Greece tells banking cartel STICK IT

[Synthaholic]

The opposite. He has added to the debt at a rate that makes drunken sailors blush.

Other than the stimulus, which was 1/3 tax cuts, he hasn't spent anything - the GOP House won't let him.

Strike 3, dope - you're out!

 

[Synthaholic]

Debt was 10T when Bush left office

What was it when he entered office?

 

[Steinlight]

The opposite. He has added to the debt at a rate that makes drunken sailors blush.

Other than the stimulus, which was 1/3 tax cuts, he hasn't spent anything - the GOP House won't let him.

Strike 3, dope - you're out!

You don't understand how government works. You realize that Congress writes legislation, and the President signs bills written by Congress into law?

 

[Synthaholic]

The opposite. He has added to the debt at a rate that makes drunken sailors blush.

Other than the stimulus, which was 1/3 tax cuts, he hasn't spent anything - the GOP House won't let him.

Strike 3, dope - you're out!

You don't understand how government works. You realize that Congress writes legislation, and the President signs bills written by Congress into law?

Correct. What legislation has the GOP House, under Boehner, written to raise revenue toward paying off the debt?

They've had since 2011.

 

[Steinlight]

The opposite. He has added to the debt at a rate that makes drunken sailors blush.

Other than the stimulus, which was 1/3 tax cuts, he hasn't spent anything - the GOP House won't let him.

Strike 3, dope - you're out!

You don't understand how government works. You realize that Congress writes legislation, and the President signs bills written by Congress into law?

Correct. What legislation has the GOP House, under Boehner, written to raise revenue toward paying off the debt?

They've had since 2011.

They have written continuing resolutions, which the president has signed into law. So to say the President "hasn't spent anything", is patently false.

 

[Katzndogz]

Greece voted not to pay its creditors and have Germany give them more money.

That will be a fun one.

 

[Synthaholic]

The opposite. He has added to the debt at a rate that makes drunken sailors blush.

Other than the stimulus, which was 1/3 tax cuts, he hasn't spent anything - the GOP House won't let him.

Strike 3, dope - you're out!

You don't understand how government works. You realize that Congress writes legislation, and the President signs bills written by Congress into law?

Correct. What legislation has the GOP House, under Boehner, written to raise revenue toward paying off the debt?

They've had since 2011.

They have written continuing resolutions, which the president has signed into law. So to say the President "hasn't spent anything", is patently false.

Are you talking about bills to fund the people's government?

Or are you talking about big money Obama projects that cost trillions? Because there aren't any of those.

 

[Steinlight]

The opposite. He has added to the debt at a rate that makes drunken sailors blush.

Other than the stimulus, which was 1/3 tax cuts, he hasn't spent anything - the GOP House won't let him.

Strike 3, dope - you're out!

You don't understand how government works. You realize that Congress writes legislation, and the President signs bills written by Congress into law?

Correct. What legislation has the GOP House, under Boehner, written to raise revenue toward paying off the debt?

They've had since 2011.

They have written continuing resolutions, which the president has signed into law. So to say the President "hasn't spent anything", is patently false.

Are you talking about bills to fund the people's government?

Or are you talking about big money Obama projects that cost trillions? Because there aren't any of those.

Continuing Resolutions to fund the government cost trillions, and Obama signs them.

Seven and half trillion dollars in debt since he entered office is a "big money project".

 

[IsaacNewton]

Huge deficits and debt all of Reagan and Bush Sr. years. Gigantic deficits and debt Bush Jr. years.

Deficits greatly reduced and surpluses gained during Clinton years. Deficits greatly reduced during Obama years.

See a pattern? Republicans CLAIM to know economics but they always increase the deficit and debt. Democrats always reduce the deficit.

The meme that conservatives constantly throw out that Democrats, and specifically Obama, have added tremendous debt, are utterly false. Clinton and Obama both have been handed huge deficits by their Republican predecessors and they have consistently cut spending and cut the deficit.

But conservatives still live in the Faux News/Fish Dimbaugh bubble of lies.

 

[Toro]

The "knife that Greece had to it's throat" was of it's own making. The alleged "fascist" banking cartel would offer liberal debit conditions to a bankrupt country. What other offers does the country consider? Russia would probably give them a good deal.

All debt everywhere is 'of its own making'.

And part of the point is, if Europe can turn their back on the cradle of democracy and have them even THINK of going to Russia for help, there is something very wrong with this picture.

Greece in fact should be demanding the derivatives criminals on Wall Street who, with Bush and the Republicans, created the 2008 crash that caused this worldwide misery to pay the bill. But of course the IMF wouldn't think of asking 'some of their own' to be held accountable for their actions.

