Im bordering on being impressed

[liam2me]

Have thousands of people lost their jobs because of labours deficit? Yes.

Have people had to emigrate? Yes

Did this come off the back of sound fiscal management? No it came from borrowing 'based entirely on money that simply doesn't exist.'

The expenses scandal was mainly labour, including the wonderful Baroness Uddin.

If you can't see the staggering similarities then you should withdraw from commenting on politics

 

[exileonpatrickstreet]

Have thousands of people lost their jobs because of labours deficit? Yes.

Have people had to emigrate? Yes

Did this come off the back of sound fiscal management? No it came from borrowing 'based entirely on money that simply doesn't exist.' ...

are you actually bananas? you actually think the UK's economy under labour was in any way in as bad a state as ireland's under FF?

40-odd thousand people emigrated from ireland just last year. that's an entire percent of the population. there were many others before that, there'll be many more this year and the next. meanwhile, the UK has had net immigration for many years in a row. in fact, UK emigration is at its lowest for a decade.

ireland and the UK both had unemployment rates of around 6% in 2006. the UK's has risen to around 8%, an increase of a third. ireland's has risen to around 15%, a jump of two and a half times, or more than seven times the rise in unemployment.

bertie ahern's construction bubble is in no way similar to labour increasing the budget deficit of a mature economy. the latter wasn't perfect fiscal management, true, but if you think the two bear comparison, you really should refrain from commenting on economics.

... The expenses scandal was mainly labour, including the wonderful Baroness Uddin.

If you can't see the staggering similarities then you should withdraw from commenting on politics

20 labour members, 28 tories.

 

[Corcaigh32]

Some people are very easily nearly impressed ........

I think they are doing ok but not anything better than that. But then I didn't expect them to do as well as they are doing (i.e. ok) so that's a plus.

The upsides are - some ministers are doing their jobs well and putting the country first.
The negatives are - most ministers aren't and the government is not putting the country first. It is doing exactly what people have slated FF for on the PROC and Bill O'Reilly continues to do.

It is short term political expediency. It is a government drunk on power they haven't had in their lifetimes (maybe bar Quinn and Howlin). I am amazed at Shatter, who I used to have a lot of time for. Jobs for the boys and a complete disregard for the legal system and the constitution which, considering he's a lawyer, is staggering.

But the worst of the lot is numero uno. I don't know what he thinks he is doing but it isn't being a Taoiseach. An administrator maybe, and maybe even a reasonable administrator at that, but not a Taoiseach, not a leader.

Labour's strings are being pulled by the unions. FG's strings are being pulled by Labour.

We need a new politics and a new dispensation but we won't get as there is no credible alternative and the electorate are a bit lost as the 90 year convention of swapping one for the other maybe with a coalition partner thrown in is no longer available to them and never will be again.

 

[Hang_Sandwich]

they need to go after the dole, make the politically unpopular decision.

 

[Rebel CNC]

they need to go after the dole, make the politically unpopular decision.

Dole is easy pickings. The unemployed are not a vocal interest group. Room for some cuts but not a whole pile in the greater scheme of things.

The real fat remains in public sector pay and pensions. FG know this but are being held back by Labour whp will protect FF's Croke Park deal to the bitter end as it cushions their Union backers from the full effects of the mess we're in and indeed pays them increments as they fall due.
Pain is being deflected by allowing those close to retirement to ease out a few years early on decent package and full pension and dress this up as "public sector cuts".

Labour desperate to regain ownership of the union vote, a good portion which drifted to benchmarking Bertie and chums in the last decade.

 

[Murdock]

Some unbelievably retarded posts in this thread. Saying they're not as bad as FF is like saying Trap is doing a better job than Steve Staunton. Of course he is and of course they're not. I struggle to think of a worse manager in the history of sport and the previous government of BIFFO and those led by the FF crook before him were almost certainly the worst in the entire democratic world.
So, it would be impossible to be AS bad as FF, but this shower seem to be doing their level best to do just that, as on the major issues they are doing exactly what FF would do.
They've said harsh words to the Catholic church and Enda Kenny isn't an obese alcoholic who gives interviews when hungover/half-locked from the night before. And you get the vague impression that maybe some ministers are a little less hopelessly inept than their predecessors, but that's about the only differences I can see.
Aside from optics and one or two small changes, this is about 99% the same as what we'd get from FF. They have bailed out UNGUARANTEED senior bondholders in Anglo 100% to the tune of billions and have actually renewed the disastrous bank guarantee itself. Meanwhile in an effort to pay Goldman Sachs and the biys, they impose taxes and cuts that hit the poorest the hardest (or "taking the tough/brave decisions that have to be made" as they spin it for the simpletons) while keeping their (and other public sector fat cats') pay and pensions practically untouched. And it's not just public sector fat cats that are being protected. FG are protecting their rich voters/donors in the upper-middle and upper classes with no increases in income taxes. Instead, they're taxing the poor and doubling classroom sizes in disadvantaged schools.
The point is these policies aren't just socially disastrous and cruel, they're economically idiotic as well. If you're sucking billions out of the economy, and especially out of the pockets of those with the least disposable income, and handing it over like idiots to international bankster gamblers, you're going to destroy consumer spending; in other words, destroy businesses and cause even more job losses. Which is exactly what's happening.
I'll stick this story up again, as some of the clowns in this thread seem to be under the impression that we've turned the corner: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1216/breaking26.html

