Here are my spending plans:
Core functions of state (defence, law and order, legal system, fire brigade, refuse collection, road maintenance etc) = £75 billion
Debt repayments and paying off existing public sector pensions = £50 billion
Citizen's Income scheme, plus a bit extra for disability (from here) = £250 billion
Education vouchers: £3,000 per year for school age children = £30 billion
Health vouchers to cover bare minimum medical costs/private medical insurance = £60 billion
Total = £465 billion.
For the Faux Libertarians, anything more than £75 billion is "too high" of course, but it's a lot less than the current government's spending plans of £669 billion, of which about £150 billion is deficit spending. The point is that 'the state' (that's all of us by the way, not just 'the government') does generate a surplus or a profit. It's just a question of whether we allow that surplus to be collected privately by landowners or whether we spend it on stuff that benefits all of us.
The last two items may seem a tad stingy, as the total current budget for those two areas is £205 billion. A large part of the cost pointless bureaucracy of course, but in my tax proposals, I am leaving local councils another £100 billion of wiggle room. If people really want more to be spent on schools and hospitals, then local councils will be able to do so.
What have we wrought in the UK?
8 hours ago
2 comments:
You wouldn't get the deluded left to swallow such low health spending. I think it would be a good idea to have an NHS purely for A&E and then some other manner of funding for other procedures. As a bare minimum we need to scrap bloody IVF and gender re-assignment at the taxpayers expense, these are lifestyle choices which should be paid for by the chooser. Of course a citizen's income scheme and lower/no income tax would help those who are less well off (99% of those who undergo it?) to afford such procedures.
I am not so sure on education spending either (although you mention additional local funds) I would go with £5k per child as its still a massive reduction in overall spend.
SW, I pitched health and education vouchers deliberately low. Local councils, under pressure from local voters, will have to decide how to use that £100 billion of wiggle room I have left them - they can either offer discounts to Poor Widows In Mansions or they can collect the tax and spend it on schools, health, care for elderly. Not for me to say which takes precedence.
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