Morning blog - 06 December 2010

Criticism, analysis, response: The BudgetJam live blog. Email your comments here or comment below.   

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12.57 I'm handing over now to Eadaoin. Thanks to everyone who sent material in and in particular thanks to Malachy and Alison for all their hard work. Bye for now.

12.55 Therese has sent in some budget protest events, organised mostly by People Before Profit:

Today, December 6th

Ballyfermot Protest Against The Budget, Meet At Kylemore Roundabout At 5pm

Rialto Against The Budget Protest, Meet At Bird Flanagan’s At 5pm

Public Meeting Defend Beaumont Hospital Against Cuts, In St John Vianney Hall, Artane, 8pm.

Tuesday 7th December

March From Parnell Square At 7pm To The Dail organised By The Right To Work Campaign

Wednesday 8th December

Protest In Cork City Against The Budget Meet At Patrick St Bridge At 5pm

Friday 10 December At 7pm

Spectacle Of Defiance – Communities Against Cuts Protest, Meet At City Hall Dublin

12.44 Eoin just emailed this article by Human Rights in Ireland looking at the likely impact of the budget on disabled people and their families.

12.36 The latest instalment in our essential cut out and keep guide to the crisis, Guess Who's Having a Good Recession?

Another name that springs readily to mind when we ask ourselves who is having a good recession is Colm McCarthy. The esteemed UCD economist will be familiar to readers as one of the architects of the ongoing reconfiguration of the state in the interests of national and global capital. As the principal author of the An Bord Snip Nua report, McCarthy advocated the serious erosion of the public sector. More recently, the learned academic has been devoting his talents to working out how state bodies built up with taxpayers’ money might be packaged up and sold off to commercial interests. For writing this pair of reports, McCarthy received a total sum of €70 000. From one perspective, that is a lot of money. The legions of the unemployed and underpaid in this country would be able to give it a very good home indeed. From another perspective, however, the fee that McCarthy received represents a pittance. If you were going to draft the plan to destroy some of the essential structures of your own society, would you not be looking for a lot more than seventy grand? I think we all know a certain Biblical character who would have struck a rather better deal.

One of the more bewildering – and ultimately ruinous – facets of public ‘debate’ during the boom years was the tendency of the fourth estate to regard all economists as the learned purveyors of dispassionate and valuable analysis. While this reverence for practitioners of the dismal science has been punctured somewhat by the crisis, some traces of it remain. Take, for instance, the unquestioning manner in which the Irish media simply accepted the status of Colm McCarthy as someone with the credentials to oversee the ‘long overdue’ ‘reform’ of the public sector. Does anyone remember a single journalist investigating, let alone challenging, the bona fides of the UCD economist? Among the various forms of public sector body that McCarthy has been invited to critique and revise is one that he happens to work in, namely the university. One might reasonably have expected that if someone were asked to reform third level education that such a person would be a stellar performer within it, an internationally renowned academic who knows what works and is worth holding onto, what doesn’t work and should be reviewed. Is Mr McCarthy an individual that resembles this description? Well you can judge by yourselves by taking a look at the rather understocked CV that appears on the website of the UCD Department of Economics. It would appear from this that Mr McCarthy is not quite the ‘expert’ that the media – mainly by omission and silence –would lead us to believe. In fact, the influential economist would seem to have achieved considerably less in a long career than many academics half his age who are struggling by on modest incomes and short-term contracts.

The apparent paucity of Mr McCarthy’s record of publication is of course a matter of rather secondary importance when compared to the vicious policies that he is wont to advocate. The prominent role afforded to the economist might be seen as emblematic of a much deeper malaise in contemporary Ireland. Time and again, we are forced to listen to ‘experts’ who insist on judging other people according to standards that they themselves will never attain, to ‘experts’ whose abstract and doctrinaire models take no account of how real people actually work and live, to ‘experts’ who know the price of everything and the value of absolutely nothing. The dismal scientist from Belfield is a striking case in point. Mr McCarthy has no real credentials to guide the reform of places like universities. So why on earth would we listen to him? Would you take advice on dental hygiene from Shane McGowan? Or financial advice from Sean Fitzpatrick? Or advice on the trials of marriage from someone who has never tied the knot? Actually, that’s a whole other can of worms…

12.17 Eadaoin has noticed some dire warnings of surveillance in the national paper of record. She has this to say:

There are a couple of oddities in this Irish Times piece:

'Would a coalition of the centre-right and the centre-left prove cohesive? Will Ireland follow Argentina down the path of myopic self-destruction and politically tear itself apart?

