Rectal Fistitude
So what do I think of the budget?
For a start it was probably the least equitable budget in the history of the state.
Virtually every measure was introduced without any mention of ability to pay. Not one fucking exemption for the lower paid. And without exception just about every cut or tax rise will impact heavily on those least able to pay. The only measure that hits the well-off is a â¬1 hike in the price of a bottle of wine. Big fucking deal.
Children’s allowances cut. A 300% rise in prescription charges. Savage cuts in the Carerâs Allowance. A hike in the Drugs Repayment Scheme. The pint and smokes up, though the one really cheerful aspect of the budget was Tobacco Control having conniptions at a 10c hike in fags â they wanted â¬1. Fuck them. The price of coal hiked to cover fucking Green Taxes. Car tax up. Virtually every measure will hit the hard up very badly, while those at the top of the heap will barely notice any difference.
And then of course there is the Home Tax.
They call it a Property Tax which makes it sound like a card in a game of Monopoly. It implies we all have fantastic property portfolios, but I prefer to call it a Home Tax because thatâs what it is â a tax on the roof over our heads.
It is a tax that is wrong on so many levels.
First and foremost, there is a mere handful of exceptions. First time buyers are exempted and also those who are financially suicidal enough to buy into a ghost estate. Thatâs it.
For those who are in negative equity and paying back a loan of twice the value of their property â no exceptions.
For those who are heavily in arrears because they cannot afford their mortgage â no exceptions.
For those living on a pension in the home that has been in the family for generations â no exceptions.
Well over 10% of all mortgages are in arrears at the moment. In most cases the breadwinner has lost his or her job and the family are struggling on a day to day basis. It is not a case of âcan we afford to go out tonightâ rather a case of âcan we afford to eat tonightâ. These people have now been hit with a cut in Childrenâs Allowance which alone is enough to push them deeper into the poverty trap, but they are not exempted from the Home Tax either. Tough shit. Cough up.
They have made one little concession to us of The Elderly Persuasion â if we genuinely cannot afford to pay the Home Tax, then thatâs OKâ¦.. theyâll collect it off us after we are dead. And that just about sums up the budget â they donât give a fuck whether we are on the point of suicide or already dead â they are going to skin us anyway. The gubmint care about one thing and one thing only â balancing the books so they get a pat on the back from Brussels. It is patently obvious that the people of Ireland are there to be sacrificed on the altar of Fiscal Rectitude.
The German bankers must be laughing.
Not to mention the Man with a Van.
Austerity indeed. The Celtic Tiger long dead. Thing are bucking up out here.
Any spare room over there for an Old Codger,
his Missusand his dog?From what you write it sounds far worse than our "Autumn Statement". I was interested to note that some Greeks are taking the EU elite to the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity and this is being backed up by a German human rites activist. Those of us in Ireland and the UK of a similar mind should perhaps also write to the ICC in support. http://www.ecplanet.com/sites/ecplanet.com/files/englische-Version-Strafanzeige-IStGH2.pdf
That is interesting stuff! Unfortunately, the cynical side of me knows that they will get nowhere. These fuckers really mind their backs.
Another document worth reading is embedded in the above link – the actual Greek charges – very harrowing and damming reading.
Got a basement for yez anytime.
Any chance of a loan for the air fare?
" Rectal Fistitude" ewww. I agree, it's just not right GD! 🙂
I'm sick of these shower of gangsters in charge.. If I hear the baldy cunt on the radio or the telly once more over the weekend.. I will scream. 3.5 billion I think had to be gotten in this budget. I think we've pumped about 64 billion into the delinquent banks so far.. or is it 100 billion.. who the hell knows?
3 billion is about the amount as the anglo promissory note that they pay every year.
Although didn't they come up with some sort of scheme last year where they issued a government bond instead.. and hailed it as a great thing.
I don't get how continued austerity will work for the country, except to lumber generations with repaying debt that isn't theirs.
Although I get the feeling the cunts in charge don't care too much about this country.
I could understand and possibly even tolerate the budget if I thought it was purely to run the country and pay for Irish services. It's the fact that billions are going into a dead bank and to the gamblers that really boils my piss. We are currently borrowing billions from Europe to pay …. Europe, and paying massive interest on that, to…. Europe.
