Samaras’ Coalition Ready to Lower the Boom on Greeks

By on September 19, 2012 in Economy, News, Politics

With decision on $14.6 billion in new budget cuts stuck in limbo for weeks, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is set to meet with his coalition partners on Sept. 20 to finalize the measures before presenting them to the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) which must approve them before releasing more rescue monies.

Samaras will meet PASOK Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos and Democratic Left chief Fotis Kouvelis, who have been balking over some of the harshest cuts aimed primarily at workers, pensioners and the poor, although the two quasi-Leftists have hinted they will go along with whatever Samaras wants to keep unity. So far, only about $9.8 billion in cuts for 2013-14 have been settled and Samaras wants to conclude talks swiftly.

According to the newspaper Kathimerini, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said that he knows of no plan to raise the amount to be saved through cuts to pensions, wages and benefits, which currently stands at $6.53 billion, contradicting constant reports they are and that the amount might reach $12.41 billion while tax evaders who owe the country $70 billion will largely escape again.

A report sday suggested that the government is planning to slash the lump-sum payment received by some retirees by up to 83 percent and to make this retroactive, requiring some pensioners to pay money back to the state through an extra tax on top of previously increased taxes, including doubled income and property taxes.

Venizelos pretty much conceded he had given in to relentless pressure, telling his Members of Parliament that the final package would be “the inevitable outcome of a dual compromise,” referring to the government’s concessions to its creditors and concessions he and Kouvelis will give to the dominant New Democracy party, although some of Kouvelis’ members said they will vote against him because he – as did Venizelos – reneged on pre-election campaign promises to hold the line against more cuts to society’s most vulnerable sectors.

The government hopes to conclude negotiations with the Troika so the measures can be voted through Parliament in October, with the aim of securing the release of Greece’s next bailout tranche, which is worth $38.8 billion, as well as a second bailout of $172 billion. Sources told Kathimerini that Samaras is expected to deliver a televised address to the nation at some point next week — ahead of a Parliamentary vote — in which he is likely to stress that the new measures will be the last and to underline the importance of Greece securing its position in the Eurozone. Previous leaders have made – and broken – the same promise.

 

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  • Anonymous

    If this had been done a decade ago we would have never reached  this point.  Unfortunately the slimy far leftist dominated unions have been holding our country hostage for decades. It took a national bankruptcy to finally wake up Greeks that a country has to live within its means. Unfortunately these low life far leftists parasites continue to think other country’s own them a standard of living. They try to trick Greeks into believing if they bankrupt and vote for them that austarity will go away… when in fact it would get WORSE. Who would wants to invest in a country of thieving commie deadbeats that will just nationalize their efforts? (see North Korea)

  • Anonymous

    The communists complain about extremists groups like GD but make no mistake that communism is no less an evil oppressive cult than fascism. The main reason why other nations are more tolerate of our far leftist extremists is because they see them as naive fools easy to manipulate. Other when it comes to their own personal money (when their “sharing” philosophy dries up) Greek communists will virtually always take the interests of non-Greeks to show their foreign “comrades” how they “aren’t racist” and “pro human rights” (to the point of being bizarrely anti-hellenic)

    Far leftists are unprincipled bandwagon jumpers that just agree with
    collective majority on issues. They are such low lifes they would even
    collude in our ethnic erasure if majority agreed (i.e. genocide of the
    Greek people).  This is precisely why an any Greek that references the former Yugoslavians as “Macedonians” is to a man left on the political spectrum. A perfect example of this is the leftist rag the Guardian that manipulatively selectively pays off any Greeks leftist they can find to write articles referencing FYROM as “Macedonian” (as well as for years dishonestly pretending not to notice FYROM’s sudden identity change and irredentism to cover up their shame in betraying Greeks)

    This is not to say to vote for Golden Dawn extremists either but voting for far left parties is like voting for the death of Greece . Their real identity is socialism  not Greek. They care more about being “comrades” than their country. Never forget the Greek civil war where traitorous anti-Hellenic far left extremists  eventually went on to murder other Greeks for Tito,  Stalin and IMRO.

    http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.ca/2012/05/syriza-youth-support-fyrom-in-use-of.html

  • 30% special tax

    The “special tax” – 30% on OPAP gross revenues on top of the normal corporate tax rate of around 21% — the highest ever imposed on a eurozone member state — limited until 2020 — has to be imposed on ALL companies to protect the workers, pensioners and the poor.

  • catch tax evaders

    “… tax evaders who owe the country $70 billion will largely escape again…”
    Use the secret service to catch them.

  • Anonymous

    Devoting more resources to catching tax cheats is a sensible idea (since the staff can be easily paid from the additional funds they recover).

    What is not sensible is the ridiculous communist parasites that want to tax even more an already overtaxed honest hard working productive taxpayer. If anything taxes in Greece should be reduced to encourage both investment in Greece and reduce dependence on entitlements.

  • Anonymous

     Why not a commie “special tax” on companies of 5000 percent? This way we can turn everyone in Greece into a millionaire using communist version of economics.