Italy halts austerity plan leaving EU in turmoil

[malaise]

Elections have consequences

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/26/italy-election-austerity-eurozone-turmoil
<snip>
Three years of German-led austerity and budget cuts aimed at saving the euro and retooling the European economy was left facing one of its biggest challenges as Italian voters' rejection of spending cuts and tax rises opened up a stark new fissure in European politics.

The governing stalemate in Rome and the vote in the general election – by a factor of three to two – against the austerity policies pursued by Italy's humiliated caretaker prime minister, Mario Monti, meant that the spending cuts and tax rises dictated by the eurozone would grind to a halt, risking a re-eruption of the euro crisis after six months of relative stability.

The cliffhanger vote saw the maverick comedian Beppe Grillo's 5 Star movement take almost one in four of the votes and the political revival of the ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. But the narrow victor, Pier Luigi Bersani, on the centre-left, claimed the mantle of the premiership, although it was unclear if he would be able to form a government.

Despite the withering popular verdict on cuts and taxes, Brussels and Berlin insisted the austerity programme had to be continued in Italy. France and others seized on the outcome for their own purposes, arguing for a relaxation of spending cuts and greater emphasis on policies to boost growth and job creation.

[Warpy]

1. Relative stability = rich people staying rich, I guess

What they really need to do first is enact some tax laws with real teeth in them. Then they can end austerity overnight.

With the increased revenue, they can afford to go against the bankers.

[malaise]

2. Of course

or even better - the markets were happy

[DetlefK]

6. You are kidding, right? Berlusconi promised lower taxes.

http://www.news24.com/World/News/Berlusconi-will-refund-property-tax-20130203

He promises to reduce business- and income-taxes and to offset this with unspecified spending-cuts (my guess, art&culture-related projects will be on the chopping-block).

[Downwinder]

3. Follow Iceland's lead. Sacrifice the banks.

[another_liberal]

9. Hear! Hear!

Well said, and thank you.

[Laelth]

10. +1. n/t

-Laelth

[leftstreet]

11. +1

[woo me with science]

12. YES!

Hear, hear!

[BelgianMadCow]

14. next, do an Ecuador and redistribute wealth, invest in the commons

claw back from multinationals and give the finger to austerity, only to discover that providing people jobs actually improves the economy.

[DeSwiss]

4. K&R

[dtom67]

5. the eurozone crisis never went away...

They have been kicking the can just like the Fed is right now.

Now they (EU) can start crying about the crisis again and blame the Italian peasants who dared to vote against the will of their betters.
Its sure as shootin' that the bankers will do enerything in their power to tank Italy's economy, and blame it on the lack of austerity.

Something bad will happen in Italy to demonstrate that the People just have not suffered enough to bring back the good old days....

[reformist2]

7. Time for austerity... for the rich!

[another_liberal]

8. Take note Congressional Republicans . . .

Take note Congressional Republicans, austerity is going down and it's going down hard!

It doesn't matter how much secret cash your moneybags sponsors may promise you if you just tow the austerity line and continue calling for more cuts and more lay-offs of federal workers, that over-arching strategy to keep taxes on the wealthy ridiculously low is a bust. The days of screwing the poor and giving to the rich are quickly ending.

[woo me with science]

13. K&R Go, Italy!