Deirdre Fulton — Under Pressure from Europe, Tsipras Tries to Sell 'Unviable' Austerity Deal to Syriza

A lot of recriminations and condemnations, but still no call for Grexit yet as Schaeuble works to put it back on the table.

Common Dreams
Under Pressure from Europe, Tsipras Tries to Sell 'Unviable' Austerity Deal to Syriza
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer

Was Tsipras "bought?" Plus, what is confidence and a civics lesson.

The Greek "deal" is an orgy of neoliberal grab

Here's the "deal" that Tsipras agreed to in what is being described as anything from a whipping to a torture chamber. Frankly he deserves a whipping, but not this kind.

In the end what has emerged as the "deal" is nothing more than an orgy of neoliberal grab.

Here we go:

• Privatization program. Greece will be forced to sell off 50 billion euros in valuable assets. Of course, this is what the oligarchs were after. These are primo assets. Once again it's the looting of long-paid-for assets by theives with fraudulent claims to them. These assets have benefited the people. Now The Powers That Be can charge money for their use.

• Ambitious pension reforms. So the pension money will be stolen by the banksters to make them whole from their horribly wrong speculations. Off the backs of the innocents. What scum. This is exactly what the Greek voters voted against, but hey, referendums in Greece are not binding so too fucking bad, people.

• Liberalization of Greece's economy. That means deregulation, which is one of the favorite scams of the neoliberals who disguise this as fake competition and freeing up the "free market" when in fact it's nothing more than state sanctioned racketeering by large multinationals--European and American. They come in, take control, boost their profits and impose their will.

• Modernizing the labor market. Haha. How funny. You knew this was coming. It's a euphemism for union destruction and labor subjugation.

• Depoliticizing the Greek government establishment. Talk about brazen. These guys have gone above and beyond with this one. It's basically saying we're going to take politics out of politics. In other words, the end of any form of representative government. Don't even think about it. We'll be taking over from here on.

• Ending or rolling back legislation that Syriza passed in its first six months. This one goes hand in hand with the bullet point above. Your government passed laws? Too fucking bad, we're cancelling those laws.

Anyone who says this is not a coup is a fool. By the way, the hashtag #ThisIsACoup is trending on Twitter.

On another note, let's not get smug or overly critical of the Greek people or for that matter go on any sort of rant against this outcome for that would be hypocrisy. The same thing goes on here in America and in Europe all the time.

While we don't have binding referendums (a direct democracy) in the USA or, in most European countries, (we have representative government) the will of the people is almost always ignored just the same. We know this by looking at polls and then seeing what laws are passed, which are almost always against what the people want and almost always aligned with what the elites want.

We have seen it here in the USA with Citizens United, the many trade deals (in fact, one that Congress just gave to Obama), endless foreign wars, tax giveaways to they rich, law enforcement and police brutality, NSA surveillance and much more. So we are just as much sheep being led to slaughter as the Greeks.

Germany will put Greece out of its misery

It's pretty obvious to see the plan now. Germany wants Greece out and we're in the death throes of that happening. Tsipras, however, can't see it through the trees. He and the Greek people are desperately clinging to try to stay "European," but Germany has decided it's time for Greece to go.

In the end the Greeks will owe Germany a debt of gratitude for ending its suffering. As for Tsipras, his political career may well be over and not a moment too soon.

The irony is, Greece will improve and the rest of Europe will be looking on in envy.

BTW...Yanis Varoufakis said that this was always Germany's plan. So why did he try to negotiate with them if he knew this all along? Varoufakis is another loser.

My attitude now is that Greece deserves to be humiliated and destroyed for electing such incompetent leaders and for loving the euro so.

I can have sympathy for someone up until a point, but if that person is hell bent on detroying themselves and degrading themselves and humiliating themselves then there is only so far I can go.

This is how I feel about the Greek people now. It's not even Tsipras anymore even though he is a useless, mousy, backstabbing traitor and piece of shit. It's the Greek people themselves. What a rich heritage they have trashed.

Hey Greeks, you want the euro so bad? You want to be "European" so bad. Enjoy it, folks. I am done defending you. I am just going to sit back and make money off your plight.

Tsipras just destroyed Greece--Naked Capitalism

I can't even talk about it. Just read Yves' article.

This is basically the same proposal as that was just rejected by the Greek people in the referendum…This makes absolutely no sense. The Tsipras Government has just:

• renegotiated itself into the same position it was in two months ago;

• set massively false expectations with the Greek public;

• destroyed the Greek banking system, and

• destroyed what was left of Greek political capital in EU.

If this deal gets through the Greek Parliament, and it could given everyone other than the ruling party and Golden Dawn are in favour of austerity, then Greece has just destroyed itself to no purpose.

"Tsipras has just destroyed Greece."

What the hell was that all about? Tsipras offers creditors same--no, worse--deal than he was offered on June 26, pre-referendum.

I don't even have words to express how pathetic this is.

WTF is wrong with this guy?

