People's Position Paper for Ireland

dublinjoe

In response to the IMF's "position paper" for Ireland which fails to punish those responsible for this financial mess and essentially extends a middle finger at the poor, I present a People's Position Paper for Ireland:

1) Raise the corporate tax; this will help sort out which companies were just going to screw us later when enough eastern Europeans learn English and those who believe in Ireland

2) Introduce a temporary 94% income tax for all income above €1,000,000 until the bailout is paid off

3) €50,000 departure tax for all private jets from any airport (get Northern Irish government to agree)

4) Equal parental leave laws for fathers will enable women to re-enter workforce

5) Convert all consumer banking to credit unions

6) Develop cooperative projects with Spanish and British counterparts

7) Rip up the Shell contract and use revenue towards bailout repayment

8) Convert 300,000 properties into public housing cooperatives and worker cooperative facilities; liberalize squatting laws

9) Build non-profit island-wide wifi/VOIP network to lower communication costs for small business and eliminate communication costs for students; existing telecoms can focus on corporate business services; employees will be brought into new network

10) Massive public works project to upgrade and build new rail lines, borrowed against future petrol/diesel savings and carbon credits by not having so many trucks on the road

11) Expand County Clare wind cooperative project to all counties with enough wind potential and eliminate their fossil fuel emissions

12) Place social responsibility tariff on all imported goods to promote local, union production

13) Remove higher-level registration fee for all students below income threshold

14) Nationalize all private hospitals and offer equal care to all citizens (which would include firing Mary Harney)

15) Merge all cross-border telecommunications and set-up local cross-border currency that operates outside of Euro & Pound

16) Revoke citizenship for any rich Irish person (or rock superband) who moved their taxes off-shore unless they move back

17) Develop versions of Peace Corps, Americorps, Civilian Conversation Corps for social welfare recipients

18) Tax and legalize marijuana for non-profit cooperative production for personal and medical use; will reduce prison and policing costs and raise revenue

19) What would you add?

DrumSteve

dublinjoe wrote: »

In response to the IMF's "position paper" for Ireland which fails to punish those responsible for this financial mess and essentially extends a middle finger at the poor, I present a People's Position Paper for Ireland:

1) Raise the corporate tax; this will help sort out which companies were just going to screw us later when enough eastern Europeans learn English and those who believe in Ireland

yes so lets get rid of them now while they still employ people here. this makes no sense at all. its one of the few attractive options for businesses to come here.

2) Introduce a temporary 94% income tax for all income above €1,000,000 until the bailout is paid off

unworkable... you think millionaires became millionaires by submitting to this type of taxation. they'll move their money out of the country in a flash.

3) €50,000 departure tax for all private jets from any airport (get Northern Irish government to agree)

This wouldn't raise that much and would be eaten up by administration costs.

4) Equal parental leave laws for fathers will enable women to re-enter workforce

Agreed.

5) Convert all consumer banking to credit unions

The equally screwed credit unions...? I doubt it.

6) Develop cooperative projects with Spanish and British counterparts

Such as? examples...

7) Rip up the Shell contract and use revenue towards bailout repayment

Okay Hugo calm down... it doesnt work like that. contracts can't just be ripped up no one would do business with us.

8) Convert 300,000 properties into public housing cooperatives and worker cooperative facilities; liberalize squatting laws

How much do you reckon this would cost? this would demolish the rent market also.

9) Build non-profit island-wide wifi/VOIP network to lower communication costs for small business and eliminate communication costs for students; existing telecoms can focus on corporate business services; employees will be brought into new network

Cost?

10) Massive public works project to upgrade and build new rail lines, borrowed against future petrol/diesel savings and carbon credits by not having so many trucks on the road

You think Carbon Credits will cover the cost of this? think billions not millions.

11) Expand County Clare wind cooperative project to all counties with enough wind potential and eliminate their fossil fuel emissions

Providing this can be done efficiently then no problem there (unless you want to see windmills everywhere)

12) Place social responsibility tariff on all imported goods to promote local, union production

Social Responsibilty Tariff? Whats this?

13) Remove higher-level registration fee for all students below income threshold

the grants system is already in place.

14) Nationalize all private hospitals and offer equal care to all citizens (which would include firing Mary Harney)

This is already in place too and we can see how that is working out.

15) Merge all cross-border telecommunications and set-up local cross-border currency that operates outside of Euro & Pound

Again Costs involved? and another currency?

16) Revoke citizenship for any rich Irish person (or rock superband) who moved their taxes off-shore unless they move back

Thinly veiled referrences to U2 aside I don't agree with revoking someone's citizenship due to this. I would personally love not to hive the idiots running this country any of my money.

