Irish Tea Party

When checking out my facebook today I see that someone is trying to start an Irish version of the Tea Party. I must say if they stick by what they are saying it may turn out to be a movement to shake up Irish politics.

I have a link to the page here, We Want an Irish Tea Party Facebook Page but I have reproduced what they have to say below:

Basically their main line on the page is:

This is an open group where Irish people who believe in the conservative ideals of Low Taxes; Small Government; Minimalist Regulation; and Limiting the Socialist State; can get together and share ideas about raising awareness of these ideals among our public representatives.

No matter your party political affiliation if you espouse to these ideals you should join here.

The Irish State is rapidly heading towards the Marxist definition of a socialist economy where 50% of the GDP will be dependent on Government. The objective of this group is to inform our public representatives that there is a substantial section of our electorate; who have for too long been silent; and who desire otherwise.

I have to say reading the above that it certainly appealed to me. It is probably about time that the real silent majority of Irish people who are hard working private sector employees got a decent lobby group of their own going. A statement of objectives from this group was released this evening and I have to say it seems very encouraging.

I have reproduced it here in full:

Firstly I would like to thank you for showing your support by liking this page here on Facebook.

I am just an ordinary citizen of Ireland who recently has grown quite disillusioned with the way our country is heading. I am hoping that with your support I can establish a powerful lobby group that will fight independently of party politics for the rights of hard pressed Irish Tax Payers.

Many of us lately have listened incredulously to the vested interests in our economy, trade unions, civil servants, and public service bodies demanding that their jobs for life and guaranteed pay rises should not be touched; while we the ordinary taxpayers worry if we will be able to meet our bank repayments after another round of income levies are raised to pay for this.

Most of us in the private sector have seen a marked reduction in our income, whether it has been a drop in profits for the business you worked 18 hour days to build up or a substantial pay cut so your job will not have to be axed entirely, perhaps even you have lost your job or your business has folded.

This is the unfortunate story for many in the Irish population today and the answer of our politicians on all sides of the divide is further taxes, both direct (income levy) or indirect (recent rise in motor tax for SUVs). The unwillingness of our political establishment to countenance measures that will not severely harm the incomes of Irish taxpayers doesn’t make the future look bright for any of us. Even in agriculture which once was more untouched than other sectors there is now one employee in the Department of Agriculture for every three farmers, such is the ridiculous level of regulation being forced on them.

How many of you are looking forward to the next round of Government regulation that is being mooted. Regulation that will cause the cost of conducting business to escalate further; and will in turn direct the resources of business away from core activities in order to meet compliance. How many of you with SME’s have found that more and more of your valuable time is given over to state regulation where it would be better spent trying to make a euro.

As I already stated I wish to establish a group large enough to lobby our public representatives on behalf of ordinary taxpayers. To do this I am going to need your help. I would appreciate it if you could suggest this page to all your friends; and perhaps if you have the time send a personal message with it. Encourage them to join it; and inform them that it is time for the silent majority of the Irish people to have their voice heard.

The silent majority who’s long working hours, risk taking and perseverance built this country. The silent majority who no longer wish to bear the burden of a bloated civil service or the cost of every quango the socialist politicians in Ireland can dream up. The silent majority who wish to be able to pay thier bank bills, educate their families and work towards a better future for all of us in Ireland.
If you want to check this page out for yourself I have included a link at both the top and bottom of this post. Happy Tea Partying!

We Want an Irish Tea Party Facebook Page

Remove Career Politicians and Give Successful People the Power

The entire dire economic situation we find ourselves in could easily be solved cutting the slack from the civil service and public sector. However all our politicians are terrified to do so due to the fact that in the majority of cases politics is their career rather than a civil obligation?

Many of our current crop of elected representatives do not have meaningful careers outside the Dáil. Yes many of them have professional qualifications but one does have to ask the question how meaningful or well paid were their careers in comparison to a cushy number in Leinster House.

A lot of people in the left wing of the Irish establishment didn’t like Michael McDowell, primarily because of his willingness to give commentary where others dared not to thread. Michael had a very successful career as a barrister which he put on hold to take up public office, the big difference between Michael and other public representatives was that his career paid far more that the public office he held. Therefore Michael was there because of his political ideals not for the cash.

