David McWilliams accurately reframes the debate on NAMA. The taxpayer is not bailing out the banks, the establishment is holding the taxpayer to ransom. Once the ransom is paid, we are told, the credit will start flowing again…

“The NAMA saga is easier to understand if it is watched through the lens of a hostage drama. The bankers, the creditors, the Government, and the old establishment who got us into this mess, are the kidnappers. They ruined the banks, but now they realise that the banks are their last chance. So they have taken hostage the shell that is the Irish banking system. They have a gun to the banks’ head and are claiming that if we don’t bail them out, the hostage will be killed. So they demand the cash or else they threaten to bring down the whole economy.” [The Irish Independent, 16/09/09]