I was halfway through a piece on taxation in general when I read this. For those who do not know, "Renua" are a new political party here and we have a general election coming soon.
As the article says, "Renua Ireland has promised to tax everyone at a flat 23% rate, including the unemployed, if elected to government." If you are earning a hundred grand a year, (€1,923 a week), that is probably music to your ears. If you are at the other end of the scale on €188 dole, then it scares the shit of you. My guess is that Renua have decided in advance which audience they wish to play to and the horrible lazy work-shy in society don't vote as we've all been told.
But I have always argued that the rate of taxation is less important to the individual than what is left when the tax is deducted. One of those guys above will have €1,480 left to live on a week and the other poor bastard will get €145 if Renua were ever to get its way. Party leader Lucinda Creighton defended the proposals, saying they were costed and its tax proposal was “non-negotiable” if the party was asked to enter government following the general election.
I encountered the luscious Lucinda one night in a TV station make-up room and there is no doubt the lady is a head-turner. But I clearly remember the idle gaze she threw my way and those eyes were measuring me up. She was calculating whether the new entrant could assist in furthering her career goals or was to be ignored. So she promptly ignored me. I was useless to her and therefore wasn't even there.
It will be enlightening to discover what constituencies will get the twelve Renua candidates though. None of them would dare run here in my area of Mayfield with a proposal like that and most areas north of the River Liffey would be no-go zones for them too. It doesn't make much difference though as I suspect the only votes they will actually get anywhere will be from Renua party members.
For the last three elections I have simply avoided putting a mark anywhere near the name of any member from an identifiable party. This leaves me the easy task of ticking each and all of the Independents and dropping my vote in the box. We will be voting 166 idiots in either way and we've seen what a majority of idiots can do us once they get organized. I believe that 166 strangers to each other is a far better recipe. It will make the Dail ineffectual and paralyze any agreement on anything. They'll fight and argue and then go home for their tea and the country will run perfectly without them.
They do fuck-all anyway.