The president of the PSD accused the Government on Wednesday of punishing the Portuguese with “extra taxes” and then “pretending to have social policies” and distributing part of the surplus “in summer or a little before Christmas.”
In the presentation of the new JSD magazine, “A Democrata”, at the Lisbon Book Fair, Luís Montenegro used the Government’s forecasts in the State Budgets for the collection of tax revenue — a growth of 3%, around 2,300 million euros — to conclude that it has already been exceeded with the income recorded until April, having already collected some 2,500 million more than in the same period of 2022.
We are paying more taxes compared to what we need to fulfill the tasks of the State Budget”, he concluded.
For this reason, he challenged the President of the Government and the Government to change their attitude: “We can no longer agree with that principle that first we charge and then we pretend that we have social policies to help those who need it most, first we punish, we impose suffering”. and sacrifice, and when our pockets are full, we take part—only a part—of the surplus and distribute it.”
“Usually in the middle of summer or just before Christmas,” he added.
Before an audience made up mainly of members of the Social Democratic Youth, Montenegro considered that there is a contradiction in Portuguese society, which he said must be resolved “as soon as possible.”
“I am not resigned to a country that loses two or three tens of thousands of qualified young people every year and delivers them free to our destination countries after we have invested so much of our effort and means to qualify them,” he said, considering that such a situation should “bring shame on all politicians and especially the rulers.”
The president of the PSD even considered that this problem has worsened in recent years, warning that it is dishonest to compare the current period with what happened in the years of the troika. “Once the country’s ability to decide its future has been restored, it is difficult to understand how the Government of the Republic resigns itself to this situation,” he criticized.
In his speech – he did not address the media on the sidelines -, Montenegro considered “a pain in the soul” that the country cannot accommodate “highly qualified youth”and he listed some measures already proposed by the PSD, such as a 15% IRS for young people up to 35 years of age, tax exemptions on their first home or State aid to cover part of the guarantee of loans for the purchase of a house .
“Many times we are accused of not having solutions, alternatives or policies, but all this has been translated into bills,” he stressed, pointing out other proposals, within the framework of constitutional reform, such as the creation of a council of territorial authorities and generational cohesion or lowering the voting age to 16 years.
Montenegro called on government officials and politicians to take risks and accept bold solutions, accusing the PS of being “The government of PowerPoint that stirs and stirs and leaves everything the same”.
Earlier, the leader of the JSD, Alexandre Poço, justified the launch of a physical magazine (which will also have an online version) with the aim of “producing thought” in the political area of the PSD, in an era more focused on digital
The first issue of the magazine, which will be published monthly, features an article by the president of the PSD, in which he chooses “public services, taxation, constitutional review and housing” as the four axes to give Portuguese youth “a New Hope ”. and a new ambition.
The former leader of the CDS-PP Paulo Portas also writes in this edition, recalling that, when he belonged to the JSD, he edited the “youth” supplement that was part of the official PSD newspaper, Povo Livre.
“I remember that editorial activism because my political conscience was born from a youthful admiration (until this immutable Wednesday) for Francisco Sá Carneiro”, writes the former deputy prime minister of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition government between 2011 and 2015, led by Pedro Passos Coelho. .
Source: Observadora