So after calling for this grand show of democracy and decrying that he would let the Greek people decide and that they were done with austerity, what does he do? He sells them down the river and agrees to an even harsher package of austerity.

Tsipras basically has offered the same package of pension cuts, tax increases (VAT and income) and expanding primary budget surpluses WITH NO REDUCTION IN THE DEBT.

Here is the end of austerity. Read it for yourself. The Greek government's full proposal to the Euro group.

What a pathetic moron.

I am done with the Greeks. Done.

Will Syriza end up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?

After a gutsy vote by the Greek people will Dumb and Dumber (Tsipras, Varoufakis) end up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?

I'm hearing that Varoufakis has come out saying, "Grexit is out of the question."

What the hell is wrong with these guys?

It's like the nerd in High School, who falls in love with the Prom Queen and she agrees to go out with him. They date for a while, but all along she abuses him. The abuses grow and she's shitting on him all the time now: open, hostile, vile abuse and the dude still wants to be in love with her.

WTF, man!!! Have a little dignity.

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Jean-Claude Junker hurls insults at Greece

EU leaders simply delusional now. Do they really think people are believing their shit?

Here's what Merkel just said:

* Germany's Merkel says the will to compromise on Greek side was not there - RTRS

— Fabrizio Goria (@FGoria) June 29, 2015

Is she delusional? Greece not willing to compromise? They fucking bent over backwards. Tsipras broke promises to his people left and right to try to please his EU masters. She's nuts!

Amazing what some backbone will achieve. Euro "bullies" now backtracking, lying, throwing love...

Amazing what some backbone will  achieve. Now the bulliies are getting nervous. Juncker lying and backtracking. IMF's Lagarde throwing some "love."

EU President Jean-Claude Juncker says he never wage and pension cuts. #Bullshit!

#Juncker wage cuts never on the table

— Kathimerini English (@ekathimerini) June 29, 2015

Begs Greek people to vote "Yes" on referendum to stay in the Eurozone. #ScaredShitless

Here's Lagarde:

But as far as we are concerned, Greece is a member of the euro zone. When they are prepared to talk, and to continue negotiations, we stand ready to do that. we have constantly in the last few days showed a lot of willingness to progress, flexibility in what they can adjust to. And we stand ready to continue to doing that. 

Willingness to progress? Flexibility? What a fucking joke.

Too bad Tsipras didn't do this right from the start.

I'm back from vacation and the news is even more depressing than when I left. But I "called" all of this.

Just came back from a week's vacation in Florida and I had a great time, but now I am back in this shit weather of New York City. I am really starting to hate it here, but I digress.

During my vacation I barely kept up with the markets and the news; especially the news because it's pretty much almost all bad and I didn't want any buzz kill to wreck my good time.

But, alas, I am back and scanning the media again and of course there is the Greece situation right out there in the forefront and it's really sad and depressing as all hell.

Syntagma Square, until today a queues-free area of Athens, has fallen. Long lines in front of ATMs getting longer. Depressing

— Nikos Chrysoloras (@nchrysoloras) June 28, 2015

I'll start by taking some credit for predicting all this, to a "t."

Right from the election of Syriza and even before with the comments of then candidate, Alexis Tsipras, followed by the appointment of Varoufakis as Finance Minister, I said that Greece would cave to the Troika; that the last remaining wealth of the public would be stripped away and looted to pay the ransom that the banksters demanded.

Today we see that really accelerating to its final conclusion with the Greek government looking to shut banks and impose capital controls Monday morning.  (i.e. steal all the remaining cash.)

Now this is really sad and depressing on so many levels. It's depressing due to the weakness of Tsipras and the Greek government, which like so many others that have delivered false promises (Obama) and sold the people out on day one.

It's sad and depressing because of the callous and gluttonous voracity of the financial mafia who will stop at nothing and want everything despite their ineptitude and their orgies of destruction, which seemingly cannot be stopped.

It's sad and depressing on the loss of Greek sovereignty and the crushing down of the world's oldest democracy; of the crushing of democracy in general, universally, no matter how old and the sheer criminality of it.

Worst of all, however, it's sad and depressing due to the fact that we are witnessing THE MODEL that will be applied by the neoliberal criminals on the rest of us all over the world.

Make no mistake: the actions being forced upon Greece are meant to be a lesson to us all: that's what's coming our way unless we submit to the demands of this mafia and the corrupt governments they control (yes, the U.S. included, which may be most corrupt) and the lackeys who do their bidding and the law enforcement goons that fill their prisons with those who protest or refuse to submit and the armies they unleash--overt and covert--to plunder the wealth of nations.

This is the path via which, the general citizenry will be conquered, taken, enslaved, subjugated and consumed in every which way possible and it is under way as we speak and there is really nothing we can do about it.

Say good bye to Greece. Say good bye to Democracy. Say good by to us all and the way of life we have known.

