Austerity in Europe or the Ryan/Rmoney plan for you -what does it mean for ordinary people?

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/may/08/austerity-europe-what-does-it-mean
<snip>
Austerity has been the main prescription across Europe for dealing with the continent's nearly three-year-old debt crisis, brought on by too much government spending. But what does it mean for the average European? Imagine paying sales tax of 23% or more. Or having your wages cut by 15%. Or, if you're in Ireland, both. Austerity comes in many forms: higher taxes, fewer state benefits, more job cuts, working longer until retirement, you name it.

Here's a look at some of Europe's austerity pain:

Greece, one of three eurozone nations to need an international bailout, has cut spending on just about everything it can – public sector salaries, pensions, education, health care and defense. As a result, unemployment has soared to over 21%, fuelling social unrest that has sometimes turned deadly. In the last two years, riots have erupted frequently and the country's near-daily strikes and demonstrations have shut down schools, airports, train stations, ferries and harmed medical services.

Ireland, the third European nation on rescue loans, has already seen five austerity budgets since 2008. It has been forced to raise taxes and slash spending for years – and that won't stop until at least 2015. The sales tax is now up to a whopping 23% and middle-class wages have been cut around 15%. Residents face higher taxes on incomes, cars, homes and fuel, while the nearly 15% who are unemployed have seen lower welfare and other benefit payments. Ireland has also cut the number of civil servants.
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Fuck all the neo-liberals on the planet

[snappyturtle]

1. Thanks malaise for posting this article. IF only everyone,

voters in the country, would read this!

What gets me is that we hear so little about who and
why all this misery is taking place.

[HiPointDem]

3. to explain why would be to identify the people picking everyone's pockets.

[malaise]

4. Link it everywhere

and send to friends and family

[snappyturtle]

5. Yep.....I idid to FB. Before reading this article

I had heard life was 'rough' in some of the mentioned
countries but I had no idea of these extreme austerity measures.

[HiPointDem]

2. ditto. 21% unemployment = great depression numbers. 23% sales tax is to make up for ireland's

low, low taxes for corporations, rock stars (yeah, talking 'bout you, bono the phoney). and other assorted thieves.

[mick063]

6. The sentence that bothers me.......

"brought on by too much government spending".


Let's change it to:

brought on because the the 1% played roulette with American mortgages, sent the collective world economy into a nosedive, decreased tax revenues from resulting unemployment, changed fragile localized economys into failed localized economys, and asked foregiveness for their mistake in the form of austerity.

[malaise]

7. Austerity has nothing to do with government spending

There was no austerity before the collapse of the financial system and the mortgage fraud in the US which precipitated the crash.