A Seven Year Nightmare: Genuine Corruption and Negative Contributions

A Seven Year Nightmare: Genuine Corruption and Negative Contributions
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 08, 2007

The Legislative Yuan Budgetary Research Center recently published its assessment report. It concluded that the government's contribution to the economy over the past seven years was "a negative contribution." For the past seven years, the government has been spending money with abandon, even as it has shouted high-minded slogans in an attempt to seize the moral high ground. In the end, all it did was squander the taxpayers' money and inflict incalculable pain and suffering upon the people. Actually characterizing the Democratic Progressive Party's political achievements during its eight years in office as a "negative contribution" is letting it off too easily.

The Budgetary Research Center noted that the Chen regime began squandering money several years ago. It warned of illegal budgets, uncontrolled debt expansion, and ineffective execution of policy. But the ruling party stonewalled, and the opposition party threw in the towel. Problems worsened day by day. The Chang Chun-hsiung cabinet upped the ante. By means of a "Benefit of the Week" free giveaway policy, it used taxpayer money to bribe voters into voting for the DPP. Although public opinion repeatedly considered such moves improper, the ruling regime had already reached a stage where it no longer feared criticism and merrily continued emptying out the nation's coffers in the glare of the noonday sun.

Taiwan's economy has been in decline for seven years. Actually it's not necessary for the Budget Center to remind us of this. The people are fully aware of the harsh reality. But the people need to realize is that this decline is not just about an incompetent government acting in a self-serving manner. It is also about voters sanctioning the government's perverse behavior. This must not be regarded merely as voters suffering the consequences of their own "Democratic Wet Dream." Taiwan has taken a wrong turn on its road to political evolution. The island now finds itself incapable of turning back, incapable of preventing further degeneration.

What's most laughable is that as we look back at this shattered "Democratic Wet Dream," every episode had a euphemistic sounding title. From the "Two Trillion, Twin Stars Plan," to the "8100, Taiwan Starts Moving Economic Stimulus Plan" to the "Reconciliation and Coexistence Plan," to the "Great Investments, Great Warmth Plan," and the "Benefit of the Week Plan." Prime minister after prime minister wove pipe dream after pipe dream. Every dream turned into a nightmare, from which we woke up in a cold sweat. One prime minister after another built his "castle in the air" on the ruins of his predecessor's. A seven year long pipe dream, filled with empty boasts, waste, incompetence, corruption, degradation. This is the harsh reality that Taiwan refuses to face even today.

Taiwan's past development rested on a foundation laid by a series of "Four Year Economic Construction Plans." Policies were linked in an orderly fashion. But with six prime ministers in seven years, government policy is in chaos. Social and economic policy are in tatters. Due to political considerations, national resources are channeled into projects lacking in rational justification and resulting in pointless waste. Nepotism has resulted in officials at every level of government divvying up the loot. Incidents of embezzlement and other forms of corruption surface one after the other. The Democratic Progressive Party has toppled the Kuomintang's One Party System. In its place it has erected its own even shoddier, even uglier system of dividing the spoils, even less subject to checks and balances.

The government cavalierly issues checks for a billion here, a billion there. These contribute nothing to Taiwan's economy. Any "contributions" are negative in nature. One reason is phony construction projects -- pork. Another reason is corrupt practices -- patronage. Pork barrel projects supposedly build up the nation's infrastructure. In fact they are undertaken either to stroke the ruling regime's ego, or to line the ruling regime's pockets. Such policies naturally degenerate into "waste, fraud, and corruption." Countless "mosquito halls" (unoccupied buildings that house only mosquitoes), unused airports and harbors, and "paper projects," offer ironclad evidence of the Chen regime's phony achievements and genuine incompetence.

Genuine corrupt practices involve trampling the nation's civil service system and anti-corruption mechanisms into the dust. The ruling elite and its cronies have used the opportunity to transfer the contents of the national treasury into ruling party members' private bank accounts. In recent years corruption has proliferated. From the presidential palace, through mid level officials doling out sweetheart deals to their cronies, all the way down to the back channels used by local industry, local officialdom, and academia. Compare the situation to what prevailed before regime change, and we realize Chen Shui-bian has not overthrown Lee Teng-hui's system of "Black Gold." He has merely replaced it with his own newer and more efficient form of Lee's plutocracy, directly extracting wealth from the state treasury and financial groups. This is progress of a sorts.

In fact, the Democratic Progressive Party's negative contribution is not limited to imposing eight years of economic stagnation on Taiwan. The current national debt, according to the most conservative estimates, is nearly 5 trillion NT. On average each household must bear one million NT in debt. The Democratic Progressive Party has not merely squandered the savings Taiwan patiently accumulated over the past half century, it has weakened Taiwan's international competitiveness. In the future, even we redouble our efforts, we won't necessarily be able to regain our former status as one of the Four Asian Tigers. And the DPP boasts of catching up to other nations? Isn't this the price the next generation on Taiwan will have to pay?

