Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum won 3 non-binding contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado yesterday putting back in contention after poor results in Florida and Nevada and puts the front runner Mitt Romney under pressure.

While all the contests were non-binding they are an indication on how the delegates may be divided among the candidates at later state conventions.

In Colorado Santorum won with 40% of vote to Romney’s 35%. Newt Gingrich was a distant third 13% with Ron Paul close behind on 12%.

In Minnesota Santorum had a convincing win with 45% of the vote to Ron Paul’s 27%. Romney came third with 17% and was followed by Gingrich on 11%.

In Missouri, which holds its caucus on March 17th, Santorum won 55% of the open primary vote. Romney came second with 25%, with Paul on 12%.

While these are non-binding they will certainly invigorate Santorum’s campaign which needed a boost following the early win in the Iowa Caucus.

So much for a quiet month then …

Related articles

• Santorum’s hat trick jolts GOP presidential race (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Santorum’s hat trick in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri jolts GOP … – Washington Post (washingtonpost.com)
• Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri Final Results: Santorum, Paul Revive Bid, Romney Hit and Gingrich Sinks (ibtimes.com)

European Union (Photo credit: ana branca)

Nine Eurozone members want the Danish Presidency of the EU to speed up its work on a directive on a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). While there is much opposition within the Eurozone and wider EU to such a tax, the nine countries intend to use the community method to allow them to use the EU institutions to set up and administer the tax and allow other countries to join while not holding them back.

The nine countries are:

• France
• Germany
• Austria
• Belgium
• Spain
• Italy
• Finland
• Greece
• Portugal

The inclusion of Greece and Portugal is interesting as they are in receipt of an IMF/ECB/EU Bailout while Italy and Spain haver been teetering on the edge for some time.

There is opposition to an EU wide tax mainly from the UK and Sweden with Poland and Ireland also voicing unease about the plans, so do not expect these countries to join up any time soon.

The letter comes at a time during the French Presidential Election where Nicolas Sarkozy has placed a lot of faith in such a tax to win votes at home and is of course implementing the tax in France with or without the other eight countries.

Taxation remains an unanimous decision at the Council of Ministers under the Treaty of Lisbon, so even if one country opposes there will not be an EU wide tax on financial transactions.

Related articles

• New study shows a Robinhood tax would boost growth (liberalconspiracy.org)
• French President To Introduce Financial Transactions Tax (thinkprogress.org)
• French president Nicolas Sarkozy to bring in 0.1pc Financial Transaction Tax in August (telegraph.co.uk)
• David Cameron: I will veto financial transaction tax (telegraph.co.uk)

Image via Wikipedia

Continuing my look through the motions ahead of Young Fine Gael National Conference in Tullamore the next motion to pique my interest is one from my own branch in UCC. The motion reads as follows:

YFG believes that a graduate tax should be introduced for all college graduates as a means of funding their education and the present entry fees should be phased out over 5 years. Households with an income of below €45,000 would be exempted

One the issues I always have with USI and FEE is that they do not suggest an alternative to University fees while protesting against them. With the state of the economy at the moment it would be impossible to countenance the continuation of the free fees policy.

A graduate tax is a sensible  approach to this issue and  viable progressive alternative to fees or loans.

This will be an interesting debate at conference especially among members in college or about to start.

The others motions that have been released

• YFG proposes that an incentive for young farmers be introduced by increasing the number of training places in agricultural colleges – Laois YFG
• YFG approves of the process of fracking as can it can prove a viable energy source in Ireland for the foreseeable future – UCD YFG
• YFG proposes that the 1989 Incitement of Hatred Act be updated to include provisions relating to social media and social networking – Kilkenny YFG
• YFG believes that a graduate tax should be introduced for all college graduates as a means of funding their education and the present entry fees should be phased out over 5 years. Households with an income of below €45,000 would be exempted – UCC YFG
• YFG believes that it is imperative that the ECB renegotiates the current promissory note structure with the Government. It is in the best interests of the Irish economy, the ECB, the Euro and the European Union that the structure of the promissory notes system is changed. Failure to do so will create an unsustainable debt burden for Ireland, causing huge barriers to job creation and restricting growth in the Irish economy – YFG National Executive

Related articles

• What the Frack? YFG to discuss Hydraulic fracturing at National Conference (stephenspillane.com)

The motion from UCD YFG reads as follows

YFG approves of the process of fracking as can it can prove a viable energy source in Ireland for the foreseeable future

Clare County Council recently banned the process while in Leitrim and Fermanagh Hydraulic fracturing is being considered as a viable way of extracting gas that has been discovered.

Fracking though is quite divisive and already protest meetings have been held on the issue.

Australian firm Tamboran claims that there is 40 years worth of Gas in the North West of Ireland while opponents claim that that the Shannon Basin will be polluted which would have serious knock on effects for a lot of habitats down stream.

It will be an interesting debate in Tullamore.

