Government and SYRIZA Clash Over Church Tax Proposal

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On Monday, the relationship between the Greek state and the Church of Greece became the focus of a fresh clash between the government and the main opposition SYRIZA party after a leftist MP proposed the introduction of a new tax to pay clerics’ wages. SYRIZA deputy Tasos Kourakis said that the Church should start funding itself instead of relying on dwindling state coffers. Kourakis told a conference organised by the Theology Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki that another option would be to impose a church tax on all Greeks who declare themselves Orthodox Christians. He said that revenues from it could go toward church costs and clerics’ salaries.

The rightwing New Democracy shot down the idea, which likened the proposed tax to “Stalinist measures”. ND argued that such a levy would be unconstitutional, as it would discriminate between Greeks based on their religious beliefs. SYRIZA noted that Kourakis’s proposal was the MP’s “personal opinion”, but said that Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras had mooted a similar initiative in the fall of 2011 when the latter was head of the Foundation for Industrial and Economic Research (IOBE). Stournaras accused SYRIZA of distorting comments that he made during a TV interview, when he noted that other European citizens don’t pay clerics’ salaries through taxation without proposing however that Greece follow suit.

28 January 2013

Kathimerini

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_28/01/2013_480874

Editor’s Note:

What SYRIZA proposes is nothing more than the system in place in Germany, where citizens pay a “church tax” that goes to the church of their choice. If one isn’t religious, the money goes into a general charity fund. “Stalinist” is usually “right-speak” for “we don’t like this and we want to demonise the people making this proposal” (such as Potapov’s recent crackbrained initiative concerning “Stalingrad” in the ROCOR). In short, the SYRIZA proposal isn’t leftist at all; it’s merely fair. It simply places the burden of support of the Orthodox Church on Orthodox believers. That’s as it should be, kids… New Democracy is sinking into irrelevance along with PASOK… SYRIZA is Greece’s future, as this common-sense proposal indicates. You can have SYRIZA or you can have Golden Dawn (which is neo-Nazi, fascist, racist, and xenophobic… that’s no choice at all)… that’s the real-world choice on offer… there’s nothing else. It’s clear that SYRIZA’s the better choice.

BMD

 

Greek Tax Officers Go Out On Strike

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Greek tax officers closed their offices and joined the continuing strikes in protest against wage reductions and forthcoming public sector layoffs, as well as against unfair taxes and exactions that they feel the government is about to declare. In the next few days, the Cabinet should decide on almost 12 billion Euros (485 billion Roubles. 15.5 billion USD. 9.6 million UK Pounds) in austerity measures in exchange for another EU/IMF loan of 31 billion Euros (1.25 trillion Roubles. 40 billion USD. 25 billion UK Pounds).

Observers expect the forthcoming round of belt-tightening to result in further cuts to wages and pensions. Athens Metro workers and tram drivers went on strike yesterday. Also striking are judges, hotel personnel, doctors, and chemists. A general 24-hour strike is due in Greece on the 26th of this month. The Greek government agreed with Troika experts on the increase of the pension age from 65 to 67 in a move that will enable Greece to save more than one billion Euros (40 billion Roubles. 1.3 billion USD. 800 million UK Pounds) annually. The Troika wants the coalition cabinet of Antonis Samaras to agree to austerity measures to the tune of 12 billion Euros for 2013 and 2014. However, the parliamentary coalition partners of his New Democracy Party, the PASOK Socialist Party and the moderate Democratic Left Party, oppose those measures. Both PASOK and Democratic Left are against major cuts in social spending.

Workers on the metro, trams, and urban trains as well as doctors, hotel staff, and some university professors in Athens have gone on a 24-hour strike over the government’s intention to cut salaries. More protests are due on 26 September, when the country’s leading trade unions shall launch a general strike. A 24-hour labour action by transport workers is due to begin shortly, and a series of warning strikes by state employees, are expected to paralyze Athens in the next few days.

