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US VOTERS DECIDE today whether President Donald Trump will keep his Republican majority in Congress or face a hostile Democratic majority after a bitter campaign for midterm elections described by both sides as “a battle for America’s soul”.
For almost two years, Trump’s rule-breaking, sometimes chaotic administration has enjoyed a largely free hand from the twin Republican-controlled chambers, but the midterms could finally see his wings clipped.
The entire 435-member House of Representatives and a third of the 100-seat Senate are up for grabs.
According to nearly all pollsters, the Democrats have a good chance of winning the House, while the Republicans are likely to retain the Senate.
But with turnout a key unknown factor and pollsters still unsure about the effect of Trump’s maverick style on voters, both parties admit that they may be in for nasty surprises.
After a campaign in which Trump was accused of race-baiting with repeated and unsubstantiated references to an “invasion” of undocumented immigrants bent on rape and murder, left-right divisions in America could not be deeper.
Although not on the ballot, Trump made himself the focus of the entire contest, jetting around the country to hold rallies, including in three states yesterday alone.
Trump declared “the Republican agenda is the American dream” and at his final event, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, he called on supporters to seize their “righteous destiny as Americans”.
Democrats saw the election in equally historic terms.
Voters will “define the future, not just of Texas, but of this country, not just of this generation but every generation that follows,” said Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is challenging Senator Ted Cruz in traditionally deep-Republican Texas.
Hot economy, hot rhetoric
At every rally, Trump has vowed to his supporters that they will “win, win, win”.
But as he touched down in Indiana for the second leg of his final-day tour yesterday, even Trump conceded that the House may slip from his party’s grasp.
“We’ll just have to work a little bit differently,” he told reporters when asked how he’d live with a Democrat-controlled lower chamber.
The party of a first-term president tends to lose congressional seats in off-year elections. However, a healthy economy favors the incumbent, so Trump may yet defy the historical pattern.
New figures on the eve of the polls confirmed that job growth is soaring and Trump gives himself credit for the “hottest economy on Earth”.
But to the dismay of some Republicans he has often pivoted away from that message in the final week of campaigning to emphasize a hardline crackdown against undocumented immigrants.
Trump has sent thousands of soldiers to the Mexican border, suggested that migrants who throw stones at law enforcement officers should be shot, and made wild claims about the Democrats planning to turn the country into a crime-and-drugs black hole.
Stirring fear of foreigners and trumpeting American nationalism worked for the real estate billionaire in his 2016 election victory against the Democrats’ establishment candidate Hillary Clinton.
But the angry tone has also turned off swaths of Americans.
Bernie Sanders, the leftist populist who some feel would have had a better chance than Clinton to take on Trump in 2016, lashed out yesterday at the president, calling him a “pathological liar”.
“He is a sexist, a racist, a homophobe, a xenophobe and a religious bigot. He is trying to do what we have never seen in the modern history of this country, to do what he is doing right now, to gain votes by trying to divide the American people up based on where we came from,” Sanders said on SiriusXM Progress radio.
Trump’s ultra-loyal white base laps up his colorful style, often cheering and chanting as he makes jaw-dropping insults against opponents and factually erroneous claims.
However, even some Republicans became jittery after a Florida man and ardent Trump supporter was charged with sending homemade bombs to more than a dozen senior Democrats and other high-profile opponents of Trump.
Days later, a gunman walked into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shot 11 worshippers dead.
He had allegedly lashed out online against Jews he accused of transporting Central American “invaders” into the United States — in language that echoed Trump’s attacks on impoverished migrants coming through Mexico.
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How, in a country with so many ghost estates, can there be families who are homeless or living in these awful conditions?
Ghost estates are in the middle of nowhere and a lot of the houses are probably now condemned .
Right I’m gonna say it
If you decide to have children make sure you have sufficient means to do so, people shouldn’t have kids and expect someone else to foot their rent allowance bill.
It’s nearly becoming the norm now to have an attitude ‘ah sure the government will look after me’ unfortunately they won’t!
