Labour the most popular party

BluntGuy wrote: »

Yeaaaaaaaaaah, kinda hypocritical for you to accuse others of making "throwout" comments after this.



Or maybe it's because when Bruton and Burton discuss finance they (generally) make clear, coherent points as opposed Lenihan's consistent rhetoric about "no alternatives" and "tough decisions" along with his assortment of pseudo-intelligent economic catchphrases.



Lenihan has called it wrong every single time though. First he told us NAMA would make a profit, then he told us it break even, then he told us he couldn't impose a levy as it would compromise the NAMA bill, then he magically u-turned and said a levy would be imposed, the numbers required to bailout Anglo has just been a lucky dip farce from week to week (I understand this can't all be attributed to him, but as minister he must take ultimate responsibility), he cuts public sector pay but does nothing about making excess staff redundant, instead we get a vague, waffley Croke Park "deal" which benefits absolutely nobody and a recruitment embargo which is damaging vital services instead of tackling waste, he lost us millions by increasing VAT back in 2008, the bank garuntee (again, not all his fault, but he's at the helm of the finance department) etc. He is utterly talentless when it comes economic management. The only talent he seems to possess is giving the illusion he knows what he's on about, which our lazy media (particularly RTE) then lap up, when the disastrous decisions he's taken thus far have proven otherwise.

That said, Lenihan is probably one of the best in the current batch of ministers, which only serves to prove how atrocious the current cabinet truly is.



I have more confidence in Kenny than Brian Cowen. He might have the TV personality of a cardboard box, but unlike Cowen he didn't oversee the destruction of our nation's economy. What we desperately need is a Finance Minister, a Cabinet, with some actual talent. Both FG and Labour have frontbenchers who far outclass the current FF shower.

OK . .. Will labor support or revers the croke park agreement ? Where will they make the cuts required ? How many things are they sitting on the fence at the moment ? That is why our country WILL collapse. If we have a government that procrastinates over everything and trys to please everybody. Say what you want about FF but in the last year they have made tough decisions, rightly or wrongly. Labor arent even in power and they cannot decide where they stand . . That isnt even a throwout comment, its common sense. I was on the frontline a couple of weeks ago and howlin was there saying how labor have already earmarked the cuts that are required. . When pushed he couldnt actually elaborate on where those cuts actually were, he had some document which he reffered to and when Kenny pushed him, he opened it and made broad stroke comments like "300million in education" or something like that but he couldnt actually say how he would make the savings (in truth everybody agreed he talked himself into trouble!). . Labor are all style and no substance. . Exactly what Bertie Led FF were and look at where we are now . . Voting in a party with NO PLAN is not only not learning from your mistakes, its consigning yourself to even more hardship.

Your comments on Lenihan are way off and sound like opposition waffle with little substance. In truth it reflects how little you understand regarding the running of a country. I wont pretend to have all the knowledge in the world but since he has been the minister for finance he has had to deal with more then ANY otherr finance minister in the history of the state. Not only that, he has been putting out fires for the guts of 2 years and if you do your homework its easy to see how some mistakes were made and why certain things that were said have turned out to be incorrect. The banks lied to us all . Were FG or Lab in power, they would of been lied to aswell, there would be little they could do . . Lets not also forget that the opposition parties voted for the bank guarantee .

Lenihan called it wrong everytime eh ? Why are we regarded highly abroad in relation to how we have tried to dig ourselves out of this collapse ? You see, the irish media know little, if not nothing with regards to how the Irish Economy performs as its usually badly educated journalism that educates the masses. If you want to know how good or bad Ireland is really doing you need only look at foreign press/journalism as they can take a more impartial view (instead of populist government/bank bashing).

How do you feel about your precious other ministers (bruton and Burton) who were demanding more spending during the boom years ? Or is it just that they didnt get a chance to dig us into a deeper hole, something that we should gloss over ? Please do enlighten me how these "superior" financial experts were so wrong . .

Then you say you have more confidence in Kenny because . . Hes not Cowan . . Thanks for that, sort of confirms my whole argument (that you are one of thousands of people who just want a change for the SAKE of change). . I want a change aswell, but believe that by assuming (which is exactly what you do, little evidence to back up your random talk up of opposition party) that the other crowd will be better, simply because they arent the current one ! ! !

Its hip to say "Feck FF" and "they are useless", its not popular to say that they have screwed us, but have done a decent job since the whole economy collapsed. In truth that is exactly what they have done and the comments of the opposition party have left me doubting them even further. Instead of showing leadership (which is what we need), we get a guy who can rant about FF brilliantly but has no substance or clearly laid out plan on what he will do in office, and a lame fish who's partys popularity has just about remained the same even though the countrys biggest party has collapsed . . You can have your "this is as good as it gets" partys . .