Xu Yuzhen, secretary-general of the Kuomintang League of the Legislative Yuan, held a press conference today with legislators Wang Yumin and Huang Jianhao. They criticized Taichung City Legislator He Xinchun of the Democratic Progressive Party for saying that he always wants to take care of the elders and reduce the burden on the youth. However, when faced with major livelihood bills such as health insurance subsidies for the elderly, subsidies for old farmers, and universal cash, he was either absent or opposed. Why should Taichung citizens believe in such a double-standard politician who "talks like a dustpan but doesn't act like a spoon"?
Xu Yuzhen pointed out that He Xinchun only made a solemn promise on January 4 this year that his first policy was to continue to promote the exemption of health insurance premiums for the elderly over 65 years old. On October 16, when the Legislative Yuan voted on the 22nd amendment to the "Elderly Welfare Law", he chose to be absent. As many as 2.34 million elderly people in Taiwan have health insurance for their dependent children. When the Kuomintang really wanted to reduce the burden on young adults, He Xinchun did not even dare to vote for it.
Please read on...
Hsu Yu-chen angrily said that the Lai government would rather spend hundreds of billions to fill the financial black holes of Taipower and PetroChina, but would not spend even 1% of the total budget to take care of the elders. He Xinchun would only hide behind the party's will. Is Lai Qingde's words more important than the health of Taichung's elders?
Xu Yuzhen further criticized that He Xinchun had taken the initiative to ask for an increase in the allowance for old farmers in 2023. Last year, when the Democratic Progressive Party group advocated raising it to 12,000 yuan, it also strongly supported it. Now the Kuomintang group is pushing to increase it to 15,000 yuan. However, He Xinchun disappeared during the key vote. Even the elders who work hard in farming in Dali, Taiping, in his own constituency did not dare to fight for them. How dare he talk about caring for the grassroots?
Xu Yuzhen said that what is even more ridiculous is that as a central democratic representative, He Xinchun did not dare to ask the Executive Yuan for more universal cash payments, but she signed a pledge to elect the mayor and asked the Taichung City Government to make additional budget payments. Should the construction and social welfare budgets of Taichung citizens be used to pay for her election checks?
Wang Yumin bluntly said that to test a politician, you should not just listen to what she says, but also what she does. After Zhuo Rongtai announced that he would not countersign the amendment to the Elderly Welfare Act, Taichung Mayor Lu Xiuyan and Vice President of the Legislative Yuan Jiang Qichen immediately spoke out publicly to fight for the rights of Taichung citizens. On the other hand, He Xinchun did not even dare to protest.
Wang Yumin pointed out that in the past, when Lin Jialong of the Democratic Progressive Party was in power in Taichung, the elderly health insurance subsidy was canceled and was not restored until Lu Xiuyan took office. Now the DPP Central Committee refuses to implement the law amendment, but He Xinchun cooperates with the Party Central Committee in everything. Wang Yumin asked, "Why do Taichung citizens believe that she will fulfill her political views after being elected if she doesn't even dare to fight for her rights from the central government?"
Huang Jianhao angrily said that it is not uncommon for politicians to write checks during elections, but for someone like He Xinchun to "bouncing a check before the election" is really shocking. On July 11 last year, the Legislative Yuan voted to issue a universal cash distribution of NT$10,000, and He Xinchun voted against it. This year, the opposition party advocated a universal cash distribution of NT$20,000, but she did not vote, but now she signed the Taichung Universal Cash Commitment.
Huang Jianhao calculated that if everyone in Taichung is provided with 10,000 yuan, it will cost 28.7 billion yuan; if everyone in Taichung is distributed with 50,000 yuan, it will be as high as 143.5 billion yuan, accounting for about 81% of the city government's annual budget! Is there no need to do anything about the Taichung MRT, road construction, education and social welfare? Does He Xinchun sincerely care about the citizens, or does he just want to cheat votes first?
Huang Jianhao further pointed out that the elderly health insurance subsidy not only takes care of the elders, but also relieves the financial burden of the sandwich generation. The national health insurance subsidy for the elderly over 65 years old requires about 40 billion yuan, which only accounts for one percent of the central government’s total budget of nearly 4 trillion yuan next year. The central government can allocate more than 1 trillion yuan in the defense budget, increase the capital of China National Petroleum Corporation by 233.8 billion yuan, and allocate 71.1 billion yuan in subsidies to Taipower, but it is unwilling to spend even 1% to take care of the elders? Huang Jianhao criticized that in the past, He Xinchun repeatedly claimed that the elderly health insurance subsidy was the implementation of "generational justice", but now he dared not say anything when the Executive Yuan refused to countersign it. Is the so-called "generational justice" just a beautiful slogan used to cheat votes during the election?
The Kuomintang League solemnly demands that He Xinchun immediately apologize to the elders, farmers and young adults in Taichung, and publicly explain the reasons for his absence and opposition to major livelihood bills. If you sincerely support the elderly health insurance subsidy and the old farmer subsidy, you should take responsibility and ask Zhuo Rongtai Executive Yuan to implement the policy; if you really want to make universal funds available, you should fulfill your responsibilities as a central representative and seek funds from the central government instead of asking Taichung citizens to pay for her empty promises. What was said before the election was a dustpan, but nothing was actually done. He Xinchun can't even do his job well as a legislator, so don't rush to talk about electing the mayor.
