Greed and self-service

[Mel Asher]

Here in Britain, the ' mother of Parliaments ' is experiencing a crisis unlike any in the past 300 years. The elected representatives of the British People have many of them successfully exploited weak regulations when claiming ' expenses ' so as to tap taxpayers' money for their own personal gain, over the years benefitting to the tune of many thousands of pounds. Clearly acting, many of them, within an elastic interpretation of the guide-lines, their ' self-regulation ' has become ethically quite unacceptable to the average Brit. Their actions echo the disastrous handling of Hedge Funds in the financial markets of the US and the UK which has been a definite trigger for Recession.

My questions are these : [/LIST]How is it that many institutions in the West continue to reward failure and mishandling of public funds, while the person in the street who picks up an wallet and fails to hand it in the the authorities is penalised by the Courts ?
How can corruption be countered if regulations are written in such a way as to benefit those who wrote them ?

I'd be most interested to read the views of members resident outside the UK on what is presently happening to our country.

My views on our present governments are quite definitely heavily

[The Conquistador]

http://arthurshall.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3746

This forum topic has alot of insight into the decline of things. Just thought I'd share it.

[ladyboyadmirer]

Originally Posted by Mel Asher

Here in Britain, the ' mother of Parliaments ' is experiencing a crisis unlike any in the past 300 years. The elected representatives of the British People have many of them successfully exploited weak regulations when claiming ' expenses ' so as to tap taxpayers' money for their own personal gain, over the years benefitting to the tune of many thousands of pounds. Clearly acting, many of them, within an elastic interpretation of the guide-lines, their ' self-regulation ' has become ethically quite unacceptable to the average Brit. Their actions echo the disastrous handling of Hedge Funds in the financial markets of the US and the UK which has been a definite trigger for Recession.

My questions are these : [/LIST]How is it that many institutions in the West continue to reward failure and mishandling of public funds, while the person in the street who picks up an wallet and fails to hand it in the the authorities is penalised by the Courts ?
How can corruption be countered if regulations are written in such a way as to benefit those who wrote them ?

I'd be most interested to read the views of members resident outside the UK on what is presently happening to our country.

My views on our present governments are quite definitely heavily

My humble contribution, Hi Mel,
We here in the West are all guilty of being complacent, thinking this only happens elsewhere. When we read about such scandals in S.E. Asia, South America, China etc, we accept it as part of their undemocratic or uncivilized way of life. When it hit Italy, we accepted it as just the 'lovable' Italian way and didn't express too much concern. We were smug too long and this 'exploiting of weak regulations', which is just a form of fraud, theft and corruption, is being played down. The talk is of a 'crackdown' as in the slapping of wrists, whereas the likes of you and I would be screwed for fraudulent theft.
I've worked in a few places outside the UK, Thailand, Philippines, Switzerland, Turkey, Spain, Italy and Germany so I have a bit of experience. Even here in what is thought of a faultless Germany, the motor and backbone of the European Union, similar scandals have come to light. Since years, politics are run by coalitions here, each party constantly trying to dig out the dirty washing of their coalition partners. E.G. some high ranking politicians were using the air force planes (that are responsible for official flights) for private trips costing the tax payers many 100's of 1000's of €uros. The war cry of this coalition (before the global meltdown) was, the working man has to tighten his belt to keep Germany competitive and secure jobs. But the first thing this existing government did was to increase the expenses of the politicians by some ludicrous amount and at the same time increasing tax on petrol and raising the V.A.T. to an unprecedented 19%.
Whilst I was working in Thailand, the ex prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, that the poor rural workers are now fighting for the end of his exile, made his billions through transferring his personal fortune to US $ while the Thai Baht was at its peak. He then let the Baht fall dramatically to an all time low through senseless, negative predictions of the Thai economy . Needless to say , he then cashed his dough back to Thai Baht. I only know this because the Thai business men talked about nothing else. A short time later, Mr Thaksin Shinawatra bought a famous English soccer club, I seem to recall it was Manchester city, sorry I'm not a football fan.
What I'm trying to say Mel is, all the politicians are crooks to some extent , regardless of where you live. They are a bunch of arrogant, snobby individuals that are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. What pisses me off is that these creeps forget, THEY WORK FOR US, WE EMPLOY THEM , not the other way round.