These are questions international financial advisors with multibillion-dollar foreign direct investment portfolios are asking political scientists in lengthy and forensic conference calls over the last few weeks.

The depth of Ireland’s economic situation is now known. The consequences of political instability are not. That’s what scares them.

There are people employed within American investment companies to watch the internet feeds of TV3’s Tonight with Vincent Browne and to listen to every edition of Morning Ireland.

They read the newspaper columnists and observe the frequency of their media appearances as an indicator of their influence. These are the perception barometers being used to measure public opinion as an indicator of projections for long-term political stability.

This is how the decision to continue to invest in Ireland is being made. In the new world we now find ourselves in, we are entirely reliant on the kindness of strangers who watch, listen and read the same news as we do. That scares me.'

She's probably quite correct in saying we're being watched, but I can't get behind her tacit advocacy of a 'Shut up and pretend to be friends' approach to politics because we're under surveillance. No doubt many would call me childish for saying so, but the knowledge that people from investment companies are watching what's going on in our press and making decisions about my future and the futures both of those I hold dear and those I haven't met yet to hold dear just makes me want to make rude gestures and blow raspberries at them. If that takes the form of helping to get as many people out and shouting today and tomorrow then so be it.

And the conclusion is pure TINA Going Forward cos WAWWA and All In This Together:

'If Ireland is to avoid gathering an unnecessary collection of finance ministers in short succession, as was the case of Argentina, it is imperative that the next coalition is a decision-making body and not a debating society.

Previous coalitions have been distinguished by ministers on solo runs and those who are against expenditure cuts in general while being in favour of nothing in particular.

An agreed process by which painful decisions have to be made will determine the stability of Irish politics for the next decade.'

We've done well out of autocrats who refuse to debate decisions so far, haven't we?

12.06 Thanks to our tireless correspondent Eoin O’Mahony for bringing this Guardian article to our attention. The feature focuses upon the efforts of the legendary footballer and wordsmith Eric Cantona to spark a revolution in his native France by inciting people to withdraw their savings from the banks tomorrow. I knew King Eric wouldn’t desert us in our darkest hour. In this youtube clip Canton cuts quite the dash as a sort of Gallic Tyler Durden. If only we had someone of similar calibre to lead us out of the desert. On the news this morning, I heard that Roy Keane has put his home in England on the market. And the current league form of Ipswich Town suggests the Corkonian will soon have a lot of time on his hands. Maybe the legendary Keano will be the man to take us to the promised land. Is it too much to hope for? Probably. And in any case, Keane always struck me as someone whose political views might lie a little closer to Boston than Berlin. Now there’s a line I could live to regret…

11. 42 One of the principal soft targets for elements of the mainstream media since the onset of the crisis has been public sector workers who are routinely denounced as ‘underworked’ and ‘overpaid’. This is of course utter, self-serving nonsense. Most of those employed in the public sector receive modest incomes – three out of five earned less than €40 000 at the height of the boom – and are rather more familiar with a decent day’s work than the tax dodging parasites who own almost every newspaper in the land. That having been said, there are a few individuals who are paid from the public purse who do in fact receive very extravagant salaries indeed. Among those living the dream are:

Padraig McManus, the chief executive of ESB, who draws an annual salary of €750 000;

David Gunning, the top man at Coillte, a semi-state body that featured on yesterday evening’s blog, who is making do on €417 000 a year;

and

John Mullins, the head honcho at Bord Gais, who must be fretting about the children’s school fees, receiving as he does a mere €394 000 per annum.

All three of these men attract, in other words, salaries greater than that of the US President.

