Latvian Political Monitor

From@ErlendsBB

THE OLD MASTER GUARDS THE TROUGH Look carefully at what Finance Minister Māris Kučinskis @MarisKucinskis says. Don't listen to what he promises, but what he actually says. This video is ready-made teaching material on how an old master of the system lobbies bureaucracy before the elections. The minister himself calculates: if everyone in the state administration is cut by 10%, we get 130 million. And he immediately adds that we need 900 million, so that alone won't solve anything. Wait. 130 million is suddenly "nothing"? That is taxpayers' money, and it is paid every year. If a roof leaks in ten places, you still patch the first hole. You don't say you'll patch nothing because the roof still won't be dry after one patch. Only someone who doesn't want to climb onto the roof talks like that. Deficit-free budget? The minister says this is cruel cutting that will slow down the economy. Which economy? The one that lives off state orders, projects, and consulting contracts. An entrepreneur who earns on their own is much more hurt by taxes with which these holes will later be patched. A family that spends more than it earns can also say that thrift slows their standard of living. Until the debt collector knocks on the door. And then the best part: the middle path. Reforms and fiscal stability in four years. Structural reforms, strict frameworks, everyone gets their assignment. Translated from bureaucratic language: nothing will happen. Four years is exactly one Saeima. Reforms will sit in working groups, frameworks will wait for approval, and the assignment will be for everyone, hence for no one. That's not the middle path. That's treading water. No wonder. Kučinskis is no new force. He was prime minister; he built this system with his own hands. A person who has built a crooked house will not tear it down just because you show him cracks in the walls. He will tell you why cracks are normal. Many in Latvia trust Kulbergs @AndrisKulbergs. I understand. But Kulbergs should remember that it was precisely his right-hand man Kučinskis who presented the report on reducing the NGO sector in the Cabinet of Ministers. The same work that Kulbergs himself called a pile of document shit. So either Kulbergs doesn't know what his own minister is doing, or he knows and is satisfied. Both options are bad. I no longer have illusions. The United List @Apvienotais_ is not a force for change. It is the next bureaucracy lobby that will sit down in New Unity's place with great pleasure and gratitude. Different sign, same chair, same trough. Latvia does not need another "middle path". It needs people who reduce the state administration, not guard it. And it needs an electoral system in which you can choose a specific person and not get Kučinskis as a bonus. We change the rules · @partijaMMN #MēsMaināmNoteikumus #15Saeima

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From@guntarsv

Today there was hysteria in the Saeima Budget Committee. We showed the true state of the budget. This follows the Kübler-Ross model (described in the book 'On Death and Dying'). The first stage is denial. They denied the data, refused to believe it, and started shouting. What is it about? You see, the projected budget for the coming years has been deep in the red for a long time. This is publicly known. More than a billion needs to be cut, but mainly by 2030. That is far away. But that is only half the trouble. There are also additional decisions adopted for over 2 billion that need to be cut on top of that. And they have been promised, but money in the budget will be sought only after the elections (because it is a political choice and not for this Saeima). There you have it — so what will we take away? Only the new Saeima may decide that. Logically. And together it is apocalyptic — billions are not millions and not even hundreds. It means limiting public expenditure. Which ones? Well, that will be the choice of the next coalition/Saeima. We showed the apocalyptic hole in the wallet that has been built up over many years. And that is not all. These deficits are if we continue borrowing as before. Up to the brim. To achieve a deficit-free budget, 9 billion need to be cut. You could even dismiss all ministries and shut the state down, and it still would not be enough. So there you have it. Ten years of blatherers in power. What did you expect?

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From@tv3lv

Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (AS) has signed an order to freeze salaries next year for a number of public administration employees. https://t.co/nkJwQ5Uudb https://t.co/XczYjPmijF

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From@ltvzinas

Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (AS) has signed an order to freeze salaries next year for a number of public administration employees.

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