Election 2011 Offical Thread.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

Dubs for Sam, lets be honest Enda Kenny making Fine Gael the biggest party in this election race is hardly a challenge. IN the History of the state, FG (albeit in different guises) have always been the largest and obvious alternative to FF. When one is doing poorly the other tends to do pretty well. Its just the same in Britain with Labour and Tory. FG's policies will alsways be typical conservative policies and will change only slightly depending on the Leader.

As for Gilmore, isn't everyone simply shouting and making soundbytes in the election race?? We will have to see when they get elected as Taoiseach (which is pretty inevitable in Kenny's case) as to whether or not that have 'strong detailed policies' and a 'strong leadership team'.

The thing about Kenny is that even though FF have made a complete shag of the past 4 years his party aren't higher up in the polls than they are!!! People still won't vote for him. Maybe thats a CIvil War thing but you just have to say that most people simply do not see him as capable.

You are forgetting he made them the largest party in the European Elections in 2004, largest party in local elections in 2009, FG had 31 seats when he took over and are on track for about 75 now.

[An Gaeilgoir]

Apart from Obama, is there another leader on the planet who has the same charisma? Certainly not in Europe anyway,
Merkle- no nonsense alright, but not known for Charisma
Berlousconi - Charisma -not sure that is the word for it- Horny perhaps
Sarkozy- french- pomp- not much charisma, fine missus.
Cameron- Eton school boy- enough said

i don't think charisma is needed, all the mandarins behind the scenes do all the work, the prime minister walks in signs the document and heads off.
We have had the charisma "Bertie" and the brains "Cowen". I say give Enda a chance, he has a very good team behind him, more so than any other party and to be honest, Enda  lets them do their job. That is one of the traits that makes a good leader - been able to trust your team. Still not voting for FG for the record.

i've no doubt that enda kenny is a nice bloke. but to say charisma is not a reguirement is naive, what had michael collins to offer other than charisma and the offer of a firing squad or a tyburn collar. people are voting fine gael because they have no choice they are not AS bad as fianna fail. fine gael will not reverse one single fianna fail policy and will infact add to working class misery. turkeys voting for christmas springs to mind.

ps did anyone see 'lord' hillary son of ex president hillary canvassing for fianna fail on the news and then  interviewed infront of his antique bookcase i'd love that maggot to knock on my door i'd kick a new hole in his arse

I have asked this question on other threads here,who are the "working class" that certain sections of political classes keep harping on about?

I have a fairly good job, would have a good income and standard of living (thank God). I have worked hard, made sacrifices to get where i am, but it makes me mad when i hear the term "working class",  it reminds me of chimney  sweeps and coal mine workers. It is the middle/ professional classes who are fortunate enough to still have jobs who are now paying the vast majority of tax to keep the country going. Joe Higgins talks about "decent ordinary working class people" as opposed to "indecent extraordinary working class people".

It seems that this philosophy is, tax the shit out of anyone who has a fairly good job, the very same people who have a bit of spending power and could even be in a position to create a few jobs for others,make sure anyone who betters themselves are kept down to the same level of people who don't want to better themselves, keep the government involved in industries like, power generation, buses, trains, postal services etc. I know there are plenty of hardship cases around who need help, but trying to keep all levels of society at the same level surely is not the way forward, i think personally. (above comments exclude developers, bankers, politicians, i am talking about people whose household income is around 100k, both parties working.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

its accepting the best of a bad bunch then?

Noonan and Bruton are two coffin-dodging, sour looking cnuts that talk shite and are hardly off the telly, never mind that Leo Varadkar...

I am not a FG basher here but jeez, I just dont see the attraction with any of these politicians, Labour or the waste of time Greens either

So what do you suggest?

[Poc me]

Dubs for Sam the point i'm making is that FG revival is nothin really to do with Kenny. Its the fact that FF are a shambles. They are the largest two parties and when one does poory the other does well.

