WORLD WORLDWIDE SOUTH AMERICA BRAZIL BRASIL - news journal UPDATE - (en) Brazil, UNIPA: The current conflict between the Lula/Workers' Party administration and Congress: between truth and lies in the political struggle! (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 The coalition republic is experiencing yet another conflict between the

branches of government, this time between the executive branch, the
Lula/Workers' Party administration, and the bourgeois Congress. Both
branches of government are agents of state violence against the people.
Congress, in particular, represents the interests of various factions of
the bourgeoisie, diverting the budget to serve the interests of the
elites. ---- The current conflict between the Lula administration and
the National Congress actually obscures the main points that workers
must fight for: the end of the 6-for-1 scale, agrarian reform, the
repeal of the pension and labor reforms, and the end of the New Spending
Cap. This conflict between Congress, which we all know is always the
enemy of the people and composed of crooks who only want a free ride,
led by Hugo Motta (Republicans), began with the betrayal of an agreement
made between Haddad and the economic team to increase the IOF (Financial
Operations Tax) to reduce the primary deficit (to meet the goals of the
New Fiscal Framework); Pay interest on the public debt (which consumes
about 5% of GDP annually) and prevent public spending from exceeding the
limit imposed by the new fiscal rules.

The government was sold on the betrayal of its broad front in Congress
and took action, breaking the stagnation characterized by three central
factors: 1) the government's declining popularity with almost a year to
go before the elections; 2) meeting fiscal targets without, for now,
attacking the constitutional ceilings, which should be left for a
possible fourth term; and 3) mobilizing its members at a time of
internal electoral dispute within the Party.

On the other hand, after a week of the government and its allies
escalating the agitation and actions by part of the governing base, such
as the occupation of Itaú's headquarters in São Paulo, almost all
corporate media and their allies quickly criticized the "division of the
country" between "rich and poor," expressing the class war existing in
society. They were quite disturbed by the calls "congress an enemy of
the people" and "a free ride congress," as well as the advertisements
that criticized-realistically, it must be said-the Brazilian
parliamentary world. Once again, the concern was not with the Brazilian
people, inequality, injustice, or anything of the sort, but rather with
defending the institutional framework and the battered and decrepit 1988
Republic that the Workers' Party (PT), Lula, and their allies insist on
saving.

THE TELECATCH WAR AND THE MAINTENANCE OF THE NEW SPENDING CAP

Although the advertisements and movements like the MTST (Workers'
Movement) and CUT (Workers' Union) that support the government criticize
the super-rich and the lack of fiscal justice within the framework of
the Liberal State, the main demand of the government and the PT is an
increase in the IOF (Tax on Financial Transactions) within the New
Fiscal Framework. This increase does not necessarily translate into
higher public spending on health and education because: 1) The New
Fiscal Framework maintains the logic of Temer/MDB's Spending Cap; 2) The
government's priority is Fiscal Adjustment, not the expansion of social
policies; 3) health and education already have constitutional minimums -
and they do not increase automatically; 4) increasing indirect taxes
(such as the IOF) is regressive and does not improve public services;
and 5) the new fiscal framework does not prioritize investment, but
rather deficit control.

The New Fiscal Framework (or "fiscal framework") does not repeal the
spending cap rule, but merely partially relaxes it. Even with increased
revenue (such as via the IOF), primary spending remains limited by the
real growth rule of up to 70% of revenue variation. In other words: a)
If the government collects more through the IOF (Tax on Financial
Transactions), there is no mechanism to guarantee that this increase in
resources will be directed to essential public services such as health
and education, for example, since the overall budget is still rigid. b)
The increased revenue could simply be used to meet fiscal targets
(primary surplus) or pay interest on public debt to loan sharks, without
increasing social investments. This is more likely in the current scenario.

The priority of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, led by Haddad and
Tebet/MDB, is fiscal responsibility above all else. This means that any
increase in revenue (such as through the IOF) will be used primarily to:
a) Reduce the deficit and promote a primary surplus (to meet the goals
of the New Fiscal Framework); b) Pay interest on public debt; c) Prevent
public spending from exceeding the limit imposed by the new fiscal rule.

The additional resources that would arise from the IOF increase are not
earmarked for health and education and could be absorbed by other
mandatory expenses or by fiscal adjustment. According to the
Constitution, health and education have a minimum spending limit. Health
care receives 15% of net current revenue (RCL) and Education receives
18% of tax revenue (in municipalities, 25%).

