The Latest Proof Rick Santorum Is No Conservative

His latest crusade? In a statement on his website, he promises "vigorous enforcement" of laws that “prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier.”

“The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography and has refused to enforce obscenity laws.”

Regardless of how you feel about pornography, keep in mind that this is exactly how the Left behaves..stretching laws and engaging in selective prosecution in order to impose its morality on the general public.

What Santorum would have to do to put this into place is quite interesting.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the private possession of most kinds of porn is not illegal, there's no particular protection for distribution.

What a President Santorum would have to do, first of all, is shut down a $14 billion plus industry completely. To put this in perspective, that's bigger than the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball combined.

That would include blocking domestic websites, shutting down rental channels, studios and outlets that retail DVDs. Aside from the dislocation taking a $14 billion industry down and putting thousands of people out of work would cause in an already shaky economy, it's a fact that a number of very large corporations have a significant amount of money invested in these companies, and they're not going to let these valuable assets be destroyed without a long, bitter and expensive court fight.

And that also doesn't account for the fact that Rick Santorum's standards on what's obscene likely differ quite a bit from the mainstream. That's another recipe for court fights galore, especially when the selective prosecutions start.

To add to the irony, foreign websites and marketers would be unaffected...unless President Santorum either goes to congress to get legislation for blanket filters for foreign sites or simply decides to impose by executive order if the votes aren't there. Sounds like another president we're familiar with, doesn't it? And just where does the line get drawn according to Mr. Santorum? Just porn, is it going to include sex toys as well? Is he planning on reviving the sodomy laws too? In his statement Santorm pledges to appoint an Attorney General that would carry out his wishes to the letter.

Don't misunderstand me. I can empathize with the feelings people have about what talk show host Laura Ingraham calls 'the pornification of the culture'. But frankly if people wish to watch what I'll call mainstream porn (the naked bodies of consenting adults assuming various poses or engaging in various kinds of sexual activities) they have a perfect right to, and the cure someone like Rick Santorum proposes is far worse than the disease. People, at some point, need to take a certain responsibility for what they read, see, or allow into their homes.

This is simply Big Nanny Government from the Right side of the spectrum, and it tastes just as foul as it does coming from the other side.

I can only imagine what the Obama Campaign would do with this if Santorum actually got the nomination. If you absolutely hate Mitt Romney and are firmly in Santorum's camp for whatever reason, I'm sure nothing I say would convince you, but it would be an absolute disaster for him to be the GOP candidate.

If he's the nominee and runs against Obama, I'll vote for him, holding my nose while I do it. I'd vote for Daffy Duck instead of the current occupant of the White House. But mark my words....a Santorum - Obama match up is going to look a lot like the map after election day in 1964 when Lyndon Johnson ran against Barry Goldwater.

The Latest Proof Rick Santorum Is No Conservative

His latest crusade? In a statement on his website, he promises "vigorous enforcement" of laws that “prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier.”

“The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography and has refused to enforce obscenity laws.”

Regardless of how you feel about pornography, keep in mind that this is exactly how the Left behaves..stretching laws and engaging in selective prosecution in order to impose its morality on the general public.

What Santorum would have to do to put this into place is quite interesting.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the private possession of most kinds of porn is not illegal, there's no particular protection for distribution.

What a President Santorum would have to do, first of all, is shut down a $14 billion plus industry completely. To put this in perspective, that's bigger than the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball combined.

That would include blocking domestic websites, shutting down rental channels, studios and outlets that retail DVDs. Aside from the dislocation taking a $14 billion industry down and putting thousands of people out of work would cause in an already shaky economy, it's a fact that a number of very large corporations have a significant amount of money invested in these companies, and they're not going to let these valuable assets be destroyed without a long, bitter and expensive court fight.

And that also doesn't account for the fact that Rick Santorum's standards on what's obscene likely differ quite a bit from the mainstream. That's another recipe for court fights galore, especially when the selective prosecutions start.