The Democratic Progressive Party has ruthlessly hollowed out the Republic of China in order to underwrite its would be "Nation of Taiwan." But the Nation of Taiwan can only be found somewhere over the rainbow. Meanwhile the Republic of China that everyone has sacrificed for has become weaker and weaker. Whether by sleight of hand or by magic, the nation is losing its competitiveness to pointless internal bickering, and paying a truly exhorbitant price for its collective folly.

真貪腐，負貢獻：七年噩夢在冷汗中驚醒！
【聯合報╱社論】
2007.10.08 02:08 am

立法院預算中心最近提出評估報告，認為政府投資對經濟成長連續七年呈現「負貢獻」。過去七年，當局花大錢不眨眼，又最會用道德口號自我美化，結果卻虛耗台灣最多資源，帶給人民最多的焦慮和痛苦。其實，以「負貢獻」一詞總結民進黨八年施政，恐怕還只是點到皮層而已。

預算中心數年前即注意到扁政府揮霍無度的問題，並就預算違法、債務暴增、執行不力等問題提出警告。但在執政黨硬拗、在野黨棄守的態勢下，問題竟是日復一日更形惡化；張俊雄內閣更變本加厲，透過「一周一利多」的輸送手法，將國家資源挪為民進黨的選舉彈藥之用。儘管輿論一再指為不當，但這個政府已到了「不畏人言」的地步，掏空行動簡直已明目張膽。

台灣經濟七年來江河日下，其實不需預算中心提醒，人民的感受早已點滴在心。但民眾必須警醒的是：台灣七年的沉淪，不應只視為一個無能政府的為所欲為，而須反省人民何以甘為政府的倒行逆施付出如此昂貴的代價；這也不應只視為人民自食惡果的「民主春夢」而已，而要知道台灣在民主進程中究竟走錯了那條岔路，以致舉國無力回頭，甚至無力阻止情況惡化。

可笑的是，回顧這場破滅的「民主春夢」，在每個轉折點竟都有個美好的篇名。從「八一○○台灣啟動」、「兩兆雙星，五年五千億擴大公共建設」、「和解共生」，到「大投資、大溫暖」和「一周一利多」，歷任閣揆皆使出渾身解數編織執政美夢，每個夢都在冷汗中驚醒，但繼任者仍繼續在前人的爛攤上築夢。七年一覺荒唐夢，充斥著吹噓、浪費、無能和貪瀆，這是台灣至今不願面對的真相。

台灣過去的發展，是靠著一連串的「四年經建計畫」奠定基礎，政策循序漸進，環環相扣。如今，七年六任閣揆，施政理念南轅北轍，經社發展政策支離破碎，國家資源在政治指令下被導向特定局部用途，因缺乏理性評估而形成虛耗，更因假手特定親信權貴而形成層層分贓，導致貪汙、腐敗事件層出不窮。民進黨推翻了國民黨的黨國體制，自己卻建構了一套更拙劣醜陋、更不受監督的分贓體制。

政府動輒一砸十億百億公帑，對台灣經濟的貢獻卻是「負數」，原因可歸結為二：一是假建設，二是真貪腐。所謂「假建設」，本來即非為建設國家為著眼，而以背書執政黨的虛榮與騙局為目的，師心自用的政策自然淪為虛耗。多少蚊子館，多少閒置機場和港口，多少空有藍圖卻無由執行的計畫，不都是扁政府假建設、真無能的鐵證！

所謂「真貪腐」，在喧天政治口水中，國家文官體制及監督機制遭踐踏蹂躪，主政者及其親信、朋黨正好趁機上下其手，將公資源挪為政黨私用，將公帑納入私囊。從近年弊案的多樣化，上至總統府內的貪瀆，中至官員與財團的利益輸送，下至地方產官學的暗通聲氣，皆較政黨輪替前猶有過之。陳水扁沒有打倒李登輝的黑金體制，自己卻發明一套新的金權模式，直接向國庫和財團掏取，難道這就是他想像的民主進步？

進一步深思，民進黨的「負貢獻」，帶給台灣的絕不止是八年的停滯不前而已。試想，目前國家財政赤字即使根據最保守的估算亦已膨脹至將近五兆，平均每個家庭要負擔一百萬債務。民進黨不僅揮霍了台灣過去半世紀的積累，也弱化了台灣的國際競爭力；未來，人民即使加倍付出心力，都未必足以回復我們原有的地位，遑論奢求超趕其他國家？這一切，不都是以透支台灣下一代的未來為代價嗎？

說來諷刺，民進黨無情地掏空「中華民國」，來建構其口中虛託的「台灣國」；但如今台灣國仍在雲深不知處，大家所委身的「中華民國」卻已經日漸孱弱委頓了。不論這是騙術還是魔術，整個國家社會在內耗空轉中漸漸喪失競爭力，實在是萬分慘痛的代價！