[SENATE] 1930 Budget Proposal

[Flamelord]

Gentlemen, the time has come for us to delineate a new budget for this coming fiscal year of our government. In spite of the economic crisis that has inflicted the world, I am confident that we will be able to succeed in ensuring the continued operation of this government and the kind of fiscal stability that is needed for us to weather this rough time.

At the moment, the Federal Union Party would like to present its proposed budget for the coming year.

Revenue: 381
Expenditures: 377

Army: 50
Navy: 25
Air Force: 9
Road/Railroad Maintenance: 35
Police Departments: 40
Courts and Law System: 10
Prisons: 10
Government Administration: 20
Pensions: 12
Public Education: 25
Public Health: 25
State Industry: 30
State Agriculture: 23
Energy: 38
Sewage and Water: 20
Debt Payment: 5

As you can see, this budget would cut spending in less critical areas, while ensuring the pensions and areas necessary for the proper function of government remain intact. It would also increase the funding of state subsidies for agriculture, helping the farmers who have been impacted the hardest by the economic crisis. This new budget would also include funds devoted to beginning payments for the loans that we currently have with nations abroad, which should put them at ease. It would also leave us with some income left over, to ensure that the government has money to enact programs and react to crises as they arise.

We look forward to hearing what the other parties have to say on our proposal

[Smyg]

The PCB looks forward to reviewing this proposal in the upcoming days, and thanks the PUF for making it.

[Flaming Bolshevik]

The AIB believes that the money allocated to the Police is far too excessive when compared to the money allocated to the courts and prison systems. We have just experienced a communist prison riot that could have been easily avoided had there been enough money to ensure proper security. What is the point in investing so much money into capturing criminals just for them to easily escape or sieze their own prison?

There is not nearly enough money allocated to the court system. We must fund our courts well to ensure that the efforts of the police are not in vain and deliver justice where it is due.

Lastly, there is not enough money being allocated to Government Administration. If we are to function as a civilized society we need to rid the government of corruption and make sure every Brazilian public servant is being just that, a servant.

We propose that the budget look something like this:

Army: 48
Navy: 20
Air Force: 9
Road/Railroad Maintenance: 35
Police Departments: 30
Courts and Law System: 20
Prisons: 20
Government Administration: 25
Pensions: 12
Public Education: 25
Public Health: 25
State Industry: 30
State Agriculture: 23
Energy: 30
Sewage and Water: 20
Debt Payment: 5
Total amount:377

We redirected some funds from certain areas to make sure that the Government can operate efficiently and that every Brazilian can rely on the Law of this land to keep them safe and to ensure fairness in its dealings.

[Flamelord]

Though we appreciate the input of the AIB, we must disagree with their assessment and with the proposal that they have made. Merely allocating more money to government administration will not solve corruption, which is an issue best tackled outside of normal budgetary debate.

As well, the courts have not been having any difficulty operating under the funds that they currently have, so we do not believe boosting their finances is necessary.

We must also protest the reduction of funding for the army and the police. It may have escaped your notice, but as you have mentioned there have been several prison breaks, active bandit attacks, and armed violence by several groups aimed against our nation. It is not the prisons who prevent more of these things from occurring, but the very institutions that you are trying to defund.

Such drastic cuts to the Energy subsidy are also likely to negatively impact the Brazilian economy by taking away jobs and increasing prices, harming the nation as a whole. So we must protest there as well.

Nonetheless we are glad to see that the AIB is willing to engage in debate on this topic. We just believe that the focus of your efforts is misplaced.

[Red John]

We have no objections to the proposed budget, and so we support it.

[Luc]

Sebastião do Rego Barros, President of the Chamber of Deputies

I simply cannot overstate the fact that this bill, as it often is, is one of the most important ones to be passed yearly. I as leader of this chamber find the reluctance of this house to even debate it extremely disturbing. Remember, if we are not able to pass this new budget, and pass it soon, it might have unforeseen consequences for our nation and the Republic as a whole. So I urge all the delegates to resume debate on this bill immediately!

[Flamelord]

The Federal Union Party believes that it has made its personal preference known in spearheading discussion on this topic. We echo the calls of the Honorable president of the chamber for others to either approve our budget or present their own alternative

[Snacks]

The BLOC is willing to support the position of the Integralists that the budget should contain more funding for the courts system and prisons conditionally- that this extra funding be put towards reforms that should not only reduce the number of men needlessly incarcerated but also eliminate the motivation of prisoners to riot: funding to provide indigent suspects adequate legal defense in the court system, humanitarian funding for prisons to see to it that prisoners do not languish in squalid conditions, and increased oversight for both systems to put an end to corrupt and abusive administrators and guards in both systems.