To add to the irony, foreign websites and marketers would be unaffected...unless President Santorum either goes to congress to get legislation for blanket filters for foreign sites or simply decides to impose by executive order if the votes aren't there. Sounds like another president we're familiar with, doesn't it? And just where does the line get drawn according to Mr. Santorum? Just porn, is it going to include sex toys as well? Is he planning on reviving the sodomy laws too? In his statement Santorm pledges to appoint an Attorney General that would carry out his wishes to the letter.

Don't misunderstand me. I can empathize with the feelings people have about what talk show host Laura Ingraham calls 'the pornification of the culture'. But frankly if people wish to watch what I'll call mainstream porn (the naked bodies of consenting adults assuming various poses or engaging in various kinds of sexual activities) they have a perfect right to, and the cure someone like Rick Santorum proposes is far worse than the disease. People, at some point, need to take a certain responsibility for what they read, see, or allow into their homes.

This is simply Big Nanny Government from the Right side of the spectrum, and it tastes just as foul as it does coming from the other side.

I can only imagine what the Obama Campaign would do with this if Santorum actually got the nomination. If you absolutely hate Mitt Romney and are firmly in Santorum's camp for whatever reason, I'm sure nothing I say would convince you, but it would be an absolute disaster for him to be the GOP candidate.

If he's the nominee and runs against Obama, I'll vote for him, holding my nose while I do it. I'd vote for Daffy Duck instead of the current occupant of the White House. But mark my words....a Santorum - Obama match up is going to look a lot like the map after election day in 1964 when Lyndon Johnson ran against Barry Goldwater.

Germany Sunsets Solar Power - After Losing Over $130 billion

Germany, being the staunch advocate of climate change and global warming it is like much of the EU prided itself on being the "world champion” of solar power. They doled out billions of marks on subsidies for consumers and businesses to go solar to reduce Germany's carbon footprint in response to the 'settled science' propaganda pushed by the global warming cult.

Germans used that money to install a solar capacity of 7.5 gigawatts last year. And warum nicht, if Big Government was paying for it and Al Gore and the UN said it was just what they should be doing?

Actually, Big Government wasn't paying for all of it, as it turns out. Solar power users were allowed to receive a guaranteed above-market price for the electricity they sold back to energy grid which was financed by - surprise!- a tax on every household's electricity bill. That alone amounted last year to a subsidy of some €6 billion ($7.9 billion), which is estimated to add at least an average of $260 to German consumer's annual energy costs.

The German government, after going over the figures, has decided to pull the plug on solar subsidies. They will cut them at least 30% this year and phase them out entirely within five years. Given how much it has cost the German government, I wouldn't be surprised to see them gone entirely before the end of 2013, and that's only because of the unemployment entailed as German companies who went into solar technology to take advantage of the government-funded 'sunshine rush' lay off workers or go bust.

This particular green energy scam hit Germans in the pocketbook in various ways.

One of the chief problems with solar for a high wage country like Germany is the cost of manufacturing solar panels and installing them. This was something Big Government was subsidizing in the name of green jobs. Unfortunately, the solar panels can be manufactured far cheaper in China, so every one of those 'green jobs' ended up costing German taxpayers an average of $175,000. And as we've seen elsewhere, China is not exactly overly concerned about things like pollution, 'carbon footprints' or 'global warming'. Think of it as another huge Solyndra.

Germany's climate, like most of Northern Europe's is not exactly the sunniest in the world. That's particularly true in the winter, when energy use peaks because of heating costs. When the winter days are short and the weather is overcast, Germany's solar power investment generates hardly anything - which means the Germans have to import traditional energy from power plants, some of them coal powered, in places like France, Poland and the Czech Republic. Not only that, but because the EU instituted the cap n' trade nonsense President Obama tried to have his EPA impose here, what the whole program has amounted to is a transfer of wealth to poorer EU countries:

Indeed, despite the massive investment, solar power accounts for only about 0.3 percent of Germany’s total energy. This is one of the key reasons why Germans now pay the second-highest price for electricity in the developed world (exceeded only by Denmark, which aims to be the “world wind-energy champion”). Germans pay three times more than their American counterparts.