 

[rebelicecreamman]

Some unbelievably retarded posts in this thread. Saying they're not as bad as FF is like saying Trap is doing a better job than Steve Staunton. Of course he is and of course they're not. I struggle to think of a worse manager in the history of sport and the previous government of BIFFO and those led by the FF crook before him were almost certainly the worst in the entire democratic world.
So, it would be impossible to be AS bad as FF, but this shower seem to be doing their level best to do just that, as on the major issues they are doing exactly what FF would do.
They've said harsh words to the Catholic church and Enda Kenny isn't an obese alcoholic who gives interviews when hungover/half-locked from the night before. And you get the vague impression that maybe some ministers are a little less hopelessly inept than their predecessors, but that's about the only differences I can see.
Aside from optics and one or two small changes, this is about 99% the same as what we'd get from FF. They have bailed out UNGUARANTEED senior bondholders in Anglo 100% to the tune of billions and have actually renewed the disastrous bank guarantee itself. Meanwhile in an effort to pay Goldman Sachs and the biys, they impose taxes and cuts that hit the poorest the hardest (or "taking the tough/brave decisions that have to be made" as they spin it for the simpletons) while keeping their (and other public sector fat cats') pay and pensions practically untouched. And it's not just public sector fat cats that are being protected. FG are protecting their rich voters/donors in the upper-middle and upper classes with no increases in income taxes. Instead, they're taxing the poor and doubling classroom sizes in disadvantaged schools.
The point is these policies aren't just socially disastrous and cruel, they're economically idiotic as well. If you're sucking billions out of the economy, and especially out of the pockets of those with the least disposable income, and handing it over like idiots to international bankster gamblers, you're going to destroy consumer spending; in other words, destroy businesses and cause even more job losses. Which is exactly what's happening.
I'll stick this story up again, as some of the clowns in this thread seem to be under the impression that we've turned the corner: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1216/breaking26.html

That'll teach you to vote Labour!

 

[exileonpatrickstreet]

Some unbelievably retarded posts in this thread. Saying they're not as bad as FF is like saying Trap is doing a better job than Steve Staunton. Of course he is and of course they're not. I struggle to think of a worse manager in the history of sport and the previous government of BIFFO and those led by the FF crook before him were almost certainly the worst in the entire democratic world.
So, it would be impossible to be AS bad as FF, but this shower seem to be doing their level best to do just that, as on the major issues they are doing exactly what FF would do.
They've said harsh words to the Catholic church and Enda Kenny isn't an obese alcoholic who gives interviews when hungover/half-locked from the night before. And you get the vague impression that maybe some ministers are a little less hopelessly inept than their predecessors, but that's about the only differences I can see.
Aside from optics and one or two small changes, this is about 99% the same as what we'd get from FF. They have bailed out UNGUARANTEED senior bondholders in Anglo 100% to the tune of billions and have actually renewed the disastrous bank guarantee itself. Meanwhile in an effort to pay Goldman Sachs and the biys, they impose taxes and cuts that hit the poorest the hardest (or "taking the tough/brave decisions that have to be made" as they spin it for the simpletons) while keeping their (and other public sector fat cats') pay and pensions practically untouched. And it's not just public sector fat cats that are being protected. FG are protecting their rich voters/donors in the upper-middle and upper classes with no increases in income taxes. Instead, they're taxing the poor and doubling classroom sizes in disadvantaged schools.
The point is these policies aren't just socially disastrous and cruel, they're economically idiotic as well. If you're sucking billions out of the economy, and especially out of the pockets of those with the least disposable income, and handing it over like idiots to international bankster gamblers, you're going to destroy consumer spending; in other words, destroy businesses and cause even more job losses. Which is exactly what's happening.
I'll stick this story up again, as some of the clowns in this thread seem to be under the impression that we've turned the corner: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1216/breaking26.html

i direct you to the 'the village that said no to austerity' thread in the langers forum. there isn't actually any other option

 

[Murdock]

i direct you to the 'the village that said no to austerity' thread in the langers forum. there isn't actually any other option

Oh, well that's that then. I hadn't realised yourself and PROC's other economic titans had already passed judgement on the issue.

There are always other options. We could take the option to bring in a wealth tax and increase income tax for higher earners as well as slash the pay of our most overpaid public servants, instead of regressive taxes and cuts that proportionally hit the poorest hardest and are killing domestic spending and thus the economy in general. Coupled with our retarded government's handing over billions of money we don't have to unguaranteed bondholders, we have taken the worst possible option at every step for the last 4 years.
No country in history has cut its way out of a recession. These policies are going to cause our economy to contract even more, and add to the dole queues, making our ability to pay back our debts even more unlikely. And as we struggle to pay back the IMF and EU, they'll likely call for redoubled austerity measures, which will create a downward spiral that will lead to Greek levels of misery and end with our inevitable default.
With this mad right-wing orthodoxy dominating the EU, the whole continent is going to be plunged back into recession. But there isn't any other option apparently...