Budget 2010 is the clearest statement yet that this Fianna Fail/Green party Coalition is absolutely determined to rescue capitalism from its crisis over the broken lives and living standards of working class people.
While hammering workers and social welfare recipients, not a cent was taken from corporate profits.
There was a cynical gesture to pretend that the government was also attacking the rich by a minor imposition on multimillionaire tax exiles. But with brazen arrogance, Minister Lenihan stated baldly in the course of his speech that the 12.5% tax on corporate profits would not change and was here to stay
Of 39 countries in the continent of Europe, only four or five have lower corporate tax rates than Ireland. Sweden’s rate is double Ireland’s while Belgium’s is almost three times greater.
If Ireland had a similar corporate tax rate as Sweden, it would have brought in an extra €6 billion extra in tax on profits last year. But the cuts and extra tax inflicted mainly on working people and the poor yesterday amount to €4billion. That is a deliberate political decision of a right wing government.
The attack on the level of unemployment payments is reprehensible. It amounts to a blatant discrimination against young people whose payments are to be slashed.But the cut of €54 per week for an unemployed person of any age who refuses a job offer is a charter for exploitation. It is designed to force workers to accept jobs on miserable wages as part of the strategy to cut wages right across the board.
Workers, public and private, need to unite to mount a massive campaign of opposition to this savage attack early in the New Year there should be significant and sustained industrial action by public sector workers to force the government into a U turn or bring it down altogether.
The trade unions should conduct a major campaign to mobilise all workers, private and public, into sustained opposition. We need to discuss urgently also the need to build a new major political party for workers, the unemployed and pensioners as it is very clear that the main opposition parties, Fine Gael and Labour, share the same bvasic analysis as the Government and only differ in the details.
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