17) Develop versions of Peace Corps, Americorps, Civilian Conversation Corps for social welfare recipients

Again costs?

18) Tax and legalize marijuana for non-profit cooperative production for personal and medical use; will reduce prison and policing costs and raise revenue

I agree with this point.

19) What would you add?

The country is ****ed.

luckylucky

Liberalize casino laws and establish a gambling mecca. In the US you have Las Vegas, in Asia you got Macao, nothing in Europe comes even close to these two gambling meccas, there is massive scope in Europe for a major gambling mecca destination and it's going to happen somewhere in Europe in the near future anyway - might as well be Ireland. Not very palatable thought for some I realise but it would be potentially a multi-billion euro revenue industry, exactly the sort of revenues needed to get the country out of the hole.

Cookie_Monster

1) companies will simply leave

2) 94% of nothing is worse than what little we get from them currently, people will simply leave or move money elsewhere to avoid this

3) not really workable and one more reason for the rich and businesss to leave

4) this is a good idea but probably will not have that effect short term

5) why?

6) to what end?

7) and get sued and scare all major business away as contract shown not to be honoured

8) why?

9) where does the money for this come from?

10) rail transport in ireland does not work, distances are not big enough and industry type are not suitable in general

11) yes

12) not allowed under EU trade rules

13) in place already

14) definitly

15) another currency, why?

16) violation of human rights I'd imagine

17) sounds hugley expensive and not very beneficial

18) no

dublinjoe

We the People of Ireland, in response to the IMF's "position paper" for Ireland which fails to punish those responsible for this financial mess and essentially extends a middle finger at the poor, present the People's Position Paper for Ireland:

1) Raise the corporate tax; this will help sort out which companies were just going to screw us later when enough eastern Europeans learn English and those who believe in Ireland; it's time for Ireland to stop acting like a global corporate whore and realise the real value of its workforce

2) Introduce a "maximum wage" of €500,000. All income, bonuses and pension payments above that amount will be temporarily taxed at 94% until the bailout is paid off; for those who leave to dodge this tax, they will not be allowed re-entry into the country and their citizenship will be revoked until the bailout is paid off

3) €50,000 departure tax for all private jets from any airport (in concert with the Northern Irish government)

4) Equal parental leave laws for fathers will enable women to re-enter workforce

5) Convert all consumer banking to credit unions by upscaling the CU industry and barring any financial speculators from taking out loans

6) Develop cooperative projects with Spanish and British counterparts like Mondragon and The Cooperative; by removing the for-profit requirement of new ventures, you don't have to cut wages or pensions

7) Rip up the Shell contract and use revenue towards bailout repayment; this will send a message to multinational corporations who seek to plunder our resources: Ireland is not for sale

8) Convert 300,000 properties into public housing cooperatives and worker cooperative facilities; liberalize squatting laws

9) Recognize internet access as a basic fundamental right by nationalizing the existing communications network and set-up a non-profit island-wide wifi/VOIP network; this will spur job creation by lowering communication costs for small business and reduce household budgets by eliminating communication costs for individuals; telecom employees will be brought into new network

10) Upgrade and build new rail lines, borrowed against future petrol/diesel savings, increased carbon tax and carbon credits by not having so many trucks on the road

11) Expand County Clare wind cooperative project to all counties with enough wind potential and eliminate their fossil fuel emissions

12) Place tariff on all imported goods not produced in a socially-responsible way to promote local, union production; this will protect Ireland's competitiveness from goods produced in low-wage countries under poor working conditions

13) Raise income threshold for higher-education grants for middle-income families who can't afford the registration fees

14) Remove the current three-tier health care system by nationalising all private hospitals and offering equal care to all citizens (which would include firing Mary Harney)

15) Set-up local cross-border currency that operates outside of Euro & Pound and places a better value on local work, goods and services

16) Revoke citizenship for any rich Irish person (or rock superband) who moved their taxes off-shore unless they move back

17) Develop programs like the Peace Corps, Americorps, Civilian Conversation Corps for social welfare recipients; upgrade national parks, build cycle paths and take care of those in need

18) Tax and legalize marijuana for non-profit cooperative production for personal and medical use; will reduce prison and policing costs and raise revenue

19) What would you add?

dublinjoe

DrumSteve wrote: »

yes so lets get rid of them now while they still employ people here. this makes no sense at all. its one of the few attractive options for businesses to come here.

The low corporate tax only attracts the worst in global multinational corporations - and even then they will leave as soon as they find a better deal somewhere else. This is a dysfunctional relationship and it is MORALLY offensive that poor people in this country pay more tax than corporations. The fact is that Ireland has one of the best-educated, English-speaking workforces in the world. We are interconnected via transportation and communications to the rest of the world and we're a lovely place to live. We also have 300,000 vacant houses if a company want to provide housing for their employees and/or executives. Those who believe Ireland is incapable of attracting jobs without a low corporate tax are unpatriotic and do not truly believe in the potential of this country.

unworkable... you think millionaires became millionaires by submitting to this type of taxation. they'll move their money out of the country in a flash.

