Official October 2005 Budget Thread

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Hmm... interesting. Very interesting. I had a suspicion it would work out like this, but not quite so bad.

Well then... what exactly are we going to do now? It seems that we can't cut our way out of the problem and I am convinced that we can't tax our way out of it either; right now we need consumers to go out unto the shops and spend as much money as possible.

Time to face up to reality and make some hard decisions

[Filuwaúrdjan]

According to the Official Secret Senatorial Procedural Resolution (s. 1458b, clause 545(iii), 14th line) you aren't supposed to plot openly. Please do it in the traditionally "vauge" form as specified by s.1458c, clause 42 (vi), 1st line, 2nd line and 78th line...

"I wish we hadn't had that row. Maybe we shall become friends once I steal this chair made in Iowa"

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Could you all calm down right now, please?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Could you all calm down right now, please?

I’m calm, did I not seem calm?  Are you calm?  Do we need to be calm?  Who's not calm?  Are you not calm?  Is somebody not being calm?  Do we need to be calm right now, or would a little later do?

The debate was starting to get more than a little heated and more than a little personal (and this applies to everyone involved; no one is being singled out) and that's not really a good thing. Maybe I should shout "Order! Order!" in future

By right now I mean right now although if you could all stay fairly calm that would be great as well.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Branches of Government:
1.   Legislative Branch:  $3.900 billion (-$0.476 billion)
2.   Judicial Branch:  $6.042 billion (-$0.001 billion)

Anyway we can cut these further? Especially the Judicial Branch.

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Again, can we make cutbacks on overhead or summet here?

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I suppose we'd better increase this a wee bit...

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Can we cut this down a little bit, maybe? What's the +30billion from? Lot's of overhead in Defense IIRC.

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That's the result of the changes to subsidies isn't it? Or?...

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What was cut?

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These deals with unemployment benefits and stuff doesn't it? A little increase might be a good idea.

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Hmm... can we get away with large cuts here or not?

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What's being cut?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I call a vote on the Budget then...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Question? How long has this Senate session got to go?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Question? How long has this Senate session got to go?

I believe the new session starts on January 6 but I could be wrong. So everybody hurry up and vote!!!

No... on reflection... I don't think we should be rushing things. Two reasons; 1. a budget rushed out to fit in with a political deadline would not play well with business and might end up damaging consumer confidence, 2. it won't actually save us any time... there look like there could be a lot of things left over from the budget that many Senators would like to see "solved" in the next session... and bearing in mind the way the introduction system works, this could result in it being as badly clogged up as it was for most of this session.
Best thing to do might be to work out what changes to make to the provisional budget in what's left of this session (or at least get as far as we can) and then have a proper vote on it very early on in the next session, getting the problem out of the way for a while and keeping the intro thing not as blocked up and painfully slow as would otherwise be the case.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Too tired to think about all this right now. Vote is er... suspended. Yes, suspended, pending... a bit more discussion. I think

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You all calmed down now? Vote reopend.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Now, if we can just get the PPT in here to certify this fact

I had an early night yesterday

The Budget has passed