Strange convergence between Fassina, economic head of the Pd, and Cicchitto, Pdl group leader in the Chamber, in treating Monti's decision to appoint three super commissioners to initiate the much-sought-after cut in public spending with condescension and sometimes sarcasm. Bondi, Giavazzi and Amato will have to quickly implement the spending review guidelines developed by Minister Giarda. Above all, Bondi will have the more onerous task of immediately saving at least 2 billion, mainly through a review of the purchases of all the central and local Public Administration.
Monti's idea of strengthening his team to overcome the thousand obstacles that politicians and bureaucracy put in the way of every attempt to cut spending has nothing extravagant: it is not a question of a technical government that gets commissioned by other technicians, nor of a funny mockery of the citizens. In reality it is the first step in trying to do some cleaning up in the mammoth and inefficient state apparatus and perhaps politicians of all colors are afraid of this. For several weeks now, the traditional parties, backed by the trade unions, have been aiming to devalue the Government's activity by highlighting from time to time the poor results obtained in the field of development, the excessive taxation necessary to achieve a balanced budget, the sacrifices required of workers, the risk of undermining social cohesion, and so on.
No one cares to give a minimum of economic coherence to what they say, but everyone peddles their requests as something that meets the legitimate aspirations of citizens and above all of young people cut off from the labor market. The trade unions, for example, are demanding a reduction in taxes on wages starting with the complete detaxation of the thirteenth month salary as Camusso proposed during the rally on May XNUMXst. The parties, even those that were in government until a few months ago, have suddenly discovered the need to have a higher rate of development without however remembering that it has been more than ten years since Italy has been able to grow at the same rate as the others European countries (which, moreover, was not much compared to that of Brazil or China).
The League proclaims itself defender of the citizens against the IMU, forgetting to say that if we have ended up on the brink of the abyss, it is also its fault for having defended all the expenses of local authorities, and the maintenance of the public companies they belong to. to Regions, Provinces and Municipalities and which overall are real slot machines.
In short, great confusion is being made with the result of making the path of the Government more difficult, which is grappling with very complex problems, the solution of which is made more difficult by this flashback of political conflict which already in itself negatively affects on the perception that investors have of the solidity of the recovery process undertaken by our country. And it is not with this deranged shouting that parties and trade unions are really able to defend their reference groups. In fact, even admitting their good faith, the recipes they propose are wrong and, as the experience of the past years in which they have been applied has shown, they lead to results opposite to those intended. For example, thinking that greater employment could derive from the increase in public spending is pure illusion, especially today that investors no longer appear willing to finance the budget deficit deriving from expansionary policies!
We complain about the Imu because it affects a primary good of Italians, but we forget that everyone agrees on the need to shift taxation from people to things and that therefore, in the future, taxes on the house could lead to a gradual reduction of personal income tax . Furthermore, the absence of taxation on real estate has led to an anomalous concentration of Italian savings on homes to the detriment of shares and bonds, leaving the productive economy in a perpetual capital crisis. But the mayors complain because they don't want to pass as debt collectors towards their fellow citizens!
Now we come to cuts in public spending. So far, all those who have proposed new spending or tax cuts have refrained from saying where they had to go to get the resources to finance them. Because everyone knows that cutting public spending won't be painless at all. Many people live on the waste of money from the public machine. And it's not just board directors or politically appointed executives (including the former treasurer of the Carroccio, Belsito, appointed vice president of Fincantieri) but also workers or entrepreneurs who enjoy the favorable prices of public tenders.
Yet we need to have the courage to say that the only resources that could allow for a reduction in taxes on workers and businesses can be found in a cut in expenses, both those for the purchase of goods and services, and those for the functioning of the political bodies of the our institutional system. We will soon see, as soon as Bondi begins to plunge the scalpel into the PA purchasing system, if the parties will be able to withstand the impact of their clientele, or if they will throw away the mask, and then we will see who really opposes cutting the costs of politics , thus condemning the country to stagnation and marginalization of young people.
You don't hear sensible arguments about development from the parties. Nobody says that growth derives not so much from support for demand made with the public budget, but from the increase in competitiveness. So we need to work harder and better, as the Governor of the Bank of Italy said, and at the same time reduce the tax burden on businesses and workers in order to create an advantage for our products, an advantage that before the Euro was achieved with the devaluation of the lira and which is no longer possible today.
The political forces should realize that the majority of citizens no longer believe in their promises, as can be seen from the polls which give percentages of 50% between those who declare they do not vote and those who are undecided, because they consider them empty words in if not based on a realistic view of the situation in the country. Now the start of public spending cuts will be the moment of truth. Once the local elections have passed, we will see who really wants to boost Italy's growth and who instead continues to spread a smokescreen made up of backbiting and demagoguery, to make people forget their responsibilities, even at the cost of condemning the country to an inexorable decline.
