2007 Civitas Nation Budget Forcast

In a little bit, I will release what we hope to be the budget for this term.

This budget will include:

Estimated govt. income, from 3 federal taxes
allocations of monies to individual departments.

It will NOT specify what every department will spend its money on, that is for cabinet members. It is also an estimate. We cannot say for certain EXACTLY how much we will be getting in tax returns, so we err'd on the conservative side.

PROPOSED EXPENDITURES

Military- 20 Billion
Education and Science -17 Billion
Finance and Business- 20 billion
Interior-20 Million
Justice- 5 Billion
Foreign/State Department- 5 Billion
Environment - 2 billions
Prime Ministers Office, Parliament, Supreme Court - 1 billion
Money allocated for grants to states-20 Billion
Surplus - 10 billion
Total Estimated budget = 120 Billion

This number comes from:

A National 15 Cents/Liter Fuel Tax
10% Corperate Profits Tax
A Progressive national income tax system, ranging from 0%(under 5,000), to 40% (over 2 million)

We believe that the average citizen, will pay roughly 20% in income taxes. After the next term, we hope to cut taxes...but we have a lot of infrastructure to purchase, so we all have to make some sacrifices.

-- nvm this post, found my answer... --

I for one support this proposed budget and hope that the Parliament will give its blessing so we can start the work ahead of us.

Sorry but I for one need more details before I can have an opinion on it.

I will not sign a blank check with my vote.

You do not need to go item by item but please include a general idea on how the money will be spent in each ministry.

Here is my take on it from what little info is available atm.

Military- 20 Billion [Very Bloated]
Education and Science -17 Billion [Sounds good but could be a little higher]
Finance and Business- 20 billion [Cant give an opinion atm do to lack of info but seems a little too high] [We also want to be careful to avoid a corporate welfare state]
Interior-20 Million [No idea do to no info on it but seems too high]
Justice- 5 Billion [A little bit too high]
Foreign/State Department- 5 Billion [A bit too high]
Environment - 2 billions [Under Funded]
Prime Ministers Office, Parliament, Supreme Court - 1 billion [Too high]
Money allocated for grants to states-20 Billion [There would not be such a high need for this if the federal tax was lower]
Surplus - 10 billion [Good]
Total Estimated budget = 120 Billion

[Also there is no Health and Social Services spending listed here]

A National 15 Cents/Liter Fuel Tax
10% Corperate Profits Tax
A Progressive national income tax system, ranging from 0%(under 5,000), to 40% (over 2 million)

We believe that the average citizen, will pay roughly 20%[Too high] in income taxes. After the next term, we hope to cut taxes...but we have a lot of infrastructure to purchase, so we all have to make some sacrifices.

I also think that the military and business budgets are pretty bloated.

I mean the CSP party and co are supposed to stand for free market principles yet they subsidies the rich and cause massive distortions.

The military budget is way to big for a country of this size.

Under the current budget we spend 20/120 or 1/6thof our budget buying weapons which will not be used and ships and aircraft that will lie on the field, incurring a massive cost.

I say to you all fellow citizens, the time has come to make plowshares, not swords. We must cut the subsidies for the rich in the form of business and not support the creation of a military-industrial complex before it is too late.

It is not too late to oppose the creation of an oligarchy as they have done in America, where the rich get richer, the military and the fatcats in Big Business more bloated and the poor and the oppressed get scraps or lies that the benefits for the rich will "trickle down"

We must spend the money on the Environment, Healthcare and Education. Long-term investments that will benefit us immensely in the future.

The military budget is larger than it will be in the future because of "start-up" costs. You can't establish a military for cheap. Originally we were going to have 40 billion on military, then that was changed and we had to re-budget down to 20 billion. Do not cut this department below 20 billion or we will be defenseless. Guns and swords do not come cheap, and the price of plowshares has soared in recent years.

The Ninja

If anything the military budget is under funded. How are we going to build bases with that amount? We shouldn't have to be dependent on foreign forces.

Why is money being forwarded to provinces? If a province wants money, it should be the one taxing.

I need much more info on these other large departments.

I figured there might be some sticker shock. Allow me to explain a little:

Military: We dont have a rowboat and a pistol to our name right now, and it is totally irresponsible to just rely on "collective security". This money will go towards establishment of military bases inside the country, as well as purchasing military equipment, mostly towards our navy. We arent going out and buying 10 aircraft carriers, but we cannot be defenselessness.

