Greece Factor - Cutting Spending, PRIVATIZE HEALTHCARE and Don't Rais Income Taxes!

[GHook93]

What are they saying they need to do to get Greece out of the deep hole they are in.
(1) Decrease spending
(2) Reduce Government
(3) PRIVATIZE HEALTHCARE, transportation and energy
(4) Don't raise income taxes
(5) Tell the Unions to GO FUCK THEMSELVES!!!

Plan to Rescue Greek Economy Appears Near - NYTimes.com
The details of the plan have been settled in negotiations here with officials of the European Union, the I.M.F. and the European Central Bank. Greek officials close to the discussions said the deal would include as much as 130 billion euros in aid over the next three years at reasonable interest rates. In return, the I.M.F. asked Greece to cut public sector spending by 8 billion euros in the 14 months after the plan was adopted. Economists called that provision crucial because past reform programs by the government have relied too much on overly optimistic assumptions about the collection of unpaid taxes.

Union and government officials said Greece had also pledged to raise its value-added tax to 25 percent, to freeze civil servants’ wages and to eliminate public sector bonuses amounting to two months’ pay. They said the government intended to increase taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcohol.

Among the most significant features of the plan, a Greek government official said, would be a measure making it easier for the government to lay off some of the many thousands of public sector workers, whose low levels of productivity and high wages are a big contributor to Greece’s debt problem. Until now, the government has not been able to lay off civil servants, whose employment rights are in effect constitutionally guaranteed.

Another reform high on the list is removing the state from the marketplace in crucial sectors like health care, transportation and energy and allowing private investment. Economists say that the liberalization of trucking routes — where a trucking license can cost up to $90,000 — and the health care industry would help bring down prices in these areas, which are among the highest in Europe.

 

[RDD_1210]

You forgot to mention this part...

"Union and government officials said Greece had also pledged to raise its value-added tax to 25 percent..."

 

[Meister]

What are they saying they need to do to get Greece out of the deep hole they are in.
(1) Decrease spending
(2) Reduce Government
(3) PRIVATIZE HEALTHCARE, transportation and energy
(4) Don't raise income taxes
(5) Tell the Unions to GO FUCK THEMSELVES!!!

Plan to Rescue Greek Economy Appears Near - NYTimes.com
The details of the plan have been settled in negotiations here with officials of the European Union, the I.M.F. and the European Central Bank. Greek officials close to the discussions said the deal would include as much as 130 billion euros in aid over the next three years at reasonable interest rates. In return, the I.M.F. asked Greece to cut public sector spending by 8 billion euros in the 14 months after the plan was adopted. Economists called that provision crucial because past reform programs by the government have relied too much on overly optimistic assumptions about the collection of unpaid taxes.

Union and government officials said Greece had also pledged to raise its value-added tax to 25 percent, to freeze civil servants’ wages and to eliminate public sector bonuses amounting to two months’ pay. They said the government intended to increase taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcohol.

Among the most significant features of the plan, a Greek government official said, would be a measure making it easier for the government to lay off some of the many thousands of public sector workers, whose low levels of productivity and high wages are a big contributor to Greece’s debt problem. Until now, the government has not been able to lay off civil servants, whose employment rights are in effect constitutionally guaranteed.

Another reform high on the list is removing the state from the marketplace in crucial sectors like health care, transportation and energy and allowing private investment. Economists say that the liberalization of trucking routes — where a trucking license can cost up to $90,000 — and the health care industry would help bring down prices in these areas, which are among the highest in Europe.

Do you think there is a lesson that the United States could learn from this?

 

[Toro]

They aren't raising income taxes because nobody pays income taxes anyways, so instead they are going to raise consumption taxes, which everyone pays.

 

[Old Rocks]

Given that we are the only industrial nation that does not yet have universal health care, how are the other industrial nations doing? Are Taiwan and Japan going broke because of their health care system?How about Germany, France, and Canada?

There are a bunch of nations out there with successful systems, and many differant ways that they do it. It is time that we look at those systems, make our present beginning of a system into a universal health care system, and adapt some of the measures that save money while still delivering health care to our citizens. Then, perhaps, our health care statistics will move out of the third world and into the realm of the industrial nations. And we will not be paying twice as much for inferior care.

 

[GHook93]

What are they saying they need to do to get Greece out of the deep hole they are in.
(1) Decrease spending
(2) Reduce Government
(3) PRIVATIZE HEALTHCARE, transportation and energy
(4) Don't raise income taxes
(5) Tell the Unions to GO FUCK THEMSELVES!!!

Plan to Rescue Greek Economy Appears Near - NYTimes.com
The details of the plan have been settled in negotiations here with officials of the European Union, the I.M.F. and the European Central Bank. Greek officials close to the discussions said the deal would include as much as 130 billion euros in aid over the next three years at reasonable interest rates. In return, the I.M.F. asked Greece to cut public sector spending by 8 billion euros in the 14 months after the plan was adopted. Economists called that provision crucial because past reform programs by the government have relied too much on overly optimistic assumptions about the collection of unpaid taxes.

Union and government officials said Greece had also pledged to raise its value-added tax to 25 percent, to freeze civil servants’ wages and to eliminate public sector bonuses amounting to two months’ pay. They said the government intended to increase taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcohol.

Among the most significant features of the plan, a Greek government official said, would be a measure making it easier for the government to lay off some of the many thousands of public sector workers, whose low levels of productivity and high wages are a big contributor to Greece’s debt problem. Until now, the government has not been able to lay off civil servants, whose employment rights are in effect constitutionally guaranteed.

Another reform high on the list is removing the state from the marketplace in crucial sectors like health care, transportation and energy and allowing private investment. Economists say that the liberalization of trucking routes — where a trucking license can cost up to $90,000 — and the health care industry would help bring down prices in these areas, which are among the highest in Europe.

Do you think there is a lesson that the United States could learn from this?

Yes!
(1) Don't have a society that promotes laziness (probably Greece's biggest downfall.
(2) Don't over regulate your businesses, because then they leave
(3) Don't uncontrollably spend with no plan to repay it.
(4) The goal should be an efficient government with the least amount of government workers, not a large ineffective government with an over abundance of government workers.
(5) Cherish the private sector, not the public one.
(6) Don't tax the shit out of people to the breaking point.
Just to name a few!