Erin Go Broke! Oh, Brother!!

INTRODUCTION.
Well chalk up another letter and bonafide economic casualty in the The Five Little "P-I-I-G-S" acronym for troubled sovereign debt-laden countries in the European Union. One of the "I's" is now offensively labeled for my beloved, Ireland. The other squealing piglets are: Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain.

THE REST OF THE SAD STORY.
Ireland is broke. Their banks are bankrupt. On Tuesday, the Bank of Ireland ATM and on-line systems failed. The EU is ready to bail out the Irish with 100 BILLION EUROS to recapitalize their banks. Very sad. But don't blame the potatoes this time. Blame the potato-heads. Those who ran the Irish government and the economy into the River Liffey with their reckless "Celtic-tiger" policies of spend now and pay later schemes are to blame. And who suffers? Not the feeble politicians or the corrupt bankers but as always the taxpayers...the little people...that's who! Outrageous injustice strikes again.

For the last 25 years of poor governance and sloppy bookkeeping, there are many individuals to blame for the sorry Irish woes of today. But, in the world of what have you done for me lately, the two relevant poster children of bad politics pictured above represent Ireland's embarassing failure of today.

One's the current Prime Minister of Ireland, Brian Cowen. The other is the currrent Minister of Finance of Ireland, Brian Lenihan. Over the two plus years in office, they have demonstrated one thing in common: incompetence. Both compounded the generational governmental excesses by their joint furtive denials of the pending apocalyptic Irish financial collapse. The earmarks were evident. Numbers were alarming. Yet, they were ignored. The leaders could have done something before "hitting the iceberg." They didn't. Another pint please and full steam ahead.

On Lenihan, The Financial Times signals him out to be, "the worst financial minister in Europe." That's a damning statement in the competitive context of the other feckless financial ministers in the EU. On Cowen, The Guardian lays the hardwood on him, writing, "...Cowen is not blessed with good looks or great communication skills...his handling of the current financial and political chaos has been nothing short of a PR disaster."

Incredibly, these two career politicos represent a growing number of elected leaders in the world that have no business governing anything...less a country. How these foolish guys and gals become leaders in any country remains one of the throbbing mysteries of life to me. And it happens all around the globe...all the time. But we only have ourselves to blame, don't we? We elect these disingenuous and narcissistic scroundrels...time after time.

In Ireland, the deficit and debt problems have been mounting for years. The deficit for 2010 is the largest deficit in the EU at 19 BILLION Euros. A trivial number for us Americans whose deficit for 2010 is $1.4 TRILLION. (To put Ireland's deficit number in the proper context, Ireland's population is 1.5% the size of the USA.) The debt in Ireland exceeds 90 BILLION EUROS. In the USA, our mountainous debt climbs by the second, now at $13.8 TRILLION.

So what happens now on the Emerald Isle? Cowen wants out. He says Ireland needs a new government and fast. The bookies on Grafton Street are laying odds 11/4 that Lenihan resigns by New Years Eve. And the Irish Parliament votes next Wednesday on whether to accept the terms from the EU and the new banker of the EU, Germany. All the while, the vultures circle high above the Ring of Kerry.

Simply, the Irish have no choice but to grab the lifeline and change their carefree ways. In the deal with the EU, they have four years to turn it around. What happens if they don't? Austerity will turn to anarchy...that's what.

EPILOGUE.
Could the grim Irish problem happen here? You betcha. If we don't wake up now and address the gravity of our debt mess we will be the sixth P-I-I-G-S-usa. And guess who will be offering the lifeline to us, our kids and our grandkids at a grave cost? The big bad wolf that's who. "C-H-I-N-A". And they aren't too lovable...just ask (sorry, not allowed) the imprisoned government subversive 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo.