Financial meltdown, your 5 most wanted?

LarrytheLantern · 30-09-2010 09:17PM #1

This is not a poll, but simply Il'd like to get some feedback on who you feel are most responsible for the mess we're in.

Maybe it's not very charitable to personalize it in this way, but heck I aint in a very charitable mood right now.

Here's my top 5 heroes.

1. Bertie B(ad)asset. without doubt he personifies the wanton waste, the money is no object and the "ask me no questions & I'll tell ye no lies" culture that was so pervasive throughout the Tiger years. The infamous advice to people talking us down & to go and top themselves. Thnx Bertie!

2. Biffo the Clown. He was part of the problem, and now he's supposedly part of the 'er solution. No sorry Biffo you're still part of the problem.

3. Seánie Fixit. Yep for some he's the face of economic meltdown. A merchant banker of the highest order.

4. Patrick Nearly. The nearly man of regulation. This guy couldn't regulate the temperature on his fish-tank. Received a nice fat pension from us.

5. Roddy (1st class only) Molloy. the former head of FARCE. The Imelda Marcos of Baggot Street. Another recipient of a nice fat golden handshake.

:mad:

orourkeda · 30-09-2010 09:18PM

(1) The Golden Circle

bryaner · 30-09-2010 09:22PM

Bono..

Jesus Wept · 30-09-2010 09:24PM

Don Wycherley

fontanalis · 30-09-2010 09:25PM

orourkeda wrote: »

(1) The Golden Circle

It's The Golden Shower!

Atlantic Dawn · 30-09-2010 09:28PM

Brian Lenihan for giving us the impression that he was up to the job when clearly he hadn't got a fcuking clue and the bankers ran rings around him and he is the reason we are paying all this money out as he organised the guarantee, he should have let Anglo and the others fold and supported AIB and BOI.
Seán Fitzpatrick for starting off the crazy lending
The Financial Regulator for not doing his job in spotting the crazy lending
Brian Cowen as Minister For Finance for not seeing that this lending was unsustainable and accounting for 50% of Ireland GDP in the case of Anglo aloan
Bertie Ahern for not having a Finance Minister or Financial Regulator up to the job.

Rented Mule · 30-09-2010 09:35PM

When is someone going to start blaming these eejits that took out some of these loans ?

#1 with a bullet is Bertie Ahern. This is as much his mess as anyone else. He slithered away just as the **** was about to hit the fan. Now he has been off peddling his bull**** to the other banana republics.

Hazys · 30-09-2010 09:37PM

Your Ma.

If she didnt increase her prices every year, people wouldn't have had to borrowed more and increased the country's debt.

sxt · 30-09-2010 09:38PM

Don't forget David Drumm, chief executive of Anglo Irish, who decided to pack his bags and emigrate to America ...when the going gets tough, the tough get going..:rolleyes:

LarrytheLantern · 30-09-2010 09:40PM

a lady today on the wireless had what i thought was a very nifty idea to deal with the likes of Neary, Ruddy Doyle, Fingleton who appear to have feathered their retirement nests very nicely.

She said the Govt ought to (as they have in the US with Banker's bonuses) tax their pensions to oblivion.

A 98.5% tax/levy on certain pensions sounds about right.

Why cant we do this?

(Please dont tell me it be against the fuuckin constitution!!!!)

bryaner · 30-09-2010 09:43PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Brian Lenihan for giving us the impression that he was up to the job when clearly he hadn't got a fcuking clue and the bankers ran rings around him and he is the reason we are paying all this money out as he organised the guarantee, he should have let Anglo and the others fold and supported AIB and BOI.

Seán Fitzpatrick for starting off the crazy lending

The Financial Regulator for not doing his job in spotting the crazy lending

Brian Cowen as Minister For Finance for not seeing that this lending was unsustainable and accounting for 50% of Ireland GDP in the case of Anglo aloan

Bertie Ahern for not having a Finance Minister or Financial Regulator up to the job.

Your forgetting Bono the bastard.

