Use taxpayers’ blood and sweat to save the election! Blue and white money-spreading bill to buy votes starts at NT$600 billion

Nine-in-one voting is counting down, the Blue and White election is in critical condition, taxpayers’ hard work is needed to save the election! Party and government figures estimate that based on several currently controversial policies, the revision of the Elderly Welfare Law will increase the annual pension by about 40 billion yuan. The opposition version of the old farmer allowance will increase by about 32 billion yuan compared with the government version. If the national pension is increased to 8,000 yuan, it will increase by 50 billion yuan. Coupled with the blue camp's universal cash policy of 20,000 yuan, the government's expenditure will increase by 600 billion yuan in one year alone, accounting for 15% of next year's total budget.

The Executive Yuan announced on the 6th that it would not sign the "Elderly Welfare Act" that exempts the elderly from health insurance premiums. On the same day, the Legislative Yuan approved an increase in the pension for elderly farmers to NT$15,000. Next week, the National Pension Act, the Sexual Equality Act and the Employment Security Act are expected to be read for the third time. On the 17th, a universal cash payment of NT$20,000 will be processed.

Party and government figures pointed out that the government has always adhered to three principles in promoting welfare policies: not increasing substantial debt, not crowding out other important policies, and administering in accordance with the law and in line with constitutional boundaries. All welfare policies must undergo prudent financial evaluation to confirm that financial resources are stable, policies are fair and sustainable, and we should not only look at the immediate increase in benefits, but also consider the country's long-term financial affordability. Welfare policies cannot be reduced to electoral bidding, and national finance cannot become a cash machine for political manipulation.

The Executive Yuan's version of increasing the monthly subsidy to 10,000 yuan for elderly farmers was proposed as early as January this year. Party and government officials said that the Executive Yuan not only completed the policy evaluation and submitted it to the Legislative Yuan for review, but also planned and supplemented the budget. It originally hoped to be implemented from July this year so that elderly farmers can benefit as soon as possible. However, the opposition party has been unable to complete relevant amendments to the law for a long time, and now it suddenly increased the amount before the election, raising the allowance for old farmers to 15,000 yuan. The government is willing to take care of farmers, but has such a large payment adjustment been subject to a complete financial assessment? Has the crowding-out effect on other agricultural policies and social welfare resources been considered?

Party and government figures emphasized that the Executive Yuan has already proposed raising the National Pension to 5,000 yuan. Next year’s AI bonus will be a universal cash payment of 10,000 yuan, which has also been included in the central government’s general budget next year. These policies have been subject to prudent fiscal evaluation and are consistent with the three principles of no substantial borrowing, no crowding out other policies, and legality and constitutionality. However, it is clear that the opposition parties will continue to copy the brutal practices and continue to increase the number of raids, obviously to create conflict and confrontation.

The person said that even if NT$190 billion is not allocated for labor and health insurance, NT$180 billion is not provided for growth allowance of NT$5,000 per person aged 0 to 18, NT$110 billion is not budgeted for long-term care 3.0, and all budgets of NT$59.1 billion for water control and NT$27.6 billion for sports are deleted, the four money trap bills of the opposition party will still not be filled. This wave of increases by the opposition parties is not just a fiscal problem caused by a single bill, because the stacking of multiple bills will have a huge impact on the overall government finances.

He said that the opposition parties may still continue to manipulate relevant issues through surprise law amendments and substantial increases, and the government party group will continue to respond to this cautiously. For every bill related to people's welfare, the government and Yuan caucuses must conduct a complete financial assessment, legal analysis and sand table simulations of various scenarios. In particular, we cannot fall into an electoral bidding war just because the opposition parties deliberately create political conflicts.