[lawnseed]

Apart from Obama, is there another leader on the planet who has the same charisma? Certainly not in Europe anyway,
Merkle- no nonsense alright, but not known for Charisma
Berlousconi - Charisma -not sure that is the word for it- Horny perhaps
Sarkozy- french- pomp- not much charisma, fine missus.
Cameron- Eton school boy- enough said

i don't think charisma is needed, all the mandarins behind the scenes do all the work, the prime minister walks in signs the document and heads off.
We have had the charisma "Bertie" and the brains "Cowen". I say give Enda a chance, he has a very good team behind him, more so than any other party and to be honest, Enda  lets them do their job. That is one of the traits that makes a good leader - been able to trust your team. Still not voting for FG for the record.

i've no doubt that enda kenny is a nice bloke. but to say charisma is not a reguirement is naive, what had michael collins to offer other than charisma and the offer of a firing squad or a tyburn collar. people are voting fine gael because they have no choice they are not AS bad as fianna fail. fine gael will not reverse one single fianna fail policy and will infact add to working class misery. turkeys voting for christmas springs to mind.

ps did anyone see 'lord' hillary son of ex president hillary canvassing for fianna fail on the news and then  interviewed infront of his antique bookcase i'd love that maggot to knock on my door i'd kick a new hole in his arse

I have asked this question on other threads here,who are the "working class" that certain sections of political classes keep harping on about?

I have a fairly good job, would have a good income and standard of living (thank God). I have worked hard, made sacrifices to get where i am, but it makes me mad when i hear the term "working class",  it reminds me of chimney  sweeps and coal mine workers. It is the middle/ professional classes who are fortunate enough to still have jobs who are now paying the vast majority of tax to keep the country going. Joe Higgins talks about "decent ordinary working class people" as opposed to "indecent extraordinary working class people".

It seems that this philosophy is, tax the shit out of anyone who has a fairly good job, the very same people who have a bit of spending power and could even be in a position to create a few jobs for others,make sure anyone who betters themselves are kept down to the same level of people who don't want to better themselves, keep the government involved in industries like, power generation, buses, trains, postal services etc. I know there are plenty of hardship cases around who need help, but trying to keep all levels of society at the same level surely is not the way forward, i think personally. (above comments exclude developers, bankers, politicians, i am talking about people whose household income is around 100k, both parties working.

ok imagine you are working class and being heavily taxed... now think of someone worse off than you having every penny taken from them thats whats fine gael are about remember tax on kids shoes

[DUBSFORSAM1]

Dubs for Sam the point i'm making is that FG revival is nothin really to do with Kenny. Its the fact that FF are a shambles. They are the largest two parties and when one does poory the other does well.

So he took over FG when they were practically destroyed and most commentators were righting them off as basically being finished for good. They had their worst results in history and lowest seats ever losing nearly all their experienced members. Within 2 years he had totally rebuilt the organisation and made them finish less than 20 seats behind FF in the local elections and considering we were going through the biggest boom ever in our history he then led them to the biggest seat increase in history jumping from 31 to 51 and are set to make the biggest jump again this election.

Since he became leader everyone has gone on about how bad he is and how Ahern, Cowan, Gilmore, Rabbitte, Sargent, Harney, Adams etc were far superior.....well we have all seen how superior they have turned out to be....

[Tubberman]

Apart from Obama, is there another leader on the planet who has the same charisma? Certainly not in Europe anyway,
Merkle- no nonsense alright, but not known for Charisma
Berlousconi - Charisma -not sure that is the word for it- Horny perhaps
Sarkozy- french- pomp- not much charisma, fine missus.
Cameron- Eton school boy- enough said

i don't think charisma is needed, all the mandarins behind the scenes do all the work, the prime minister walks in signs the document and heads off.
We have had the charisma "Bertie" and the brains "Cowen". I say give Enda a chance, he has a very good team behind him, more so than any other party and to be honest, Enda  lets them do their job. That is one of the traits that makes a good leader - been able to trust your team. Still not voting for FG for the record.

i've no doubt that enda kenny is a nice bloke. but to say charisma is not a reguirement is naive, what had michael collins to offer other than charisma and the offer of a firing squad or a tyburn collar. people are voting fine gael because they have no choice they are not AS bad as fianna fail. fine gael will not reverse one single fianna fail policy and will infact add to working class misery. turkeys voting for christmas springs to mind.

ps did anyone see 'lord' hillary son of ex president hillary canvassing for fianna fail on the news and then  interviewed infront of his antique bookcase i'd love that maggot to knock on my door i'd kick a new hole in his arse

I have asked this question on other threads here,who are the "working class" that certain sections of political classes keep harping on about?