The unions argue that the amount of money allocated by public transport companies on wages declined by half during the crisis. The strikers are also unhappy with an expected increase in the cost of public transport and demand that the government provide free transport passes to the unemployed, students, and pensioners.

Greek judges joined a strike action by state sector employees who’ve protested wage cuts. As the state reduced judges’ salaries by as much as 38 per cent over the past few weeks, judges’ associations warn that further pay cuts are putting their constitutional position as guarantors of the court system under threat. Whilst on strike, judges are hearing only cases nearing the statute of limitations.

The Greek government tabled a bill to halve the monthly salary of the President to 11,500 Euros (462,000 Roubles. 14,900 USD. 9,200 UK Pounds) and reduce his monthly hospitality expenses by one-third to 6,240 Euros (250,000 Roubles. 8,000 USD. 5,000 UK Pounds). The presidential pension is in for similar cuts. The measures should save the Greek treasury 350,000 Euros (14.1 million Roubles. 450,000 USD. 280,000 UK Pounds) each year.

21 September 2012

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_21/Greek-tax-officers-go-out-on-strike/

Editor’s Note:

The New Democracy slimers (who are equivalent to the US Republican Party), want to spare the Affluent Effluent by kicking the iaias and papous in the face. That’s why the Church of Greece is against the cuts in social spending. It’s not just the cuts… it’s the fact that the idle rich shall continue to party whilst poor people beg on the streets. That’s what Willy and Lyin’ Ryan want in the USA. That’s why we must vote on 6 November to re-elect the President. He’s no prize, to be sure, but he won’t club poor people in the face to benefit the rich like himself. After all, he paid a lower proportion of his income in tax than many making only 1 percent of his income. That’s called evil… that’s called Mammon-worship.

Orthodox people should be aware that the konvertsy (like all unhinged cultists) favour Willy’s nasty kleptocratic dreams. Not only should we vote against Willy, we should clean out his supporters in the Church… they support objective evil, full stop. Trust me, being for the illegalisation of abortion is a piffle when put in the balance with insane warmongering, rampant greed, pandering to sectarian crazies, and stacking the deck further in favour of the fatcats. On the one hand, we have a small amount of evil admixed with much good… on the other we have monstrous evil wearing a fig-leaf of “morality”. Our Lord Christ promised us that the wheat and tares would be intermixed until the Last Day. So be it… that means that we must choose the least evil path (not the “best”, for that’s not available). That means that all decent Christians must reject the money-grubbing consumerist greed of the Republican Party. It means that one shouldn’t listen to the likes of Fathausen, Freddie M-G, Mattingly, Reardon, Dreher, et al… they’re all shills for the Radical Godless Right (especially in their pandering to sectarian cultists (for that is what Mormonism and Pentecostalism are)).

There’s NO perfection out there…

BMD

8 September 2012. Here is a Consequence of Voting for Right-Wing Phantasms

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Why are the Greek Paralympians starved of funds? It’s so that lazy and porcine “investors” in their McMansions can be spared any of the pain of the current economic meltdown. It’s easier to kick the Paralympians full-force in the face than it it is for politicians to face off against the rich. In fact, that’s why the Greek public’s fed up with PASOK… it’s lost most of its cred by sucking up to the banksters. ND is trying desperately to hold together an oligarch-friendly government, but it’s a losing cause, they may have less than a year.

The spectre of SYRIZA is haunting the affluent effluent of Greece. They’re scared… they’re terrified of what’ll happen under a true Leftist government. I’ll simply say this… we can support the Paralympians or we can support the lazy McMansion filth. For me, that’s not a hard choice…

THIS is why you must vote for the Prez on 6 November… a vote for Willy is a vote to kick every ordinary person in the teeth for the benefit of the Perfumed Princes of this country. Is that what you want?

