Whay issues are you going to raise with those canvassing in the election?

Boom__Boom

So besides the BIG ISSUE of the economy are there any other issues you are going to raise with those canvassing?

In order that I don't forget anything, I'm off to put together a list of various gripes, groans, and suggestions that I'll be keeping by the door for any canvassers.

irishh_bob

the lack of effort in clearing the roads during this arctic spell :mad:

PeterTwo

I'm canvassing in the next election, this could help me!

ShooterSF

Outside of the economy,

Blasphemy Law referendum,
Religious indoctrination in schools
Later pub hours (preferably 24 hour licensing)
Drug legalisation (I don't touch the stuff but others do)
Legalisation and regulation of prostitution
Legalisation of euthanasia
Removal of religion from public hospitals
Getting rid of the seanad
A political list system
Reduction in size of the Dail
Non EU immigration laws

---

That should keep'em busy

yoshytoshy

We need nuclear power ,give us some real economic power. "Will you help me please ?"

DB10

Lowering the cost of cider from ridiculous levels.

Otherwise I know who I'm voting for.

cyclopath2001

Decentralisation -
The plan to move thoiusands of jobs out of Dublin and make people live in the ghost estates.

scr123

Dont want to burst your bubble folk but have you thought of what us FF canvassers are going to ask you ? Do you really believe its going to be one way slagging ?

mikemac

I ask the same question to everyone, doesn't matter what their party is

I don't realy understand your point scr123

Cookie_Monster

if I bother answering the door my only question will be why do you only care enough to come around and listen to me when you want a vote and never at any other time ever. Oh actually, may also ask why they lied so much the last time, promising x, y and z and never delivered any of it.

Cavehill Red

Only one question matters: will you renege on the bank guarantee and burn the bondholders of the banks or not?
Answer yes = vote.
Answer no = risk of physical assault.

GrahamThomas

irishh_bob wrote: »

the lack of effort in clearing the roads during this arctic spell :mad:

That's an issue for local authorities, not one for TD's/candidates for the Dail.

Liam Byrne

scr123 wrote: »

Dont want to burst your bubble folk but have you thought of what us FF canvassers are going to ask you ? Do you really believe its going to be one way slagging ?

Care to expand on that ? Because I'll gladly give you your answers on here and save you wasting your time polluting my doorstep.

So fire away.....what questions are you going to ask me ?

Liam Byrne

Questions from me to canvassers :

1) Will you sign this form to say that you won't go into government with FF ?
2) Will you stop the bank guarantee and start reclaiming our cash from the corrupt banks ?
3) Will you and your party stop claiming unwarranted and unvouched "expenses" ?
4) Will you and your party guarantee that someone working can earn enough to survive without being hammered by fat-cats ?
5) Will you and your party support a maximum wage (including expenses and bonuses and every other loophole) of €150,000 for all public service, state and semi-state employees - including bank staff
6) Will you and your party ensure that any additional stealth taxes like septic tank inspections are self-financing on a true polluter pays principle ?
7) Will you and your party ensure that licenced operators such as waste collection services, electricity providers and phone operators return their prices to 2002 levels or lower, since that appears to be the benchmark for the pre-boom wages and taxes ?
8) Will you and your party be 100% honest in your dealings with the public and not hide behind waffle, spin and PR ?
9) Will you and your party do away with all unelected spin-doctors, PR consultants, committees, quangos and hangers-on ?
10) Will you and your party support enterprise by changing the rules whereby those who set up their own businesses run the risk of zero state support if that business doesn't work out ?
11) Will you vote with your conscience to represent the good of the country, even if it's against the party whip ?
12) Will you ensure that anti-social behaviour and crime are dealt with in a zero-tolerance manner, INCLUDING behaviour by bankers, politicians and business-heads ?
13) Will you ensure that the Mahon Tribunal results are published in a reasonable timescale (say, 6 months) ?
14) Will you ensure that the Freedom of Information Act returns to its original format - unedited, unabridged and with a nominal administration fee of under €50 ?
15) Will you ensure that absolutely no meetings occur with lobby groups or vested interests that are undocumented - such as the disastrous September 2008 bank meeting - and have full recorded minutes of every discussion that affects this country ?
16) Will you support and implement a system whereby TDs - and even Governments - can be fired immediately if they do not reach specific targets that they promise in their manifesto without clear and straightforward good reasons ?
17) Will you vote against all forms of corruption, even if it affects your career or your party ?
18) Will you vote and campaign for the good of the country, and not just for your constituency, party or self ?

droidus

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Care to expand on that ? Because I'll gladly give you your answers on here and save you wasting your time polluting my doorstep.