Moreover, this sizeable investment does remarkably little to counter global warming. Even with unrealistically generous assumptions, the unimpressive net effect is that solar power reduces Germany’s CO2 emissions by roughly 8 million metric tons—or about 1 percent – for the next 20 years. To put it another way: By the end of the century, Germany’s $130 billion solar panel subsidies will have postponed temperature increases by 23 hours.

Using solar, Germany is paying about $1,000 per ton of CO2 reduced. The current CO2 price in Europe is $8. Germany could have cut 131 times as much CO2 for the same price. Instead, the Germans are wasting more than 99 cents of every euro that they plow into solar panels.

It gets worse: Because Germany is part of the European Union Emissions Trading System, the actual effect of extra solar panels in Germany leads to no CO2 reductions, because total emissions are already capped. Instead, the Germans simply allow other parts of the EU to emit more CO2. Germany’s solar panels have only made it cheaper for Portugal or Greece to use coal.

Solar energy can be a good idea in places that it was better designed to work, especially with active systems that capture the excess energy for use when the sun doesn't shine. Israel in particular has made massive strides in both the technology used to capture the energy and in manufacturing the panels more efficiently. There are even solar generators that can be used as an emergency backup in case of power failures. But having government subsidize it in the name of Holy Gaia and climate change has turned out to be a spectacularly bad idea in Germany and everywhere else it's been tried.

Remember this cautionary tale when you hear President Obama mouthing off about energy in his quest for re-election. There's no doubt if he gets back in, we'll seen even more of our wealth squandered on green energy scams like Solyndra run by his donors and cronies.

Germany Sunsets Solar Power - After Losing Over $130 billion

Germany, being the staunch advocate of climate change and global warming it is like much of the EU prided itself on being the "world champion” of solar power. They doled out billions of marks on subsidies for consumers and businesses to go solar to reduce Germany's carbon footprint in response to the 'settled science' propaganda pushed by the global warming cult.

Germans used that money to install a solar capacity of 7.5 gigawatts last year. And warum nicht, if Big Government was paying for it and Al Gore and the UN said it was just what they should be doing?

Actually, Big Government wasn't paying for all of it, as it turns out. Solar power users were allowed to receive a guaranteed above-market price for the electricity they sold back to energy grid which was financed by - surprise!- a tax on every household's electricity bill. That alone amounted last year to a subsidy of some €6 billion ($7.9 billion), which is estimated to add at least an average of $260 to German consumer's annual energy costs.

The German government, after going over the figures, has decided to pull the plug on solar subsidies. They will cut them at least 30% this year and phase them out entirely within five years. Given how much it has cost the German government, I wouldn't be surprised to see them gone entirely before the end of 2013, and that's only because of the unemployment entailed as German companies who went into solar technology to take advantage of the government-funded 'sunshine rush' lay off workers or go bust.

This particular green energy scam hit Germans in the pocketbook in various ways.

One of the chief problems with solar for a high wage country like Germany is the cost of manufacturing solar panels and installing them. This was something Big Government was subsidizing in the name of green jobs. Unfortunately, the solar panels can be manufactured far cheaper in China, so every one of those 'green jobs' ended up costing German taxpayers an average of $175,000. And as we've seen elsewhere, China is not exactly overly concerned about things like pollution, 'carbon footprints' or 'global warming'. Think of it as another huge Solyndra.