BMD

Locals Attack Tax Police in Greece

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On Sunday, the Greek government said that it would strictly punish citizens for tax evasion after the residents of the small island of Hydra tried to resist the police after they arrested a restaurant owner who didn’t provide receipts to clients. A government spokesman, Simos Kedikoglou, said in a statement, “We won’t let this ruin the state”. He added that tax evasion is a “scourge in Greek society” and that we should end it, decisively and immediately. According to local TV, this weekend, riot police came to the island of Hydra near Athens to calm raging locals who were protesting the actions of financial police. The government spokesman said that the state should rebuff “tricksters” who try to weasel out of paying taxes. The parliamentary opposition called the actions of authorities unnecessary and harmful.

19 August 2012

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120819/175317007.html

Editor’s Note:

The chances of ending tax evasion in Greece are slim to none. For Greeks, tax evasion is a minor Olympic sport, almost as popular as the old pankration was. In short, if the ND/PASOK coalition tries to shake down Greeks violently, they’re going to learn a very sharp lesson very quickly with very painful results. Remember the old saying, “Russians aren’t Germans”… if that’s true of us, it goes double for Greeks (who haven’t forgotten the nasty German occupation in World War II). To expect stodgy Teutonic “honesty” from Greeks, Russians, Romanians, Italians, Spaniards, or any other Latin/Slavic nationality is crackbrained and without foundation (Israelis and Arabs are artful dodgers, too (Moshe Dayan was NO Angela Merkel)… pecunia non olet). Episodes such as this are only a foreshadowing of the death of the Euro… at least, as a “common” European currency (it may end as a common currency for Germany, France, and the Benelux region).

It won’t be mourned…

BMD

New Greek Government Sworn In

THIS is what the Greek people think of “austerity”… the present coalition isn’t long for this world, but it’ll last long enough to deny the Republicans victory in November (the GOP needs European instability to drive an American downturn, but that’s not going to happen now).

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On Thursday night, the newly-elected Greek government took the oath of office in Athens. The ministers swore in the name of the Holy Trinity on the Gospel to abide by the constitution and laws, and to serve the interests of the Greek people. The tardiness of the new Minister of Justice, Anthony Rupakotisa, who arrived at the presidential palace half an hour late, delayed the ceremony. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras took office.  Three members of the government… Finance Minister Vassilis Rapanos and his two deputies, Christos Staikuras and Georgios Mavraganis… shall take the oath later, as their counterparts from the previous interim cabinet represented Greece at a meeting of the Eurogroup and, accordingly, can’t resign yet.

The new cabinet is from the centre-right New Democracy (ND) (129 deputies in the 300-seat parliament) supported by the centre-left PASOK (33 deputies) and the Democratic Left Forces (DIMAR) (17 deputies). Despite the fact that ND has a plurality in Parliament, if PASOK and DIMAR deputies refused to support the government, it’d significantly weaken the position of the cabinet, especially if there were unpopular “reforms”. Earlier, media reports indicated that the new Cabinet of Greece declared that it plans to hold new talks with its EU/IMF creditors. The Samaras government considers its main objectives the fight against the crisis and keeping Greece in the Eurozone. The coalition cabinet’s planning to sit for its full constitutional term of four years. Previously, Greek coalition governments only sat for a transitional period, in order to steer the country through new parliamentary elections.

The Government contains 17 Ministers, 7 First Deputy Ministers, and 14 Deputy Ministers. Thirteen of its members were in previous ND governments. The new coalition carried out some changes in the names of ministries and government structure. The Ministry of the Merchant Fleet, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace reappeared as government structures. They merged the Ministries of Education and Culture and of Transportation and Development, and the Ministry of Citizen Protection returned to its traditional title of the Ministry of Public Order.