If you decide to have children you have to take into account your job, can you afford to have to have them, can you afford to feed them, can you afford to house them, I can’t afford to do any one of there things at the moment therefore I have no children,
If you want kids you have to be able to afford them, and not want them and expect someone else to bail you out when shit goes sour, this woman should have thought of all the what if’s
While I agree with you to some degree in what you say, you cant tar every parent with the same brush. A single mother could easily lose her job, what’s she suppose to do then? Social welfare should be there to help people who are struggling but it’s not there to give families a cushy life, but unfortunately that’s what has happened.
Lloyd, anyone can fall on hard times. You can’t cover all the “what if’s” or you’d never get out of bed.
What I’d like to ask this mother is this; where’s the father of your children?
On the father of the children point, hypothetically what if the father agreed to house the children, most likely with him, would that be sufficient? Or does the fact he knocked her up mean he should have to house and care for her as well for the remainder of her natural life? Custody invariably is granted to mothers in this country, but if a mother is living in squalid conditions & the father has a place of his own, does it not make more sense to award custody to the father & leave the mother to fend for herself?
I would generally agree Lloyd but you can’t account for everything and this lady has an autistic child. Anybody complaining about welfare in this country is an entitled idiot. It is ridiculously generous and a burden on the rest of us.
I agree Lloyd , if you don’t have the means you simply don’t have children taking care of the most vulnerable in society is a given but long term tax payers cannot continue to subsidise irresponsible lazy adults.
But she isn’t lazy she is looking after her children,also she has a child with autism do you know how difficult it is to mind a child with autism you obviously don’t have a clue.
Lloyd – you’re a fekin idiot !
Lloyd you don’t this woman’s circumstances. She could easily have had a job and a home when she had her kids . You can’t see the unforseeable . I had a good job , plenty of money well able to pay my mortgage. Then my younger disabled son got sick. I had managed to work throughout his childhood but it got to the point his care needs were too much. Then my father became ill and I was left with no choice but to leave the job I loved. I was lucky in the my mortgage was nearly finished so I had a home but honestly if you are renting you are often just one or two pay days away from homelessness. Things change and sometimes people need help. A child with Autism is actually a full time job anyway. You can talk from your smug position which clearly shows lack if experience and knowledge of what some people go through. Well good for you . It’s easy to berate people on the Internet when you don’t know their story and when your using a false name. Dumb and dumber wasn’t it? Enough said
And the pyjama ma’s are moaning cause they have to get the landlord to cut the grass.
Am I the only person who knows college graduates who are unemployed? Or people who worked for years and lost their job? What about women who followed all the advice above (got their exams, college, met a guy, got married & bought a house before having any children, who then where struck by some form of misfortune and had their ‘perfect’ life fall apart around them for some reason)?
Basic human compassion seems very easily forgotten by some here in the comments section. Walk a mile in that woman’s shoes please before you make all those harsh judgements, because the next time, it could very easily be you. Or me.
Those in need get tarred with the same brush as the freeloaders, it’s a pity but it’s true.
remember the woman sleeping in her car with 3 children, all over the news until it was suggested that she had a house, stopped paying the mortgage and walked away from it.
When this suggestion was made, the story vanished out of the media immediately………. I wonder why?
A mother should always have the support they need. The mother of an autistic child should never be put in a situation like this..
This government has created a ruthless social welfare/health care system that needs to be fixed because the people in need are getting hit not the lifers.
Ruthless social welfare system? Ireland has a very generous welfare system. In fact so generous that generations of singers freeload at the tax payers expense. While it is sad that this lady had to wait for a house, she did get one which is the main thing. We can’t expect the government to have hundreds and hundreds of empty houses, serviced and ready to go for all these situations. If that truly is what you want, are you, the tax payer, prepared to pay for it?
The welfare system has changed with this government and as I said it is affecting the worse off more then any of the people abusing the system.
I’m glad that everything has worked out for her and her two kids .. Glad to see that my taxes have helped her .
