Joe Higgins - Personality v Policies

conchubhar1

but they themselves are not communists

your post had de brún and communist after it - it didnt have gue.... - this group has a strong communist outlook

did it?

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oscar bravo - the thread moved onto sinn féin and then a ludicrous claim that they are still militant was made

i am refuting that - that is all - the post was made before i saw your comment

ChocolateSauce

I'm one of those people who likes Higgins personally but not his policies. He's much too left wing, but in this sorry day and age it is important to have someone who won't compromise his principles. That being said, he's in a tiny minority and he isn't a very good politician, so I don't see him as a threat to what I want. I'm just glad he took that scumbag Mary Lou's seat.

conchubhar1

how is she a scumbag?

did you ever meet joe? because otherwise your talking crap as you are against his policies and you think hes not a good politician

dinky earnshaw

ChocolateSauce wrote: »

I'm one of those people who likes Higgins personally but not his policies. He's much too left wing, but in this sorry day and age it is important to have someone who won't compromise his principles. That being said, he's in a tiny minority and he isn't a very good politician, so I don't see him as a threat to what I want. I'm just glad he took that scumbag Mary Lou's seat.

You must be joking Higgins i'snt a very good politician. How did he get ellected witout the backing of a major party or interest group. A politician willing to go to prison for his beliefs rather than looking out for number 1.


How would you describe a good politician????

P. Breathnach

dinky earnshaw wrote: »

You must be joking Higgins i'snt a very good politician. How did he get ellected witout the backing of a major party or interest group. A politician willing to go to prison for his beliefs rather than looking out for number 1.

How would you describe a good politician????

If the ability to get elected is the criterion, then Bertie is a good politician.

If the ability to get elected without a party structure is the criterion, then Jackie Healy-Rae is a good politician.

If a willingness to go to prison for a cause is the criterion, then SF is a party full of good politicians.

My criterion, however, is different: the ability to make people's lives better.

Raskolnikov

The man is absolutely crackers and anyone who voted him in based on his personality is equally so. Have any of his non-socialist voters even read his manifesto?

• He opposes Lisbon
• He is against public sector paycuts and the pension levy
• He wants a single party government (perferably with him at the head I suppose!)
• He wants to nationalise the banks and their hundreds of billions of toxic debt
• He wants to nationalise failing businesses and their liabilities

People berate Sinn Féin, but Joe Higgins makes them look positively centrist! The worst thing is that when we have Dail elections, he's simply going to have a Socialist Party member co-opt his seat, so all these numpties who voted for Joe will have wasted their vote.

dinky earnshaw

P. Breathnach wrote: »

If the ability to get elected is the criterion, then Bertie is a good politician.

If the ability to get elected without a party structure is the criterion, then Jackie Healy-Rae is a good politician.

If a willingness to go to prison for a cause is the criterion, then SF is a party full of good politicians.

My criterion, however, is different: the ability to make people's lives better.

So by your criterion all of the above are good politicians as they have all made peoples lives better. Bertie and Sf for there contribution to the peace process and good aul Jackie fixed the potholes and saved the supension of my car on last years trip around kerry.
Lets face it Joe's as far left as we get here in Ireland but its good to hear some opposition to the right wing free marketeers who got us into the mess where in now.

Het-Field

Raskolnikov wrote: »

The man is absolutely crackers and anyone who voted him in based on his personality is equally so. Have any of his non-socialist voters even read his manifesto?

• He opposes Lisbon
• He is against public sector paycuts and the pension levy
• He wants a single party government (perferably with him at the head I suppose!)
• He wants to nationalise the banks and their hundreds of billions of toxic debt
• He wants to nationalise failing businesses and their liabilities

People berate Sinn Féin, but Joe Higgins makes them look positively centrist! The worst thing is that when we have Dail elections, he's simply going to have a Socialist Party member co-opt his seat, so all these numpties who voted for Joe will have wasted their vote.

Better then having him in a domestic setting. I would rather Eoin Ryan to take a seat in the National Parliment then Higgins (Regardless of my current attitude to the Government, and the major party of it). Higgins politics are mad, most notibly (as you have mentioned) his calls to nationalise Sr Techincs, and Waterford Crystal. We would drive the country into a situation where we could compete with Ethiopa or Sudan as the "most third world country there is".

Ryan was waffling on about all the jobs that would come from Brussels by vitue of his election to the EP. Both MLM, and Pat Cox (both coming from opposite ends of the spectrum) made the point that there was no "white knight" solution sitting on a shelf in the EP vis-a-vis job creation. This ticked people off no end, and I heard it on the doorsteps.

P. Breathnach

dinky earnshaw wrote: »

So by your criterion all of the above are good politicians as they have all made peoples lives better. Bertie and Sf for there contribution to the peace process and good aul Jackie fixed the potholes and saved the supension of my car on last years trip around kerry.

I reckon the total effect of a person's political contribution, otherwise
- SF would get credit for stopping PIRA action without having to accept responsibility for any of it
- Bertie would get (deserved) credit for his contribution and escape blame for his contribution to wrecking the economy
- Jackie Healy-Rae would get credit for distorting the allocation of government funds to the advantage of his constituents without being blamed for drawing those resources away from everybody else.

So, no, I don't rate them very highly.

Lets face it Joe's as far left as we get here in Ireland but its good to hear some opposition to the right wing free marketeers who got us into the mess where in now.

I would be happy to see some of the right wing nutcases confronted and beaten back. But I don't think Joe's political position suits the need, and I think that it will not be long until people recognise that he has nothing constructive to offer (he has some value as a critic of bad practice, but that's relatively easy).

dinky earnshaw

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I reckon the total effect of a person's political contribution, otherwise
- SF would get credit for stopping PIRA action without having to accept responsibility for any of it
- Bertie would get (deserved) credit for his contribution and escape blame for his contribution to wrecking the economy
- Jackie Healy-Rae would get credit for distorting the allocation of government funds to the advantage of his constituents without being blamed for drawing those resources away from everybody else.

So, no, I don't rate them very highly.



I would be happy to see some of the right wing nutcases confronted and beaten back. But I don't think Joe's political position suits the need, and I think that it will not be long until people recognise that he has nothing constructive to offer (he has some value as a critic of bad practice, but that's relatively easy).

Out of intrest who do you rate highly ???

P. Breathnach

dinky earnshaw wrote: »

Out of intrest who do you rate highly ???

Good question. I need time to think about that.

conchubhar1

he will work for his constitieunts - that much is painfully obvious

if you dont value his policies, you didnt vote for him - well thats politics.