Joe Higgins just keeps on digging

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins continues to insist that he was entitled to use his travel allowance to pay for his campaign against the household tax.

This is despite a decision by the Houses of the Oireachtas Service that he was not entitled to use the allowance in this way.

Whining from the bottom of a hole that gets deeper every time he opens his mouth Mr. Higgins claims the he’s entitled (to rip off taxpayers) because the unfair system gives more to other parties than his.

Joe Higgins and his Socialist Party: Just another part of the rotten political system

Joe Higgins and his Socialist Party have lost all credibility and seriously damaged their integrity as a result of the Wallace and expenses scandals.

Their support for the tax cheat Wallace and their dishonest response to the ripping off of taxpayer’s money in expenses puts them in the same camp as the other zero ethical standard parties.

Joe Higgins in particular has been exposed, mostly by his own words, as a gombeen politician, equal in low standards as any Fianna Fail backwoodsman.

Let’s have a look at some of his mealy mouthed excuses.

This is a completely manufactured controversy designed to damage left wing TDs and those who are campaigning against the baleful effects of austerity on ordinary working class people.

It’s an attempt particularly by Independent Newspapers to damage us, to try to suggest impropriety in the most disgusting and underhand fashion.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with so-called conspiracies against left wing TDs, nothing to do with a so-called conspiracy by Independent Newspapers against the Socialist Party.

It’s about one simple but (to use Mr. Higgins’ word) disgusting matter – the ripping off of hard earned taxpayer’s money.

Most politicians are involved in this rip off; it’s been going on for years and is costing ordinary Irish citizens millions every year.

The rotten system was deliberately set up by politicians to make it as convenient as possible for them to rip off struggling and impoverished citizens.

The shock of this particular scandal is that supporters of Joe Higgins (and I was one them until this) expected more of him and his party.

Hypocritical quote of the week from Joe Higgins:

I despise hypocrisy.

What a joke, let’s look at some more of Mr. Higgins’ hypocritical comments/excuses.

When asked: Is it appropriate to use travel expenses to pay for the household tax campaign? (Reply edited for clarity).

I think any TD, who is in a minority in the Dail, supporting taxpayers who are fighting the tax is absolutely justified in taking expenses from travel allowance.

Translation: Because we’re a small party with limited influence it’s ok for us to rip off taxpayer’s money.

Have you used your own travel expenses to attend these meetings around the country? (Reply edited for clarity).

Yes I have. I believe that those who are opposed to the burden of austerity would be very comfortable with this modest use of expenses.

No Mr. Higgins, we are not comfortable with your so-called ‘modest’ (mis) use of our money. We demand you repay every penny and apologise for your dishonest behaviour.

Mr. Higgins has admitted that he could have paid his travel costs from the €120,000 he already gets from the party leader’s allowance which, of course, also comes from the pockets of hard pressed taxpayers.

But Joe and his party, in typical gombeen fashion, decided to plunder the travel allowance pot and use the leader’s allowance to fund party structures and policy development.

Well, that’s what they claim. Given their exposure as standard bog Irish gombeen politicians, they could have used the money for anything.

But the greatest hypocrisy came when Mr. Higgins was asked did he think he was acting within the rules?

The regulation that covers travel allowance that every TD gets is Statutory Instrument 84/2010 and it refers to travel expenses which the members, obliged to incur, in the performance of his or her duties as a member of Dail Eireann.

In other words Mr. Higgins is claiming that Oireachtas regulations back up his assertion that he and his party have acted honestly.

This in incorrect; the regulations are crystal clear and condemn Mr. Higgins for what he is – a dishonest gombeen politician, just like the rest of them.

4. (1) The amount specified in a particular column of the Table to this paragraph is determined as the amount payable to a member of Dáil Éireann as part of the parliamentary standard allowance for the relevant period in respect of travelling facilities for distances, from the member’s normal place of residence in respect of the distance referred to in that column, to and from Leinster House.

The people of Ireland can only cry in despair at the complete lack of honesty, vision and courage within our corrupt political system.

Copy to:
Joe Higgins

Joe Higgins joins the ranks of sleazy hypocrites

It was with a mixture of disgust and despair that I listened to Joe Higgins mouthing pure bullshit when challenged over the disgraceful response of the so-called Technical Group regarding the Mick Wallace scandal.

Higgins was, and I stress was, one of the very, very few politicians with any trace of honesty or integrity.

His reaction to this scandal has now exposed him for what he really is – a standard, bog trotting gombeen politician who is willing to sink to any level of hypocrisy in order to defend his particular patch of the corrupt political system.

He, and his confederates in dishonesty, were elected by Irish citizens in a desperate attempt to find some honesty, some accountability, some courageous leadership from the body politic.

When a blatant, straighforward, no argument case of pure political/business corruption was placed right before their eyes they could have stepped up to the plate and acted in the best interests of Ireland and its people.

Instead, they abandoned the best interests of the people by acting in defence of their own narrow patch of the corrupt political system.

I dont really need to comment/analyse any further on Higgins’ disgraceful behaviour.

His own words are more than sufficient to admit him into the sleazy ranks of traitorous Irish politicians who instinctively recoil in horror when asked to put the good of the country before their own narrow, hypocritical interests.

The Technical Group has absolutely nothing to do with this in any sense whatsoever.

The only group that I will accept responsibility for is the Socialist Party TDs and United Left Alliance.

In the Socialist Party we are not joining what is a chorus in certain sections of the media and some politicians demanding that Deputy Wallace resigns.

The fact that we’re not joining that chorus doesn’t mean that we take in any way less than seriously this issue.

But we also take very seriously the democratic rights of the 17% of the electors in Wexford who put Deputy Wallace into the Dail.

They have democratic rights in this and it is between them and Deputy Wallace.

It is not for other politicians or the media to decide who will represent them.

Copy to:
Joe Higgins

Joe Higgins: Last honest politician to join Gombeen land

There was some guy by the name of Paul Murphy on Liveline today claiming that the title MEP had been bestowed on him by Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins.

An angry caller to the show accused Higgins of gross hypocrisy for doing something he is constantly condemning other political parties for doing – handing out lucrative jobs to his own supporters.

Murphy, whoever he is, defended himself by making the following points:

He would use his position to help the people he represents.

If Higgins didn’t apppoint a successor the Government would appoint one of their own.

On the question of salary and expenses Mr. Murphy, whoever he is, said that if he didn’t take it the EU would. He said that most of the money would go to help his party’s cause.

The angry caller (rightly) said that this defence was beside the point, that all political parties could make the same case.

He suggested that Joe Higgins, if he wanted to remain true to his principles, should have let the job go altogether.

I agree with the angry caller.