It’s the economy, silly
The economy is the platform that the KMT is running on to secure next year’s legislative and presidential elections. By the numbers, it looks like the Taiwanese economy, under the stewardship of the DPP, has been doing well. This past year, the economy has grown by 6%. So what is the economic platform for the KMT to run on?
That the economy has grown is a fact. The other, less convenient fact for the DPP, is that the growth distribution has been felt by only a small sector of the population, and not by Taiwan at large. Taiwanese everyman and everywoman have not felt the economic growth — prices for everyday necessities are rising and the incomes of Taiwanese are not keeping the pace: The prices for oil are atrocious. Even the prices of rice and vegetables, especially in the aftermath of Typhoon Krosa, have become out of reach for everyday people. These are everyday necessities!
Of course, by the numbers, Taiwan’s economy is doing well, but something is not right if people are begging for leftovers from schoolchildren. Back in 1992, when the United States was feeling an economic pinch, American President George H.W. Bush said that “technically, we are not in a recession.” But if people are not eating right, not living well, and unemployed, then what does it matter if you are in a recession, technical or not? It doesn’t. Predictably, Bush and the Republican Party were not reelected.
Therefore, even though our economic numbers look nice, if the people cannot eat right, live right, then it’s time for a change in national stewardship. It’s also time to hand over the economy to someone who has experience not just accumulating wealth but also distributing the wealth to everyone. It’s time to vote out the DPP and vote in the KMT.