It was in fact a knife being held to the throat of the Greek people. And they said 'fuck off'. Good for them.

European democracies have lost their way, and it is the financial institutes that are responsible.

So which European banks put a knife to the throats of the Greeks to borrow so much? Which European banks forced Greece to join a currency union they had no business joining?

 

[Toro]

The IMF has a long history of forcing economic policy that makes a country vulnerable to multinational corporations and banks and places much of the burden on a country's poorest and most vulnerable citizens. I am glad someone finally told them to keep their money and their strings.

The IMF is a bit player in this.

I know its easy and fun and appeals to your ideology to demonize the likes of the IMF and the World Bank, but it is the eurozone governments which have bailed out the Greeks.

Greece has no business being a part of the euro. They should default and leave the eurozone.

 

[Toro]

Conservatives cry 'socialism' about every single thing under the sun. It used to be 'communism', but that got stale. Next year who knows what it will be.

What we know for sure is Bush and the Republicans destroyed the world economy in 2008 and we've had to climb every so slowly out of that gigantic pit. Yet these same loser now want to tell others how to handle finances.

Mental, illness.

Because it is.

Look you can't look at government giving a country a loan... and then claim socialism isn't the cause. It's socialism.

The private market wouldn't give money to Greece, specifically because they knew it was a bad deal.

You people just make up whatever facts you want, to support the claims you have already determined to be true, exempt from factual evidence.

The eurozone governments did not lend money to Greece. The loans were originally made by the private banks. However, when Greece went bust, the European banks would have also been bust, so the governments backstopped Greek debt and created programs which allowed the banks to offload their Greek (and other PIIGS) debt. The privately held debt was then transferred to these quasi-governmental institutions, which is why so much of the Greek debt is held by European governments today.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Greece voted down the knife that international banks had to their throat.

The Greeks are looking at tough times no matter how they voted, so the birthplace of Democracy kicked the fascist international banks in the face and they've said in one loud voice you aren't going to turn us into slaves.
Now those very banks will be FORCED to negotiate a more equitable settlement and payment package because they have no choice

For Europe to even put the oldest democracy in such jeopardy, while insane entities like Isis watch, is beyond unforgivable. You can't squeeze blood from an orange. No matter what, the various financial institutions HAVE to work out a deal with the Greeks.

I applaud the Greeks for standing their ground. They will climb out of this financial disaster, like America has had to climb out of the Bush/Republican financial disaster handed to it in 2008, and come out whole.

What they did today was give notice that you 'don't f#$k with democracy'.

The Greeks are only in the situation they're in because their own politicians are corrupt and useless. They had plenty of chances to sort their lives out, they didn't, and now they're in this mess. What choice did the banks have? Greece was taking the piss.

 

[Toro]

Good! I was hoping this is what would happen. Golden Dawn was hoping for a NO as was UKIP among others. Hopefully this destroys the EU. A real big FUCK YOU to the Rothschilds.

You're an idiot.

 

[Missourian]

The left-wing always pulls out the biggest sword, swings it as hard as it can, only to slice off their own head. Greece is the latest victim of socialist suicide.

USMB quote of the day.

 

[danzuc74]

They shouldn't have accepted the bailout in 2010, and instead followed Iceland by jailing the bankers and letting the banks default on their own mistakes.

But what is done is done, and I hope that they manage to get out the abyss.

The IMF/ECB plan was a joke, and it would have not only forced taxpayers across Europe to fund a money hole, but forced Greeks to sell the country off and eventually default on their debt anyway - making a bigger money hole than if they default this year.

If it I was up to me, I wouldn't have let it get this far. It would have been better to not intervene at all than push a bailout that Greeks couldn't afford to pay, with conditions so insane that they could only plunge Greece into economic depression and a debt spiral.

The politicians in the European Union were idiots, as were the economists and bureaucrats who pushed more and more demands on Greece for the bailout, forcing the collapse of the Greek government - because the demands had reached the limit of what Greeks were prepared to accept. Syriza and the collapse of the bailout deal is the result.

I agree with you.

 

[Missourian]

Y'all might call it something fancy like "Irrational escalation of commitment" or "Sunk costs fallacy"...but in the South, we call it throwing good money after bad.

Eventually, you have to cut you losses rather than incur more losses in a lost cause.

 

[Linkiloo]

As a European myself, I will be thrilled if, this week, Greece is out of the Euro. The bastards actually called Germans terrorists and accused Germany of causing a social holocaust, just because those lazy buggers are not able to earn enough to support themselves.

Cradle of civilisation, my arse. They think they deserve something for nothing. No. We will no longer be funding then, just "because".

Fuck them.

 

[Andylusion]

Conservatives cry 'socialism' about every single thing under the sun. It used to be 'communism', but that got stale. Next year who knows what it will be.