I have a fairly good job, would have a good income and standard of living (thank God). I have worked hard, made sacrifices to get where i am, but it makes me mad when i hear the term "working class",  it reminds me of chimney  sweeps and coal mine workers. It is the middle/ professional classes who are fortunate enough to still have jobs who are now paying the vast majority of tax to keep the country going. Joe Higgins talks about "decent ordinary working class people" as opposed to "indecent extraordinary working class people".

It seems that this philosophy is, tax the shit out of anyone who has a fairly good job, the very same people who have a bit of spending power and could even be in a position to create a few jobs for others,make sure anyone who betters themselves are kept down to the same level of people who don't want to better themselves, keep the government involved in industries like, power generation, buses, trains, postal services etc. I know there are plenty of hardship cases around who need help, but trying to keep all levels of society at the same level surely is not the way forward, i think personally. (above comments exclude developers, bankers, politicians, i am talking about people whose household income is around 100k, both parties working.

ok imagine you are working class and being heavily taxed... now think of someone worse off than you having every penny taken from them thats whats fine gael are about remember tax on kids shoes

I don't think FG are planning on taking every penny (we use cents down here  btw ) off anyone.
What solution to our problems do you propose?

[Poc me]

Only really seen Ahearn and COwan, maybe some of sargeant. As i said though, you can only really measure people in government because when they are the opposition or in an election campaign all they do is shout and use soundbytes.

[LaurelEye]

It seems that this philosophy is, tax the shit out of anyone who has a fairly good job, the very same people who have a bit of spending power and could even be in a position to create a few jobs for others,make sure anyone who betters themselves are kept down to the same level of people who don't want to better themselves, keep the government involved in industries like, power generation, buses, trains, postal services etc. I know there are plenty of hardship cases around who need help, but trying to keep all levels of society at the same level surely is not the way forward, i think personally. (above comments exclude developers, bankers, politicians, i am talking about people whose household income is around 100k, both parties working.

Average gross household income in this country in 2009 was €56K (http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/silc/Current/silc.pdf). It's probably slipped a bit since then. €100K is well above average.

[An Gaeilgoir]

Apart from Obama, is there another leader on the planet who has the same charisma? Certainly not in Europe anyway,
Merkle- no nonsense alright, but not known for Charisma
Berlousconi - Charisma -not sure that is the word for it- Horny perhaps
Sarkozy- french- pomp- not much charisma, fine missus.
Cameron- Eton school boy- enough said

i don't think charisma is needed, all the mandarins behind the scenes do all the work, the prime minister walks in signs the document and heads off.
We have had the charisma "Bertie" and the brains "Cowen". I say give Enda a chance, he has a very good team behind him, more so than any other party and to be honest, Enda  lets them do their job. That is one of the traits that makes a good leader - been able to trust your team. Still not voting for FG for the record.

i've no doubt that enda kenny is a nice bloke. but to say charisma is not a reguirement is naive, what had michael collins to offer other than charisma and the offer of a firing squad or a tyburn collar. people are voting fine gael because they have no choice they are not AS bad as fianna fail. fine gael will not reverse one single fianna fail policy and will infact add to working class misery. turkeys voting for christmas springs to mind.

ps did anyone see 'lord' hillary son of ex president hillary canvassing for fianna fail on the news and then  interviewed infront of his antique bookcase i'd love that maggot to knock on my door i'd kick a new hole in his arse

I have asked this question on other threads here,who are the "working class" that certain sections of political classes keep harping on about?

I have a fairly good job, would have a good income and standard of living (thank God). I have worked hard, made sacrifices to get where i am, but it makes me mad when i hear the term "working class",  it reminds me of chimney  sweeps and coal mine workers. It is the middle/ professional classes who are fortunate enough to still have jobs who are now paying the vast majority of tax to keep the country going. Joe Higgins talks about "decent ordinary working class people" as opposed to "indecent extraordinary working class people".

It seems that this philosophy is, tax the shit out of anyone who has a fairly good job, the very same people who have a bit of spending power and could even be in a position to create a few jobs for others,make sure anyone who betters themselves are kept down to the same level of people who don't want to better themselves, keep the government involved in industries like, power generation, buses, trains, postal services etc. I know there are plenty of hardship cases around who need help, but trying to keep all levels of society at the same level surely is not the way forward, i think personally. (above comments exclude developers, bankers, politicians, i am talking about people whose household income is around 100k, both parties working.

ok imagine you are working class and being heavily taxed... now think of someone worse off than you having every penny taken from them thats whats fine gael are about remember tax on kids shoes

Who are these working class people?
The Shoe tax, my god thats a dusty history book you have, i will raise you 350 euros a week tax take from my wages, in relation to what i earn, i reckon it is higher than what "working class people" pay.