Germany's climate, like most of Northern Europe's is not exactly the sunniest in the world. That's particularly true in the winter, when energy use peaks because of heating costs. When the winter days are short and the weather is overcast, Germany's solar power investment generates hardly anything - which means the Germans have to import traditional energy from power plants, some of them coal powered, in places like France, Poland and the Czech Republic. Not only that, but because the EU instituted the cap n' trade nonsense President Obama tried to have his EPA impose here, what the whole program has amounted to is a transfer of wealth to poorer EU countries:

Indeed, despite the massive investment, solar power accounts for only about 0.3 percent of Germany’s total energy. This is one of the key reasons why Germans now pay the second-highest price for electricity in the developed world (exceeded only by Denmark, which aims to be the “world wind-energy champion”). Germans pay three times more than their American counterparts.

Moreover, this sizeable investment does remarkably little to counter global warming. Even with unrealistically generous assumptions, the unimpressive net effect is that solar power reduces Germany’s CO2 emissions by roughly 8 million metric tons—or about 1 percent – for the next 20 years. To put it another way: By the end of the century, Germany’s $130 billion solar panel subsidies will have postponed temperature increases by 23 hours.

Using solar, Germany is paying about $1,000 per ton of CO2 reduced. The current CO2 price in Europe is $8. Germany could have cut 131 times as much CO2 for the same price. Instead, the Germans are wasting more than 99 cents of every euro that they plow into solar panels.

It gets worse: Because Germany is part of the European Union Emissions Trading System, the actual effect of extra solar panels in Germany leads to no CO2 reductions, because total emissions are already capped. Instead, the Germans simply allow other parts of the EU to emit more CO2. Germany’s solar panels have only made it cheaper for Portugal or Greece to use coal.

Solar energy can be a good idea in places that it was better designed to work, especially with active systems that capture the excess energy for use when the sun doesn't shine. Israel in particular has made massive strides in both the technology used to capture the energy and in manufacturing the panels more efficiently. There are even solar generators that can be used as an emergency backup in case of power failures. But having government subsidize it in the name of Holy Gaia and climate change has turned out to be a spectacularly bad idea in Germany and everywhere else it's been tried.

Remember this cautionary tale when you hear President Obama mouthing off about energy in his quest for re-election. There's no doubt if he gets back in, we'll seen even more of our wealth squandered on green energy scams like Solyndra run by his donors and cronies.

Another Reason Rick Perry Shouldn't Be President

Frankly, he's almost as clueless about foreign policy as Herman Cain and Ron Paul.

Take a look at this, from Saturday's debate:



Governor Perry, believe it or not, says he would send U.S. troops back to Iraq.

"The idea that we allow the Iranians to come back into Iraq and take over that country, with all of the treasures, both in blood and money, that we have spent in Iraq- because this president wants to kowtow to his liberal leftist base, and move out those men and women. He could have renegotiated that time frame."

He apparently doesn't realize that Maliki and the Iraqis ordered us out of Iraq at the behest of the Iranian controlled Shi'ite bloc that's responsible for Maliki being in power. During the flag lowering ceremony when the last of our troops left Iraq, not one member of the Iraqi government we put in power with our blood and treasure could be bothered to attend.

Is Governor Perry planning to invade again and have our military take out that shiny new army the American taxpayers built for Iraq? Is he going to have our troops overthrow the 'model Arab democracy' we left there?

A I wrote long ago, with Maliki and his friends, it was always a matter of 'thank you infidels for your time and your money. Now leave, so we can bond with our jihad brothers in Iran.'

Even before President Obama pulled us out of Iraq, Maliki and the Sadrist bloc that keeps him in power were quite clear about what they wanted. Once we empowered the Shi'ites and rushed them into elections less than two years after we invaded that were ultimately decided on tribal grounds, it was over.

Governor Perry is correct that we essentially left Iraq after putting in power a Shi'ite Islamic Republic based on sharia. But unless Governor Perry plans to go to war again and depose that government, he's simply being stupid.

This is not the first time he's demonstrated his ignorance of foreign policy matters. Back in September, when he was asked what he would do if he got the 3 AM call saying that Pakistan's nukes had fallen into the hands of the Taliban, here was his reply:

Well obviously, before you ever get to that point you have to build a relationship in that region. That’s one of the things that this administration has not done. Yesterday, we found out through Admiral Mullen that Haqqani has been involved with — and that’s the terrorist group directly associated with the Pakistani country. So to have a relationship with India, to make sure that India knows that they are an ally of the United States.

