Power to the People

If the Democratic Party in the USA would adopt a platform that looks something like this, they would easily take back the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. But apparently this is only possible in countries like Norway and Venezuela. Here's an article on the Norwegian budget:

Government presents 'offensive' budget

Norway's left-center coalition government presented its first state budget on Friday, unveiling a long list of proposals it claimed would change the country and further develop the Norwegian social welfare state. Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen claimed it was a budget that shows a government on the offensive.
Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen, from the Socialist Left party, is a key figure in the government coalition's budget proposal.

Halvorsen said the government's draft budget would "strengthen many of the social welfare obligations that are most important in Norway," and that it would "show our voters that we keep our promises."

The budget contains a large surplus, thanks to Norway's oil revenues, but nonetheless contains a series of tax hikes for Norwegians that total more than NOK 2 billion.

"The previous government chose tax relief," Halvorsen said. "The price we paid was a lack of day care centers for children, schools with fewer teachers, poorer services for the elderly. We wanted to change this."

She called the draft budget one "that will change Norway" and "further build up the Norwegian welfare state."

Income tax rates would rise for Norwegians earning more than NOK 650,000 (about USD 100,000) a year, while those with lower incomes will receive a higher personal deduction. Rates would also rise on the controversial tax Norway long has placed on individual net worth.

The tax on food items, meanwhile, would rise from 13 to 14 percent. Employers would see the tax they pay on employees (arbeidsgiveravgift) rise by one percentage point for workers over age 62.

These are just some of the revenue proposals that the left-center government coalition (made up of the Labour Party, the Socialist Left and the Center Party) is forwarding to the Parliament, all part of their drive for what they see as a socially-minded distribution of wealth.

The government plans to use the money on a variety of health and welfare programs, including NOK 2.2 billion in additional funding to local hospitals, NOK 700 million more for psychiatric health programs and nearly NOK 300 million for physical therapy and aid to the elderly.

The government also wants to boost foreign aid to the world’s poorest people by NOK 2.2 billion (USD 338 million).