Over the course of his career in politics Michael McDowell stuck firmly to his political beliefs and the policies he espoused to his constituents when putting himself forth for election. If one were to go back over the careers of the other members of the Dáil would their election promises hold up to such scrutiny?

Another fearless politician who stuck firmly with his goals was Albert Reynolds. Reynolds only held office for a short term as Taoiseach yet arguably he achieved more in that time than many others who have held the office for longer periods. Yet again Albert Reynolds like Michael McDowell was not dependant on his elected status in order to provide a good living for himself outside the Dáil.

The main problem with the type of politician we have in the general make up of our current legislature is that most are career politicians.  Many of them have held their seats since their early twenties and have made little or no attempt to flourish their careers outside the house since being elected. This has led to the situation where the slavish need to adhere to short term popularism has gained the upper hand over long term solid policy making that would lead to much better results.

It is this form of pupularism that has led to appeasement of the unions, civil servants and certain “public interest” groups as opposed to implementing policies that will have the long term good of the nation at heart. The simple fact of the matter is that the majority of our politicians are terrified of losing their seats, not because of the loss of power that would entail, but because of the loss of income. It is a most unfortunate situation that has been allowed to develop and one that is not serving this country well.

So what can we as a people do to amend this current situation? Well firstly if you are a member of a political party then get active when convention time comes around. Look for the candidates who have proven themselves to be successful in their personal lives outside of politics. These are the people we need running this country, they will not fret about their Dáil salary when tough decisions have to be taken.

Now I can already hear my leftist critics saying “but you are advocating putting rich successful people in the Dáil, what about the right of the common man (or woman) to govern?” Well I have this to say to those critics, I would prefer any day to put my future in the hands of someone who has proven them self to be a success as opposed to someone who hasn’t. If we do not have successful people running this country then we will have unsuccessful ones; and unsuccessful people running any company, business or country is a recipe for disaster.

Time for Change - Conservative Libertarian Party Urgently Required

While I can understand that people like to take philosophical stands on certain issues, I am very much a pragmatist and a realist. Unfortunately right now in Ireland we have a situation where our house is comprised of political parties who, as opposed to relinquishing some of the power of government, wish to make it bigger still!

We live in a time where increased and not decreased government regulation is the order of the day in Irish politics. The only way I can see of preventing this increased regulation is by actual political opposition to it. Right now people in Ireland are being given the choice between increased regulation by the state and an alternative that would bring an even higher degree of state regulation over our lives.

Unfortunately the real world has no place within for idealism. What we need urgently is a political party that can offer Irish people a real alternative. Do people here seriously think that if the Irish people sit back and let the next election take place without such an alternative arising that a Labour led government will bring anything other than increased regulation?

We are already seeing it day after day in our media, commentators, and politicians, all mooting that increased regulation of our banking and financial centres will solve the current crisis. As an accountant I know that it will bring increased costs for business, increased costs for beleaguered banks, and result in even more job losses.

One of my favourite people, Ron Paul, once said that a patriot is someone who acts when others think it unpopular to do so. We can all be patriots, not necessarily for a nation, or state, but patriots for the people who will have to live with the further misery government is going to inflict on them.

Just look at it from this perspective. Eamon de Valera sat outside the Dáil for 10 years and gave Cumman na Gael free reign without opposition for this period of time why? Because Eamon de Valera didn't like some words on a piece of paper. When after 10 years he finally entered government he was able to abolish those words as a requirement for ever after.

Without the support of the majority of people any ideal is doomed to failure, this is a given fact, which I believe to be beyond contestation. It is much easier to change things from within a system than from without. If a true Conservative Libertarian movement ever came to power it could in theory achieve all its aims with the support of the people; support which would only increase over time as their quality of life improved.

Remember that the time is ripe now for change, to buck the system, to bring forward new ideas that could quickly gain support. If a new force could be established; Irish politics might never be the same again.

Just What Exactly Would Eamon Gilmore Cut ???

Ok so what exactly does Eamon Gilmore and the Irish Labour Party stand for? A quick glance at their policies page on the Irish Labour Party official website doesn’t reveal much. If you don’t believe me look for yourself here: http://www.labour.ie/policy/

The first three policy documents I see are on Sport, Youth, and the role of the Oireachtas since the Lisbon treaty. Hardly pressing issues you would say with probably the single largest budget of importance facing the House since Charlie Haughey and Ray McSharry came before them in 1987.

