And Things Continue To Fade
The BBC reports that Greece PM Papandreou faces fresh call to resign
Greece’s centre-right opposition has demanded Prime Minister George Papandreou resign, throwing into disarray plans for a unity government.
Opposition leader Antonis Samaras also called for snap elections before leading his MPs in a dramatic walkout of parliament.
Mr Papandreou’s government faces a crucial confidence vote on Friday.
He earlier said that opposition support could mean dropping controversial plans for a referendum on an EU bailout.
I’m with ‘Noz, Papandreou should get while the getting is good, and not stand at the helm while Sarkozy and Merkel force the Greeks over the waterfall. There is a much better solution to the problem, but banks don’t want it to happen.
CNN/Money reports on two studies that show that Many companies pay no income taxes, study finds. They are raking in record profits, but some of them are actually applying for rebates. There is an Alternate Minimum Tax for individuals, but no equivalent for corporations. The average effective tax rate for the Fortune 500 seems to be around 18.5%, not the 35% that people claim it is.
In the better news column is an article that notes that in the last four weeks credit unions have gained 650,000 new members and $4.5 billion in deposits. During all of last year only 600,000 people joined credit unions. The switch corresponds to the Bank of America decision to start charging customers for debit card use.
4 comments
Papandreou appears to be settling in for the long haul though. He sacked the entire top leadership of the military yesterday so that presumably he can appoint people loyal to him. Hrm…
– Badtux the Still-baffled Penguin
His dad was the leader that led the movement to oust ‘the colonels’ from power in the 1970s, so the military isn’t trusted by his family or party. If the military leaders expressed opposition to what he was doing, which I suspect they did as he was planning major cuts to defense spending, he would have sacked them in minute.
His biggest problem at the moment are members of his own party, who are working against him. I wouldn’t be surprised if the confidence vote goes against him and an election is forced. he picked a lousy time to return to Greece and take over the ‘family business’. Both his father and grandfather were prime ministers of Greece.
Right, but he wouldn’t have sacked the colonels if he wasn’t intending to hang around for a good long time. If he was intending to vacate office next week, he wouldn’t have bothered. Does he know something about the upcoming no-confidence vote that we don’t know?
– Badtux the *STILL* baffled Penguin
He apparently did, because the reports are he survived it. He really should just leave, because he’s in a no-win situation.
The leader of the opposition was his roommate at college, but their friendship has turned to very personal hatred. They take every political move as a personal insult.
This is going to get violent before it is over.