For instance, when we had the opportunity to sell India the upgraded F-16′s, we chose not to do that. We did the same with Taiwan. The point is, our allies need to understand clearly that we are their friends, we will be standing by there with them.

Today, we don’t have those allies in that region that can assist us if that situation that you talked about were to become a reality.

Yes, according to Governor Perry, his solution to the Taliban or one of Pakistan's other terrorist groups getting control of Pakistan's nukes was to call and ask India or Taiwan what to do!

I'm sure he's a fine governor, but I wouldn't want him within spitting distance of the Oval Office.

Another Reason Rick Perry Shouldn't Be President

Frankly, he's almost as clueless about foreign policy as Herman Cain and Ron Paul.

Take a look at this, from Saturday's debate:



Governor Perry, believe it or not, says he would send U.S. troops back to Iraq.

"The idea that we allow the Iranians to come back into Iraq and take over that country, with all of the treasures, both in blood and money, that we have spent in Iraq- because this president wants to kowtow to his liberal leftist base, and move out those men and women. He could have renegotiated that time frame."

He apparently doesn't realize that Maliki and the Iraqis ordered us out of Iraq at the behest of the Iranian controlled Shi'ite bloc that's responsible for Maliki being in power. During the flag lowering ceremony when the last of our troops left Iraq, not one member of the Iraqi government we put in power with our blood and treasure could be bothered to attend.

Is Governor Perry planning to invade again and have our military take out that shiny new army the American taxpayers built for Iraq? Is he going to have our troops overthrow the 'model Arab democracy' we left there?

A I wrote long ago, with Maliki and his friends, it was always a matter of 'thank you infidels for your time and your money. Now leave, so we can bond with our jihad brothers in Iran.'

Even before President Obama pulled us out of Iraq, Maliki and the Sadrist bloc that keeps him in power were quite clear about what they wanted. Once we empowered the Shi'ites and rushed them into elections less than two years after we invaded that were ultimately decided on tribal grounds, it was over.

Governor Perry is correct that we essentially left Iraq after putting in power a Shi'ite Islamic Republic based on sharia. But unless Governor Perry plans to go to war again and depose that government, he's simply being stupid.

This is not the first time he's demonstrated his ignorance of foreign policy matters. Back in September, when he was asked what he would do if he got the 3 AM call saying that Pakistan's nukes had fallen into the hands of the Taliban, here was his reply:

Well obviously, before you ever get to that point you have to build a relationship in that region. That’s one of the things that this administration has not done. Yesterday, we found out through Admiral Mullen that Haqqani has been involved with — and that’s the terrorist group directly associated with the Pakistani country. So to have a relationship with India, to make sure that India knows that they are an ally of the United States.

For instance, when we had the opportunity to sell India the upgraded F-16′s, we chose not to do that. We did the same with Taiwan. The point is, our allies need to understand clearly that we are their friends, we will be standing by there with them.

Today, we don’t have those allies in that region that can assist us if that situation that you talked about were to become a reality.

Yes, according to Governor Perry, his solution to the Taliban or one of Pakistan's other terrorist groups getting control of Pakistan's nukes was to call and ask India or Taiwan what to do!

I'm sure he's a fine governor, but I wouldn't want him within spitting distance of the Oval Office.

Epic fail - Super Committee Folds Without Agreement

The Congressional Super Committee that was such a big part of Minority leader Mitch McConnell's sucker's deal with President Obama has admitted failure...just as I predicted, here and here. Instead of presenting cut cap and balance, passed by the House and by every Republican in the Senate as a final offer and letting the president take the onus for shutting the government down, McConnell gave the president everything he wanted..including a brand new higher credit card limit.