I must say that even though I am thoroughly dissatisfied with the manner in which the Government is handling our economic crisis I am for once in full agreement with Batt O’Keeffe. Eamon Gilmore seems to be solidly against every policy the Government has mooted as the budget approaches (as am I). However he hasn’t offered one suggestion as to how we are going to balance the books.

I did, in an earlier post, remark how in my opinion a substantial number of voters among the Irish electorate are morons. I do not take this back. With one of the recent polls putting the Irish Labour Party as high as 35% to prove my point on the low intellectual capacity of some voters.

Your average moronic voter appears to think that Eamon Gilmore will ride in on a white horse like Napoleon at Austerlitz to marshal the forces and turn back the tide of doom. If you are one of this group then please look at the Labour Party website: http://www.labour.ie/policy/

After you have looked at said website, perhaps you might be so good as to sit down and send me an e-mail, as to where on this site the budget deficit is being plugged? I can’t see one thing on the site to adjust our fiscal worries. I can however see quite a few topics that would help to take even more money out of your pockets. Universal Health Insurance would be one; I assure you that plenty of other ways to spend state money exist here as well.

The real fact of the matter is that the Irish Labour Party are a reactionary force as are so many other left wing organisations. They are led by a man who this week tried to cover his communist past by attempting to deny that he ever was a member of Official Sinn Fein.

The old Labour party under Dick Spring may have been somewhat stable in its policies. I may not have agreed with them, but at least I knew where I stood. The current Labour Party which is ran by a bunch of former Democratic Left TD’s (a reverse merger comes to mind!) is the same reactionary force devoid of any real policy that DL was in its heyday.

So to answer my initial question just what would a government led by Eamon Gilmore cut? The answer is NOTHING. They would continue the same old tax and spend policies espoused by the left of old; possibly doubling or tripling the national debt in the process, as they did back during the last  recession from 1982 to 1987. If you are one of those potential voters who has been misled into thinking Labour and Eamon Gilmore will save the day then be afraid, be very afraid.

Latest Red C poll proves my point on cutting public sector budget

The latest Red C poll, the results of which appear in today’s Irish Independent, go a long way towards proving the main points of this blogger. Its’ findings show the level of apathy towards our current politicians and also the willingness of the majority of the electorate to drastically the cut the public sector budget.

The poll found that the majority of the Irish electorate would have more faith in the IMF running our economy than it would in our current crop of politicians. This is not just apathy towards the government but also with our opposition as well.

Who can blame them? We have a new Dáil session where Fine Gale are running around like a pack of truculent school children refusing pairings. Where Eamon Gilmore and Labour have continued their “We will say what people would like to hear” policy, without any explanation of the consequences of their policies (god forbid they would ever be implemented). The only other alternative on the opposition benches to these two are the former terrorists from Sinn Fein touting their neo communist slogans (need I say anymore).

The main finding however of the Red C poll is that the majority of Irish electors and taxpayers want to see the public sector budget cut. They DO NOT want to see tax increases, more tolls on roads, property taxes and any other ideas the government have for bleeding the economy dry implemented.

They DO want to see the waste in our pubic sector being eliminated completely. They DO want to see (and I hope the Government and our Opposition are listening) wholesale cuts in public spending. If as in my opinion the Government made €5b in public spending cuts at the next budget instead of continuing their contemptible love in with Jack O’Connor then we shouldn’t need any further cuts in any forthcoming budgets. In fact we could clear the bill for the bank bailout within 10 years and possibly be in a position next year to give a tax cut to hard pressed workers and SME’s as well.

However will common sense prevail, will the government have the gumption to stand up and be counted. Will they show the courage to tackle the bloated mess that is the Irish Public sector.

Sadly until a new political party espousing these policies is created. A Party who has the will and welfare of the people of Ireland at heart. A party willing to step up to the plate and threaten the existence of the cosy cartel between our current crop in the house and the public sector unions. Until that day I fear that the current quagmire will prevail and that the private sector taxpayer will have to continue to carry an increasing heavy burden to keep Jack O’Connor and his ilk in the lifestyle they are accustomed to.