Education and Science: Education is my pet project, and I fought hard for a large budget. When you compare the % of what we're spending to other countries, we are spending a TON of money. I think it is worth it. We're going to establish a work study program, ambitious higher education grants, matching funds to make sure that every public school gets a minimum amount of money to spend per pubil, and more.

I will release a very detailed education bill soon. I can assure you, this is not being underfunded. This is more than the United States spends.

F and B- Remember everybody, this is also your department of LABOR. This is not 20 billion in corporate subsides, but its 20 billion to set up the main regulatory bodies in this country. I do not anticipate spending this much again...think of it as important start-up capital, to put all of our workers, and employers, on the right start. Social Services will be split between this department, and the Interior.

Interior- Will cover both highway and physical infrastructure, but also important social services, like healthcare. We combined a lot of these for game play purposes, since we do not have many active members of parliment. If this changed, we would make a separate labor and health department, and these budgets would go down.

Justice-The FBI, and other national police forces, are not free. This is pretty reasonable. They dont have offices, staff, equipment, etc.

State-Allows us a little money to use as foreign aid, as well as funds to cover our diplomatic core, intelligence agency, and money needed to enter international groups.

Environment- A lot of the regulatory actions are covered by other departments. 2 billion to establish things like a parks service, recycling programs, research sounds fair. I can throw in an extra billion or two if people can give me good reasons though.

Money Allocated to states- in my research, I have found this to be highly effective. At times, projects come up that are too expensive for the state to handle itself, such as funding police, transportation, or educational projects. The federal government sets out block grants to assist the states, sometimes with restrictions, sometimes without. By setting aside this money, we can help empower localities to find ways to spend the money better (which cuts down on inefficiencies of the federal government), while allowing them to take on projects they couldn't afford.

Federalism works, and having a providence fund is the best way to empower localities all over, both rich and poor.

Anybody have anything else to add?

Not really. I was iffy when it wasn't detailed, but now that it is, it's awesome.

Well, I was going to say that the military figures were high, but then realized we needed plenty of start-up. Also, I'm glad to hear that social services are covered. However, I'm concerned about the lack of a labor ministry. My concern is that business and labor can be fairly different, as the business may do things that aren't healthy for the workers, and extra worker security may go against business. However, this wouldn't be too much of a problem if it wasn't the LRP in control of this ministry, which will obviously favor less worker security and more business funding. Ths is a ministry that should either be split in two, or given to a CSP member.

At the moment, the LRP is not in charge of this ministry actually. Maxema has been moved to the Interior, and the Ninja to the Defense. Until we find a new business ministry, I will be handling it. I dont know if that increases your trust factor or not.

I think you're right, labor and business often have different interests. I'm only sticking them together for gameplay, not ideological reasons. As it stands, all but like 5 active members of parliament are in the cabinet, or hold government posts. I think that is too many.

I discussed this with the GMs, and I have no reason to believe that this combination will have adverse policy effects (i.e, management ripping labor off wholesale). I'm working on a OT recruitment drive (please help everybody), and if it pays off, I will establish a labor ministry.

Hey, I'd like to remind everybody that that an actual game is still going on, not just provo game. If nobody else says anything, I'll assume the budget is fine, and bring it up for a vote.

downtown said:

At the moment, the LRP is not in charge of this ministry actually. Maxema has been moved to the Interior, and the Ninja to the Defense. Until we find a new business ministry, I will be handling it. I dont know if that increases your trust factor or not.

Click to expand...

Oops, never mind. That's fine then.

I think you're right, labor and business often have different interests. I'm only sticking them together for gameplay, not ideological reasons. As it stands, all but like 5 active members of parliament are in the cabinet, or hold government posts. I think that is too many.

Click to expand...

That's a good point. It is a lot, but so long as we don't overdo ministries, we should be fine.

I discussed this with the GMs, and I have no reason to believe that this combination will have adverse policy effects (i.e, management ripping labor off wholesale). I'm working on a OT recruitment drive (please help everybody), and if it pays off, I will establish a labor ministry.

Click to expand...

OK, good luck recruiting new members!

Alrighty. Where is the PLP? Are they all having a nap?

I'll bring this to vote later tonight, and will unveil my education bill soon. Hopefully, that'll get this moving again.

We are just as tired as Perf?

Before you do bring it to a vote a request that you do not under fund the very inportant issue of the environment, maybe the most important issue of this century and you give it like nothing. I would like at least 3 billion if not 5.