Called It: Greeks Propose Amending Bailout Agreement to Loosen up Austerity Obligations
- Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:03pm by
Becket Adams
- Print »
- Email »
Not only did Greek leaders admit on Thursday that they haven’t been adhering to their austerity obligations, but they also discussed the possibility of retroactively amending the budget-slashing portions of their $130 billion rescue package.
“Trying to take advantage of a shift in Europe towards more growth-friendly policy measures, the government is pressing to soften the punishing terms of a bailout that is keeping Greece solvent but also driving it deeper into recession,” Reuters reports.
Back when Spain scored itself a no-austerity bailout worth billions of dollars, we called this. We knew Greece would go back and try to get the same deal.
Pressure has been building on Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to steer the country away from budget-cutting measures and towards increased government spending as a means of alleviating its debt burden.
Because you can spend yourself out of debt, right?
The Reuters report continues:
The mission from the troika is reviewing Greece’s faltering progress on fiscal adjustment and reform under a 130 billion euro ($162.6 billion) bailout deal.
With the economy in its fifth year of recession and almost one in four Greek workers jobless, the government says the austerity has become intolerable.
But without the next 31.5 billion euro ($39 billion) installment of bailout funds, Greece risks running out of cash within weeks.
The aforementioned pressure on Samaras has led him to seek “targeted tax cuts, a freeze on public sector layoffs, extra help for the poor and unemployed” and an extra two years to figure out Greece’s shattered deficit.
“The prime minister underlined that the Greek government is determined to proceed more effectively towards fiscal adjustment, to speed up structural reforms so that the economy recovers, jobs are created and to secure social cohesion,” Samaras’s office said in a statement.
A Greek woman carries a child as she leaves the booth after voting during the elections
in Athens, Sunday, June 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
While EU leaders are open to the idea of giving Greece a little more time to fix its deficit (because, after all, the country’s government did lose an awful lot of time dealing with two separate elections), they won’t back down from the main tenets of the $130 billion bailout agreement.
“In Stockholm, Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said on Swedish Radio on Thursday there was a major risk Greece would fail to fulfil its obligations to its lenders and end up in ‘some sort of default,’” Reuters reports.
Needless to say, Germany is skeptical of Greece’s proposals.
“Prime Minister Samaras will present his government’s policy at the start of a three-day parliamentary debate on Friday. A vote of confidence on the coalition is scheduled to take place late on Sunday,” the report adds.
Comments (36)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 692 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 495 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 375 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 346 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 331 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 315 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 331 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 239 Comments- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 315 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Cynicalone
Posted on July 19, 2012 at 5:19pmHummm. OBAMA economics? Loosen up Austerity issues, have a balanced budget? If they want to revisit another crisis in 6-18 months then sure!
Report Post »RevRiles
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 1:32pmYou are giving money to a nation that doesn’t know how to handle money, and you are asking them to please handle the money that you are giving them wisely?
Report Post »eaglesview
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 7:24amStand tall Angela Merkel.
Report Post »Cut the leeches off one by one.
They don’t want to tighten their belt and quit suckling the teet…. Take the teet away.
Gonzo
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:36amThis is the same conversation we’ll be having with China in the not so distant future.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:43amBecause you can spend yourself out of debt, right? No it is invest money to grow the economy which allows you to pay down debt. Just ask Reagan who ran up $2 trillion in deficit spending for defense on his supply side economics. But of course you can’t throw 2 wars and cut taxes and expect to pay down any deficits. But of course Reagan was light years smarter than Bush Jr.
Report Post »LibertyGoddess
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:28am@Jrook….why doesn’t Obama follow your advice? He has had 3 years now to get us out of Afghanistan. When Reagan used deficits to turn the economy, there wasn’t 10 trillion dollars of debt strangling us already. You see, you are a useful tool of the left who doesn’t think through the facts. You just want to cut and paste the arguments used by the left to deflect criticism. This administration is inept. Period. Time for someone new who has a grip on economics and free markets.