The other motion that has been released so far are:

• YFG proposes that an incentive for young farmers be introduced by increasing the number of training places in agricultural colleges – Laois YFG

Related articles

• Anti-fracking demo in Enniskillen (bbc.co.uk)
• Hydraulic fracturing controversy: what a fracking shambles | Michael White (guardian.co.uk)

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

After the exciting initial contests in Iowa (Santorum), New Hampshire (Romney), South Carolina (Gingrich) and Florida (Romeny) which were at first wide open contests, February Republican Primarys will not be as exciting and the winner is nearly known before hand. While this may lead to some upsets, it is doubtful that any will occur.

Today’s Nevada Caucus is a perfect example. With results due from about 1am Irish time. Mitt Romney is expected to win by a 20 point margin, the only interesting thing will be what proportion of Nevada’s 28 delegates he will get and who will be runner up. A second place finish for Ron Paul could be a lift for his campaign.

The rest of the states voting this month also favour Romney as he carried them in his attempt at the Republican nomination in 2008.  Romney is could win a narrow victory in Maine’s week long caucus which began on Friday ends on February 11th. 24 delegates are up for grabs in the Pine Tree State.

On Tuesday, Colorado and Minnesota have their caucuses. In Colorado things are a bit tighter for Romney who is under pressure from Newt Gingrich here. Romney won this state in 2008 but in the polls before Christmas he was trailing behind Gingrich, but fortunes may have changed since them and the majority of Centennial State’s 36 delegates could go to Romney.

Meanwhile in Minnesota where in 2008 Romney won, he is under pressure from Gingrich majorly. In a poll last month for PPP Ginrich has an 18 point lead, but can he maintain it?  40 delegates are at stake in the North Star State.

On the 28th it gets a bit more interesting with Primaries in Arizona and Michigan. Romney only carried Michigan in 2008 as Arizona went for its own John McCain. He has a 10 point lead according  to an average of polls on RealClearPolitics in Michigan and has a good shot at a good portion of its 30 delegates.

Meanwhile in Arizona the last Rasmussen Report poll had Romeny with a 24 point lead over Gingrich. Arizona is a winner takes all primary with 29 delegates up for grabs and will be an important state for momentum as it takes place 7 days before Super Tuesday.

So with Mitt Romney ahead in most of the states voting this month it could be a tad boring unless there is a major upset, but it does give us plenty of time to look forward to Super Tuesday on March 6th when Georgia (76 Delegates), Ohio (66 Delegates), Virginia (49 delegates), Oklahoma (43 Delegates), Massachusetts (41 Delegates) and Vermont (17 delegates) all going to the polls. Lets see what happens

Related articles

• Santorum, Paul Looks Past Nevada (myfoxphoenix.com)
• Romney looks to solidify momentum in Nevada caucus (nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com)
• GOP path now winds cross-country toward ‘Super Tuesday’ (cnn.com)

The Campaign is chaired by Former Supreme Court Justice Catherine McGuinness. Its board also contains some influential people, including Fergus Finlay of Barnardos and Olivia O’Leary.

The Campaign raises very important issues and more importantly has suggestions to how they should be solved.

This organisation will most likely play a leading role in any referendum campaign on Children’s Rights.

So head along and find out more about the campaign.

More info

• Website: http://www.campaignforchildren.ie
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CampaignforChildren
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/YesForChildren

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

A lot has been posted about Mitt Romney’s win of the Straw Poll at the Iowa Caucus on Tuesday night. While he beat Rick Santorum by 8 votes, how many of his supporters stuck around to be voted as Delegates to the County Caucus, which in turn selects Delegates to the State Caucus which decides on who will get the support of the Iowa Delegates at the Republican Convention.

It is well known that Ron Paul (who came third) supporters were being told to stick around after the vote so therefore, he may actually do quite well on delegates here, if he manages to win a few a states.

The one good thing to come from the Iowa Caucus was the withdrawal of Michelle Bachmann. This narrows down the field of potential nominees, which is what these early contests are all about.

Remaining in contention now for the Rebublican Nominee are:

• Newt Gingrich
• Jon Huntsman
• Ron Paul
• Rick Perry
• Mitt Romney
• Rick Santorum

New Hampshire Primary is the next Tuesday  and will be interesting as Jon Huntsman completely ignored Iowa so that he could concentrate on New Hampshire. If this is a good idea is hard to tell as New Hampshire only has 12 delegates to commit in comparison to Iowa’s 28 has due to New Hampshire breaking party rules on Primary dates and receiving a 50% reduction in delegates.

For a full list of delegate numbers see thegreenpapers.com

Its still a long road to the Convention in Tampa, Florida in August.

