German voters very angry with Frau Merkel over Greece bail-out

swannee7


Joined: 21/08/2009
Posts: 394

Message Posted:
06/05/2010 18:54

Angela Merkel could lose her position of power in the upcoming German elections as a direct result of her bail-out policies for Greece. The people don't feel they were properly consulted or told about the sheer size of the bail-out fund or how it would directly affect their own standard of living. The austerity measures that the Greek govt. must now take have provoked a fierce and brutal backlash by its people (3 dead yesterday) and the German people are not a happy bunch of voters.

The UK's deficit is claimed to be even deeper than Greece's (though managed better, apparently. Huh ?) To plug that gaping hole and reassure foreign investors to keep their links with the UK, the next government has to be totally upfront with its citizens about the harsh measures needed to be put in place. It has to spell out the whys & wherefores and get the people on-side. Failure to do that could leave us in the grip of anarchy.

trncoldboy


Joined: 02/02/2009
Posts: 182

Message Posted:
06/05/2010 19:07

Totally agree with your comments. We need total honesty from our Politicians and a complete mind-set change about what we are ALL prepared to sacrifice for the future of our next generation. I believe this is the biggest challenge facing Europe Today.

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
06/05/2010 19:35

As stated in a paper today the next government will do themselves a big favour if they ask the IMF to spell out the debt to the British people. That way the new government can minimise the blame that is likely to be attached to them and we can know the truth of the situation.

PFI funding and pensions which don't appear on the financial books are going to show our debt to be far worse than we have been led to believe.



Great sacrifices need to be made in the public sector. I fear that they are going to greatly resist this. Unfortunately, the sacrifices will be made in front line posts, the people who actually add value. The power brokers behind the scenes, the ones who don't add any value to front line services, the ones who have creamed off the budgets will do whatever they can to protect the wealth the power that they have accumulated. Cant say I blame them, I would probably do the same.



We had better get used to poor public sector delivery of services.

newscoop


Joined: 23/12/2007
Posts: 2197

Message Posted:
06/05/2010 19:38

Honesty and politicians should never be used in the same sentence.



As for public sector sacrifices



Don't be naive.

swannee7


Joined: 21/08/2009
Posts: 394

Message Posted:
06/05/2010 19:49

Msge. 3. ...."the ones who have creamed off the budgets will do whatever they can to protect the wealth & power they've accumulated..." etc. Can't say I go along with you on those points because we don't yet know what sort of government we're going to get - majority rule or coalition - and there's bound to be a big shake-up whoever gets in. That means a lot of the 'fat cats' you refer to could well be moved out of the way or even sacked, so may find it hard to protect their vested interests. "We'd better get used to poor public sector delivery of services." Hasn't that been going on for the past 13 years ??!!

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
06/05/2010 22:48

msge 5



." Hasn't that been going on for the past 13 years ??!!



Yes, arbitrary targets and conflicting KPI's between government departments have created poor value for money. This has been compounded by restrictive work flow systems, wasted money on scrutiny, poor workforce learning etc, the list goes on. There are proven methods for improving services, if they are not adopted and budgets slashed, which they will be, then services will deteriorate even further.



I am hopeful that new practices will be accepted and adopted by front line staff. I am not sure it will be easy for a new government, (whatever that looks like), to eliminate the fat cats, certainly it will be incredibly expensive to do so, which means that immediate financial gains will difficult to achieve

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
07/05/2010 19:07

History never fails to keep on repeating itself - 'The Kings and Barons drink the wine; the peasants do the work and the fighting!'

ROBIN HOOD


Joined: 26/05/2008
Posts: 238

Message Posted:
08/05/2010 12:05

Message 1 . Better anarchy than apathy.

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
08/05/2010 12:48

I heard that Bosch have introduced a state of the art microwave to an Athens Trade Fair and ....... it seats 12.