On a bittersweet note there is one final irony to all this even though it's just a sort of mini, micro, "unintended consequences" thing, but at least it's something we can take a little solace in (or, better yet, make money in). That is, the vaunted euro, the thing that caused much of this misery--indeed, the thing that was CREATED EXPRESSLY as a vehicle so that the elites could steal--will go down in flames, perhaps collapsing to near-valueless in some months or at most a couple of years.

I feel sorry for the Greek people, who have been pleading for an end to austerity for so long and who have put false hope in disingenuous or timid leaders. The truth is, they have been so deluded they have not seen the poisonous nature of this currency and have not understood that it was really their mortal enemy, a Trojan Horse, all along.

For whatever reason, maybe past history of corruption under the drachma or, the inflation that the corruption seemingly always brought, the Greeks did not want to go back to the drachma. In the end I predict they will be begging for the drachma; it'll be their savior from the euro.

Make no mistake: the euro is going down. To zero, perhaps. To say the euro is getting harder to get is folly. Under the current arrangement, which necessitates that an elite few must figuratively and literally kill off everyone else for their corrupt gang to survive, and to have a currency based on this, basically means that the currency--the euro--is intrinsically worthless.

Greece back in recession, BOE cuts growth forecast

Great job, Syriza, Varoufakis, Tsipras!

And, way to go U.K. voters for giving austerity-pushing Conservatives a majority!

Almost a stupid as us Americans, who gave Republicans control of Congress.

I'm not sure, but has there ever been a time in history when more people voted against their own interests? Someone, please help me on this.

The privatization of the Port of Piraeus, which Syriza opposed, is now going forward

Hat tip to my good friend and MNE contributor, Roger Erickson, for this.

(Reuters) - The Greek government will sell its majority stake in the port of Piraeus within weeks, the country's deputy prime minister told China's official Xinhua news agency, a flip-flop from the leftist government as it seeks funds from its creditors.

The Syriza government of Alexis Tsipras took power in January on promises to end painful austerity, saying it would halt a string of privatisations including the sale of a 67 percent stake in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP). Read article.

#NoBALLS

Well, okay, first of all I called this from the very beginning. I called the eventual capitulation by Syriza, by Tsipras, by Varoufakis. Go back and read my blog entries starting from January 26.

But enough of patting myself on the back. If you care anything about breaking the global grip of the oligopoly, the neoliberal rape, the plutcratic plunder, then this has to make you want to puke. Another sellout by the phoney, cowardly, BallLESS, (add your own adjective), liberal, progressive, left wing.

They go down so easy, don't they? No stomach for fighting. No stomach for just about anything except getting down on their knees and giving hand jobs to the elites. So quick to cede power and control to the plutocracy...willingly...on a silver fucking platter. Each and every time.

I'm just wondering what Syriza will do next? Re-fire those rehired workers?

And by the way, we'll be getting another taste of it here in the U.S. Guess who's being anointed Senate Minority Leader? Chuck Schumer (D-NY), friend of Wall Street and war, those two great, liberal Democratic values.

Schumer had in the past “succeeded in limiting efforts to regulate credit-rating agencies, for example, sponsored legislation that cut fees paid by Wall Street firms to finance government oversight, pushed to allow banks to have lower capital reserves and called for the revision of regulations to make corporations’ balance sheets more transparent.”
His behavior has changed very little since the crisis.

When Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ted Kaufman (D-DE) introduced an amendment to break up the largest banks, they were able to recruit the support of a handful of GOP senators, but Schumer worked alongside the Obama administration to kill it. He insists that capital gains tax rates stay lower than those of other income, a direct gift to fund managers. Read the rest of the article here.

Who needs the GOP when you have guys like Schumer?

Varoufakis, Tsipras, Syriza are children not men.

Yanis Varoufakis, Alexis Tsipras and the entire Syriza party are children, not men. Men don't whine and threaten and issue bold claims then do nothing. Men take action. Greece cannot move forward under the euro or, at least without heavily taxing the oligarchy and even that would not do the job fully.

You can say you are going to do all these things; you can get yourself elected to power, but when you keep talking and pledging your allegience to a system that has raped and decimated your economy and your people you are nothing but a child. You're not a man. Men take action.

My personal view.

-Mike Norman

Greece can't abandon austerity and stay with the euro. Period.

Alexis Tsipras and his party, Syriza, can talk all they want about ending austerity, but they simply can't do it without their own currency.

When all the cheering and celebration dies down Greece will be left with a choice: they can move forward on the path to self determination, sovereignty and dignity, but only if they bring back the drachma.

Or, they can stick with the euro and naively believe they will be able to end austerity, rehire fired public workers, raise salaries and do all those other things that they promised to do, but can't.

This is the classic problem of the modern day left wing. They talk big about all these progressive ideals--help the middle class, workers, safety nets, education, etc, but they simply don't understand or, don't buy into the economics necessary to do these things.

Same problem everywhere. Here, too, in the U.S. (Although there's some hope with Kelton.)

By the way...so far this morning the euro is trading in the classic, buy the rumor sell the news pattern.