Wall St Journal "Anti Lisbon"?

The only reason I can think of to vote YES is the chronic incompetence of Irish politicians. Maybe direct rule would be "better" .

So far the debate here has focused on everything other than the contents of the treaty. Both sides are making extraordinary claims regardless of evidence or even comment sense.

The arguments can be summarised as follows;

PRO: "If you vote NO we will be kicked out of Europe"

CON: "If you vote YES we will lose autonomy"

In effect, dammed if we do, dammed if we don't.

Meanwhile, the Wall St Journal has this to say;

Ireland sucked on the teat of EU regional aid for two and a half decades without discernible effect. By the mid-1980s, it was still a poor country by European standards, but it was also facing a budgetary and debt crisis. It was only when it started on a campaign of supply-side tax cuts slashing marginal rates along with capital gains and corporate income-tax rates that the economy took off.

[snip]

Brussels always treated Ireland's fantastically successful tax policies with rank suspicion, accusing it throughout its boom years of "tax dumping" and "unfair tax competition." There are plenty of governments on the Continent, not least France's, that would love to rein in Ireland's ability to attract investment through supply-side tax policy. Handing Brussels greater potential power to influence Irish tax policy would be tantamount to surrendering the keys to Irish prosperity to Brussels for all time.

link

Vote YES to Lisbon II - otherwise it's more of the same

One of our most loathsome elected representatives Dick Roche (two disagreeable words in one name there) has said;

Irish voters had a "death wish" when it comes to major decisions like the Lisbon Treaty

link

Dick has been kicking up a fuss since the treaty was rejected and has basically been acting like an annoying yapping dog since, but he is a good example of why I'll spoil my vote next time out (rather than vote no again). Basically he's an idiot. But he's not alone, he is a fair example of the "quality" of our political masters.

So if I could give some advice to the anti-democracy 'Yes' side it would be to run the campaign along the lines of :

You keep voting for idiots like Roche, Haughey, Ahern, Burke, et al and look where that got you. Do the sensible thing and take power away from these people. It's the only thing that will save us.

I predict a landslide ...

I must have bumped my head

Lately I've found myself agreeing with Kevin Meyers - this can't be good.

Today he's talking about just how incompetent our political leaders are (very)

The regulator who for 10 months failed to tell his minister about the financial horror story of Anglo Irish Bank, with nearly €90m missing from the books, was not sacked, but in due course retired, on full pension.

[snip]

In the middle of the greatest financial crisis in the State's history, our entire (and vastly overpaid) political class is still on holiday. We have thousands of unoccupied houses across the country, as part of a government-sponsored wheeze to avoid taxes.

The unfortunate solution as Mr. Meyers sees it (and I can almost agree) is to throw our lot in entirely with Europe and hope than some Brussels Satrap can do a better job than our own lot have done.

I don't know if I can bring myself to vote 'yes' next time out, I might abstain or spoil my vote but I think it's pretty clear that the Irish system has failed after a mere 80 years ..

So roll on Lisbon! Roll on rule from Brussels! Yes, I know that our political establishment want it also, but what logic can you expect from them? Hasten the day when a gauleiter or apparatchik of the EU administers our affairs, for we clearly are not capable of doing so ourselves.

On a 2nd Lisbon Referendum

IMAGINE IF the Government lost a general election but refused to concede defeat. Imagine if they said that while respecting the outcome, they believed that the electorate failed to understand the issues, were misled by opposition parties and manipulated by the media. Imagine if they decided to re-run the election, threatening international isolation and economic collapse if the electorate refused to change their mind.

(sounds like Zimbabwe to me)

The above quote is from Mary Lou McDonald in todays Irish Times.

Compare and contrast this simple statement to the blatter offered by Dick Roche (and to be fair, almost everyone else in "offical" Ireland).

the fact of the matter is, your vote means nothing.

Hurray For Ireland!

We get to vote for the Lisbon treaty again!!

While the other sucker countries of the E.U. didn't get to vote at all, Ireland shows everybody whose boss by getting to vote twice!

In olden times democracy's used to vote on things once, or for elections, once every few years but not any more!

Now, thanks to the new improved "E.U. Democracy 2.0" (patent pending) most people don't even need to vote but if, due to pesky constitutional requirements, this can't be avoided the question can be put again and again, each time with even more terrifying predictions of calamity, until the correct result is obtained!

