Guest
10-06-2011, 09:45 PM
Are you paying attention to what's happening in Greece?
Cruise ships won't dock in Greek ports...30,000 people rioting in the streets...the economy is reverting to a barter economy...employers and stores are shuttering their doors...Greeks are refusing to pay their taxes...the country and the economy is in a shambles. Tens of thousands of Greek government workers have been laid off or their wages cut substantially. People are not being permitted to retire from government jobs. Schools, hospitals and tourist attractions are shut down. Anarchy reigns.
Why? Because the lenders who have been supporting Greek spending have finally said, ...enough! They've told the Greek parliament how much government spending had to be cut and taxes raised. Their parliament had no choice but to enact legislation to meet the requirements of the lenders. Their choice was simple: cut the spending and raise the taxes or the European Union won't lend the Greeks any more money.
Does this sound familiar? We're a country that continues to spend at unsustainable rates. Our government refuses to make any hard choices. It might even be said that our government isn't making any choices. Our lenders keep lending to us not because we're such a great credit risk, but because for the moment at least, we're a little better than countries like Greece.
Greece has a population not much bigger than metropolitan New York City. It's gross domestic product is only 2% of ours. Total Greek debt is also only about 2% of ours.
Can you imagine what's going to happen here when our lenders finally say "...enough!" and tell our Congress how much spending must be cut and how much taxes must be raised. One big difference between us and Greece. Our Constitution has a Second Amendment. That's going to make the anarchy lethal!
Cruise ships won't dock in Greek ports...30,000 people rioting in the streets...the economy is reverting to a barter economy...employers and stores are shuttering their doors...Greeks are refusing to pay their taxes...the country and the economy is in a shambles. Tens of thousands of Greek government workers have been laid off or their wages cut substantially. People are not being permitted to retire from government jobs. Schools, hospitals and tourist attractions are shut down. Anarchy reigns.
Why? Because the lenders who have been supporting Greek spending have finally said, ...enough! They've told the Greek parliament how much government spending had to be cut and taxes raised. Their parliament had no choice but to enact legislation to meet the requirements of the lenders. Their choice was simple: cut the spending and raise the taxes or the European Union won't lend the Greeks any more money.
Does this sound familiar? We're a country that continues to spend at unsustainable rates. Our government refuses to make any hard choices. It might even be said that our government isn't making any choices. Our lenders keep lending to us not because we're such a great credit risk, but because for the moment at least, we're a little better than countries like Greece.
Greece has a population not much bigger than metropolitan New York City. It's gross domestic product is only 2% of ours. Total Greek debt is also only about 2% of ours.
Can you imagine what's going to happen here when our lenders finally say "...enough!" and tell our Congress how much spending must be cut and how much taxes must be raised. One big difference between us and Greece. Our Constitution has a Second Amendment. That's going to make the anarchy lethal!