So fire away.....what questions are you going to ask me ?

Can you ever forgive us?

Probably the only question that will prevent me from committing some kind of assault...

FF canvassers, I advise you all to travel in packs, there's a lot of very angry people out there itching to take it out on those responsible for their misery, and youre going to be knocking on their doors.

JohnnyC1

scr123 wrote: »

Dont want to burst your bubble folk but have you thought of what us FF canvassers are going to ask you ? Do you really believe its going to be one way slagging ?

So what your saying is, your going to call round to peoples houses and ask them to vote for ff. And if there questions are considered derogatory your going to slag them off sounds reasonable. Just out of curiosity could you give us a sample question you will ask a member of the public that disagrees with you.

steelcityblues

To anyone from FF/FG/LAB - 'Why did you unconditionally support bank bailouts, and tell me how they wil better the economy in the long run?"

'How important is Irish sovereignity to you, and are you an Irishman first, European second?'

To Lucinda Creighton - 'Why would you not to take a clear position on the Budget?'

To SFer - 'Would the wealth tax sort out high level corruption in the long run?'

To everyone - 'Why are there so many dynasty politicians in a supposed democracy?'

To the Greens - 'Do you want to take some veggies with ya?'

Andrew42

GrahamThomas wrote: »

That's an issue for local authorities, not one for TD's/candidates for the Dail.

Ah, the good ole "not in my remit" answer that they've used and abused for the last 15yrs.

thebigcheese22

steelcityblues wrote: »

To anyone from FF/FG/LAB - 'Why did you unconditionally support bank bailouts, and tell me how they wil better the economy in the long run?"

'How important is Irish sovereignity to you, and are you an Irishman first, European second?'

To Lucinda Creighton - 'Why would you not to take a clear position on the Budget?'

To SFer - 'Would the wealth tax sort out high level corruption in the long run?'

To everyone - 'Why are there so many dynasty politicians in a supposed democracy?'

To the Greens - 'Do you want to take some veggies with ya?'

Actually, Labour were the only party that voted against the banking guarantee that has put the banks' private debt onto the public debt of this country. For all their pompous talk recently, Sinn Fein voted in favour of the guarantee.

common sense brigade

Crime ,tougher sentences need to be imposed. Im still reeling from a Roma Gypsy Mother who murdered her 3 year old daughter for wetting the bed. She got 3 years during this year. Absolutely disgraceful.

Boom__Boom

scr123 wrote: »

Dont want to burst your bubble folk but have you thought of what us FF canvassers are going to ask you ? Do you really believe its going to be one way slagging ?

Are you really suggesting that Fianna Fail canvassers who are asking for my vote will be slagging me off?

I intend to be civil and engage with whoever calls to my door, because canvassing seems to be a miserable job at the best of times, but if anyone engages in any sort of bull**** evasion it won't take long to raise my hackles.

Besides this some very good stuff being mentioned that I know I would have forgotten. Still working on what I'll be raising and trying to decide my order of priority as well - some small stuff that is in a sense "local" but needs new laws e.g. laws on begging in Dublin city centre

ShooterSF

Andrew42 wrote: »

Ah, the good ole "not in my remit" answer that they've used and abused for the last 15yrs.

One of the biggest problems this country has is national politicians being chosen on local issues.

CokaColumbo

I'd ask Labour why they are blasting FF for hindering job creation when they want to take more money out of the private sector than any of the other main political parties. There is an inverse relationship between taxes and jobs but nobody in the media seems to be calling the pinkos out on that one.

thirtythirty

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Questions from me to canvassers :