The new "E.U. Democracy 2.0" comes packed with features;
a) A compliant press
b) Scowling E.U. bureaucrats
c) Denunciation pack filled with zingers to put those troublesome 'loons' in their place
d) The 'Vague Assurances' quote card set and
e) The "this is real democracy in action" Mad Libs prep.

Also included are 100's of pages of an unintelligible treaty that no one really understands.

So what are we waiting for?
Let's get voting.
Don't worry about the result, we can always be asked again...

More Lisbon Treaty Threats

From todays Irish Independant;

This from a certain Ms Catherine Day:

She told a Dail committee yesterday that when Irish representatives at meetings try to voice concerns on issues other than Lisbon, the mood among other delegates is that "the Irish are being difficult" again.

This has led to the Irish having to "think twice" before raising issues, she added.

Ms Day said that the 'No' vote has meant that, for the time being, other member states tend to view Ireland only through the prism of the Lisbon Treaty.

"But I do not believe that Ireland's image has been tarnished irrevocably, provided we are able to ratify in a reasonable time period.

Those naughty Irish and their "democracy". we must crush them!

Anyway a quite search on the inter-web for Catherine Day brings up this page, in which it says;

Ms. Day was part of a reshuffle among Commission officials in favour of liberal economic reformers

and we all know how well "liberal economic reforms" are working out right now. I wouldn't trust these people to drop if pushed over a cliff ...

Lisbon Treaty Threats

Well the referendum date for the Lisbon Treaty roles closer and so the threats and insults are coming thick and fast from the YES camp. Bertie got the ball rolling last week when he announced;

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has told an audience in the United States that it would be an "act of lunacy" for Ireland to reject the Lisbon Treaty.

carefully forgetting that French and Dutch lunatics had already rejected this treaty two years ago.

Most of the threats are prophecy's of Economic Armageddon which involve all of us reverting to a pre-famine economic state. Anyone curious to see just how bad it could get should refer to the newly minted French and Dutch peasant class who lost everything two years ago and now live in corrugated iron shanty towns on the slopes of the Dutch cheese mountains overlooking the French wines lakes!

Of course if all this isn't enough to reduce you to quivering submission causing you to to beg for the chance to vote YES, don't forget that voting NO will reduce us to pariah status ensuring we won't get invited to all the best parties where the next Holocaust will be planned in our absence.

VOTE NO!

Undemocratic Europe

I received a comment on my Lisbon Treaty post asking me to expound on why I think the E.U. is ‘undemocratic’ so here goes.

First off I should say in general I like the E.U, it’s been good for both Ireland and Europe however, the original purpose of the Union, the EEC (European Economic Community), was to foster trade and cooperation between the member states. I don’t have a problem with this, my problem lies with the current agenda (as I see it) of creating a European superstate loosely modeled on the American one. The first question any citizen should ask is “will this benefit me?”. As a working class citizen of Ireland I have to answer NO to this. The second question then is “Who will it benefit?”. Since the political and economic elite are the driving force behind this then I have assume they are beneficiaries. Their interests are not my interests, a European army does not benefit me, neither does a European police force nor a European foreign policy. These are tools and toys for the ruling class to better tighten their gripe on the continent under the euphemism of ‘Tighter Integration’. With their backs secured they can then turn outward to "protect" their interests, to quote from the Treaty of Lisbon website

[the treaty will provide for] Europe as an actor on the global stage will be achieved by bringing together Europe's external policy tools, both when developing and deciding new policies. The Treaty of Lisbon will give Europe a clear voice in relations with its partners worldwide. It will harness Europe's economic, humanitarian, political and diplomatic strengths to promote European interests and values worldwide, while respecting the particular interests of the Member States in Foreign Affairs.

This statement is Orwellian in its brilliance. Do I need to point out here they left out the small matter of the ‘Rapid Reaction Force’? Empires off any age act only in the interests of the ruling classes. Neither European citizens nor the unfortunate targets of Europeans “interests” have anything to gain from this, we simply don't need it. I would guess the vast majority of Europeans are quite happy electing their own parliaments but see the need and advantages of a loose and friendly union to regulate trade and resolve disputes. I would also guess most people have little respect of the bloated bureaucracy of Brussels and Strasbourg and are horrified at the prospect of giving them even more power.

