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THE UNIVERSAL SOCIAL Charge will not be abolished if Fianna Fáil are successful in the next general election.
The party leader Micheál Martin said that “false promises” were made in the last election by Fine Gael that they would abolish the USC.
“That was never going to happen because the money was never there to do that. And I said [that] to people on the doorstep,” he said.
“It will not be abolished in the next five years either. Because if you want to do more in housing and if you want to deal with health and climate change” it will require increased expenditure, he said.
“We have to be honest with people,” he said.
The USC was first mentioned back in 2010 in the wake of the crash.
The then Minister for Finance, Fianna Fáil’s Brian Lenihan, replaced the income levy and health levy with the USC.
The taxpayer was led to believe it was an emergency, temporary tax, imposed to see us through the dark days.
In 2013, Fine Gael made some changes to it by raising the entry point, but many were left scratching their heads as to why the USC wasn’t scrapped.
Instead of getting rid of it, as was promised, the government has been tweaking the tax, with no sign of it being binned anytime soon.
Martin said it is important in the run up the election that the public are told the truth about what is achievable.
“What stunned me with the British election was both parties for promising billions and billions and billions… I mean, I think we’re hopefully going away from that in Ireland,” he said.
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A Greek tragedy.
Watch dictatorship win over democracy and weep.
So much for all this “cradle of democracy” and “why don’t we do the same in Ireland” nonsense, reality kicks in hopefully
I for one hope the Greeks get their referendum and the result that will hopefully lead to the collapse of the euro and all the shit that goes with it.
The harsh reality for millions of Greeks is that romantic notions about democracy won’t put food on the table next month. They have a stark choice. Accept the bail out.. Death by a thousand cuts… Or reject the bailout… Instant death. Their pompous politicians ought to be ashamed for bring their Nation to it’s knees.
The € will croak and the quicker and less painful the better,Insane concept from the off.
Why was it insane?
We are witnessing the explicit emergence of authoritarian capitalism. No longer can we have any illusion that democracy has any part to play in the plans of those who wish to continue with unending wealth accumulation.
Meanwhile on the streets of Oakland we see this http://twitpic.com/7aazyi
The game has yet to be played out. If this kinda of authoritarianism is not resisted as China becomes the greatest superpower idea of genuine democracy will be snuffed out for sure. thats the choice now authoritarian capitalism where societys rule are organised from above by and few for a few. Or democracy from below where we govern ourselves as equals. The idea that there is no left and no right is the greatest stunt the right has pulled, but make no doubt of the iron fist that lies at the heart of the “free markets”
Emergence of authoritarian capitalism !!!! it’s been that way since man came out of the caves
We are not an automatic democracy. We elect representatives and they think for us for five years. Vote good quality people in every five years then largely STFU. However if we vote in venal twits like about 50% of our politicians are we’ll have to keep demanding a vote every 6 months no matter what. It is not part of (or even good practice in any circumstances) to give everyone a broad vote on every economics bill.
Now some you can make an argument for but one that writes down vast chunks of their debt is the only way to go.
“Instant death” is bit dramatic don’t you think. Headline should read ‘Greek finance minister’s grab for power’.
Come on Papandreou!
A figure of speech only. I don’t envisage bodies all over Athens streets.. This is getting dangerous now. Financial warfare is being unleashed on Europes citizens. Dramatic enough??:)
And the Greeks (via referendum) are fighting back.
A bit of back peddling finally! About time
Napoleon in high heels and Hitler in drag. Don’t worry. All is not lost. This is the final act in the farce that is “the markets”.
This is the future – Ordinary Greeks are taking matters into their own hands:
“In early October, a peculiar news item barely made its way into the back pages of Greek national press: in the northern city of Veria, a small group of people had started reconnecting the electricity supply of households disconnected from the national grid due to bill non-payment. This kind of solidarity action seemed rather abnormal.
Then again, it is difficult to define what constitutes normality in the country nowadays – the upper echelon of political power is in an unprecedented turmoil, and Tuesday’s referendum announcement by prime minister George Papandreou, followed by him reportedly preparing to step down, has thrown his political allies and foes into a tailspin. Parliamentary opposition parties are calling for a “national unity” government, snap elections, or a succession of the two; the entire mainstream political spectrum in the country seems to have entered a delirious state of panic. In a stunningly surreal scene, eurozone leaders and global markets are nervously waiting for people in Greece to cast a vote.
And yet, at this precise moment, Greek people are realising they are left with what they had at the outset – that is, absolutely nothing to hope for from the mainstream political scene.”
See more here http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/03/greeks-austerity-grassroots?CMP=twt_gu
What’s brendan Gleason doing there
Lol neo.
have your say