Tender Hoop · 30-09-2010 09:43PM

I blame your mother

Amazotheamazing · 30-09-2010 09:45PM

Fianna Fail, their members and supporters.

How anyone can still support Fianna Fail is a mystery to me.

LarrytheLantern · 30-09-2010 09:54PM

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Fianna Fail, their members and supporters.

How anyone can still support Fianna Fail is a mystery to me.

Should we blame Dev the devious cowardly slime-ball that he was?

(He gave us that priest-ridden fuuckin constitution, and he let Collins go to London and do all the negotiating, dont forget).

Mister men · 30-09-2010 09:56PM

Bertie
Bertie
Bertie
Bertie
Biffo

30-09-2010 09:58PM

LENIHAN!! For putting us on the hook for it all!!

Rebelheart · 30-09-2010 09:59PM

What the hell is wrong with the public memory here? Anybody ever hear of Charlie McCreevy?!?!

In terms of responsibility, he's no. 2 after Patrick Bartholomew Ahern.

Victor Meldrew · 30-09-2010 10:03PM

1. Bertie. For the property bubble, because that's all the imagination FF had.
2. Cowen, for being a rubber stamp MOF under Bertie
3. McCreevy, for the SSIA, decentralisation and tax individualisation.
4. Patrick Neary. For saying fair play to Fingers and Seanie for playing Hide the director's loans.
5. Anyone who vited FF from 1997 onwards.. You have given us the government YOU deserve.

So why are Carroll, McNamara, Fingers, Drumm, Seanie , Goggin, Quinn(s) on the list. Well, you expect it of them and their breed. No-one criticises Lions for eating wildebeast young or little little Impalas, It's just their nature.

St Lenihan of Subordinated Debt and Bond-holders gets a pass as he inherited the train wreck, and while I despise NAMA and the nature of the bank guarentee, he did not destroy our society, he has merely shown no moral courage.

LarrytheLantern · 30-09-2010 10:09PM

All those Auctioneers who mis-sold crap properties at extravagant prices, and got rich on it!

Remember

"You can't go wrong with Bricks 'n Mortar"
or
"The Estate Agent you would recommend a friend to"

Min · 30-09-2010 10:09PM

1. The greedy people who speculated on property.
2. Anglo Irish Bank, the bank that thought it was a casino and then other financial institutions wanted to play roulette to be like Anglo.
3. All the politicians - all talked about over 4% growth, none saw the disaster coming - none not even Eamon Gilmore or Joan Burton.
4. The financial regulator, the regulator who didn't regulate.
5. The media- remember all the property programs on TV, the papers with property suppliments, radio programs - all promoted the property boom.

Mushy · 30-09-2010 10:11PM

Rebelheart wrote: »

What the hell is wrong with the public memory here? Anybody ever hear of Charlie McCreevy?!?!

In terms of responsibility, he's no. 2 after Patrick Bartholomew Ahern.

While not blameless, he did try to stop it too. Pity he got removed from office when starting this.

My 5 Most Wanted....screw quantity, quality is always better. Most innovative ways to make them suffer should win!

Mushy · 30-09-2010 10:13PM

Min wrote: »

1. The greedy people who speculated on property.
2. Anglo Irish Bank, the bank that thought it was a casino and then other financial institutions wanted to play roulette to be like Anglo.
3. All the politicians - all talked about over 4% growth, none saw the disaster coming - none not even Eamon Gilmore or Joan Burton.
4. The financial regulator, the regulator who didn't regulate.
5. The media- [B}remember all the property programs on TV, the papers with property suppliments[/B/, radio programs - all promoted the property boom.

Remember the Irish Times with two property sections on a Thursday?*

*I know, in hindsight it is

LarrytheLantern · 30-09-2010 10:13PM

TAX their fuuckin PENSIONS into REVENUE OBLIVION!:mad:

bleg · 30-09-2010 10:15PM

Brian Lenihen probably means well but he's a barrister. He was incompetent when he was appointed and he's still incompetent.

Johro · 30-09-2010 10:15PM

LarrytheLantern wrote: »

Financial meltdown, your 5 most wanted?