According to a couple of the national papers, the government is now considering putting a cap on the pay of the chiefs of semi-state bodies. A certain metaphor about horses and stable doors does suggest itself. According to the Tribune, the new maximum salary will be €250 000, while the Independent pegs it at €200 000. But Mssrs McManus, Gunning and Mullins can rest easy behind the security gates of their mansions. The proposed pay cap will only apply to new appointments to senior positions in the semi-state sector. Which is, of course, only right and proper. Why would you want to take large sums of cash from people who neither need nor deserve it, when you could just carry on wheeling barrows of it to their door instead? It’s good to know that a sense of decency and fair play prevails even in these straitened times…

11.23  Therese has drawn our attention to an important judicial review today of the emergency budget brought in during the summer by our neighbours and creditors, the UK coalition government. The hearing comes as Labour's equalities spokeswoman, Yvette Cooper, released research by the House of Commons library which, she said, showed that women will bear £11bn of the £16bn tax, benefit and pension cuts imposed in the budget. This is a potentially important precedent for those of us on this side of the Irish sea. You can read more here.

10.56 Miriam Cotton brings us this evidence that the divide and rule merchants are planting fifth columnists:

An essay in total immersion on the cuts meme can be found in today's Irish Examiner under the heading 'Cut overseas aid and arts funding, say public'.  Divide and rule rocks, OK!  The Examiner has conducted a poll  and only 12% of its 1,041 respondents believe the government will make the right decisions. The cuts are a given of course.  So people are saying please protect the elderly, the disabled and children: three primary targets for the government aka the ECB/EU.  Signs are those are actually among the governments primary target groups.

10.36 Carole has spotted some more inspired political opinion in the national paper of record:

Someone with a more finely tuned Irish political ear than me might want to comment on Stephen Collins Irish Times column which contains such gems as:

'The big question is whether there is a real understanding on the Opposition benches about the kind of decisions that will have to be taken when they are in office.'

09.57 In the Irish Times this morning, there is an interesting article by Carl O’Brien and Joanne Hunt about some of the protests planned for tomorrow evening at the Dáil. The piece predicts that ‘hundreds’ of demonstrators will brave the elements to converge on Leinster House in opposition to the savage cuts planned by the Minister of Finance. While the estimation of the prospective size of the protest is less than flattering – if there aren’t thousands outside the Dail tomorrow then we really are in deep trouble – the rest of the article seems gently sympathetic to the various broadly Left groups that are organising the demonstrations. This is all makes me a little suspicious, not least because it has some echoes of how the corporate media dealt with the anti war demonstrations in February and March 2003. If that period offers a plausible guide, then we can expect demonstrators to be patronised with good will in some sections of the media as long as they stick to the script and engage in those timeworn versions of protest that ultimately never really seem to achieve anything. As soon as someone enraged by the austerity programme summons the nerve to look the wrong way at a riot cop in the latest castoffs from Poland’s finest then the inevitable and choreographed backlash of the mainstream media will begin in earnest. Watch this space…

09.24 One of the main myths that budgetjam exists to contest is the assertion you hear all the time that ‘the country is broke’. There is, in reality, more than enough money to go around. The problem is that too much of the wealth that we create in this country is stashed away in too few pockets and in too many dodgy offshore accounts. If the country is really broke then how come a substantial minority of people seems to be doing so well? In this blog, we will be tracing the various individuals who are making a fortune from the strip mining of Irish society. This attempt to name those who have no shame we at budgetjam have given the rather jaunty title Guess Who’s Having a Good Recession? Join in. Outing the tax dodgers and corporate welfare scam artists is really very good for the soul. And has been known to do wonders for the complexion...

Yesterday’s Sunday Tribune was a veritable treasure trove of information on those who are having a ball during the crisis. The newly minted tabloid version of the paper offered yet more evidence of the level of penury endured by our beloved Head of State during these straitened times. According to Tribune reporter Ken Foxe, the President has used the government jet at least nine times this year for internal flights. In spite of the prohibitive €2 950 hourly cost of running the plane, Mrs McAleese has used the aircraft to ferry her to such critical events of state as the Munster football final and a choral singing event in Belfast. In total, the cost of internal flights by the President amounts to at least €60 000 this year alone. Like most infrastructural projects under Fianna Fail, the building of bridges by the conscience salving token Northerner seems to have gone a tad over budget.

In the blessed words of Thom Yorke, I'm on a roll...

09.14 This is Colin and I will be looking after the blog until about 1.00. Please email any wry observations on the utter emptyheadedness of the budget and its coverage in the media to the address above. Thanks.

