Montenegro accuses government of punishing ‘additional taxes’ for ‘pretending’ distribution

This Wednesday, the PSD president accused the government of punishing the Portuguese with “additional taxes” and then “pretending to carry out social policies” and distributing some of the surplus “in the summer or just before Christmas”.

At the presentation of the new JSD magazine “Demokrata” at the Lisbon Book Fair, Luis Montenegro resorted to the government’s forecasts for the collection of tax revenues to the state budget – an increase of 3%, about 2.3 billion euros. to conclude that it is already surpassed only when considering the revenues recorded up to April, already collected about 2.5 billion more than in the same period of 2022.

“We pay more taxes than we need to fulfill the tasks of the state budget,” he concluded.

So he urged the prime minister and the government to change their attitude: “We can no longer accept the principle that we charge first and then pretend that we have a social policy to help those who need it most. First we punish, we impose suffering and sacrifice, and when our pockets are full, we take a part—only a part—of the surplus and distribute it.”

“Usually in the middle of summer or just before Christmas,” he added.

In an audience composed mostly of members of the Social Democratic Youth, Montenegro believed that there was a contradiction in Portuguese society that he said needed to be resolved “as soon as possible”.

“I will not accept a country that loses 20,000 to 30,000 qualified young people every year and transports them to destination countries for free after we have invested so much effort and money in training them,” he said. believing that such a situation should “disgrace all politicians and especially government officials.”

The SDP chairman even considered that this problem had become aggravated in recent years, warning that it would be unfair to compare the current period with what it was during the Troika years.

“After the country’s ability to decide its future was restored, it is not clear how the republic’s government came to terms with this situation,” he criticized.

In his speech – he did not speak to the media on the sidelines – Montenegro found it “a pain in the ass” that the country could not retain “highly qualified youth” and listed some of the measures already proposed by the SDP, such as an IRS of 15% for young people. people under the age of 35, tax breaks on their first home, or government support to cover part of the guarantee for loans meant to buy a home.

“We are often accused of not having solutions, alternatives or policies, but all this is embodied in bills,” he stressed, pointing to other proposals in the constitutional review, such as the creation of territorial and generational cohesion. advice or lowering the age limit to 16 years.

Montenegro called on rulers and politicians to take risks and make bold decisions, accusing the PS of being “a government that moves and moves, but leaves everything as it is.”

Previously, JSD leader Alexander Poso justified the launch of a physical magazine (which will also have an online version) with the aim of “producing thoughts” in the political sphere of PSD in a more digitally focused era.

In the first issue of the magazine, which will be published monthly, there is an article by the President of the SDP in which he chooses “public services, taxation, constitutional control and housing” as the four axes to give the Portuguese youth a “New Hope”. and new ambitions.

Former CDS-PP leader Paulo Portas also writes in this issue, recalling that when he was a JSD member, he edited the “jovem” supplement, which was part of PSD’s official newspaper, Povo Livre.

“I remember this editorial activity because my political conscience was born out of a youthful admiration (to this day unchanged) for Francisco Sa Carneiro,” writes the former Deputy Prime Minister of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition government between 2011 and 2015, led by Pedro Passos Coelho.