Report Post »ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:40amSovereign debt should be treated like flesh-eating bacteria by all right (meaning ‘proper’) thinking nations. You CANNOT borrow your way out of debt, and Greece will eventually collapse as it must. The whole, rotten system will fall. For the US, we need to adopt 9-9-9 flat tax and return to sound money as Herman Cain points out in his book, drop baseline budgeting, cap spending at 18% GDP, and adopt a balanced budget amendment using the Mack Penny Plan (or similar) to get us there. Entitlements MUST be reformed which is not austere at this point but will be catastrophic if we wait any longer.
Report Post »jingo455
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 3:13pmA democratic leader that doesn’t use entitlements to get votes is not able to maintain a tight grip on power. America’s greatest dictator was FDR who managed to become “President for Life” by creating social security and other entitlement programs, and ruled America in Fidel-Castro fashion for 14 years until he died in office.
The reason the Supreme Court doesn’t have a backbone today is when they opposed Lincoln he issued an arrest warrant for their chief Justice, and when they opposed FDR he threatened to have the Supreme Court expanded to 15 justices, which won-over the last “traitor justice” Owen Roberts, who like today’s John Roberts, betrayed conservatives to make blatantly unconstitutional programs legal.
Report Post »donh2
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 11:52pmThese are the people whose ancestors gave you the Trojan Horse.
Report Post »hayesstephen
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:48amPoor Greeks! They thought the rest of the world would take care of them after they blew all their money.
Report Post »Some country has to fail (we are in line, but toward the bottom of the list) The Greeks, Spain, Ireland, other. You can’t retire a 52 and expect your country not to fail. Unions, welfare, illegals, a president who hopes in his heart the very country he leads will fail, liberals running the nut house, gee what could go wrong.
mharry860
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 11:35pmRead ZeroHedge.com, if you can handle the truth. It’s real ugly and best served with your choice of alcohol. Maybe some Tylenol too, for the headache that will start within 10 minutes.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 11:06pmA Socialist Contract… is not worth an ObamaCent!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 11:39pmI’m sorry .. I know we keep hearing how “bad” it would be .. but they need to fail .. they must be allowed to fail .. before they all fail.
On second thought I am NOT sorry .. they have brought this on themselves .. I am sorry for those who worked hard and are responsible .. but better a few now than all later.
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 11:01pmThese actions will apear as a short term ‘fix’ followed by a sudden collapse of the Greek economy.
Report Post »The rest of the EU will quickly follow and the blame will be placed upon THE U.S. CITIZENS, not the US Gov. who will point at Conservatives as the enemies of ( insert victum of choice ).
SHOWMESTATEGUY
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 10:58pmSocialism is a good deal for those that work for the government that imposes it. For the rest, not so much.
Report Post »phrogdriver
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 10:32pmI’m just curious how this lunacy could make sense to anyone with an IQ above room temperature.
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 10:49pmThay’re are all in the Democratic party.
Report Post »phrogdriver
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 11:04pmI wish that were true, sooner.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 10:13pmSocialism…..hiding the lazy in plain sight for over a century…..yay !!!
Report Post »bizznizz1
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:41pmNo, Thats why you need to check this out please….http://www.fullmoonsurvival.com/
Report Post »SHOWMESTATEGUY
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:39pmOur nation will be facing the same problem as the majority of European countries face now. Will we as a nation stop, think and vote the liberals out of power? France did not. Let’s check back with France in three, four years and see if they made the right choice.
Another thing, the USofA should get out of the IMF. They are spending massive amounts of American tax payer dollars to shore up the Europeans. That in itself is a crime against America. How much did Europe send to us during the Frank/Dodd crisis of 2008?
Report Post »phrogdriver
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 10:31pmOUr nation will face it even sooner. About 40% of our budget is military spending. The European Socialists spend about 4-8%. As we adopt more and more socialist policies, the total deficit to GDP ratio will increase even faster for us than for them because they don’t have the added military expense.
Report Post »TheBurningTruth
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 10:49pm@Phrogdriver is spreading disinformation. Here were the 2010 budget percentages (current values aren’t that much different):
Social Insecurity 20%
Medicare & Medicaid 23%
Defense Department 20%
Interest Payments 6%
Other Mandatory 12%
Discretionary 19%
Entitlements are 43% of the budget and Military is only 20%, not 40%. Interest payments are only 6%, but that’s because interest rates are so low right now. One day in the not too distant future, those rates will rise and if they ONLY return to historic norms, that 6% will triple to nearly 20%. If interest rates shoot up like they did in the 70′s under Carter (Obama v0.9) it could triple that!