The way it was set up, President Obama won either way, thanks to McConnell's gutless approach. With the sort of Democrats that were appointed to the committee, they were never going to agree to any compromises. Either the GOP was going to go along with the massive tax hikes the Democrats love - oh, sorry, 'new revenues' - and destroy itself politically or the committee, which like the President favors hollowing out our military and defense budget would just sit on their hands and let the massive automatic cuts in those areas take place.

And the cuts aimed at defense are downright irresponsible. SecDef Pannetta has already targeted the military with over $450 billion in cuts as it is. Add that to the proposed $600 billion and we're talking over one trillion in cuts from our defense budget.

President Obama is channeling his model Tony Blair and New Labour once again. This is exactly how Blair and his cronies destroyed Britain's armed forces.

Even the Republican's craven offer to accept $500 billion in tax hikes wasn't enough - the Democrats insisted on one trillion. In other words, they never had any attention of seriously making a deal.

McConnell and the Republicans who signed on to the budget deal and the supercommittee scam got nothing except a screwing done without the benefit of any sort of lubrication.

President Obama, sporting one of his trademark smiles happily announced that he will veto any attempt by Congress to try and protect our military or defense establishment from any of the mandated cuts. He and the Democrats got exactly what they wanted, more money to use on domestic spending to reward the president's political allies in the run up to the elections.

A number of political figures are pointing fingers at each other in an effort to assign blame, but I put this squarely on the shoulders of the Republican leadership for allowing themselves to be conned in the first place.

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Epic fail - Super Committee Folds Without Agreement

The Congressional Super Committee that was such a big part of Minority leader Mitch McConnell's sucker's deal with President Obama has admitted failure...just as I predicted, here and here. Instead of presenting cut cap and balance, passed by the House and by every Republican in the Senate as a final offer and letting the president take the onus for shutting the government down, McConnell gave the president everything he wanted..including a brand new higher credit card limit.

The way it was set up, President Obama won either way, thanks to McConnell's gutless approach. With the sort of Democrats that were appointed to the committee, they were never going to agree to any compromises. Either the GOP was going to go along with the massive tax hikes the Democrats love - oh, sorry, 'new revenues' - and destroy itself politically or the committee, which like the President favors hollowing out our military and defense budget would just sit on their hands and let the massive automatic cuts in those areas take place.

And the cuts aimed at defense are downright irresponsible. SecDef Pannetta has already targeted the military with over $450 billion in cuts as it is. Add that to the proposed $600 billion and we're talking over one trillion in cuts from our defense budget.

President Obama is channeling his model Tony Blair and New Labour once again. This is exactly how Blair and his cronies destroyed Britain's armed forces.

Even the Republican's craven offer to accept $500 billion in tax hikes wasn't enough - the Democrats insisted on one trillion. In other words, they never had any attention of seriously making a deal.

McConnell and the Republicans who signed on to the budget deal and the supercommittee scam got nothing except a screwing done without the benefit of any sort of lubrication.

President Obama, sporting one of his trademark smiles happily announced that he will veto any attempt by Congress to try and protect our military or defense establishment from any of the mandated cuts. He and the Democrats got exactly what they wanted, more money to use on domestic spending to reward the president's political allies in the run up to the elections.

A number of political figures are pointing fingers at each other in an effort to assign blame, but I put this squarely on the shoulders of the Republican leadership for allowing themselves to be conned in the first place.

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Herman Cain For Commander-In-Chief? No, I Don't Think So!

Absolutely breathtaking. Sorry, but I wouldn't want to see Mr. Cain getting a 3AM call for anything but a late night pizza run.

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Herman Cain For Commander-In-Chief? No, I Don't Think So!

Absolutely breathtaking. Sorry, but I wouldn't want to see Mr. Cain getting a 3AM call for anything but a late night pizza run.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

'Palestinians' Admit Not Enough Support In UN Security Council For Statehood

The 'Palestinians' have finally admitted that they simply don't have enough support in the UN Security Council to get the nine votes needed to be admitted as a state:

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told The Associated Press Tuesday, "It is clear now, with the U.S. counter effort and intervention, that we are not going to have these nine votes." They can still apply to the General Assembly.