What we know for sure is Bush and the Republicans destroyed the world economy in 2008 and we've had to climb every so slowly out of that gigantic pit. Yet these same loser now want to tell others how to handle finances.

Mental, illness.

Because it is.

Look you can't look at government giving a country a loan... and then claim socialism isn't the cause. It's socialism.

The private market wouldn't give money to Greece, specifically because they knew it was a bad deal.

You people just make up whatever facts you want, to support the claims you have already determined to be true, exempt from factual evidence.

Ok, for you conservatives that live in your forever closed bubble world.

Reagan tripled the national debt. Bush ran it up from 5 trillion dollars to 11 trillion dollars, left a 1.4 trillion dollar yearly deficit, and destroyed the world economy in the process.

Yet YOU idiots want to blame everything on 'socialism'?

Then Reagan and Bush were the all time economy killing money stealing socialists in the history of mankind. And these are the losers YOU people voted into office.

Your arguments only mean something in your own bubble of conservative delusion-world.

So in your world, government collecting more tax money, and spending more on government programs....... is free-market capitalism?

What exact is your argument? Because the only one I'm reading here is "Socialism isn't Socialism!".

 

[Andylusion]

They shouldn't have accepted the bailout in 2010, and instead followed Iceland by jailing the bankers and letting the banks default on their own mistakes.

But what is done is done, and I hope that they manage to get out the abyss.

The IMF/ECB plan was a joke, and it would have not only forced taxpayers across Europe to fund a money hole, but forced Greeks to sell the country off and eventually default on their debt anyway - making a bigger money hole than if they default this year.

If it I was up to me, I wouldn't have let it get this far. It would have been better to not intervene at all than push a bailout that Greeks couldn't afford to pay, with conditions so insane that they could only plunge Greece into economic depression and a debt spiral.

The politicians in the European Union were idiots, as were the economists and bureaucrats who pushed more and more demands on Greece for the bailout, forcing the collapse of the Greek government - because the demands had reached the limit of what Greeks were prepared to accept. Syriza and the collapse of the bailout deal is the result.

Sounds like banks in the U.S. approving mortgages for people that couldn't afford the payments. Sound familiar?

This is world class corrupt banking thievery. The vultures see easy prey and try to suck the life out of it. Who could blame Greece for going to Russia now?

I have to try and think on the positive. At least as a result of this mess Greece has got rid of most of the leaches in the establishment, and with the constant shadow of debt and economic strife they are going to be held constantly to account by the Greek public - unlike the governments previous to 2009 who were able to promise stuff the country couldn't afford (and cheat the books) to keep in power.

Russia doesn't have the money to fund Greece. If they go to Russia, Russia too will impose their own strings on the money, and yet the amount of money they could borrow would be a tiny fraction of what is needed, thus it wouldn't help.

What strings could Russia impose? Allowing their major companies to come and "prey and try to suck the life out of it".

And as far as getting rid of the leaches, that's not what I've read. If anything, this was to restore public leeches back into the cash flow.

Never said they would hand over the money, if anything they might get a few subsidies and possibly a trade deal - but not a massive cash injection.

Ultimately though if Greece left Nato it could cut its military budget a lot, and even be paid by Russia to lease areas for a military base.

But that is in the worst case scenario, where Greece is kicked out of the Eurozone.

As near as I can tell, Greece only spends about 5% of their national budget on defense spending.

Further, NATO is paying lease payments for two bases, and for use of an airport. One of those bases is leased by the US.

If you think that Russia is going to pay a fraction as much as the US does for that base, or NATO does for either one... you are crazy.

Swapping NATO for Russian defense, would be a net loss of income, and unless Greece wants to be defenseless, they would have to step up their own defense spending.

So no, that idea is ridiculous.

Lastly, a huge injection of money, is exactly what the Greek government wants. If they didn't want a massive injection of cash, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

The government of Greece to tell off the EU, and the IMF, and the ECB, and everyone, in 5 seconds.

They could cut their spending, until it matched their tax revenue, and without a need for a loan, completely ignore everyone.

But that's not what they want. They want to spend money on hospitals, pensions, entitlements, housing, food, mass transit, and on and on and on.

But they don't have the money. That's why many hospitals are closed, those that are open, have unpaid staff, and many are without supplies. Pensions have been cut. Railways have been shut. And government workers have gone on strike because they are not paid.

The whole reason Greece went to the EU, is because they want a huge injections of money. If they ditch the EU, and go to Russia, they are not getting it from Russia. They'll be forced to cut spending anyway. Forced to cut pensions, and forced to close the mass transit. Thus defeating the entire purpose of trying to get a loan to begin with.