Report Post »phrogdriver
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 11:16pmI stand corrected on the math, but my point is that the European socialist states don’t spend doodley squat on the military. We are far more vulnerable to socialist policies because we DO spend a lot on the military. (I think the term “disinformation is a bit harsh, though.)
You are correct on interest rates – as Spain (et al) has been learning in the past couple of weeks.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:35pmMaybe we should ask the geniuses in Hollywood what to do. They seem to have all the answers. http://guerillatics.com/?p=39776
Report Post »321481
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:35pmI agree let them fail, but those nit wits in DC have us tied into their system in such a way we suffer too. We actually help bail them out indirectly. How insane is that. It is a bad situation. Then Obama is a busy as he can be trying to make us more like them, a failure. It’s working we are following in their footsteps, look at ObamaCare, the law of the land now. Looking at the demise of the EU is like looking at us in the future.
Report Post »docgreen
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:50pmPeople you need to check into the IMF and the Federal Reserve. While we sleep and pay taxes; the Federal Reserve and IMF have secretly been handing out money to bail these countries out. Actually not to bail them out, but to tie them into the Dollar and the Global World. The more they go in debt, the more we and the EU give them. How F-UP is that? Thats part of the reason why the Federal Reserve doesn’t want people to Audit them, along with the fact that their not a Govt. owned business! Thats what makes this so Crooked, its all about the Global Elite and how they’re robbing us blind!
Report Post »docgreen
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:30pmPeople you need to listen to this!
http://www.wnd.com/2012/07/u-s-lawmaker-model-public-schools-after-muslim-ones/
Report Post »docgreen
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:42pmI know most of you feel the same way I do about islam/muslims but you all need to be aware of this. We need to find out and make sure we stop voting for these idiots! Can you imagine brain washing kids like madrassas do? If you ask me all they produce is terrorists. But I guarantee that they’ll claim everything from engineering the Greatest Buildings to Solving all kinds of math, and last they’ll claim they have made all kinds of Pharmaceautical drugs to solve the WORLDS problems. Can you imagine someone saying our kids should go to schools “madrassas” and learn like muslims? Yep people we should throw away all our ways and just go and learn what the muslims learn and how they indoctrinated. Please write an email, or emails and let him know we want nothing from islam/muslisms and how they indoctinate their evil cult ways! Can you believe this, BS?
Report Post »321481
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:28pmAusterity is never fun, but either Greece or for that fact the USA had better impose it on themselves or the collapse of the economic system will impose it on everybody and that kind of austerity will be allot worse.
Report Post »phrogdriver
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 11:28pmThe term “austerity” is a misnomber with the EU. They haven’t really cut anything, and they didn’t change tax rates – except to increase them.
The exception was Germany, who cut taxes and gov’t spending after 2008 – abeit modestly.
They did next to nothing in any practical sense. And when next to nothing doesn’t work, they‘ll claim they need to spend more money they don’t have.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:27pmHey, any fool can keep saying over and over, “I’m not broke, I still have checks” But at some point, reality will hit you in the face, just like waking up to that fat disgusting pig you picked up at the bar. But in Greece’s case, they have woke up after the party and found out they not only slept with her, but they married her and had 20 kids. Al Bundy is laughing, finally someone is a bigger loser than him. Opa.
Report Post »ltdan
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:25pmCan this insanity continue? The EU is on life support, pull the plug an admit that this large scale multiculturalism socialist utopia experiment is a giant failure.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:24pmOh come on guys…….just a little more socialism and we will be ok………….I promise, this time it’s gona work………
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:21pmLet them fail. Let them all fail. Let’s press the reset button on them all. If we re-elect obozo then we’ll have to press the reset as well.
Report Post »Mutiny
Posted on July 5, 2012 at 9:17pmWe do the same thing. We are loosing up our austerity obligations by borrowing more and more money. We have a spending problem. Neither Obama or Romney get it. With either one of them as president we go bankrupt in the next decade if not sooner.
Paul Ryan’s plan cuts 5 trillion over the next 10 years. That still leaves us at 24 to 25 trillion in debt. Does anyone honestly think we can sustain a 50% increase in debt?
Report Post »