The Latest from Greece

Greek riots and demonstrations are now a daily event in Athens and other major cities.  Civil disorder is common place -- looting and random thievery are accepted in modern day Greece.

Meanwhile, the Greek public still believes that they are beset by the evil greed of rich people and large corporations.  If only....  

For three generations, the Greeks have been told that the "middle class" deserves endless services, employment guarantees, free health care, and no taxes.  They bought in.

It's always about "fighting for the middle class," until there is no longer a middle class. That's where we are in Greece.  We now have a protracted battle between the protected class -- mostly government employees -- and everybody else.  We now witness a civil war between the young -- who are supposed to support all of this nonsense -- and the old, who no longer can support much of anything.

Greece is the target.  That's where the Obama policies take you.  Substitute personal responsibility for government largess and you get modern Greece.  Meanwhile, move the rhetoric over to demonizing the rich and you get the Obama plan.  Freedom, free markets, hard work -- these are now outmoded notions to be replaced by "defending the middle class."  One such defense is the announcement today that GM workers will receive $ 7,000 bonuses this year, thanks to the taxpayers, who have lost billions of dollars underwriting GM worker pension funds.

This is where it goes.  Pit one group of Americans against another.  It is no longer about merit and hard work.  Those are outmoded notions.  The Greeks don't believe any of that either.  They have been carefully nurtured to believe that the government will take care of everything.  Obama has taken heed.  You can win a lot of elections and curry favor with an adoring media by simply pretending that effort is no longer required for the good life.  These rich folks have enough for us all.

So, modern Greece is descending into chaos.  Don't visit Athens as a tourist, because police protection has broken down.  This is a society that no longer believes in civil order.  Virtually all Greeks now believe that their problems are caused by rich people, German banks, and big corporations. They have been watching TV and listening to their leaders.  They drank the koolaide.

Now, we are drinking the koolaide.  What is the Obama plan to reduce the deficit?  Tax rich people.  How do you deal with a $ 70 trillion unfunded entitlement deficit.  Raise $ 80 billion a year from rich people.  This year alone that will reduce our deficit from $ 1.6 Trillion to $ 1.52 Trillion.  That's what we are talking about.  These terrible Republicans. If they would only agree to the Obama plan our national debt would rise a mere $ 1.52 trillion per year and the national debt would reach only $ 24 Trillion in six years instead of $ 25 Trillion.  Thank you, Mr. President.  That's a big help.  No point in trying to deal with the entitlements, after all, $ 24 Trillion in six years isn't bad and that's only the beginning.  We can do better than that (or more than that, if you like).

No need to worry about Greece with such a statesman-like President.  The adoring media deserves some credit as well.  If they get their way...just think.  We can get to a mere $ 24 trillion in debt in six years.  In 20 years, we should be able to scale the $ 40 Trillion mark.  Hey, maybe Greece isn't that far way after all.