A lot of people who read this blog regularly will be dissatisfied with the government’s performance. Many people who come here have shared articles this week about our hospital crisis, our housing crisis and our homeless crisis. Ireland has become a very difficult place to live if you’re sick or poor.
Most people know this.
However the mainstream media has a different opinion and portrays Ireland as a recovering economy with strong leadership, despite evident corruption, garda conspiracies, tax haven policies, and large scale system failings.
This is part five of a response to Daniel McConnell’s (@McConnellDaniel) cabinet review in The Irish Examiner, where he handed Paschal Donohoe his gold star rating of 8/10.
Paschal Donohoe Minister for Finance
Paschal switched posts in June this year from Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to Minister for Finance, but the reality is Paschal has been double jobbing for some time as Michael Noonan’s health has declined in the last few years.
Perhaps that’s why the journalist has put him at the top of the class, describing him as the intellectual powerhouse of the government.
To describe a politician in such terms reminds me of when Charles Haughey boasted of Bertie Ahern; "He's the man. He's the best, the most skilful, the most devious, and the most cunning of them all."
So when the journalist describes a member of this proxy horde as being the intellectual powerhouse I presume he means that he is the kingpin illusionist designing ways to make the rich a whole lot richer and leave the poor scrapping for hospital trolleys and queuing for bedsits.
I’ve written a few times about the promises Fine Gael first made when they came to power but the one thing that saddens me to the core is their platform of burden sharing. Now they have plans to scrap the USC and increase PRSI. No matter how they do this it will benefit the rich more than the poor and the burden will be shifted to the less well off. Paschal will be responsible for this move and we should do everything in our power to prevent it from happening.
The budget in 2017 did very little for the squeezed middle yet TD’s salaries increased by €3,600 from the 1st of January 2018 with the Taoiseach’s salary set to increase by over €21,000 over three years. Again hardly burden sharing yet opposition against this gross opportunism has been little to none.
What I really need to talk about here though is the Kingpin Illusionists greatest feat this year. Paschal has got nothing but praise for his tough talk on the Tracker Mortgage Scandal when he threatened to reveal the names of the Banks involved.
It’s actually ludicrous how he managed to give everyone the idea that he was in charge of the situation. Of course it helps when the main opposition share the same bed as Fine Gael and the media are complicit in the lie.
In reality Paschal has played a hand that shows which side he’s really on, if the Minister actually served the people, represented the people, and fought for the justice we deserve he wouldn’t be threatening to reveal names but actually coming out with a press release to tell the truth about what was going on behind closed doors.
If you can come to terms with how outrageous this finger wagging is, when the Minister should be revealing the names instead of threatening to, then consider his warning that the Government may consider allowing class action suits to be taken in the aftermath of the scandal. Again if the Minister had an ounce of moral value he would be instigating such law suits instead of reaffirming that class actions are illegal and the Banks will compensate as they see fit.
The reality with the Tracker mortgage crisis is that it’s the tail wagging the dog. I’m not suggesting it’s a big conspiracy so much as I’m of the opinion the government are a well paid pr machine for a failed banking system.
The depth of the crisis is unknown but what we do know is that it’s the tip of the iceberg with the Kingpin Illusionist telling us he has it all under control, meanwhile suggestions by the Independent Alliance to freeze the assets of senior banking figures involved in the controversy was met with hostility from Fine Gael who feared this would lead to a run on the banks and crash the economy.
What they really feared though is that it would result in someone involved in the financial crash going to jail and so far this country has been very good at preventing that from happening.
RTE have a lot to answer for in the way they have reported and ‘investigated’ this story. People have been left with no real idea of the depth of the crisis, how it happened, who’s responsible, and what should be done about it.
Leaving the Banks fix it themselves is the same as catching a thief robbing your house and seeing how much money he will hand you back as he leaves.
Paschal is very deserving of an 8/10 if you’re awarding people for helping bankers avoid prison but if you’re going to rate him on representing the people of Ireland how can you rate him at all. For me he’s nothing more than an illusionist or a coward who gets 0/10. If you have any reason to rate him otherwise please leave a comment.