[An Gaeilgoir]

It seems that this philosophy is, tax the shit out of anyone who has a fairly good job, the very same people who have a bit of spending power and could even be in a position to create a few jobs for others,make sure anyone who betters themselves are kept down to the same level of people who don't want to better themselves, keep the government involved in industries like, power generation, buses, trains, postal services etc. I know there are plenty of hardship cases around who need help, but trying to keep all levels of society at the same level surely is not the way forward, i think personally. (above comments exclude developers, bankers, politicians, i am talking about people whose household income is around 100k, both parties working.

Average gross household income in this country in 2009 was €56K (http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/silc/Current/silc.pdf). It's probably slipped a bit since then. €100K is well above average.

As i said previously, lets have a country of nothing but average and see where we are, a damn site worse than where we are now is where. I wont be sorry or made feel guilty for doing well in my career and trying to give my family a good standard of living, which has decreased quite a bit since last year i may add, but as for paying for everything, i pay my fair share.

[Declan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqLrygCFAYk&feature=player_embedded

Enjoy Vinnie

[LaurelEye]

It seems that this philosophy is, tax the shit out of anyone who has a fairly good job, the very same people who have a bit of spending power and could even be in a position to create a few jobs for others,make sure anyone who betters themselves are kept down to the same level of people who don't want to better themselves, keep the government involved in industries like, power generation, buses, trains, postal services etc. I know there are plenty of hardship cases around who need help, but trying to keep all levels of society at the same level surely is not the way forward, i think personally. (above comments exclude developers, bankers, politicians, i am talking about people whose household income is around 100k, both parties working.

Average gross household income in this country in 2009 was €56K (http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/silc/Current/silc.pdf). It's probably slipped a bit since then. €100K is well above average.

As i said previously, lets have a country of nothing but average and see where we are, a damn site worse than where we are now is where. I wont be sorry or made feel guilty for doing well in my career and trying to give my family a good standard of living, which has decreased quite a bit since last year i may add, but as for paying for everything, i pay my fair share.

You know, there are a lot of people - a big majority, actually - who are working just as hard as you are and have just as many financial outgoings as you have but have less resources with which to meet those commitments and are also dealing with a decreasing standard of living.

What you come across as in this thread is a self-righteous and self-pitying whinger who has been generally fortunate in life and has no realisation of other people's situations.

[Tubberman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqLrygCFAYk&feature=player_embedded

Enjoy Vinnie

Saw that last night, very good. The Manseragh manic laugh and Lenihan's shifty eyes had me cheered up after the depression of sitting through and hour and a half of the 'real' politicians.

[An Gaeilgoir]

It seems that this philosophy is, tax the shit out of anyone who has a fairly good job, the very same people who have a bit of spending power and could even be in a position to create a few jobs for others,make sure anyone who betters themselves are kept down to the same level of people who don't want to better themselves, keep the government involved in industries like, power generation, buses, trains, postal services etc. I know there are plenty of hardship cases around who need help, but trying to keep all levels of society at the same level surely is not the way forward, i think personally. (above comments exclude developers, bankers, politicians, i am talking about people whose household income is around 100k, both parties working.

Average gross household income in this country in 2009 was €56K (http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/silc/Current/silc.pdf). It's probably slipped a bit since then. €100K is well above average.

As i said previously, lets have a country of nothing but average and see where we are, a damn site worse than where we are now is where. I wont be sorry or made feel guilty for doing well in my career and trying to give my family a good standard of living, which has decreased quite a bit since last year i may add, but as for paying for everything, i pay my fair share.

You know, there are a lot of people - a big majority, actually - who are working just as hard as you are and have just as many financial outgoings as you have but have less resources with which to meet those commitments and are also dealing with a decreasing standard of living.

What you come across as in this thread is a self-righteous and self-pitying whinger who has been generally fortunate in life and has no realisation of other people's situations.

Mind yourself up there on the high moral ground, as for realisation of other people's situations, you have no idea.