I for one am honestly happy that my taxes have been put to good use to help this Lady and many others like her.
I do sympathise with any family having to live like that but I have to ask, has this person done well in school? Gone to college or university and got a good qualification where they can get a good job? Most of us work, pay taxes, USC, rent or mortgage, bills and don’t receive any handouts while others expect housing, food, bills etc. to be covered by the taxpayer.
When you can’t change your circumstances, change yourself.
I think your missing the point of this article, what it shows is that the people that really need help from social welfare are falling through the traps, she has two kids, where is she going to find someone to look after them while she’s out “changing herself” as you put it.
I completely agree with you conor, the concept of achieving something through hard work and dedication does not apply to certain people, rather the attitude, I have 4 kids, so I need a 3 bed semi beside my Ma and their school which I have no intention of paying anything on
James she should have been prepared for the tough world before she had her kids
Lloyd life isn’t perfect, you cant plan for every eventuality.
I know life isn’t perfect but for anybody thinking of bringing children into this world, they should at least have a permanent home for them I.e. Buy a gaf, don’t expect someone else to fund you and your kids
I’m not missing the point of the article. Services are poor and something needs to be done. We all know that. However, there is children’s allowance, back to education allowance, rent allowance, fuel allowance, medical cards, etc. A friend of mine got pregnant 17 (she’s now 29) and couldn’t do her exams. At 21 she went to college part time, got her degree after 6-7 years and works full time earning a very good salary. She’s now doing her M.Sc. part time too. It was a set back but she worked hard and did well for herself. While I agree that services are poor and there should be mechanisms in place get people back on their feet, if Bridget in the article is doing nothing to better herself and provide for her family then she is to blame for her circumstances.
“I.e. Buy a gaf, don’t expect someone else to fund you and your kids”
How the hell do you know she didn’t ‘buy a gaff’, fall behind on payments, and get evicted. You know zero about her history, besides the tiny amount covered in the article, yet you seem to have reached an incredible amount of conclusions on her lifestyle.
Stop being such a dick, life is not as black and white as you seem to think it is.
Your assuming Bridget isn’t doing everything she can for her children, shes obviously one of the unlucky ones that fell through the cracks. This could of easily happened to your friend. Also don’t get hard on Bridget, where’s the father.
You don’t know that she isnt doing the same as your friend now that she’s in a safer environment.
I totally agree that people need to help themselves out of bad situations, you’re dead right that you should make sure you’re secure before having kids…unfortunately, sh*t happens and childrens immediate well being should always be put first.
That women would have had her kids taken off her if she left them in that pub alone to go to college. Not everyone has good support systems around them.
Well done to your friend, it’s not easy even if you do have help!
Reading fairytales again….
Cpm….good Man….you said so much in so few words
Conor a child with Autism makes a lot if things impossible and further study can be one. Apart from really high childcare costs for a child with a disability or Autism the fact that your child may not sleep at night means you are not exactly able for active reading or much else cognitively as you are just too tired. You get carers allowance and you are not allowed to do full time study or n fact part time study . Nothing more than 15 hoyra a week. Your can’t even volunteer with out department permission. There is no mechanism to upskill your self on that benefit and no support for care costs or respite care. That’s the reality of life with a disabled child
She was giving a roof over her head, In other parts of the world you be lucky to get a tent to live in, and you would be happy to have any kind of food to eat,and medical care ,some people do not relise how lucky they are to be born here, Why to you think so many immigrants want to make Ireland their home !
Yeah….she should give praise everyday that her children are hungry in Ireland and not hungry in some other place.
Once again a flurry – or perhaps more precisely, a slurry of anti single mother comments by the kind tolerant readers of the journal – Should have kept her knickers on, should have thought before having children, decent, clean living tax payers shouldn’t have to pay for the off spring of a floozy
Sure we all know that single mothers and their sprogs have brought down this country.
As I’ve said before, there are too many here who wouldn’t be happy until we’ve re instated mother and baby homes and laundries and made the scourge of society pay for the crime.