So onto democracy. If the E.U. is so democratic why is Ireland the only state holding a referendum? I would submit that they know the people of Europe would reject it and so they don’t ask. Is this democracy? Ask only the questions to which you will get the answer you want? Our politicians are meant to represent us “the people”, but they clearly do not. Witness Bertie Ahern running to Brussels after the defeat of the ‘Nice treaty’ to apologise for the Irish rejection of the treaty. The referendum was then reran some months later with a campaign based fear and the “correct” result obtained.

If any politician, local or European, truly respected the will of the people the Nice treaty would have to have been abandoned after the Irish vote (incidentally I think, again, we where the only country to get to vote on it). As it stands today the Lisbon treaty is a renamed European Constitution which has already been rejected by France and the Netherlands. Europe cannot claim to be democratic when it clearly is built on non-democratic foundations. From these sandy foundations what monstrosity will they create? I don’t want to find out so I'm voting no.

In the past year alone the benevolent E.U. has assisted in the partition of a sovereign state in violation of all international law. If they can do that to Serbia and call it good what are they capable of when they want to be really good?

Granting more power and autonomy to the E.U. is a disaster waiting to happen but I imagine most people will only see that when the Rapid Reaction Force is deployed within a European state.

Vote NO!

The Lisbon Treaty

I'll be voting NO to the upcoming Lisbon Treaty (a.k.a E.U. Constitution) primarily because I disagree with undemocratic forms of government. A European super state won't do me any good but I imagine the superrich and powerful will find it very handy to manipulate the levels of power from one central location rather than dealing with the many smaller, distributed and competitive levers spread across Europe. This opposition however, puts me in a very awkward position as it means I end up on the same side as people I generally think of as "loons". Take this readers comment to this letter in todays Irish Independant.

The Lisbon Treaty is The EU Constitution no matter how you may try to decorate it. The fact remains
1. Irish Constitution replaced & forgotten (God not allowed in EU Constitution) 2. Young Irish men & women will be sent to hostile situations throughout the world by EU ministers in the name of peace 3. Irish fishing waters (including coastline) will be open to all EU members. 4. Irish countryside will be regulated by EU which means hillwalkers will go where they please. 5. Irish Contractors will be regulated by EU. 6. Irish Banks will be regulated by EU. 7. Irish Postal Services will be regulated by EU. 8. All Irish citizens will be forced to carry biometric passports, driver licenses & ID cards. 9. Abortion will be legalised. 10. Divorce will be legalised. 11. Gay marriage will be legalised. 12. Euthanasia will be legalised. The Lisbon Treaty takes away all Irish sovereign rights & religious freedoms. VOTE NO

If I take the agreements one by one and see where I stand;

1. Irish Constitution replaced & forgotten (God not allowed in EU Constitution)
True: although God, god's or prophets have no place in a constitution. So while I don't want to see the Irish constitution made obsolete I'm glad there are no supernatural elements in the treaty.

2. Young Irish men & women will be sent to hostile situations throughout the world by EU ministers in the name of peace
Probably true: I would be against this and the use of armies in either foreign or domestic "policy".

3. Irish fishing waters (including coastline) will be open to all EU members.
The fact is all E.U. fishermen will only be happy when every last fish is extinct. In which case it doesn't matter from which country they come from.

4. Irish countryside will be regulated by EU which means hillwalkers will go where they please.
I think hillwalkers should be free to roam anywhere providing they lend all due care and respect while doing so. In fact it's an indictment that Irish law does not allow for this.

5. Irish Contractors will be regulated by EU.
Irish contractors are crooks and scoundrels, they will ignore E.U. regulation as efficiently as they ignore Irish legislation.

6. Irish Banks will be regulated by EU.
See Irish contractors above.

7. Irish Postal Services will be regulated by EU.
See Irish Banks above.

8. All Irish citizens will be forced to carry biometric passports, driver licenses & ID cards.
One of the steps towards a police state (a bad thing).

9. Abortion will be legalised.
This would be a good thing but I'm not prepared to vote YES to get it.

10. Divorce will be legalised.
Idiot, divorce is legal (albeit restrictive)

11. Gay marriage will be legalised.
This would be a good thing but I'm not prepared to vote YES to get it.

12. Euthanasia will be legalised.
This would be a good thing but I'm not prepared to vote YES to get it.

13.The Lisbon Treaty takes away all Irish sovereign rights & religious freedoms
It will take away sovereign rights but the notion of it removing religious freedoms is ridiculous. Notice also that the freedoms he is concerned about primarily involve restricting other peoples freedoms.

So there you have it, I'm on the side of religious nuts. Fuck!