strings, but what they are doing is exactly the opposite. How can the lawmakers ask the government to open its coffers for freebies in such difficult times?
If the opposition parties, which have majority control of the Legislative Yuan, continue to use their superior numbers to pressure the minority DPP government -- totally ignoring the rights and wrongs of the bills or the consequences of such legislation -- then Taiwan's legislature is digging a grave for its own people.
Perhaps their agenda is to dig a grave for Taiwan and to consign the country to history. In the past, South Korea and the Philippines were economic powerhouses in Asia. Now they have long been surpassed by Taiwan -- mostly because their governments went broke, leading to the collapse of their economies. Many years later, these countries are still struggling for economic recovery.
These lessons are only a few years old. How can Taiwan's lawmakers be so forgetful? If those greedy opposition lawmakers carry on with their ways and are not punished by voters, Taiwan's status and its standard of living may quickly fall. Is this what everyone really wants?
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