So the Governor of the Central Bank ( who he ? , or better still , where WAS he for the past 10 years ? ) , anyway whoever he is or wherever he was during the obscene housing boom , in his WISDOM , he appears to have come to the conclusion that the best way to rescue his greedy banker mates is to make sure that EVERYONE pays for his ineptitude and his pals greed by insisting that each home now stumps up € 1000 per annum irrespective of size of dwelling (apparently NOT including second or HOLIDAY homes , as these have already been levied at the magnificent sum of € 200 per annum in the so-called budget .)
This man , who played Stan Laurel to the Financial REGULATOR'S , Oliver Hardy , for the enjoyment of those who were driving ''a coach and four '' through every piece of financial and moral code imaginable , giving us , the fools ( you don't mind being called a 'fool' now do you ) , the impression that all was in order , the 'fundamentals ' were strong and occasionally , for show , tut .tut. tutting . at some minor infringement of the 'rules' by the greedy ones .
Notice how Nationalism and Moral Codes are suddenly back on the agenda .'' We are all in this together '' is the new mantra , '' we all must feel the pain '' is the cry , I have already paid my 'levy' on my pension , which , incidentally ,decreased in real value over the past 10 years because our society had become 'a high value ' society and people of low worth were not welcomed . I wonder will the pension of our high ranking civil servants , such as the Regulator , or the Chief of the Central Bank ,be eroded by abnormal inflation .......???? So I have already paid twice over and many , many , people are even worse off.......but our high ranking politicians and our permanent Government of over-paid ''Sir Humphries'' will be OK
GOD BLESS IRELAND , SAY the HEROES.....
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
2009 , some heartbreak and a new civil service
Christmas came and went , 2009 crept in with less fanfare than I can remember in 68 years , some wonderful news from most sides and some heartbreak . Not many people talking about plans for a new exciting year , they seem to be thinking ''if only we can survive 2009 , 2010 simply HAS to be better ''....Some of those in power still in denial as far as national and international financial/banking crisis is concerned . Many of those who were responsible for our national housing /borrowing disaster , people who were warned again and again about the almost certain outcome of greedy building boom , escalating house prices and the ballooning credit are wringing their hands and pretending that THEY had no responsibility in what happened .
Having literally sold our country in a desperate effort to bail out their greedy idiot friends and cover up for their own blatant incompetance at all levels ,our so-called 'leaders ' are NOW talking about PATRIOTISM .
We never seem to learn from history . It is said that just before the Wall St. crash of thirties , some of the more shrewd investors who got their money out in time ( among them JFK's father , old Joe Kennedy ) , explained afterwards that ''when newspaper boys and domestic servants start buying shares thats the time for the shrewd ones to start selling...''
In Ireland when almost EVERYONE seemed to be buying houses, not just as a 'roof over their heads ' , but buying as many as they could 'afford' , some people two or three overpriced properties . Interest rates were low , because we were linked to European interest rates , bankers were more than willing to be 'flexible' on their means- testing for potential borrowers and , of course , because of the demand lunacy , encouraged by an irresponsible Government , the paper -value of these properties was increasing by the day .
No , it was not caused by the young people who were caught up in the frenzy of property speculation , who believed and trusted a ' dogy' administration not to lead them over the cliff , like sheep or lemmings , these are the people most exposed now , this housing and banking crises in Ireland is the responsibility of our current and immediatly previous administration , solely .
Unfortunetly we , as tax payers , we , and those who come after us , must carry the burden of sorting out this mess , the politicians and higher civil servants , who created it , are too deeply involved in trying to escape blame that they now suffer from terminal inertia .
But this can also be a challange . There must be a middle rank of intelligent ,well qualified civil servants capable of pushing aside the ossified ''Sir Humphries '' of the 'permanent government'. These middle rank would know how the system should work , be truly dedicated professional public servants , and be simply itching to turn the country around .Salary , the size of their office , personal prestige , having their names in Irish , and confusing incompetant government ministers , would not be their priority , just getting the job done . It is time now for that group , and I am convinced they exist , to come to the fore , they could be the heroes of the future....
Having literally sold our country in a desperate effort to bail out their greedy idiot friends and cover up for their own blatant incompetance at all levels ,our so-called 'leaders ' are NOW talking about PATRIOTISM .
We never seem to learn from history . It is said that just before the Wall St. crash of thirties , some of the more shrewd investors who got their money out in time ( among them JFK's father , old Joe Kennedy ) , explained afterwards that ''when newspaper boys and domestic servants start buying shares thats the time for the shrewd ones to start selling...''
In Ireland when almost EVERYONE seemed to be buying houses, not just as a 'roof over their heads ' , but buying as many as they could 'afford' , some people two or three overpriced properties . Interest rates were low , because we were linked to European interest rates , bankers were more than willing to be 'flexible' on their means- testing for potential borrowers and , of course , because of the demand lunacy , encouraged by an irresponsible Government , the paper -value of these properties was increasing by the day .
No , it was not caused by the young people who were caught up in the frenzy of property speculation , who believed and trusted a ' dogy' administration not to lead them over the cliff , like sheep or lemmings , these are the people most exposed now , this housing and banking crises in Ireland is the responsibility of our current and immediatly previous administration , solely .
Unfortunetly we , as tax payers , we , and those who come after us , must carry the burden of sorting out this mess , the politicians and higher civil servants , who created it , are too deeply involved in trying to escape blame that they now suffer from terminal inertia .
But this can also be a challange . There must be a middle rank of intelligent ,well qualified civil servants capable of pushing aside the ossified ''Sir Humphries '' of the 'permanent government'. These middle rank would know how the system should work , be truly dedicated professional public servants , and be simply itching to turn the country around .Salary , the size of their office , personal prestige , having their names in Irish , and confusing incompetant government ministers , would not be their priority , just getting the job done . It is time now for that group , and I am convinced they exist , to come to the fore , they could be the heroes of the future....
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