Hello! There is so much sad news, that I will give some good news. There is now an agreement in the Norwegian Parliament about not only giving parents with children who are not in kindergarten "cashsupport" - kontantstoette" - by 3000 Norwegian kroner per months in addition to child benefits, about 400 US dollars per month per child, but to increase the lowest pensions by 1000 Norwegian kroner per month - that is about 150 US dollars per month. In Norway everybody is getting pensions, included persons who did not pay pension premiums. That is a considerable increase, from 69.000 kroner per year to 81.000 kroner per year - from about 9.000 US dollars per year to almost 11.000 US dollars per year. The Labour party is very much opposed to this. But they can not just stand there as those mean and cruel people who are opposed to everything that benefits those with least money. Polls show that about 80% of the populations supports these new contributions to those with least money. Labour has got to find an alternative. Their work- and social policy, invented by Gro Harlem Brundtland, was a stick and carrot policy. They were in fact spending a lot of money on education to help unemployed people back to work. About one third of those unemployed were participating in courses/training/education that often were quite good and generous arrangements. But the bad side of their policy, which they called "Arbeidslinja" - "Workline" - was that people without work should have minimal support, if they were outside this system. The new government's policy is supporting people who is outside their system. Last week I watch a debate where the former Prime Minister of the Labour Party took part. He said that Labour was developing an alternative policy. The goal of that policy is that nobody in Norway shall have less money at disposal per year than that new minimum pension. That means in fact that they are coming to propose a "guaranteed Citizen's income". It is known that people on welfare is having a life with not much dignity. That means that Labour is abandoning an important part of Gro Harlem Brundtland's "Arbeidslinje" - "Workline" - policy. At the election this fall only one political party put lower taxes as their first priority, and most political parties said they would not reduce taxes. It was the Conservatives that wanted lower taxes first of all, and they got only about 15% of the votes, and that is less than any time before since WWII. People do not want lower taxes, but are willing to pay more taxes to give those with the lowest pensions more money. Tor Forde
