Congress is a machine for producing inefficiency – 12/14/2023 – Vinicius Torres Freire

Congress is a machine for promoting economic and budgetary inefficiencies. If it were necessary to give more examples, consider the votes in the second half of this year or the race at the end of the legislative year to obtain and distribute favors.

These are amendments that shred the Budget, without social or economic criteria, into small, low-impact works, or laws that simply give money to companies.

It’s an increasingly notable truism since 2015, but we don’t care, like silly frogs cooked in hot water.

It is an arrangement for deficits as far as the eye can see, favors for companies that increase the inefficiency of the economy (persistence of poverty), a budget cut into trifles, tax injustice, etc. It is the wake-up call of eternal mediocrity.

Almost the entire Congress preaches the downsizing of the State, tax burden, expenses — this legislature in particular, as it is “liberal” (ha).

In practice, it spends more and grants tax reductions that facilitate the survival of inefficient companies or increase their profitability, particularly if they are friendly or set up in the parliamentarian’s parish.

Almost the entire country is paying for the reduction in productivity (GDP grows less), as the business would be unviable in that region (or indeed in any other) if it weren’t for the state subsidy. This is rent-seeking.

Some energy companies, fuel companies, vehicle manufacturers, household appliances companies, beverage companies, wealthy professionals and many others take some. The tax reform, even more so when it was processed by the Senate, became another major scandal involving the distribution of favors to private individuals.

There will still be fat regional development funds, which never developed anything other than the cash flow of companies and their friends. The tax burden on beneficiaries will decrease or remain lower. That of the “commons” will increase.

In order to try to approve tax reform and laws that increase its revenue, the government will prohibit itself from making cuts in one of the types of parliamentary amendments (“committee”). This is the agreement for the pre-Christmas settlement of favors for deputies and senators reached this week between Lula-Haddad and chiefs from the center — almost the entire Congress.

The scarce money in the Budget that is no longer earmarked for mandatory expenses is divided for works and purchases of cities and mayors from the parliamentary base of the deputy or senator, a complement to the electoral and party fund, already rich in billions.

Parliamentarians have more power and no responsibility.

This would be the remaining money for federal investments in works and purchases that encourage growth, that alleviate important infrastructure, social or economic problems, that increase science and technology, perhaps a national early childhood education plan for poor children.

Approval of larger government projects requires negotiation on a case-by-case basis. Negotiations are even more difficult in this legislature, which is more right-wing, conservative, anti-PT or simply negotiating.

Granting positions or amendments to a party or “leaders” does not solve the problem. The parties themselves are more fragmented.

Even if they have a ministry, state government or agency, a group of their deputies or senators will say that they do not feel represented, that another fraction of the party has received prebends and benefits.

It is impossible to compare the degree of negotiation in each legislature, especially because several agreements are opaque. The harmful effects are greater, in any case, as we fight for less and less money, for the “dead volume”, for the rest of the Budget that does not go to mandatory spending.

To make matters worse, even government parliamentarians vote on measures that increase spending, the Judiciary and Public Prosecutor’s Office invest to add weight, the military maintains privileges, etc.

The discouragement is very great.

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