It was supposed to be a TV speech by the PM Manmohan Singh on the progressive economic reforms his government is pushing ahead with. Instead it sounded more like a speech that the US Presidential contender Mitt Romney would make.
After I listened to the speech, I actually threw up my dinner. I’ve never heard such a blatant attempt to hog wash, confuse, misinform and tar brush people who disagree, in a long time.
It was supposed to be a speech by an economist, who managed to make the leap from being a bureaucrat to a politician, and one who is at the helm of the affairs of a major upcoming economic power.
By taking the view that people who disagree with his government’s economic policies are spreading canards, the PM Manmohan Singh showed colours he prefers today. It was not an economist’s speech. An economist never accuses another view or policy as canard - he just tries to prove his theory and perhaps debunk the opposing theory in the bargain.
A consummate politician, especially one in power, never calls out that his opponents are liars - at least in democratic societies. It does happen in dictatorial, feudal, quasi-authoritative societies.
What it displays is a bureaucrat's mind set that he, and he alone, knows what is best and all others, including the society which he is supposed to serve are idiots and liars who speak untruth. One step short of being a megalomaniac.
His assertion that diesel subsidies are actually benefitting SUV owners, and only SUV owners, is a blasphemous contention which echoes the Mitt Romney’s theory that the 47 per cent who support President Obama don’t pay (Income) Tax. That contention has been ripped apart by US media.
Just like what Mitt Romney proposes - that instead of targeting the people who could be made to fork up their dues - he would cut taxes for the super rich (the makers) and reduce the benefits for the deprived (Social Security & Medicare net), PM Manmohan Singh’s proposals follow the same tune.
Instead of targeting people who unduly benefit due to diesel subsidy (the SUV owners) by slapping additional duty on SUV buyers, he proposes to cut the subsidy across the board - including poor farmers and common man whose comfort level is going to be affected (with inflation).
I have half a mind to rip a few into PM Manmohan Singh’s speech, point by point, but that would require almost a day to do it. I feel it would be better to take every point of Manmohan Singh’s speech and compare it with what Mitt Romney has to say and show the similarities instead - a spreadsheet. Even that would take a couple of hours to do and so will have to wait for another day.
For the moment, let me just state a couple of examples.
(What he failed to add is ‘the prices will fall - on the common man’s head’)
:-P
After I listened to the speech, I actually threw up my dinner. I’ve never heard such a blatant attempt to hog wash, confuse, misinform and tar brush people who disagree, in a long time.
It was supposed to be a speech by an economist, who managed to make the leap from being a bureaucrat to a politician, and one who is at the helm of the affairs of a major upcoming economic power.
By taking the view that people who disagree with his government’s economic policies are spreading canards, the PM Manmohan Singh showed colours he prefers today. It was not an economist’s speech. An economist never accuses another view or policy as canard - he just tries to prove his theory and perhaps debunk the opposing theory in the bargain.
A consummate politician, especially one in power, never calls out that his opponents are liars - at least in democratic societies. It does happen in dictatorial, feudal, quasi-authoritative societies.
What it displays is a bureaucrat's mind set that he, and he alone, knows what is best and all others, including the society which he is supposed to serve are idiots and liars who speak untruth. One step short of being a megalomaniac.
His assertion that diesel subsidies are actually benefitting SUV owners, and only SUV owners, is a blasphemous contention which echoes the Mitt Romney’s theory that the 47 per cent who support President Obama don’t pay (Income) Tax. That contention has been ripped apart by US media.
Just like what Mitt Romney proposes - that instead of targeting the people who could be made to fork up their dues - he would cut taxes for the super rich (the makers) and reduce the benefits for the deprived (Social Security & Medicare net), PM Manmohan Singh’s proposals follow the same tune.
Instead of targeting people who unduly benefit due to diesel subsidy (the SUV owners) by slapping additional duty on SUV buyers, he proposes to cut the subsidy across the board - including poor farmers and common man whose comfort level is going to be affected (with inflation).
I have half a mind to rip a few into PM Manmohan Singh’s speech, point by point, but that would require almost a day to do it. I feel it would be better to take every point of Manmohan Singh’s speech and compare it with what Mitt Romney has to say and show the similarities instead - a spreadsheet. Even that would take a couple of hours to do and so will have to wait for another day.
For the moment, let me just state a couple of examples.
- After throwing up the dinner, I went out to grab a vegetable sandwich and a small notice at the take-out caught my eye. It said, ‘Pending further developments, the price of the vegetable sandwich (along with others) are to go up by Rs. 5 (from Rs. 40/-) from Monday’.
- Earlier in the evening I grimaced when the coffee shop informed me that the price of 1/2 a kilogram of coffee powder has been increased by Rs. 5/- from Rs. 188 to Rs. 193.
(What he failed to add is ‘the prices will fall - on the common man’s head’)
:-P
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