Ireland- Live Register breaks 200,000 for first time this decade-Unemployment rate now 5.4%

The number of people signing on the dole for unemployment rose by 47,746 in the 12 months to the end of May. This is the highest level since January 1999.

New CSO figures just issued show that when adjusted for seasonal factors, the register rose to 207,300 in May. That's up 7,600 on figures for April and over 47,000 higher than May 2007. These figures indicate a massive 30% increase in one year as Ireland dips into recession. Job losses are now spread across the whole economy, not just the housing sector.
Ireland’s unemployment rate now stands at 5.4% - a half percentage point higher than at the start of the year.

The May Exchequer Return figures show that Ireland is headed for a €3 billion shortfall in taxes - on top of an already planned-for €5 billion Government deficit this year.
There has been a €10 billion reversal in our public finances. Ireland had a €2 billion surplus in 2006. Over the last two years the Government has increased its day-to-day spending by 65%. It must attempt to curb the increase in public expenditure at a time when unemployment has breached the psychologically important 200,000 barrier. It now has the worst of all worlds. Planned cuts will be painful and will trigger a backlash.


The massive increase in public expenditure contributed to the feel good factor, which helped to propel FF to election success in 2007. It is now time for retrenchment.
The 2007 General Election was the election to lose. FG and Labour politicians will thank their lucky stars.

Huckabee is a progressive conservative who looks to the future

Mike Huckabee supports the Fair Tax. A President Huckabee would be a tax cutter. The Fair Tax will instantly make American products 12 to 25% more competitive because the cost of those goods will no longer be inflated by corporate taxes, costs of tax compliance, and Social Security matching payments. The alternative is the status quo, which will ensure Chinese dominance within 20 years.


Huckabee faced a $200 million shortfall in 2002 in Arkansas. He left a surplus of nearly $850 million, which he urged should go back to the people in the form of tax cuts. Students made real achievement gains - not just on state tests but also the more challenging National Assessment of Educational Progress - during his term as governor. He worked hard to secure badly needed improvements to the state's highway and road infrastructure. Mike Huckabee was a Republican governor in a Democratic state, with a constitution that restricted the power he could wield on his own. He did exceptionally well.

Bob Novak criticized Mike Huckabee for a “47 percent increase in state tax burden.” But during Huckabee’s years in office, total state tax burden — all 50 states combined — rose by twice as much: 98 percent, increasing from $743 billion in 1993 to $1.47 trillion in 2005.[Source for this statistic –Dick Morris]

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