1) Will you sign this form to say that you won't go into government with FF ?
2) Will you stop the bank guarantee and start reclaiming our cash from the corrupt banks ?
3) Will you and your party stop claiming unwarranted and unvouched "expenses" ?
4) Will you and your party guarantee that someone working can earn enough to survive without being hammered by fat-cats ?
5) Will you and your party support a maximum wage (including expenses and bonuses and every other loophole) of €150,000 for all public service, state and semi-state employees - including bank staff
6) Will you and your party ensure that any additional stealth taxes like septic tank inspections are self-financing on a true polluter pays principle ?
7) Will you and your party ensure that licenced operators such as waste collection services, electricity providers and phone operators return their prices to 2002 levels or lower, since that appears to be the benchmark for the pre-boom wages and taxes ?
8) Will you and your party be 100% honest in your dealings with the public and not hide behind waffle, spin and PR ?
9) Will you and your party do away with all unelected spin-doctors, PR consultants, committees, quangos and hangers-on ?
10) Will you and your party support enterprise by changing the rules whereby those who set up their own businesses run the risk of zero state support if that business doesn't work out ?
11) Will you vote with your conscience to represent the good of the country, even if it's against the party whip ?
12) Will you ensure that anti-social behaviour and crime are dealt with in a zero-tolerance manner, INCLUDING behaviour by bankers, politicians and business-heads ?
13) Will you ensure that the Mahon Tribunal results are published in a reasonable timescale (say, 6 months) ?
14) Will you ensure that the Freedom of Information Act returns to its original format - unedited, unabridged and with a nominal administration fee of under €50 ?
15) Will you ensure that absolutely no meetings occur with lobby groups or vested interests that are undocumented - such as the disastrous September 2008 bank meeting - and have full recorded minutes of every discussion that affects this country ?
16) Will you support and implement a system whereby TDs - and even Governments - can be fired immediately if they do not reach specific targets that they promise in their manifesto without clear and straightforward good reasons ?
17) Will you vote against all forms of corruption, even if it affects your career or your party ?
18) Will you vote and campaign for the good of the country, and not just for your constituency, party or self ?

One flaw. Never ask a closed question.

You could ask every single one of those Q's and the person would just have to say 1 simple answer for them: "yes". You've already pitched the questions in a format indicating your position on the matters, so naturally they'll answer to please you. You could actually ask all those questions and still have no real insight into them.

Re-write all them with open questions such as "what are your views on...". THEN you'll get an insight into what type of politician they'll be!

Liam Byrne

spottyelephant wrote: »

One flaw. Never ask a closed question.

Fair point.

spottyelephant wrote: »

You could ask every single one of those Q's and the person would just have to say 1 simple answer for them: "yes".

Of course - some of them are likely to lie through their teeth; but they could do that even with open questions and answers.

I'll be getting them to sign a form with all of the above (ticked appropriately based on their answer), and at the bottom of the form I will have a legal notice reserving the right to sue them and expose them in the media if they have lied.

thirtythirty

Fair enough, but I still think you should make them work for your vote, seeing as you've clearly worked on your Q's for a while.

For instance "8) Will you and your party be 100% honest in your dealings with the public and not hide behind waffle, spin and PR ?"

I think should be a "what are your views on the incumbant Government's communications with the public?".

If they themselves say it was poor and spun, you have your answer to your original question. If they don't understand, it means they don't realise there's a problem with "waffle, spin and PR" with the current the Govt!

LostinKildare

thebigcheese22 wrote: »

Actually, Labour were the only party that voted against the banking guarantee that has put the banks' private debt onto the public debt of this country. For all their pompous talk recently, Sinn Fein voted in favour of the guarantee.

That's not correct.

There were two seperate votes, two weeks apart. The first vote was to allow the govt to develop a bank guarantee scheme. There was no plan at the point. Based on assurances from Lenihan (ha ha) of what detail would be included in the plan, Sinn Fein voted to allow them to produce something (it is true that Labour, alone, voted no).

When the govt produced the bank guarantee plan two weeks later the detail was not as promised (surprise), and Sinn Fein joined Labour in voting against it because it didn't adequately protect the public.

So no, they didn't vote in favour of the guarantee.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1017/economy.html

ninty9er

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

if I bother answering the door my only question will be why do you only care enough to come around and listen to me when you want a vote and never at any other time ever.

And my response to that would be that we've never stopped knocking on doors listening to you.