[Flaming Bolshevik]

The BLOC is willing to support the position of the Integralists that the budget should contain more funding for the courts system and prisons conditionally- that this extra funding be put towards reforms that should not only reduce the number of men needlessly incarcerated but also eliminate the motivation of prisoners to riot: funding to provide indigent suspects adequate legal defense in the court system, humanitarian funding for prisons to see to it that prisoners do not languish in squalid conditions, and increased oversight for both systems to put an end to corrupt and abusive administrators and guards in both systems.

We would absolutely agree. What good is a justice system if there is no justice? If Brazil is to advance into the 20th century then the place to begin is through the legal system. Let us not be barbarians in the eyes of the world.

[Flamelord]

Decreasing the external security of our state to ensure that our prisons are more secure does not seem like a prospect that the Brazilian people are willing to support either, though we can certainly understand why groups with ties to militant elements would want a weaker federal government that cannot protect itself or the people it serves as effectively.

The Federal union Party refuses to consider any bill that cuts Army and Police funding, especially in such a turbulent time.

After consideration and discussions with the ANL, we would like to present a modified budget for deliberation.

Revenue: 381
Expenditures: 380

Army: 50
Navy: 25
Air Force: 9
Road/Railroad Maintenance: 35
Police Departments: 40
Courts and Law System: 10
Prisons: 10
Government Administration: 20
Pensions: 13
Public Education: 25
Public Health: 25
State Industry: 30
State Agriculture: 23
Energy: 39
Sewage and Water: 20
Debt Payment: 6

[Flaming Bolshevik]

What good is a police department if these criminals are going to escape from these shoddy prisons of ours? We must redirect funds to the security of the prison system and to the courts that process the criminals.

[Flamelord]

Part of the reason that prisoners we're able to take over their prison is because the police were being forced to use their assets more than usual. Outside infiltration helped them succeed, and cutting police funding will only ensure this happens again.

Besides, the courts are operating perfectly adequately these days, so increasing their funding won't necessarily help the situation that the AIB claims to want to address

[Flaming Bolshevik]

Outside infiltration that could have been prevented had the prison been adequately defended, mind you. This is besides the point though. If we are to overcome our current challenges then at the very least we must agree that prisons are in fact, underfunded.

[Snacks]

The BLOC inquires with some concern where the PUF supposes the relatively significant reductions in funding of Public Education and Public Health will be pulled from. Education has long been one of the first casualties of poverty, but with the depression looming over us already threatening to increase poverty- and with it, the myriad diseases borne of poverty -we believe the government will be hard pressed to satisfy such cuts without defending services necessary to prevent a serious public health crisis.

Also, given the role the executive branch will play in making use of the final budget, we feel it would be prudent for this chamber to hear from President Luis what his administration is or will be doing to reduce the large amount of government funds squandered by corruption, one of the many constraints on this budget. Specifically, we would prefer to know whether any of the money the PUF insists must remain in the funding for police forces will be required by his administration to be utilized in anti-corruption efforts, or whether the current heads of law enforcement agencies will continue to face no consequences for their failures and continued corruption.

[Flaming Bolshevik]

The BLOC inquires with some concern where the PUF supposes the relatively significant reductions in funding of Public Education and Public Health will be pulled from. Education has long been one of the first casualties of poverty, but with the depression looming over us already threatening to increase poverty- and with it, the myriad diseases borne of poverty -we believe the government will be hard pressed to satisfy such cuts without defending services necessary to prevent a serious public health crisis.

Also, given the role the executive branch will play in making use of the final budget, we feel it would be prudent for this chamber to hear from President Luis what his administration is or will be doing to reduce the large amount of government funds squandered by corruption, one of the many constraints on this budget. Specifically, we would prefer to know whether any of the money the PUF insists must remain in the funding for police forces will be required by his administration to be utilized in anti-corruption efforts, or whether the current heads of law enforcement agencies will continue to face no consequences for their failures and continued corruption.

We had not even noticed the cuts to health and education, we thank the BLOC for bringing this issue to light. Reducing education and healthcare in the middle of an economic recession will only drive people away from the Government into the arms of Bandits and Criminals, we can not cut what little lifeline our people have.

God can only hope that these funds are put to good use in fighting corruption, because the Government cannot afford to lose its credibility in the eyes of its own people.