I agree. I’d add Union leaders and all of the other main players in the Social Partnership agreements. They sold-out the majority of the people of Ireland to vested interest groups over and over again by destroying our competitiveness and the sustainability of our taxation system and generally agreeing to massive increases in current spending even though it was funded by capital transaction taxes from a boom.I don't want to be a hero either. I want everybody who caused the disaster to be jailed. This includes bankers down to the grade of Assistant Bank Manager, Politicians, Solicitors, Builders, Propety Developers etc. And I don't care how long they remain in chains.
I agree. I’d add Union leaders and all of the other main players in the Social Partnership agreements. They sold-out the majority of the people of Ireland to vested interest groups over and over again by destroying our competitiveness and the sustainability of our taxation system and generally agreeing to massive increases in current spending even though it was funded by capital transaction taxes from a boom.
As far back as the mid 90’s we were warned by everyone and their dog that what we were doing was unsustainable but Bertie the socialist was still happy for Joe O’Toole to keep going back to the pay rise ATM for his members while Bertie, not to out-done, gave massive increases in welfare and economic wisdom of our Minister for Finance, when asked about the governments pro-cyclical policies, didn’t go beyond “I’ll spend it while I have it”.
The only complaint from the opposition was that the government didn’t spend more! The only exception being Richard Bruton, who stood up in the Dail and spelled out exactly what the government was doing wrong and where it would end up. He was right but of course he was ignored.
Meanwhile we had a new branch of the government called “Congress”, formerly the ICTU. Those jokers had a bigger say in how the country was run than most of the cabinet with David Begg calling the shots at Social Partnership while sitting on the board of the Central Bank and the ERSI. At least he’s a clever guy, unlike Jack O’Connor.
I think it’s a small miracle that things have only ended up this bad!
Christine Lagarde is a very charming lady but she was one of the people who made sure that we were landed with what was effectively European debt. The reality though is that 80% of our problems were the result of our own pro-cyclical policies, parochial politicians, the social partnership carve-up by the usual vested interest groups and the incompetence and cowardice of our central bank and department of finance. The group I blame the most are the parochial and economically illiterate electorate who keep voting for parties and people who will “look after them” instead of parties and people who will help the nation as a whole.
The people of Ireland aren’t the heroes in this, they are the culprits. The voted for Bertie and his cohort and now they are voting for the Loony Left and the Shinners. Those in the middle (traditional FG supporters) want tax cuts instead of reducing our debts and no one asks why we are so incredibly wasteful and ineffective at delivering public services. They have learned nothing. They still refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. They still want a government which will act like their Mammy and the solution to massive waste is to give the people doing the wasting even more money. I’d love to hear Ms Lagarde say that.
Is the fact that the current Government placed such emphasis on economic recovery that expectations have been raised & the fact that a General election is not too far away reinforced the view that they are essentially going to have to buy the next election a political inevitability ?
I think the answer must be yes - this Government must feel that they have done much of the heavy lifting & to simply hand power over without a fight is simply too galling.
The current government has done a good job but by doing the right thing they have become unpopular. They now have to pander to the ignorant electorate because if they don’t they will be replaced with a bunch of nutters and mutton heads from People Against Logic and their ilk and the Shinners.So the general population will suffer for the current government's vanity.
but in all honestly, was this government just doing what they were told / mandated to by Europe? Would it have mattered who was elected to government at the last election - "Ireland" was given a list of things to implement .. or else ...The current government has done a good job but by doing the right thing they have become unpopular.
So the general population will suffer for the current government's vanity.
That would be the adult thing to do. It would benefit the country as a whole most and reduce the burden that we have imposed on our children through our greed and stupidity. Therefore we won't do it.For me it's all about balancing our books. We are currently bringing our budget deficit down bit by bit. It's working....why not just leave things *exactly* as they are until the only net outgoings are the interest payments on the bail-out finances? Then we would be in an extremely strong position to negotiate a writedown. But by having a give-away budget, we will no doubt start adding to our national debt by running budget deficits again thereby weakening our hand further....
I think the real question is whether there is a better alternative to the current government.I love how FG and Labour are playing the whole "employment" card all the time now.Anytime the IMF are in town they go out of their way to do this.
For every 1 job created 4 people have left these shores for other countries.They also like to include all these "jobsbridge" type schemes as full time jobs and employment in their "employment figures"
Why wont FG and Labour admit that?
I think the real question is whether there is a better alternative to the current government.
FF wouldn't have had the backbone to do what FG has done and without Labour the Unions would be causing more damage than they are doing at the moment.
Every government does that. That's what FAS was for.The employment figures are false and they are blatant lies that are constantly put out there by FG and Labour.
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