If the IOF (Tax on Financial Transactions) increases total revenue, the
absolute value of the constitutional minimum increases, but this does
not mean an improvement in the quality or expansion of services, because
the government can meet the minimum without actually investing more
resources, simply by passing on inflation. Furthermore, the New Fiscal
Framework does not require that surplus revenue be directed to these areas.

Within the capitalist state's tax structure, the increase in indirect
taxes (such as the IOF) is regressive, meaning it hits workers in
general hardest, who need access to credit mechanisms and basic
financial transactions, since the ruling class has other ways to pass on
future expenses, or even circumvent them.

Finally, the New Fiscal Framework aims to limit state public spending,
even if revenue increases. This means that if an IOF increase is
approved, the government can use this money to meet fiscal targets and
increase the primary surplus as a way to demonstrate its fiscal
commitment to the financial market.

The Workers' Party (PT) and Lula Cacareja (Workers' Party) to the Left,
but Govern with the Market

Whenever they're on the ropes looking for a parliamentary political
solution, Lula and the PT (Workers' Party) escalate their left-leaning
rhetoric, trying to mobilize their popular base and some of their
supporters. This was the case, for example, in the runoff elections for
Dilma Rousseff's second term. The window of opportunity has now opened
with Congressional action, which acted in its own interests, and with
the financial market, which was displeased with the IOF tax.

However, the main issue is that the Workers' Party (PT) itself was the
architect of the New Fiscal Framework, which is based on a
liberal-conservative theoretical perspective of the economy and imposed
artificial restrictions on state-owned public interests such as
infrastructure, healthcare, and education.

The government, through its Broad Front, decided to adopt a kind of
permanent austerity, which forces it to cut investments to maintain the
fiscal framework. On the other hand, it is left with a knife to its
throat from the clientelist and patronage-based zeal of Congress through
parliamentary amendments, which have even become central policy for some
ministries, with state workers merely responsible for verifying the
legal requirements of the amendments, without any veto power.

Build the General Strike for the End of the 6x1 Shift, Land and Freedom,
and More Investment in Healthcare, Education, and Public Transportation!

Within the State's own framework, the economic and fiscal policies of
the new spending cap are an economic setback. Blind fiscal rules only
tend to worsen people's living conditions, failing to guarantee policies
for high-quality full employment, reduced inequality, or financing the
energy transition. Within the framework of a dependent capitalist
economy, this fiscal policy tends to maintain inequalities and further
expand the outsourcing and public-private partnership policies so highly
praised by the current government. The increase in the IOF (Tax on
Financial Transactions) is linked to the logic of the New Fiscal
Framework, which aims to prevent public spending from growing
significantly, even if revenue increases.

If the objective were to improve public health and education, alleviate
the situation of workers who, with a higher income, seek to send their
children to private education, and pay for increasingly expensive health
plans, it would be more efficient to tax large fortunes, profits, and
dividends. However, the government opted for a tax that doesn't impact
the ruling class. The fact that this class ties in with the free-for-all
Congress and is an enemy of the people only demonstrates its character
as a grumpy, sour, mediocre, and greedy ruling class, heir to
slave-based colonialism. Therefore, it is necessary to mobilize the
people for immediate improvements in their daily lives, but also for
social revolution.

Congress is indeed the enemy of the people. It governs for the ruling
classes that dominate parliament and is filled with crooks seeking perks
through parliamentary amendments or government positions. This Congress
and the ruling class that has been its ally since Independence must be
destroyed. We call on the entire anarchist, autonomous, revolutionary
union, and revolutionary communist camp to build a common campaign for
mobilization and the construction of a general strike! The first step is
to act based on direct action to guarantee the immediate improvement of
living conditions for our people:

End the 6-for-1 work shift with a 30-hour work week without wage reduction
Repeal of labor and social security reforms;
Repeal of the New Spending Cap;
Land and Freedom (Agrarian Reform);
End of tax exemptions for agribusiness and large corporations;
Taxation of profits and dividends and large fortunes

https://uniaoanarquista.wordpress.com/2025/08/04/o-atual-conflito-entre-o-governo-lula-pt-e-o-congresso-entre-a-verdade-e-a-mentira-na-luta-politica/
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