What's Wrong With Cutting Public Spending?

[dave50]

Why do people complain and start jumping up and down when there is a cut in spending? Surely it should be a good thing that the government is spending less of our money, pity though we don't get any of it back. I don't think some people quite grasp the concept of taxation and spending, I'm sure a lot think it grows on trees.

[gness]

Dave...if the government is spending less of our money what are they doing with what they don't spend?

[andy-hughes]

Because the cuts are in areas like health, schools, social services etc., not areas like fighting foreign wars or giving foreign aid to undeserving governments, or any of the myriad nonsenses about 'climate change'.

That's why I jump up and down.

And I shout as well!!

[boingo]

AH, you beat me to it. It's WHERE the money is spent/saved that grieves me.

[shaneystar2]

They don't cut spending on futile wars and propping up despots in far flung places but we're supposed to take cuts in local services on the chin .
We're all in it together though :)

[hc4361]

Possibly because essential services suffer, such as waste collection, street and drain cleaning; cuts in emergency services provision; cuts in social services child and elderly care; cuts in NHS services; fewer teachers and more teaching assistants; less police officers and more special constables; rises in public transport costs; rise in dental health and prescription costs; drastic cuts in legal aid is disastrous for many people; council tax will have to increase.....

because we pay more blerdy money in and get less back for it!

[jake-the-peg]

It's a different model of government.

The US model is a 'small Government one' with much more limited government taxation and spending

The result of this is that you have a very minimal small social welfare and health provision.

It means that personal charity fills some of that gap but that tends to be arbitary at the whim of the donor rather than an objective assessment based on need.

It tends to create a bigger rift between the haves and have nots and creates a larger underclass.

You might well consider that is the underlying reason the US ends up with the worlds highest prison population and a higher childhood mortality rate than Cuba.

It's a choice - not one that has been taken by European countries and personally one that I'd say tends to be advocated mostly by people who don't really care a damn about other people

[boingo]

Can I just say that when I first saw this thread on the latest posts, I thought it said 'What's Wrong With Cutting Pubic...

[Peter Pedant]

Altho the council are denying it,
the difficulty is that the sharp end is cut
and fat controllers at home base neva get fired....
unlike any business- where the admin go down the tube as well.

so in the end you get council buildings full of people saying
no you cant have the money you have applied for ...
highish costs and no services.

[dave50]

Yes and they cut funding to essential services first for political reasons, in order to blame the government for the 'savage' cuts

[factor-fiction]

Public spending is often thought of as someone else's money, so people tend to approve of it, especially as the majority of us benefit from it (education, NHS, benefits, transport subsidies, etc). There is no end of good causes we can spend it on Generally though we are less keen to pay more tax- most of us feel we pay enough tax but others should pay more