Among the many origins of this particular venture is a sense of frustration at the sheer narrowness of a public discourse in which radical and dissenting voices appear as endangered species. The purpose of this blog is to reveal and revile political commentary in this state for what it is, as an articulation of the myths, untruths and bare faced lies that, lo and behold, just happen to dovetail neatly with the interests of the rich and powerful. The budgetjam project is, in other words, an instance of the desire that is often captured in the somewhat queasily worthy ambition of ‘speaking truth to power’. The number of public figures doing this in Ireland is, as many people have said over the past few days, pitifully and unforgivably few. Sometimes you are tempted to look elsewhere for role models. On Saturday past, one of these emerged from the murk. In this exquisite open letter published online, a certain great, waning star eviscerates a certain old Etonian who now resides in Downing Street and who has had the temerity to claim the status of fan. If only we could persuade Damien Dempsey to etch a missive to the rabble that have the temerity to claim the status of our government…

08:58 Ok, signing off here. Europe still has not started its banking crisis according to Peter Browne on Morning Ireland. When did Ireland stop being in Europe? Oh that's right, Lisbon. Be nice to Colin, it's only Monday.

08:45 Namawinelake writes:

NAMA has rolled out its new business plan format to be followed by developers whose loans are absorbed outside Tranches 1-3 (yes 3, even though nothing was published about that tranche which was intended to be transferred by the end of September 2010).

08:33 With Budget 2011 being read into the record tomorrow, the blog is going to get a whole lot busier. We welcome accounts of the demonstrations / actions tomorrow, photos and tweets (#budgetjam) and emails to budgetjam AT gmail. All of these budgets are proposals by a government that has no mandate and has institued an austerity package that will impoverish a large majority of the population. Colin's donning the gloves for the next bit of our contunuous coverage.

08:25 Carole Craig sent us some emails last night:

Has anyone followed up the Constitutional question of bailout except for Rabbitte  waving the Constitution in Dail and Senior Solidarity Party (about which I can find nothing) in the Sunday Times.  Remember how much trouble going to court caused the EU treaties and if some one is about to do it it is a) news and b) would slow down (maybe) of national resources to meet bailout terms.

I am sure your bloggers know banging on pots and pans is a common protest against government policy in Latin America  -- unfortunately frequently used by middle class against governments trying to redistribute wealth in some way -- but if you look at Youtube video you can see that Call for a Revolution in Ireland has already changed the form...quite upbeat and celebratory actually.

08:20 Like FF, I'm going backward to go forward. Richard Curran penned a piece for yesterday's SBP that might as well have been written in 2008. I was thoroughly pissed that the surgical metaphor was not carried on. As I type Noel Dempsey just called again for politicians to pull together for the good of the country. Hasn't he read out Key Myths of the Crisis section?!

08:17 Here's the link to the Coillte sell off article mentioned later yesterday. It's disturbingly detailed for a Sunday paper article. Calling Naomi Klein, Naomi Kiein to the front desk please?

08:10 The Week in Politics last night had Joan Burton, Mary Coughlan and Fergus O'Dowd doing their best to talk about tomorrow's budget while not talking like electioneering politicians. There is something very odd about seeing Joan Burton retreating back into cliches when an election looms and is confronted by questions about 'choices' and 'alternatives'. Mary Coughlan tried to make the most of this tired cliche of driving a wedge between FG and Labour but both the late hour and the RTE News preview where she reeled out how deputies would be "taking a hit" in their pay cheques, I didn't have the heart to engage. Here is why: The week in politics is fast becoming some kind of dinosaur in the schedules where we think that we're going to hear some elemental truth about our political 'masters'. Politics is moving to the streets. I wouldn't even bother going to watch it on RTE Player, it's dull.

07:55 Ok, back up here now. Thanks to Gavan and the Sunday crew for a great day's liveblogging. When you have to put it up online, you discover a whole lot more to get worried about!  Morning Ireland's been clipping along for an hour or so and twitter was up early this morning. Hugh Green put the finest Conor McCabe article in front of me before my cornflakes:

In the course of ‘arriving’ the nation had lost part of its soul. It was more materialistic, and noisier, but the comforts and advantages outweighed the losses. Not all the contributors held this view, but the overall sense was one of a nation where the fundamentals had changed.