When is this fucking madness going to end???
" We are currently borrowing billions from Europe to pay …. Europe, and paying massive interest on that, to…. Europe. "
And that's the crux of it, it seems to me. I could understand taking money out of circulation, if it was evenly spread and fair.. the more austerity there is, the less money in circulation to pay the increasing debts that can't be paid, with accruing interest that cannot be paid. You don't need to be an expert in the science of economics to get it won't work.
Damn it GD.
Comment 41869 went into spam.. will you fetch it out please?
http://headrambles.com/2012/12/07/rectal-fistitude/#comment-41869
I think I said cunt too much
You cannot say cunt too much on this site. It is reaching the stage where the word is almost mandatory.
I think it went into Spam because of the email address you used, which wasn't the normal one. 😉
Fetch.. hehe.. you;ll get a treat for that. Good boy. 🙂
Fetched.
I wish Penny was as well trained……. 😐
Totally off the topic….There is a vicious rumor over here, in Merika, that William Jefferson Clinton, aka Bubba, will be the next Ambassador to Ireland. Hide your women!
Why would you hide from that hunka burnin' lourve?
Hillary is well used to sharing him at this stage hopefully..
Anne….Sharing the stage and other benefits, as it may seem.
I heard that rumour too. Maybe it will lead to an easing on smoking restrictions? On cigars, anyway?
His missus is over here at the moment and is seemingly quite difficult to get rid of.
GD..Steady as ye go, mate. The 2016 prez race will soon crank up.
Oh it's there..That was quick. Thanks GD!
You deserve a treat for that – I'll leave you alone for a while! 🙂
They live in an alternative reality, GD.
It's like here in Greece; The politicians who are agreeing all the austerity measures with the Troika are unaffected by their decisions. They still have their comfortable villa in leafy Kifissia with the chauffeur-driven Mercedes in the drive. Their kids are still going to the best private schools. They don't want for anything. The mother of ex-PM George Papandreou has been linked to a Swiss bank account containing €550 million. They've all got fingers in pies. None of them could give a flying fuck about what's happening at ground level. It's just numbers and statistics to them.
"Fer fuck's sake keep that gravy-train rolling."
Austerity is for the hoi-polloi. The politicians don't do austerity. (Apart from administering it.)
Watching our crowd I almost get the impression that there is some kind of game going on in Brussels – "let's see who can squeeze the most out of their people" Not one of 'em seems to have the slightest empathy for the people who are suffering. Piano wire really is too good for them.
Yes but …
Read this: http://www.fsponline-recommends.co.uk/page.aspx?u=eob5&tc=EMYKNC48&PromotionID=2147068531&
That is pretty scary stuff and I have been reading predictions along similar lines. The onlky consolation is that that link is advertising a product so I would expect it to be a wee bit slanted.
Time to oil up the old shotgun though?
I suppose this mightnt be the right time to ask if a united Ireland is a top priority down there?
Mwaaaahahahahaha! Good one!
The self-pitying in ireland is disgusting.
"For those who are in negative equity and paying back a loan of twice the value of their property – no exceptions." So what? If the tax was introduced in 06 when everyone felt rich, the story would be:
"For those who are in positive equity and paying back a loan of half the value of their property – no exceptions."
Here's another fact:
"In 2008 welfare was increased, as was the minimum wage. In fact, the basic welfare rate of €188 pw now is slightly higher than in 2007, yet 2007 was the very end of the so called good times."
See: http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=50315&start=0
It's the spoiled me-feiners who are too fkn lazy to do anything about their country who whinge the loudest. Assholes who loved lording over you during the boom.
You have a point… up to a point.
Granted people bought property that technically they couldn't afford, but they did so as the government and the banks were constantly pushing sales. The people who are trapped now are not high flying financiers. They are ordinary people, a lot of whom have since lost their jobs and who in many cases are facing eviction.
I might point out that the minimum wage wasn't touched, nor was the welfare rate.
If these budgetary measures were going towards a better Ireland then I would probably sing a different tune. As it is, they are going in the main to pay off debts that were run up by a criminally irresponsible set of private Irish banks. If complaining about being robbed left right and centre to pay off debts that aren't mine classes me as a whinger, then so be it. I am proud to be a whinger.