Rand Paul: Why America Should Be More Like Sweden (It's Not What You Think!)

[mountaineer]

Why America Should Be More Like Sweden (It's Not What You Think!)
Sweden reformed socialistic aspects of its pension system and introduced partial privatization.
Rand Paul | 1.13.2024 7:00 AM

I recently had a fascinating meeting with the Swedish ambassador to the United States, Urban Ahlin, who made me wonder if America should be more like Sweden. Over lunch, Ahlin explained that Sweden actually balances their annual budget. I asked myself, could Europe's socialists actually be more fiscally responsible than Democrats, and even some Republicans?

Before his appointment as ambassador to the United States for Sweden's current conservative-led government, Ahlin was a longtime Social Democrat, the former speaker of the Riksdag (the Swedish equivalent of speaker of the House), and once the chair of the Socialist Group in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly. So imagine my shock when he explained to me that no political party in Sweden would support a government retirement pension program that doesn't balance.

Impressively, the Swedes feature partial privatization in their pension system, tie benefits to contributions, and vote each year on supplemental benefits based on demographic and economic conditions, all while balancing their budget.

By rejecting socialism and embracing privatization as well as mechanisms to prevent overspending, the Swedes demonstrated that reforming entitlement programs in a fiscally prudent way is not a pipe dream after all.

Conversely, U.S. Social Security benefits are guaranteed regardless of economic or demographic conditions. Social Security, among other programs, is deliberately excluded from our government's normal budgetary process. ...

Read entire article at Reason.

[catfish1957]

Never thought I'd say it, but Paul is morphing out his Libertarian pedigree, and becoming one of a very very few checking all the Consecrative boxes.   Fauxci...  check.  Fiscal restraint....  check,  Stopping endless blank checks to foreign governments....  check

[LMAO]

There’s a saying that you can vote your way into socialism, but you have to shoot your way out of it

Sweden is an example where that didn’t apply.  Sweden was a socialist country throughout the 70s and 80s and I believe even part of the 90s. After a while, they had enough. It wasn’t just their pension system that was more privatized.

I hope this is the path that Argentina follows

[Bigun]

Why America Should Be More Like Sweden (It's Not What You Think!)

I would add Switzerland where the president takes public transportation to work because no one knows who he is.

[Bigun]

Never thought I'd say it, but Paul is morphing out his Libertarian pedigree, and becoming one of a very very few checking all the Consecrative boxes.   Fauxci...  check.  Fiscal restraint....  check,  Stopping endless blank checks to foreign governments....  check

  

[mountaineer]

PeterSweden
@PeterSweden7
HUGE NEWS
The right-wing Swedish government will be looking at protecting the use of cash, possibility of forcing shops to accept cash.
This goes against the cashless agenda.
Do you agree with this?
6:48 AM · Jan 14, 2024

(Responses to his tweet are positive).