Posted on 10/04/2013 12:36:48 PM PDT by Kip Russell
Switzerland will hold a vote on whether to introduce a basic income for all adults, in a further sign of growing public activism over pay inequality since the financial crisis.
A grassroots committee is calling for all adults in Switzerland to receive an unconditional income of 2,500 Swiss francs — about $2,800 — per month from the state, with the aim of providing a financial safety net for the population.
Organizers submitted more than the 100,000 signatures needed to call a referendum on Friday and tipped a truckload of 8 million five-cent coins outside the parliament building in Bern, one for each person living in Switzerland.
Under Swiss law, citizens can organize popular initiatives that allow the channeling of public anger into direct political action. The country usually holds several referenda a year.
In March, Swiss voters backed some of the world's strictest controls on executive pay, forcing public companies to give shareholders a binding vote on compensation.
A separate proposal to limit monthly executive pay to no more than what the company's lowest-paid staff earn in a year, the so-called 1:12 initiative, faces a popular vote on Nov. 24.
The initiative's organizing committee said the basic income could partly be financed through money from social insurance systems in Switzerland.
The timing of the vote has yet to be announced, pending official guidance from the government.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.msn.com ...
Great! Everybody stop working and collect the money. The government will create money out of thin air, by issuing more money until a loaf of bread costs $40, then this amount will go up to 28,000, then bread will go up to $400 and they’ll have to raise the amount to 280,000.
This, like all socialist ideas is so stupid that anyone who even proposes it needs to be put in a straight jacket.
But...,but..., that’s just so unfair! Why not make it a million dollars a month, then everyone will be RICH! What could possibly go wrong with that??? /s
I figured out one time that in CA it would be cheaper just to give food stamps to whoever asked for them than to pay the gov’t employees that determine eligibility high salaries, Cadillac healthcare and generous pensions.
The people that determine eligibility for Medicaid get paid more than some of the Doctors when you factor their benefits that Doctors don’t get and the expenses (like insurance) the Docs have to pay.
These are union employees of course.
Was going to mention that.
It's always been pointed out that the Welfare State exists to benefit the State...who are just people, and they want a job collecting cash from you.
A Guaranteed Annual Income was what it was called.
Any sensible proposal would link it work with the government as employer of last resort.
And even Friedman pointed out that you can't have a welfare state - of any kind - and Open Borders.
Welfare attracts clients.
The Swiss will most likely not let that happen, but I suspect that many more Mohammeds will be born soon in that country in an effort to collect.
Switzerland’s governments only spends around 35% of GDP. The US total combined spending, fed, state and local, is 42% of GDP.
Printing presses, (or in this case electronic deposits) of course. Just create the money out of thin air.
How will that work? What if you save some? How much of that $2800 is taxed?
That adds up to over $3 trillion.
Most in Switzerland are actually Swiss.
Not only that! The Swiss can organize referenda to invalidate laws passed by the legislature. So for example, if their reps passed an Obamacare law opposed by 67% of the people (as it was opposed here) the Swiss have the ability through a referendum to trash such law. Not bad, huh?
33,600 and the hot babe? Nah.
She is just somebody else’s throw away.
—and where will this money come from if every decides not to work?—
All the gold fillings the nazis melted down and shipped to the helvetic confederation, of course.
True in absolute terms, but Switzerland actually has the highest rate of foreign residents of any country in Europe - 22% - though most of those come from benign neighboring countries. That said, the impact of (relatively) huge numbers of riff-raff immigrants from the Balkans, North Africa, the Middle East, etc. is taking its toll on that small country. On top of that they have to deal with the traitors of the thread topic (who are responsible for the mentioned riff-raff in the first place). Helvetia might just collapse before the EU does.
The cost of living in Switzerland is very high. I travel there frequently for business.
To give you one example - lunches run about $20 - $25 US dollars at places the equivalent of Panda Express and that is not just in the more populated urban areas.
Also, housing is extremely expensive.
I almost went on a gig to Finland, but waived it off when I found that the contractors were literally living off of boloney sandwiches that they pinched at the Hotel buffet.
Very expensive.
The Swiss aren’t a**holes. Non-story.
Nixon proposed that "negative income tax" to congress, Ford signed it into law and it has increased under every administration since, without exception, it's called the Earned Income Tax Credit (E.I.T.C.)
Of course that didn't replace the welfare bureaucracy, only added to it.
that’s about 4 1/2x’s my monthly earnings-—
shocking i know!
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