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By Michael Collins
Wall Streeters, big banks, and their proxies in political office are all reaching for the Xanax tonight. The Greek left, led by Alexis Tsipras, is saying that there's no obligation to pay back the rotten deal handed down to the Greek people. (Image: Oneiros)
"After accepting a mandate to create a multiparty administration following inconclusive elections, Alexis Tsipras sent shockwaves through financial markets by announcing the pledges Athens had made to secure rescue funds from the EU and IMF were null and void.
"The popular verdict clearly renders the bailout deal null," said the politician, whose stridently anti-austerity coalition of the radical left, known as Syriza, sprung the surprise of the weekend's poll, coming in second with 16.8% of the vote. "This is an historic moment for the left and the popular movement and a great responsibility for me." Guardian, May 8, 2012
And what does this mean?
"Alarm in EU capitals is growing, with Germany in particular emphasising that Greece must stick with the terms of the agreements it has signed with lenders who have committed themselves to give a total of €240bn to the crisis-hit country.
"The prospect of protracted political instability has stoked fears that Greece is not just teetering on a political precipice but also laying the ground, however unwittingly, for its own euro exit." Guardian, May 8, 2012
The Greek left saying that the people are not obligated to pay the debt created by their leaders and Goldman in back rooms in Greece and elsewhere.
"As in the American subprime crisis and the implosion of the American International Group, financial derivatives played a role in the run-up of Greek debt. Instruments developed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and a wide range of other banks enabled politicians to mask additional borrowing in Greece, Italy and possibly elsewhere.
"In dozens of deals across the Continent, banks provided cash upfront in return for government payments in the future, with those liabilities then left off the books. Greece, for example, traded away the rights to airport fees and lottery proceeds in years to come." New York Times, February 13, 2010
A debt created through illegal means is not a debt at all. That is the basic argument. How can the people be obligated to pay (and suffer) for what their leaders did in secret with Wall Street?
The Germans are whining. German Chancellor Angela Merkel may need another of those George W. Bush (remember him) back rubs.
Time to liberate ourselves from this useless charade of bogus debt created by the ultimate criminal class, the type that steal everything that isn' nailed down and are freed to do it again and again ... financed with bailouts from we the people.
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