Yes, they can. But not for full membership.

*chuckle*

One might ask oneself exactly how an apartheid, corrupt, unelected regime that makes heroes and role models out of terrorists and is allied with the genocidal Hamas would be a worthy addition to the UN...but then considering the nature of much of the UN itself these days, perhaps it's better not to.

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'Palestinians' Admit Not Enough Support In UN Security Council For Statehood

The 'Palestinians' have finally admitted that they simply don't have enough support in the UN Security Council to get the nine votes needed to be admitted as a state:

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told The Associated Press Tuesday, "It is clear now, with the U.S. counter effort and intervention, that we are not going to have these nine votes." They can still apply to the General Assembly.

Yes, they can. But not for full membership.

*chuckle*

One might ask oneself exactly how an apartheid, corrupt, unelected regime that makes heroes and role models out of terrorists and is allied with the genocidal Hamas would be a worthy addition to the UN...but then considering the nature of much of the UN itself these days, perhaps it's better not to.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

EU Gives Greece An Ultimatum - Accept Our Terms Now Or Leave The EU

The EU is not at all pleased with Greek PM George Papandreou's decision to hold a popular referendum on whether to accept the austerity terms the EU wants in exchange for a second bail out.

They gave Greece what amounts to an ultimatum...either accept the terms now or leave the eurozone.

"Does Greece want to remain part of the euro zone or not," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "That is the question the Greek people must now answer."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Greeks would get no more euro-zone rescue aid—"no French taxpayer money, no German taxpayer money"—until they answer. Greece would go bankrupt without the aid in a matter of weeks.

The Eurocrats are angry because they were under the impression they had a deal. Instead, Papandreou went back home, saw how deeply unpopular the new terms were with his own party and the Greek people and decided he needed the cover of a popular referendum, which he says can't be put together until December 5th at the earliest, which would take Greece over the brink. So the EU is essentially demanding that there be no referendum,which isn't going to happen.

If the EU insists on this course of action, Greece will simply default on its debt and start from scratch, leaving the other eurozone members holding the bag

The problem for the eurozone is that if the other troubled members like Ireland, Portugal, Italy, and Spain see Greece defaulting and going back into the drachma, they're going to do exactly the same thing and flee back to their own currencies after defaulting on their debt.

And the entire rotten edifice could come tumbling down, with major repercussions for world financial markets.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

EU Gives Greece An Ultimatum - Accept Our Terms Now Or Leave The EU

The EU is not at all pleased with Greek PM George Papandreou's decision to hold a popular referendum on whether to accept the austerity terms the EU wants in exchange for a second bail out.

They gave Greece what amounts to an ultimatum...either accept the terms now or leave the eurozone.

"Does Greece want to remain part of the euro zone or not," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "That is the question the Greek people must now answer."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Greeks would get no more euro-zone rescue aid—"no French taxpayer money, no German taxpayer money"—until they answer. Greece would go bankrupt without the aid in a matter of weeks.

The Eurocrats are angry because they were under the impression they had a deal. Instead, Papandreou went back home, saw how deeply unpopular the new terms were with his own party and the Greek people and decided he needed the cover of a popular referendum, which he says can't be put together until December 5th at the earliest, which would take Greece over the brink. So the EU is essentially demanding that there be no referendum,which isn't going to happen.

If the EU insists on this course of action, Greece will simply default on its debt and start from scratch, leaving the other eurozone members holding the bag

The problem for the eurozone is that if the other troubled members like Ireland, Portugal, Italy, and Spain see Greece defaulting and going back into the drachma, they're going to do exactly the same thing and flee back to their own currencies after defaulting on their debt.

And the entire rotten edifice could come tumbling down, with major repercussions for world financial markets.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!