AI gets morale boosts and all that jazz because to them, being human is already cheating.
Wait till you try and play on very hard. Not only will the AI units absolutely destroy you, but you will also be on everyones hit list. (I think they get +.25 Morale, you get -.25morale. Among other things with middle fingers painted on)
Example: I played England. Ate Ireland for free cores, declared war on Sweden to enforce a PU. During the Sweden War (They take awhile due to ai getting +100% defensiveness to all provinces) France, Burgundy, Scotland, Naples, Provence, and Brittany declared war on me. I beat back everyone except Scotland. Castille, Aragon, Portugal, and a few HRE minors declare war on me.
Now, being England this could EASILY be doable. Except for the Scottish Highlanders event being bugged. It is -supposed- to fire once every 6months. However, because for some odd reason this game hates my guts it has fired every 2 months since the start of the war. For those who don't know, Highlanders is a free 13 stack that spawns in scottish territory.
Because it is every 2 months, I can't effectively starve out that province. I basically need to wipe their army, then have enough troops left over to wipe their army again. All while hoping that the AI doesn't suicide rush my island again. (A favorite tactic of theirs, try and land troops from different boats while having 3-4 main battle fleets to distract my own fleets)
So, just remember, it only gets worse from here. =D