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Questions from me to canvassers :

1) Will you sign this form to say that you won't go into government with FF ?
2) Will you stop the bank guarantee and start reclaiming our cash from the corrupt banks ?
3) Will you and your party stop claiming unwarranted and unvouched "expenses" ?
4) Will you and your party guarantee that someone working can earn enough to survive without being hammered by fat-cats ?
5) Will you and your party support a maximum wage (including expenses and bonuses and every other loophole) of €150,000 for all public service, state and semi-state employees - including bank staff
6) Will you and your party ensure that any additional stealth taxes like septic tank inspections are self-financing on a true polluter pays principle ?
7) Will you and your party ensure that licenced operators such as waste collection services, electricity providers and phone operators return their prices to 2002 levels or lower, since that appears to be the benchmark for the pre-boom wages and taxes ?
8) Will you and your party be 100% honest in your dealings with the public and not hide behind waffle, spin and PR ?
9) Will you and your party do away with all unelected spin-doctors, PR consultants, committees, quangos and hangers-on ?
10) Will you and your party support enterprise by changing the rules whereby those who set up their own businesses run the risk of zero state support if that business doesn't work out ?
11) Will you vote with your conscience to represent the good of the country, even if it's against the party whip ?
12) Will you ensure that anti-social behaviour and crime are dealt with in a zero-tolerance manner, INCLUDING behaviour by bankers, politicians and business-heads ?
13) Will you ensure that the Mahon Tribunal results are published in a reasonable timescale (say, 6 months) ?
14) Will you ensure that the Freedom of Information Act returns to its original format - unedited, unabridged and with a nominal administration fee of under €50 ?
15) Will you ensure that absolutely no meetings occur with lobby groups or vested interests that are undocumented - such as the disastrous September 2008 bank meeting - and have full recorded minutes of every discussion that affects this country ?
16) Will you support and implement a system whereby TDs - and even Governments - can be fired immediately if they do not reach specific targets that they promise in their manifesto without clear and straightforward good reasons ?
17) Will you vote against all forms of corruption, even if it affects your career or your party ?
18) Will you vote and campaign for the good of the country, and not just for your constituency, party or self ?

You'll get any number of permutations, but if anyone answers yes to all of those questions you can take them for a liar straight away. I can't even ensure 15 in my own job. Half the meetings that happen around here I only find out about after they've taken place.

steelcityblues wrote: »

To everyone - 'Why are there so many dynasty politicians in a supposed democracy?'

This is an issue for the electorte, not the candidates. To be honest, there's just as good a chance of a dynastic politician being an excellent one as there is someone with no prior political history.

It's not confined to Ireland or even the "more corrupt" nations.

TheSpecialOne

To FF candidates 'why has your party attacked the blind,widows and careers and cut funding for special needs teachers'......to me its just sick that a party can attack people who are born with disabilities and those who try to better their lives. I do not have anybody in my family in such a situation but i just feel i have to bring this issue up as it is wrong morally to attack these people.

maxxie

scr123 wrote: »

Dont want to burst your bubble folk but have you thought of what us FF canvassers are going to ask you ? Do you really believe its going to be one way slagging ?

If you come to my house your in for a world of pain!

LostinKildare

I'm thinking about putting a "No Fianna Fail" sign in my window when canvassing begins. Why bother talking to them? There is no way in hell I would ever, EVER support them, and there's a small but distinct possibility that I'd say or do something regrettable.

scr123 your post sums up the ugly arrogance of FF. After your party has brought Ireland to its knees, after the damage it's already wreaked in people's lives, and all the suffering yet to come, if you think you're going to sashay into our sitting rooms and SLAG US OFF, think again. Don't darken my doorstep. :mad:

irishh_bob

GrahamThomas wrote: »

That's an issue for local authorities, not one for TD's/candidates for the Dail.

that was the gombeen voter in me

mikemac

Close the gate behind you! :mad:

Tech3

A radical change to the justice system in this country.

Cookie_Monster

ninty9er wrote: »

And my response to that would be that we've never stopped knocking on doors listening to you.

the week before an election is the only time I've ever had contact with any level of politician/ councillor unless I have contacted them with a specific issue. And even then it was only their stooges, never themselves in person. My parents are exactly the same.

Get a leaflet from one or two every so often telling me how great they are at getting things done in the area but that's about it.

ninty9er

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

the week before an election is the only time I've ever had contact with any level of politician/ councillor unless I have contacted them with a specific issue. And even then it was only their stooges, never themselves in person. My parents are exactly the same.

Get a leaflet from one or two every so often telling me how great they are at getting things done in the area but that's about it.

If a TD were to spend 2 hours every Monday and Friday night, and Saturday morning for 5 years canvassing, the likelihood is that they'd get to every door a maximum of 3/4 times. Couple that with the fact there's no guarantee you'll be there and there's every possibility at least one of your TDs has knocked on your door in the past 3 and a half years.