Most people know this.
However the mainstream media has a different opinion and portrays Ireland as a recovering economy with strong leadership, despite evident corruption, garda conspiracies, tax haven policies, and large scale system failings.
This is part five of a response to Daniel McConnell’s (@McConnellDaniel) cabinet review in The Irish Examiner, where he handed Paschal Donohoe his gold star rating of 8/10.
Paschal Donohoe Minister for Finance
Paschal switched posts in June this year from Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to Minister for Finance, but the reality is Paschal has been double jobbing for some time as Michael Noonan’s health has declined in the last few years.
Perhaps that’s why the journalist has put him at the top of the class, describing him as the intellectual powerhouse of the government.
To describe a politician in such terms reminds me of when Charles Haughey boasted of Bertie Ahern; "He's the man. He's the best, the most skilful, the most devious, and the most cunning of them all."
So when the journalist describes a member of this proxy horde as being the intellectual powerhouse I presume he means that he is the kingpin illusionist designing ways to make the rich a whole lot richer and leave the poor scrapping for hospital trolleys and queuing for bedsits.
I’ve written a few times about the promises Fine Gael first made when they came to power but the one thing that saddens me to the core is their platform of burden sharing. Now they have plans to scrap the USC and increase PRSI. No matter how they do this it will benefit the rich more than the poor and the burden will be shifted to the less well off. Paschal will be responsible for this move and we should do everything in our power to prevent it from happening.
The budget in 2017 did very little for the squeezed middle yet TD’s salaries increased by €3,600 from the 1st of January 2018 with the Taoiseach’s salary set to increase by over €21,000 over three years. Again hardly burden sharing yet opposition against this gross opportunism has been little to none.
What I really need to talk about here though is the Kingpin Illusionists greatest feat this year. Paschal has got nothing but praise for his tough talk on the Tracker Mortgage Scandal when he threatened to reveal the names of the Banks involved.
It’s actually ludicrous how he managed to give everyone the idea that he was in charge of the situation. Of course it helps when the main opposition share the same bed as Fine Gael and the media are complicit in the lie.
In reality Paschal has played a hand that shows which side he’s really on, if the Minister actually served the people, represented the people, and fought for the justice we deserve he wouldn’t be threatening to reveal names but actually coming out with a press release to tell the truth about what was going on behind closed doors.
If you can come to terms with how outrageous this finger wagging is, when the Minister should be revealing the names instead of threatening to, then consider his warning that the Government may consider allowing class action suits to be taken in the aftermath of the scandal. Again if the Minister had an ounce of moral value he would be instigating such law suits instead of reaffirming that class actions are illegal and the Banks will compensate as they see fit.
The reality with the Tracker mortgage crisis is that it’s the tail wagging the dog. I’m not suggesting it’s a big conspiracy so much as I’m of the opinion the government are a well paid pr machine for a failed banking system.
The depth of the crisis is unknown but what we do know is that it’s the tip of the iceberg with the Kingpin Illusionist telling us he has it all under control, meanwhile suggestions by the Independent Alliance to freeze the assets of senior banking figures involved in the controversy was met with hostility from Fine Gael who feared this would lead to a run on the banks and crash the economy.
What they really feared though is that it would result in someone involved in the financial crash going to jail and so far this country has been very good at preventing that from happening.
RTE have a lot to answer for in the way they have reported and ‘investigated’ this story. People have been left with no real idea of the depth of the crisis, how it happened, who’s responsible, and what should be done about it.
Leaving the Banks fix it themselves is the same as catching a thief robbing your house and seeing how much money he will hand you back as he leaves.
Paschal is very deserving of an 8/10 if you’re awarding people for helping bankers avoid prison but if you’re going to rate him on representing the people of Ireland how can you rate him at all. For me he’s nothing more than an illusionist or a coward who gets 0/10. If you have any reason to rate him otherwise please leave a comment.
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