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The Liz Truss Travesty Becomes Britain’s Humiliation
I'm not much for Popes (despite, or maybe because of, having been bred Catholic) but it's hard to beat this:
In 2013, Pope Francis referred to "trickle-down theories" with the following statement:
Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.
The Guardian says Krugman calls it Trussonomics. It begs a compare chart of Reaganomics, Thatchonomics, and the new Trussonomics so the average guy can decide which model to buy.
All these large tax cut largely benefit those who are well-off at the expense of social programs. Is the British’s Labor party any better for the average citizens?
@Sven Watch this documentary and you will understand what happened to the Labor Party in Britain and the Democratic Party in the U.S. post-Thatcher/Reagan:
I don't closely follow British politics but it's looking more and more like Italy in terms of instability, ignorant populism, and north (Scotland) vs. south division.
Hey!! I'm half Genovese... cool it with the Italian stuff!
I don't follow Italian politics either (I think that could drive a person mad) but ya gotta wonder about a system that installs a new prime minister whose party secured only 26% of the popular vote. That doesn't strike me as very "popular." Of course our own system results in popular vote losers claiming the presidency repeatedly, so what do I know.
"I don't follow Italian politics either (I think that could drive a person mad) but ya gotta wonder about a system that installs a new prime minister whose party secured only 26% of the popular vote."
@sfnative- See, there's your problem... an unwarranted assumption. Where did you ever get the idea that the Italians have any kind of "system"?
Crazy good documentary. 3+ hours long. I’m 30 minutes in. So, if I heard correctly, buying shares in a company is related to sexual fulfillment! Wonder what it means when the shares lose 25% of their value in about 6 months?
LONDON — After a bruising first six weeks in office, Britain's still very new Prime Minister Liz Truss is having to bat away repeated questions about her future at No. 10 Downing Street.
She fired her first finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, last Friday. Since then, she has had to watch his replacement, Jeremy Hunt — a former leadership rival she appointed to the second most powerful post in government — publicly tear down a series of proposals that she had insisted were critical to Britain's long-term economic growth prospects.
They included cuts to the United Kingdom's basic rate of tax, after she had already reversed course on tax cuts for Britain's wealthiest. A planned drop in corporate taxes was junked too, along with plans to keep alcohol prices low and incentivize overseas shoppers to spend money tax-free in Britain.
Perhaps the most politically painful change of direction concerns an energy price cap that Truss promised last month to keep in place for the next two years. It was designed to protect British households from the high costs of gas and electricity required to heat and power their homes. If gas prices rose again precipitously, as they did earlier this year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the British government would be on the hook for what might be billions of pounds in unforeseen price hikes.
Hunt said this was inadvisable, and reduced the plan's lifespan to just six months. That means by next spring, Britons may be once more at the mercy of global energy markets, at a time when inflation is expected to still be very high, and interest rates set by the Bank of England will mean mortgage costs for many have soared.
Five Conservative legislators have publicly called for her to resign, with many more criticizing and questioning her position anonymously in British media outlets. British front pages in recent days have appeared united in the narrative that she cannot remain in the role for long.
"People don't respect her, they don't trust her, and the government is now effectively being run by a chancellor who is going against the very thing the prime minister stood on," Rainbow Murray, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, said on NPR's Morning Edition. Murray was referring to the formal name for the finance chief — the chancellor of the Exchequer, which is the U.K.'s Treasury.
Her failure to show up at the House of Commons on Monday to answer an urgent question about firing Kwarteng drew sharp ridicule: "Instead of leadership we have this utter vacuum," Labour leader Keir Starmer said in Parliament.
Another Labour legislator accused her of having hidden "under her desk" to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. It will be harder to avoid Wednesday, at the weekly ritual known as Prime Minister's Questions, when Truss will be forced to explain her actions and reactions to political friends and foes alike.
The Home/Interior Minister has resigned "citing her minor breach/mistake of using her personal email for an official business" (an easy excuse to make up that doesn't rattle the apple cart) but also citing her other concerns. One recent lesson of the UK politics was that very harsh criticism of the party leader(s) can damage one's own future prospects.
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"Crude and Naive". Must have seen Lizard Truss coming.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/15/there-were-mistakes-uk-new-finance-minister-on-tax-cut-plan
@sfnative- See, there's your problem... an unwarranted assumption. Where did you ever get the idea that the Italians have any kind of "system"?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-k-chancellor-throws-out-almost-all-major-tax-cuts-from-the-mini-budget-and-pares-back-energy-support-11666003288?mod=home-page
The U.K.'s Liz Truss hangs on by a thread, as party members call for her ouster
Following are excerpts from a current report from NPR, severely edited for brevity:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/25/what-really-happened-during-labours-anti-semitism-crisis
https://www.ajiunit.com/investigation/the-labour-files/
Corbyn screwed himself, as well as the Labor Party. And good riddance of him.
The Home/Interior Minister has resigned "citing her minor breach/mistake of using her personal email for an official business" (an easy excuse to make up that doesn't rattle the apple cart) but also citing her other concerns. One recent lesson of the UK politics was that very harsh criticism of the party leader(s) can damage one's own future prospects.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/19/uks-suella-braverman-to-reportedly-leave-role-as-interior-minister-.html
Cue the Benny Hill theme.