Wednesday, Mar 17th 2010
Sarah Carey suggests the Government listen to the Opposition. Agreed. As a rule, we should all listen to each other. Of course, Sarah employs a sleight-of-hand. When she says ‘opposition’, she specifically refers to ‘Richard Bruton’ and ‘Fine Gael’. I guess Labour doesn’t count. But there you are - already commentators are laying down tasks [...]
The fiscal meltdown is the result of our economic decline, not the cause. It seems straight-forward enough, but let’s put it another way: our fiscal imbalance is a symptom of our economic malady, not the malady itself. The reason why it’s necessary to continually repeat this is because the general political and media consensus is that we [...]
If there’s one country where ‘tax’ is an even dirtier word than in Ireland, its the good ‘ol USA. To argue for higher taxes in Omaha is no more popular than in Artane. And, yet, America is about to elect a politician whose platform calls for higher taxes on wealthy individuals and businesses [...]
Where stands the debate on the unusustainability of ‘universalism’ now? The Government has stated that only 5% of over-70s have incomes exceeding €36,400 (€72,800 for a couple) and the cost of providing them a medical card would be €10 - €15 million. Unsustainable? It amounts to pennies. In fact, it amounts to less than pennies [...]