5 grand? Make it 5 million.

Amazotheamazing · 30-09-2010 10:19PM

Min wrote: »

3. All the politicians - all talked about over 4% growth, none saw the disaster coming - none not even Eamon Gilmore or Joan Burton.

this is a popular myth, there was concern about the housing bubble long before it burst from the opposition. For example, a quick google comes up with the following quotes from Richard Bruton, Fine Gael's (then) Finance spokesman. It's clear he was shouting warnings that FF chose to ignore.

Comments by Richard Bruton TD:
“There is a worrying complacency in Government about our enterprise sector. In the last four years, employment in the exposed sector of our economy has been in decline. The rate of job loss has been more than double the rate of the mid nineties, continuous job growth has depended on the sheltered sectors of the economy, most noticeably the building and construction sector…Dramatic acceleration in the growth of public service employment and payroll costs, have forced up taxation meanwhile, the average price of exporters since May 2002 has fallen by 15%. .. It is not enough to live off past successes and ignore the emerging challenges.”
Budget 2005 (1st December 2004)

“The core of this budget should have concentrated on these real challenges.
• Reform to deliver real improvements at the front line in public services
• Improving the competitiveness of businesses trying to survive in tough external markets
• Confronting rip off at its source
• Eliminating gross waste in public spending
But these have not been the subject of today’s budget.” Budget 2006 (7th December 2005)

“This is the latest in a series of budgets whose pattern was set by the huge spending spree…
• Government spending has grown 50% faster than the rate of growth in national income
• Government has doubled its dependence on a construction boom which now contributes 25% of its revenue
These, of course, are patterns which cannot be sustained. You cannot build indefinite spending growth on the back of a building boom no more than you can build long-term economic prosperity on the back of a building boom.”
Budget 2007 (5th December 2006)

“We are past the time for a wake-up call. The alarm bells are ringing…We trail every league in service delivery. We witness bureaucratic madness, screwing up delivery in vital areas like health…. The Minister talks smugly of a timely housing correction…The government presides over a dysfunctional housing market…Change in the way taxpayers’ money is spent is already long overdue.”
Budget 2008 (5th December 2007)

maringo · 30-09-2010 10:26PM

Dev also sold dicky Independent shares to Americans which proved to be worthless. They were left with worthless pieces of paper due to his manouevers on issuing 2 categories of shares. Was that a crime? Was that embezzlement or what?

There is a class of people in this country who can rape and pillage at will and will never be brought to book by the system which seems to be geared up to protect them. Its the likes of you and me and our kids and grandkids that will carry the can for the robbing b''''rds while they while away their time in the sun on our money while we wave our kids off to Australia.

Maybe if Bertie paid his taxes it would be a start - but then again maybe he won it all on a horse! :mad:

SEPT 23 1989 · 30-09-2010 10:32PM

1. Fianna Fail
2. Fianna Fail
3. Fianna Fail
4. Fianna Fail
5. Fianna Fail

Tigerbaby · 30-09-2010 10:53PM

1. the International FIAT money system.
2. The vested interests who ensure that they win either way.
3. Globalism
4. Greed.
5. the lack of a citizens armed militia which would tend to focus minds a bit.

nb. have a peep at Herr Hitlers currency policies in the 20's and early 30's. May be worth remembering that Judea declared war on him initially. Ever wonder why? Open your eyes.

Grimreaper666 · 30-09-2010 11:10PM

Everyone seems to forget about Fingers Fingleton.

FoxT · 30-09-2010 11:25PM

What politicians would have done better than the ones we had at the time. Bruton is very smart but FG is not by any means an untapped well of human talent!

We have also been less unfortunate than the greeks & Icelanders, whose respective Govts basically went bananas.

Nothwithstanding these caveats, my bullets go to

- Bertie
- Financial regulator
- Seanie
- Head of AIB
- Head of BofI

Of course, there is no point in shooting them now , as it wont fix the problem.

If these guys were all dragged out & shot 5 years ago, Fingers would not have been a problem....

- FoxT