[ila]

I don't believe all politicians are corrupt greedy thieves. There are however enough that the public sees all politicians in that light. This greed is not restricted to politicians. Most of those feeding at the public trough, to some extent, lie about expenses and look for ways to get extra money for doing absolutely nothing. I can't say whether or not it is now more prevalent or if it's just that corruption is being exposed more.

This corruption will never be eliminated, but perhaps with the attention it receives it can at least be reduced.

[lacey_maxie]

I believe that this forum is devoted to ladyboys and their admirers,not the issues like public expenses handling.............

[ila]

Originally Posted by lacey_maxie

I believe that this forum is devoted to ladyboys and their admirers,not the issues like public expenses handling.............

This forum is open for general discussion as the name of the forum "General Discussion" would indicate. The forum "Shemale Chat" would be for what you are suggesting this forum is for.

[ladyboyadmirer]

Originally Posted by ila

This forum is open for general discussion as the name of the forum "General Discussion" would indicate. The forum "Shemale Chat" would be for what you are suggesting this forum is for.

Yes Lacie, Try to adapt that some members have other interests. As Ila suggested, keep out of here if you are not interested in everyday discussions. You are well represented in the other rooms. Rgs Lba

[ladyboyadmirer]

Originally Posted by ila

I don't believe all politicians are corrupt greedy thieves. There are however enough that the public sees all politicians in that light. This greed is not restricted to politicians. Most of those feeding at the public trough, to some extent, lie about expenses and look for ways to get extra money for doing absolutely nothing. I can't say whether or not it is now more prevalent or if it's just that corruption is being exposed more.

This corruption will never be eliminated, but perhaps with the attention it receives it can at least be reduced.

Good point Ila, hope you are right and thanks for your input. Rgds to Canada

[Be_my_nude]

I've been away for some time, and a lot seems to have happened in the UK in the meantime. Of course it was well known that a lotof fiddling was going on in the Westminster Parliament, but it is the sheer bare-faced brazenness of those who have been caught out acting with a total lack of scruple that has enflamed publiv opinion so much. I can't say I entirely agree with Ila. It is possible, with careful external auditoring and monitoring, and with a tight set of regulations to start with, to reduce the level of ' fiddling ' to a minimus, provided the penalties for deliberate deception are severe enough. The British Government has achieved none of these three over the past three electoral terms, and appears to be quite prepared to reward those who have blatantly had their noses buried deep within the trough. I can well understand Mel's anger and despair over it all.

The danger is that if the transgressors are re-instated at the next election, which looms ever nearer, likely they will ensure that there will be ways that they can continue ' milking ' the cow, so-to-speak.

I believe that only Draconian measures will sort out the mess :
1. No minister or member of Parliament should be sacked before the next General Election. This will prevent them being given the proposed Golden Handshake as a reward for their time in office. If they are then put up for re-election ( ' Crony-ism ' ), then the Electorate will be happy to see they do not get re-elected.
2. The Electorate should refuse to accept the nomination of anyone whose track-record is questionable
3. All but the most basic Expenses Claims should be frozen until the next General Election.
4. Any revisions of basic pay and the system for claiming allowances and expenses should be held up until the next General Election, and should only then be debated by a cross-party panel, none of whom should be MPs, or ex-MPs.

My final remark concerns Britain's membership of the European Union. It is a known fact that the Auditors of the EU accounts have refused to approve the accounts successively for the past 10 years at least. It is small wonder that the politicians in Westminster have sought to emulate the ' Gravy-Train ' achievements of their European counterparts. Hence the support for continued membership of the EU among the Westminster MPs.

If new Members of Parliament with a true desire to serve the interest of the country(s) are elected, and conduct themselves ethically within the framework of a properly revised and scrutinised system of claims and entitlement, well, then Britain might even stagger out from Recession without achieving Bankruptcy ! !

