What are the Green Party up to these day?

[SPN]

Wow... that's a typically blinkered Green view... obsessed with planning and laying the blame for that at someone else's door.

There was a hell of a lot more involved in f***ing this country up. And the worst of it happened after 2008 in response to the crash... i.e. when the Greens were in the middle of Government...

The worst of it happened in response to the crash?

Are you kidding us?

Between 2004 and 2007 almost 25% of economic activity depended on speculative bank lending, using rezoned land and overvalued property as collateral. The day the banks stopped lending all this liquidity dried up, and all the jobs and taxes (and property values) that depended on this flow of liquidity dried up too.

The problem was our dependence on borrowed money for so much of our economic activity. The problem was the level of Government spending that was predicated on the taxes that flowed from this borrowed money. All of these problems were flagged up by the Greens long before they ever went into Government - and all the while (and even today) we have FF, FG and Labour Councillors still trying to rezone land, and still trying to get the bubble started again.

No point in whingeing now. The Greens had umpteen opportunities to pull the plug and prevent the saving of Anglo and the creation of NAMA...

They failed at every opportunity resulting in both of those abortions happening...

You may have missed it, but Anglo was confiscated from its owners and is being wound down. There was no "saving of Anglo".

NAMA, as modified by the Greens, has turned out to have been an excellent solution to the problem that needed solving. Let's just hope that the developers and bankers aren't able to persuade Fine Gael to nobble it before it finishes its work. They are spending a lot of time, money and effort lobbying for it to be neutered.

And you know the sad thing about it all... I actually think they'd a few good ideas and that they could come back to an extent, but not as long as the green troika remain...

The Troika that is paying one third of public sector pay and pensions? The Troika that is paying one third of our social welfare bill? That Troika?

There is nothing stopping the new Government from telling the Troika "we don't want your steenking money!" - other than the fact that Government spending would have to reduce by +/-€20 Billion, and the Country would be shut down by the Unions.

And to think that all of this could have been avoided if Irish voters had listened to the Greens in 2002, and had voted in more of them.

[wombat]

And to think that all of this could have been avoided if Irish voters had listened to the Greens in 2002, and had voted in more of them.

Or even if the Greens had not put Bertie back in power in 2007, we'll never know.

[SPN]

Or even if the Greens had not put Bertie back in power in 2007, we'll never know.

I think you will find that it was the voters who put Bertie back into power in 2007. It was either FF/Grn or FF/Lab, and my opinions on Lab are well known hereabouts.

There was an outside chance that a rainbow coalition could have been put together, and Trevor Sargent did try to set this up, but Fine Gael rejected it out of hand - which, with hindsight, was probably a good idea. Can you imagine how shortlived that coalition would have been once the Banks stopped lending and the tax revenues dried up.

[Scitlipo]

Hopefully drowned in their own ************************.

[ger12]

Wow... that's a typically blinkered Green view... obsessed with planning and laying the blame for that at someone else's door.

F***ing useless is what the Greens were, are and probably always will be... (and certainly for as long as Gormley, Ryan and Boyle are involved)...

And you know the sad thing about it all... I actually think they'd a few good ideas and that they could come back to an extent, but not as long as the green troika remain...

Wondering Spanner Island as to what the few good ideas were?

[ger12]

Good to see the Greens coming out against the Oireachtas Inquiry Referendum.

Why I’m Voting No in the Oireachtas Inquiry Referendum « Roderic O'Gorman – Dublin West Green Party

Greens call for NO vote / Latest News / News / Home - Green Party / Comhaontas Glas

[Expose the lot of them]

Good to see the Greens coming out against the Oireachtas Inquiry Referendum.

Why I’m Voting No in the Oireachtas Inquiry Referendum « Roderic O'Gorman – Dublin West Green Party

Greens call for NO vote / Latest News / News / Home - Green Party / Comhaontas Glas

The only relevancy the veggies have is to remind us of the damage they and the ffer inflicted on the economy, probably for generations to come. Everytime I open a gas or electricity bill, I deeply regret not knocking that gobs1t Ryan off his bike on the two occasions I had sweve to avoid him when he wobbled, helmetless, into my path.

As for the No vote, if they seriously want to promote a No vote, they should either keep very quiet or call for a Yes vote. Although I had decided to Vote No, the fact that this bunch of halfwits are promoting a No vote is almost causing me to reconsider.

[dotcotton]

And how do you square that statement with the actual recorded fact that energy prices actually fell during the Green period in Government and were lower when they left than when they entered. If you can't give them credit for that, then at least be gracious enough to recognise that they have nothing to do with rising energy prices now. Why does the truth always get sacrificed for political purposes?

[CarnivalOfAction]

...

And to think that all of this could have been avoided if Irish voters had listened to the Greens in 2002, and had voted in more of them.

And if the Greens had listened to the likes of this great man who died today:

In memoriam: Richard Douthwaite | Feasta

"He understood better than almost anyone else what is wrong with our current economic system and how we might transition to a sustainable economy that supports all of us...Richard’s intellectual contribution was enormous, and The Growth Illusion and Short Circuit will long be regarded as ahead of their time. My sympathies to his family and friends."

[Evil Eco-Fascist]

Two new books by former TDs. One out already and the other one is out in May:

Sargent gives peas a chance as former minister turns garden lore into book - The Irish Times - Sat, Apr 21, 2012

Without Power Or Glory The Greens In Power 2007-2011 - New Island