Related articles

• New Hampshire Polls: Will We See An Iowa Bump? (huffingtonpost.com)
• Santorum To Collapse (lewrockwell.com)
• Iowa Caucus Results (pinkbananaworld.com)

For Part 1 see here

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan TD today announced the rest of Budget 2012. The main points are as follows:

• VAT: Raised by 2% to 23%
• 1.4c increase on Petrol
• 1.6c increase on Diesel
• €17.32 increase on Fuel Oil (to rise in May)
• €14.46 increase on Natural Gas (to rise in May)
• No Carbon Tax on solid fuels
• 25c increase on pack of 20 Cigarettes
• Capital Acquisitions Tax: Up from 25% to 30%
• Capital Gains Tax: Up from 25% to 30%
• DIRT: Up from 27% to 30%
• Corporate Tax Rate: To remain at 12.5%

This side of budget seems a bit more balanced in comparison to yesterdays cuts. While the 2% rise in VAT will hit the price of everything (including Alcohol, Cigarettes and fuel) it is the only swinging tax announced.

The Household Charge being introduced ahead of a Property Tax can be paid in instalments, so that should lessen its impact. Also the rising of the threshold on the Universal Social Charge takes the low paid out of the Tax Net which is a good thing.

Some of the cuts yesterday still leave some bitter taste. But only time will tell if the right medicine is being given to Irish economy.

Further Reading:

• Budget 2012 (budget.gov.ie)
• Budget Information (www.revenue.ie)
• Budget 2012 Day 2 Keypoints (RTE.ie)
• Budget Day 2 – The Main Points (theJournal.ie)

Related articles

• Budget 2012: Howlin kicks off two-day cuts and taxes plan (independent.ie)

Image via Wikipedia

Today we got a look at the first part of Budget 2012 . Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin today announced a series of measures that add up to the €2.2bn in cuts.

The main points that I took from today’s announcements:

• Government will reduce the size of the public service to 282,500 by end 2015
• €250 added to the Student Registration Fee
• Student Support funding cut by 14%
• Student Maintenance Grant cut by 3%
• No new post Graduate Maintenance Grants
• Community Employment Scheme: The training and materials grant will reduce from €1,500 to €500 per participant per annum
• Disability Allowance Cut to €0 for those aged 16 and 17
• Disability Allowance for under 25s cut from €188 to €100 if under 21 and €144 if under 24. Now same as jobseekers allowance
• Drugs Payment Scheme increased to €132
• The frequency of the grant for hearing aids will change from 2 years to 4 years.
• Winter Fuel Allowance reduced to 26 weeks from 32

There are plenty of other cuts and changes announced, see the links at the end for them all.

To me what stands out from this budget is the Disabled. Above I highlighted the cuts to young people with Disabilities, but on top of that there are cuts to the Equality Tribunal, Equality Authority and the Budget for Equality Proofing is completely gone. This is not how we are going to look after people in our society and allow them to live their lives with dignity.

The cuts also focus on students with an increase in Registration fees and grant cuts. We cannot tax our way out of the recession but we do need a knowledge economy we we want to get out the recession so cuts in Education make very little sense.

In these times it is understandable that the Government faces tough choices, and these cuts were probably hard to make. No one is ever 100% happy we a budget, and very few people will be close to that after today’s announcement. But as An Taoiseach warned us in his National Address, these are tough times and tough measures are needed, but they too need to be balanced. The problem with the cuts announced today is that these same people will be hit tomorrow in any announcement of an increase in indirect taxation, especially a VAT rise.

The Minister for Finance will deliver his Budget statement at 3:45pm tomorrow.

Further Reading:

• Budget 2012 (Budget.gov.ie)
• Budget 2012 Welfare Fact Sheet (Welfare.ie)
• Budget 2012 Summary (Citizensinformation.ie)
• Budget 2012 (pt 1): the main points of Brendan Howlin’s announcement (thejournal.ie)

Related articles

• Budget cuts announced in Republic (bbc.co.uk)
• Taoiseach’s ‘State of the Nation’ Address – “Difficult choices are never easy” (irishelection.com)
• Living beyond our means (irishexaminer.com)

He has resigned over the issue of the closure of Columb Barracks in Mullingar which is within his constituency.

He has issued this statement (from Politics.ie

)

It was regret that I tendered my resignation as Minister of State at the Dept of the Environment today.

Over recent weeks and months, I had made my clear unstinting opposition to proposals to close Columb Barracks in Mullingar, so arising from a decision that was made at cabinet today, I had no alternative but to take this course of action.

I fully appreciate that difficult decisions have to be made by the Govt if we are to get out of the economic mess in which we have found ourselves, but I was not prepared to stand over a decision that was not backed up by the facts and figures.

In the context of collective cabinet responsibility, and given my vociferous opposition to this proposal, I could not continue in Govt, and so have tendered my resignation to the Tanaiste, the Taoiseach and the Labour Whip.

I understand and appreciate that significant efforts were made by my Labour colleagues in Govt, who fully understood the depths of my feelings in this regard, to resolve this matter, but to no avail.

While I will no longer hold the Labour whip, I will continue to serve the people of Longford Westmeath as an active and vocal public representative.

While this will not make much of an difference to Government numbers, it may be a wake up call to Labour Ministers that at the end of the day its their constituencies that matter and with €3.8bn worth of cuts to come, it will be a hard time for them at home.