THE influence of the fundamentalist Tea Party on the current budgetary impasse in the US cannot be understated and has the potential to plunge the world economy into further chaos.

AS the religious orders and the Vatican seem to be thumbing their noses at the Irish people, I suggest that we tax every cent of income that the religious orders receive.

I’M wondering if the government plans to tax the use of solar panels or if they have a plan to impose a flat-rate tax on the sun rays reaching the 26 counties and for those with solar-powered watches and calculators?

MINISTER Phil Hogan’s new property tax, however inevitable, appears to be premature.

GIVEN how many election promises are being ripped up to pay for the bank bailout, I propose a tax on political U-turns.

IN the Programme for Government, it states that in tackling the country’s difficulties “... both our parties are committed to protecting the vulnerable and to burden-sharing on an equitable basis”.

THERE is one possible solution to the Government’s difficulty in providing adequate funding for special needs education.

THERE has been much nonsense written about the speech that the Taoiseach made regarding the role of the Church and the Vatican. It was a speech that needed to be made, but the unfortunate thing was that Mr Kenny had ample opportunity to make it over the last 30 years— and didn’t.

THE latest figures from the CSO show that between January 2005 and June 2011, the price of the average new house in Ireland fell by 24.3%.

THERE was a time, not too long ago, when people would look at events in history, such as the penal laws in Ireland, and wonder how any society could really believe in such practices.