Let them leave. They are the ones who speculated this country into the position we are in today. Besides, do you really think some of them would go if they knew they couldn't come back?

This wouldn't raise that much and would be eaten up by administration costs.
It would be rolled into the existing airport revenue service. While it would raise some revenue, it is largely symbolic. But then again, so is the IMF's call to lower the minimum wage.

The equally screwed credit unions...? I doubt it.
Let's be clear: the credit unions are screwed because they got subsumed by the banking crisis. By upscaling the industry, we can avoid financial speculators. Additionally, the motivation for those working in a credit union is solvency and community development - not profits. This creates an entirely different approach to how we grow our money: slow, steady, and sustainable.

Such as? examples...
Mondragon http://goo.gl/f4QZ & the Cooperative http://goo.gl/oITdE

Okay Hugo calm down... it doesnt work like that. contracts can't just be ripped up no one would do business with us.

Oh but it can work like that. And responsible companies would still want to do business with us because they will understand the difference. Nationalising key industries pre-dates Hugo Chavez.. and was quite common in Europe before the neo-liberals came along to gobble up all the public wealth for their private gain.

How much do you reckon this would cost? this would demolish the rent market also.
This wouldn't cost anything. Many of these properties are owned by the banks/government, so it would be free to flip them. Any rehab or ongoing costs would be offset by the huge savings in monthly rent. Also I have no problem demolishing the rent market. Landlords and tenants is an age-old concept dating back to the days of serfdom. It's time to radically re-think the concept of homeownership and housing so we begin to treat it as a most critical and basic human need, not a financial investment.

Cost?
Offset by business customers

You think Carbon Credits will cover the cost of this? think billions not millions.
No, I think the combination of carbon credits, an increased carbon tax and the savings in future oil/petrol costs will pay for this.. easily.


Providing this can be done efficiently then no problem there (unless you want to see windmills everywhere)
I'll tradeoff visual aesthetics for cleaner air and cheaper, renewable energy. And yes, this can be done efficiently if we remove the need for profit from the equation.


Social Responsibilty Tariff? Whats this?
This will protect Ireland's competitiveness by putting a tariff on all imported goods produced in low-wage countries under poor working conditions


the grants system is already in place.
This would be an expansion to middle-class families who are increasingly pinched by the registration fees


This is already in place too and we can see how that is working out.
This is not in place. Right now, if someone who has basic private insurance needs an operation, they must pay thousands of euros to go to a top-tier private hospital instead of waiting for weeks/months for a public hospital opening. Mary Harney achieved her dream of modeling our health care system on the U.S. Unfortunately for the rest of us, it's a nightmare... and now we have a three-tier system for rich people, poor people and the rest of us.


Again Costs involved? and another currency?
This would save money by removing some of the losses incurred through currency speculation by placing real value on some local work, goods and services. The currency would be managed at the local level. Check out what some communities are doing: http://goo.gl/LjM5z http://goo.gl/i2j4

Thinly veiled referrences to U2 aside I don't agree with revoking someone's citizenship due to this. I would personally love not to hive the idiots running this country any of my money.

We must come up with a drastic response to tax cheats. If you don't like the idiots, then vote them out. When listening to the debate about this crisis, it's almost as if everyone forgets that FF was democratically elected in 2007.

Again costs?
This would be funded by the existing social welfare payments - and the financial benefits from the resulting infrastructure would be huge. We would also be able to establish new relationships in developing countries and expand into that market.

The country is ****ed.

That's what I'm trying to avoid... we must keep the hopey changey spirit alive!

wylo

OP are you trying to kill our country altogether, nearly everything on that list would do tremendous damage to our country.

whysomoody

People tend to forget that the rich multi-millionaire business men and women also tend to hire and employ quite a number of people and chasing them out of the country also costs jobs!

Ray Burkes Pension

dublinjoe wrote: »

In response to the IMF's "position paper" for Ireland which fails to punish those responsible for this financial mess and essentially extends a middle finger at the poor, I present a People's Position Paper for Ireland:

Its the height of arrogance to think that your views represent the people of Ireland in any way shape or form. What you actually present is dublinjoe's Position Paper for Ireland.

Fat_Fingers

... it sort of sounds like some kind of dictatorship manifesto.
Joe? And from Dublin?
Hey, Joe you funny guy!!

Everyone please put the hands together and welcome to the board Mr. Joe Higgins