Deplorable, unsympathetic and misogynistic comments every time single mothers are mentioned!
Ann Marie….well written reply….it’s always the unfortunate/less fortunate who get attacked first.
Who paid the electricity bill for repeatedly boiling a kettle?
#notcheap
# cheapshot
Hope you never find yourself in the same plight as this woman and her children. What a cheap comment to make.
@jennie … That’s a particularly nasty and uncalled for comment .. Hope you never find yourself in a situation where you are in need of the kindness of strangers …
It was a shit joke, not a nasty comment. Go easy would ya.
@Jennie Do you currently work? Have you ever been in receipt of a social welfare payment? Your comment was nasty.
Lloyd,
A certain cohert have kids for the welfare money, 8 kids = 1040 euro every month for 16 to 18 years,not bad on top of everything else they get they get on welfare !
James P F:true.If you have a young family the government takes care of you.
James she has only 2….your theory just got blown out of the water
That comment wasnt directed about her ,just a certain group of people!
Your either a Troll or a fool. Somehow I think it’s the latter.
This comment for Jennie .
It’s crap that someone was in the situation that they felt the need to have to boil pasta and eggs in a kettle.
But I don’t think she entirely thought through her situation. Boiling a kettle repeatedly is not cheap. Someone had to pay for it.
It’s all Rock an roll on the dole…. Had she kept her knickers on and stayed in school or got a full time job she wouldn’t be living like that.
Ya jennie it’s those serial kettle boilers that really annoy me…they should have meters put on the kettles….stupid comment
She had no kitchen in which to cook, are you completely stupid..
So what would have you done, let the kids go hungry?
For all you know she stayed in school went to college had a full time job and had to give it up to look after her autistic son,it could have been all too much for the dad and he could have f**ked off,I presuming just like you are. Unless you know her personally you’ve no idea what she’s been through ad no right to judge or make stupid comments.
@ the animal
Animal….not out off you today only whataboutery.
@Sinead no children go hungry in this country.That is the reason immigrants have so many in order to get social welfare.
You are very naive Caroline if you think that there are not children going hungry in Ireland due to poverty or austerity measures.
very uninformed statement to say children don’t go hungry in this country
I used to go out with a girl while I was in college all she wanted was to have kids, I could not understand her logic, no proper job or home. we don’t know this woman’s circumstances but I’m sure do some people think the state will look after them just completely forget the cost of having children, food, child care, clothing etc. There is a lot of families struggling even with jobs I don’t know how single parents manage without intervention
@ Jennie, You are either a Troll or a fool, some how iI think it’s the latter
There are plenty of cold foods you can eat.
Was she paying the electricity? If she was that 50 to 100 euro per month more could have gone towards being able to afford somewhere with a kitchen.
There are plenty of cold foods you can eat
She wanted boiled eggs and pasta the cheat
Was she paying the electricity
Questions to make you feel even more shitty
Maybe you could donate her your out of date meat
‘@Jennie , Please tell me you are not a grown adult, because if you are, I despair that there are actually people like you in this Country.
@ Jennie, careful Karma is a bitch
Once again a mass of an ignorent society, shows no compassion to people who are in tough times, an there repeatitive patronising quotes such, my taxes pay for these people, and theres plenty of jobs out there. The ever grown americana capitalist society appears to caught on here, which creates a divided society, an well turns people into self rightious ars#ols..
He who cast the first stone…..
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but first look at what others would say about your life, the things you may or may not be judged on.
I’m delighted that this lady finally got a place to stay and a chance to start over…. She is stronger then anyone else here because she has to be for her son. She has as to fight daily in order to get him the basic rights every other person gets automatically.
So much for the despicable government trolls who infest this place with their lies about FG being economic saviours who have made this state an equal and fair country.
I know the same trolls hate facts but the fact is….FG are nothing but a pack of servile dogs protecting the wealthy and literally starving everyone else…w@nkers.
@Aideen Stevens:if you were in my shoes you would be bitter.
have your say