Greece is scheduled to send two crucial bills to parliament in the coming days. One is the 2013 budget. A draft submitted on October 1 foresees 7.8bn euro in spending cuts and 0.5bn euro in new taxes, though those figures may now rise to a total of more than nine billion euro. A parliament source said the budget was expected to be tabled midweek.
More controversial is an austerity package worth 13.5bn euro in cuts and tax rises, which details where the hammer will fall hardest. The tripartite coalition in Athens is said to be still wrangling with its junior member, Democratic Left, over some of the labour provisions. A number of MPs from the socialist party, another coalition member, is said to be threatening to veto the bill. The government controls 179 seats in parliament and can afford a few dissidents in claiming a relative majority of 151 seats, but it cannot afford to shed so many of the ruling bloc's votes that it appears to lose legitimacy.
The prime minister's office had no schedule for the tabling of the bill on Monday morning. A finance ministry source said it could go to parliament by the end of the week. One Greek news website has it slated for Monday November 5, with the vote two days later.
More controversial is an austerity package worth 13.5bn euro in cuts and tax rises, which details where the hammer will fall hardest. The tripartite coalition in Athens is said to be still wrangling with its junior member, Democratic Left, over some of the labour provisions. A number of MPs from the socialist party, another coalition member, is said to be threatening to veto the bill. The government controls 179 seats in parliament and can afford a few dissidents in claiming a relative majority of 151 seats, but it cannot afford to shed so many of the ruling bloc's votes that it appears to lose legitimacy.
The prime minister's office had no schedule for the tabling of the bill on Monday morning. A finance ministry source said it could go to parliament by the end of the week. One Greek news website has it slated for Monday November 5, with the vote two days later.
We should all not only feel sympathy for the Greek people but also realize that the fascist chickens being raised by those who impose unfair austerity on the poor while coddling the rich will come home to roost, imperiling democracy throughout the West.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, it is hard to feel sympathy for a state that spends lavishly on its military and simultaneously asks forgiveness from its creditors.
Three rules for implementing a policy of austerity in a democracy would help: do it transparently, start with the military budget, and ensure that the rich sacrifice in proportion to their wealth, if not more.--William deB. Mills