Fianna Fail Voters

nesf

gandalf wrote:

Care to quote me from their manifesto by any chance ? Because to be honest you are carrying on the negative campaigning that has characterised this Governments attempts at getting back in again.

In fairness neither side can claim not to be indulging in negative campaigning.

OTK

Other than family allegiance and local clientelism, I think there are two big reasons people vote for FF.
1 - They always win the most votes of any party so to vote for them is to back the favourite. After the election you can feel that your team won. It's nice to identify with a winner.
2 - There is a Faustian idea that when you vote for a clever crook with no morals that they will reward you financially. People say they are concerned about health and education but really this is just talk. They are concerned about money and they reckon that FF will do well for the economy because they won't be distracted by minor crap like the environment and corruption.

No revelation about Bertie's finances will have any effect on the vote. Another member of FF found to be corrupt? So what?

Remember the 1990 presidential election in which the FF candidate gave a press conference denying he had said something, and a tape was then played saying the opposite? Despite being proven a liar, he still polled more first preference votes than any other candidate and only lost out due to transfers.

39-40% of the vote will go to FF no matter what.

borg07

gandalf wrote:

Yes I am sure the people who can't drink from their taps in Galway will agree with you. I have met the man, he can talk but beyond that I think he is at the same level as Martin Cullen, someone that should be fired from government.

The Government allocated 21 million to Galway council in 2002 and they never bothered to draw it down, the people in Galway were let down by their council not the Government

gandalf wrote:

Care to quote me from their manifesto by any chance ? Because to be honest you are carrying on the negative campaigning that has characterised this Governments attempts at getting back in again.

Quoting facts is not negative, its just pointing out the truth.

Bank Levy - Page 10
Carbon Tax - Page 10
Petrol Increase - Page 11
Removal of pension tax relief - Page 5
Abolish treament purchase fund - Page 23

McSandwich

borg07 wrote:

The Government allocated 21 million to Galway council in 2002 and they never bothered to draw it down, the people in Galway were let down by their council not the Government

If that's true, why didn't the dept. of health step in?

Watch the video linked from here: http://www.politics.ie/news_index.php?topic_id=18933

OTK

OTK wrote:

39-40% of the vote will go to FF no matter what.

True.

And Labour will get 10-20% no matter what. And people whose parents voted Labour will form a number of those.

And Fine Gael will get 20-30% of the vote. And people whose parents voted Fine Gael will form a number of those.

If someone can identify the amount of floating voters that FG and Labour attract each election who are not core voters, but drawn to them by policy just for that election, then we might have the foundation of a debate. But otherwise, the old chestnut that people vote FF because their parents did is just a tired old cliche/anecdote rehashed as a point. I vote for them because of the North and the economy.

marie_85

borg07, are you aware that the Irish Times recently described the Green's economic and taxation policy as the most mature, the most equitable, the most realistic, the most responsible out of any of the parties?

I notice you only mention the perceived negatives.

Are you also aware they wish to cut VAT which will benefit everybody in the country?

Are you aware that the petrol increase corresponds to a proposed scrapping of the VRT and Motor Tax system we currently have and replacing it with a graduated tax which will take into account the fuel efficiency of the car, the rate of emissions and the size of the car?

Are you aware that the petrol increase will be phased in rather than just 20c lumped onto the price from the outset?

Are you aware that they wish to bring up the basic State pension from 30% to 60% of the average wage?

Are you aware that they are proposing to reduce PRSI which will again benefit everybody in the country, not just the high earners?

Are you aware they wish to make tax credits refundable which will help those earning the least in our society?

Or are you just choosing to ignore all of these things?

Seth Brundle

marie_85 wrote:

Are you aware that the petrol increase corresponds to a proposed scrapping of the VRT and Motor Tax system we currently have and replacing it with a graduated tax which will take into account the fuel efficiency of the car, the rate of emissions and the size of the car?

from http://www.greenparty.ie/en/policies/transport

Reform – in a revenue neutral manner – VRT and motor tax systems so that taxes reflect the level of emissions from a vehicle

reform is not scrapping!
Their plans IMO aren't fully thought out.
They are proposing to heavily tax a car that in theory is 'inefficient' but may not be used much, resulting in someone who buys a large SUV ut does minimal mileage still being punished for it. What about the likes of many newer large diesels which return mpg as good as many small cars? Their proposed policy doesn't reflect the polluter pays principle. It reflects the usual soundbite that we hear!
Will they keep lower taxes for those who want to keep their older cars thereby extending the life cycle of the car - Im not aware of any proposals.