BIFFO's Budget

A couple of weeks ago my grandmother and I were discussing the political situation in the Country at the moment, which basically meant that she was telling me which of her leaders she does and doesn't like.
"That Ugly fella, he's a very straight man", was one of her comments.
It didn't take me all that long to work out which of our legislators she was referring to. While Michael McDowell is never going to have a teenage fanclub and Noel Dempsey sets few female hearts a-flutter, I knew she meant Brian Cowen.
I'm sure Brian's mother loved him, and still does, if she's alive, but poor old Brian, with his chubby face, thick lips and portly demenour, he's never going to be Taioseach in this debased age where style is so much more important than substance.
When he arrived on the political scene first, he seemed to bristle with resentment that God had apportioned all the good looks elsewhere. He was known for his bitchy wisecracks and his sly put-downs. But as he's moved up the political ladder, he's mellowed more and more, and it seems the concilliatory cloak sits much more easily on his not unsubstantial shoulders than it did on those of Michael Noonan. Perhaps he's learned, along with Henry Kissinger, Robin Cook, David Blunkett, et al, that women don't care how ugly you are if you're in a position of power.
When the attacks on the World Trade Centre happened, Cowen admitted the government was not going to challenge the Bush admistration because Ireland was so dependent on inward investment from the US. It's hard to imagine Bertie, who can talk out of both sides of his mouth on the issue, trying to convince both protestors and businessmen that he's on their side, ever being so candid.
Fianna Fail backbenchers say that Cowen was always willing to listen to their concerns, unlike McCreevy, who'd always want some betting tips in return.
Bertie's claim that he's really a socialist provided a boon for semi-satirical bloogers like myself, but for Cowen it was giving a few hostages to fortune.
Fortunately for him, despite seven years of McCreevy's Sailor-on-shore-leave budgetary policies, the economy is in a good enough state for him to ingratiate himself with almost everyone.
It's actually hard to find fault with his first budget, and I'm usually good at that sort of thing. Joan Burton certainly had a go but it's hard for anyone to complain that he's not looking after the underpriviliged when unemployent benefit is increased by a staggering €14 a week, though much of this will get sucked up by higher rents, and allocates almost a billion euro for the disabled.
When taxes on booze and fags remain unchanged, it's clear that Cowen isn't going to alienate too many people, except the vintner's federation, who bizarrely complained that they should have been reduced, even though we spend the second biggest amount of money on booze in the world already.
Others complain that the threshold for stamp duty exemption hasn't been set low enough, though it's easy to see that such a move would enflame the housing market even more and lead to more hardship for house-buyers in the long run.
One of the most widely criticised moves was the failure to increase foreign aid to .7% of GDP. It's hard not to be sypmathetic with critics on this issue, particularly as most of the upper cabinet members are all around €1000 better off themselves, and we keep corporation tax low, which means we're effectively using money that could be used to help the poorest people in the world to bribe the likes of Bill Gates into setting up more factories here.
Keeping corporation tax low encourages a race to the bottom, so that when we reduce them, it means other countries have to follow, which means that we not only take away money from our own exchequer, but countries in Eastern Europe as well.
One day the EU will force us to harmonise tax rates, then where will we be?
One of the things that dissapoints me most, apart from a lack of clarity on reversing the "savage 16" is the failure to do anything to help us meet our obligations on Kyoto. Many countries in Europe are imposing huge taxes on bigger Cars, even some of the coastal states in the US are doing the same. It's going to cost €1000 a year to drive an SUV through the historic centre of Rome and Ken Livingston is considering doubling congestion charges for these urban monstrosities.
If Brian Cowen does something positive to stop the rising tide of pollution from these cars, then I might start to like him almost as much as my gradmother does.
And that would be no mean feat for an ugly Fianna Fail BIFFO.