Jan 23, 2009

We need a new finance minister. The current one is broken.

Can we please have a new finance minister now? Lenihan seems to have lost the plot. According to him the economy is thriving.

Ireland "has a thriving economy", and it would be wrong to compare the country's economic situation with that of Iceland's, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has said. "The Irish economy has headed into the current recession in a very strong shape. We doubled our workforce in the last 20 years and we have very low public debt, but like economies throughout the world we're under a severe challenge . . . and we have to take firm decisions as a Government to control our fiscal position," he said.


Oh well that's grand so. I'll just run out and tell the car sales people that a 68% decline in sales compared to last year in normal in a thriving economy. Economists saying that house prices may fall up to 80% demonstrates a thriving economy! Businesses closing down and tens of thousands of new dwellings unsold really convince me Brian that we have a thriving economy!

Yanno it takes more than bailing out the property developers / FF contributors and nationalising a bank to shore up the economy. I think a logical thinking person might in fact believe that nationalising a bank and taking on its debt, so certain favoured citizens get to walk away from their criminal decisions, is a clear sign that the economy is not thriving.

As for the very low public debt, we owe the same amount of money as we did in the 80s. The different is that now it's private debt which ballooned up because of 120% mortgages, people getting mortgages they can't afford and bloody property developers sucking the lifeblood and cultural heritage from the country's bones. Nothing was sacred. People are defaulting on their loans and being evicted and you, you who bailed out those vampires, have the temerity to claim that the economy is thriving. It's a load of baldfaced lies and a slap in the face to the public.

We can all look to the US and cluck our tongues at the bailout there as socialism for the rich but you Brian, have made it a reality in Ireland too. Citizens are losing their homes and you bailout wealthy property developers and have the citizen foot the bill. I wonder if criminal charges could be brought

"There's been an alarming growth in our public borrowing this year, and the Government is determined to check that and take whatever corrective decisions are required.


Am I the only one who sees the cognitive dissonance here? The government is the entity that borrows money. Therefore dear Brian, you have to curb your own spending and the spending of your party. Perhaps you think it sounds tough to speak out against public borrowing but you are the person who borrowed - you and Cowen! Do you think the citizens of Ireland are fools or do you just not care?

In a wide-ranging interview on the state of the country's economy, Mr Lenihan rejected suggestions that Fianna Fáil's policies were to blame for the crisis.


Ok Brian then what is to blame for the crisis? You don't get to blame the Americans either. Fianna Fail [sic] have been in power since 1997. Creevy, Cowen and yourself have (mis)managed the country's finances. Take responsibility for the actions and inactions of your party and government. Don't try and brazen it out. Fianna Fail [sic] has been robbing this country for decades. The least you can do is take responsibility. Otherwise how can the people of Ireland have any confidence in your blundering in the future.

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