The Bailout Club

As predicted back in November, Portugal has stuck out the hand and joined The Bailout Club. It's an interesting scenario, considering the government in Portugal fell apart after they failed to implement their own austerity measures. Now their new government, still unelected, will have to deal with the people as the measures are shoved down their throat by those who run the Universe's biggest casino.
The UK have a fiscal deficit of over 9% which is much higher that Portugal's and Spain's. Yet the UK can continue to borrow from the bond markets at a rate of 3.6%, while Portugal is driven into the open arms of the ECB by the sharks.
Mystified? Me too...

The Eurozone and the single currency and those who drive it need to start thinking now. A new 'mechanism' needs to be dreamed up. One that appeases the spreading unrest which is never carried by the mainstream, but still allows for giving people money and being able to take most of it back off them. Some say that's what makes the World goes round. I call it legal slavery.

In Ireland of course it's a little different. Our problems stems for shysterism and corruption in the higher echelons. They truly lost all control of themselves. But what the hell, I can't see anyone doing a Madoff, can you?
If one was a conspiracy theorist there may even be a line of thought that the whole thing is a measured game of dice where the top-tier roll six every time and the rest of us don't get to roll at all.
When you see the way governments have behaved here for the past 20 years, and with no sign of change from the newbies it might not be as far off the mark as you would think. Why the hell would a national government bailout financial sharks at the expense of their own citizens?

The ECB raised interest rates by .25% today, adding further misery on cash strapped men and women in Ireland. Perhaps I should say Cashless.
With almost fifty thousand householders already in arrears and more just meeting interest payments, this rise will further add to Ireland's next big disaster. A sovereign default is on the way, it's unavoidable and by the end of it, the Irish taxpayer will be down €100 billion, because bondholders, guaranteed or otherwise need to have that cash back.

Bill Hicks was right, 'It's all a ride.'
The good die young.