Ain't life exciting ?

[Vanillas]

Thank You for this thread. I hope it stirs forum members to hold forth on this, a refreshingly serious topic. But, if not, don't take it personally. After all, you are up against very formidable competition, what with the likes of masturbation fantasies and ball-split panties, not to mention that perennial favorite the inflatable butt plug. But I digress........

I live in the U.S. and no doubt you are aware that we have a very similar situation here. I don't have an answer except perhaps to ask Where is Robespierre when you really need him. As I write this, the specter of a former U.S. President and/or Vice President being indicted for war crimes is beginning to look like a distinct possibility. And yet if they are and even if they are found guilty, So what? I just can't see them being extradited or, if prosecuted in this country, receiving prison sentences. I share your frustration with the Law's inequity. Why is it that a man who robs a convenience store is salted away for ten years yet people who are responsible for the wholesale loss of other peoples' pension funds are given bonuses? The short and easy answer is to say that it is the way of the world and always has been. But sometimes short and easy answers are true.

[Marine_N41_432]

Originally Posted by Be_my_nude

I've been away for some time, and a lot seems to have happened in the UK in the meantime. Of course it was well known that a lotof fiddling was going on in the Westminster Parliament, but it is the sheer bare-faced brazenness of those who have been caught out acting with a total lack of scruple that has enflamed publiv opinion so much. I can't say I entirely agree with Ila. It is possible, with careful external auditoring and monitoring, and with a tight set of regulations to start with, to reduce the level of ' fiddling ' to a minimus, provided the penalties for deliberate deception are severe enough. The British Government has achieved none of these three over the past three electoral terms, and appears to be quite prepared to reward those who have blatantly had their noses buried deep within the trough. I can well understand Mel's anger and despair over it all.

The danger is that if the transgressors are re-instated at the next election, which looms ever nearer, likely they will ensure that there will be ways that they can continue ' milking ' the cow, so-to-speak.

I believe that only Draconian measures will sort out the mess :
1. No minister or member of Parliament should be sacked before the next General Election. This will prevent them being given the proposed Golden Handshake as a reward for their time in office. If they are then put up for re-election ( ' Crony-ism ' ), then the Electorate will be happy to see they do not get re-elected.
2. The Electorate should refuse to accept the nomination of anyone whose track-record is questionable
3. All but the most basic Expenses Claims should be frozen until the next General Election.
4. Any revisions of basic pay and the system for claiming allowances and expenses should be held up until the next General Election, and should only then be debated by a cross-party panel, none of whom should be MPs, or ex-MPs.

My final remark concerns Britain's membership of the European Union. It is a known fact that the Auditors of the EU accounts have refused to approve the accounts successively for the past 10 years at least. It is small wonder that the politicians in Westminster have sought to emulate the ' Gravy-Train ' achievements of their European counterparts. Hence the support for continued membership of the EU among the Westminster MPs.

If new Members of Parliament with a true desire to serve the interest of the country(s) are elected, and conduct themselves ethically within the framework of a properly revised and scrutinised system of claims and entitlement, well, then Britain might even stagger out from Recession without achieving Bankruptcy ! !

Ain't life exciting ?

Hell's Teeth, Bella, but you do come on strong. Makes me wonder why you joined this Forum in the first place. As someone who's just lost his job as a result of the Recession ( although I probably wasn't all that good in the first place ), all of what has been said in this thread comes pretty close to home.
Quite frankly, it's probably in a sense deserved. Brits ( and I am one ) over the years have become so smug and complacent they have allowed their political system to slide into an incompetent corrupt mess while scoffing at other countries' politicians ( like Berlusconi, for example ). People who live in Glass Houses . . . etc. Still as Bella says, only they can get themselves out of the mess, and it won't be easy. ( I shall put myself up for election at the earliest opportunity, and press for the State licensing of Brothels, among other delightful things )

Lust is better than Bust:D