Cautious Optimism

So, this is the new PM of the country. His name, Pedro Passos Coelho. And so far, I am liking what I am hearing from him and his government and what measures he is planning to move forward with.

And those who have read my blog up until now will probably figure that, if I like it, the majority of Portuguese will hate it. And I can accept this since I've said many times in the past that this society need a good shock to the system. A wake up call so that they can go to being what I think they are capable of and not what they currently are.

Ok, there is one thing they did that I didn't like, but I compeletly understand it. They enacted an extraordinary tax on christmas bonuses for this year. The cut is supposed to be 50% of that of which is over the value of the national minimum wage(essentially, take the amount of the bonus, subtract the NMW value of €485 and that remainder is what gets the 50% tax). This special tax is estimated to bring in nearly €1billion. In return the government is advancing with a series of privitizations, eliminating certain public positions and selling its property, which should sum up to another €1billion

Now, I usually don't like when the government takes more money out of my wallet, in fact, I despise it. HOWEVER, I understand why this was done. There was a fairly big shortfall in the budget of about €2billion, and this country has a series of very strict obligations set forth by the IMF, the European Commmission and the European Union to reduce the deficit to 5.9% by the end of the year if we are to continue to receive financial aid to help get us out of this mess we're in. That said, the current number should be at 6.7% and not the 7.7% it is now. Now, while I don't like the state take more money from me, if my contribution goes towards an actual goal of helping re-establish our finances and help make things better, then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to take. But let it be known that sacrifices this big better not be a common occurance.

To those who are complaining, if you know of a better way to come up with nearly €2billion in under 6 months, I'm sure the government would be willing to hear you out. And that wasn't sarcasm.

Now, with that said. There are other measures that are planned to take place over the next 4 years. Measures such as simplying the tax code, reducing the number of income tax pay scales, revising both the labor laws and rent laws and implementing measure to speed up the justice system to help expediate court cases that have dragged on for nearly a decade.

All of this to go along with possible consititutional revisions that will include, among other things, redoing the electoral law by eliminating party lists in favor of uninominal candidates(ABOUT TIME).

I like how this government was formed, with people who, for the most part, aren't career politicians but rather have their own professional lives and don't need any benefits at the taxpayer's expense. This is a very refreshing change from the constant recycling of the same faces that proved to do nothing but worsen the situation of the country.

Now, while it's still early, and this government may end up being another facsimile of past governments(living here for 16 years, you grow wary of people promising change and doing nothing), I do like what they are saying and what they are putting forth in parliament. It almost seems like this government is doing the one thing most of Europe doesn't like seeing, they're actually acting like a right-wing government.