The full composition of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Greek government as follows:

• Prime Minister: Antonis Samaras
• Minister of State: Dimitris Stamatis,
• Government Spokesman: Simos Kedikoglu
• Minister of Administrative Reform and E-Government: Antonis Manitakis
• Minister of Internal Affairs: Evripidis Stylianidis
• Minister of Finance: Vasilis Rapanos
• Foreign Minister: Dimitris Avramopoulos
• Defence Minister: Panos Panayotopulos
• Minister of Development, Transport, And Communication Networks: Kostis Hadzidakis
• Minister of Merchant Fleet and the Aegean Sea: Costas Musurulis
• Minister of Environment, Energy, and Climate Change: Evangelos Liveratos
• Minister of Education, Culture, and Sports: Konstantinos Arvanitopulos
• Minister of Labour and Social Insurance: Yiannis Vrutsis
• Minister of Health: Andreas Likurendzos
• Agriculture Minister: Athanasios Tsavtaris
• Minister of Public Order: Nikos Dendias
• Minister of Justice, Transparency, and Human Rights: Anthony Rupakotis
• Minister of Tourism: Olga Kefaloyanni
• Minister of Macedonia and Thrace: Theodoros Karaoglu

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Prime Minister Antonis Samaras reported that the newly-elected Greek government would start by reducing the salary of Cabinet Ministers. At the first meeting of his government after being sworn in Thursday evening, he said, “We’ll reduce the salary of Cabinet members by 30 percent. We also agreed to limit the use of official cars to the minimum necessary to carry out our duties”. He also called on ministers to speak to the press less and coordinate such appearances with his office, saying, “Don’t go on TV every day; there’s no reason to do that”. He also announced that henceforth all government meetings would be behind closed doors, even though Samaras’ predecessor Georgios Papandreou opened up meetings to the press.

The centre-right New Democracy (ND), the centre-left PASOK, and the moderate leftist DIMAR support the Samaras government. On Thursday, according to Samaras, a new era began in Greek politics, since the government is the first coalition formed with the goal of ruling the country, not merely holding power until a new election. He said, “We agreed on a broad common strategy on what’s needed to run the country. Our goal is to lead the country out of crisis and to justify the sacrifices made by the Greek people”.

 21 June 2012

Aleksei Bogdanov

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/world/20120621/678714117.html

http://ria.ru/world/20120621/678754449.html

Editor’s Note:

There’s an interesting wrinkle in all of this, ND and PASOK alone should have the deputies to form a government… 162 out of 300. However, it’s clear that not all of the deputies are enthused over the new arrangement… ergo, DIMAR, with 17 seats, firms the majority up to 179. Nevertheless, this smells “provisional”… and it may not last a year. Yet, it’ll last long enough to prolong the present stasis until after the US election in November. That’s what Wafflin’ Willy didn’t need… he needed a full-blown Eurozone crisis to sour the US economy. That’s not going to happen… ergo, the chances of Willy gaining the White House are slim to none. He’ll rack up a majority amongst rural white men over 45, and no one else.

That’s the way of it in our inter-related world.

APPENDIX

Greek Political Alignment prior to the May election, after the May Election, and at Present:

	2009 Vote	Seats	05.12 Vote	Seats	06.12 Vote	Seats	Percent change 2009 to 2012
ND	33.5	91	18.9	108	29.7	129	88.7
PASOK	44.0	160	13.2	41	12.3	33	28.0
DIMAR	—	—	6.1	19	6.3	17	—
SYRIZA	4.6	13	16.8	52	26.9	71	584.8

This is INTERESTING, and none of the major media outlets is covering this one adequately. Firstly, look at the 2009 vote… ND and PASOK took a combined 77.5 percent of the vote. In June 2012, they took 42 percent of the vote… less than a majority, and only 54.2 percent of their 2009 combined vote. ND had 88.7 percent of its ’09 vote, whilst PASOK had only 28 percent of its ’09 tally. In 2009, SYRIZA had only 6 percent of the ND/PASOK total; whilst in June 2012, it tallied 64 percent of their combined effort. When one considers that DIMAR is a schism from SYRIZA, one sees that the capitalist parties not only took a drubbing, it conceivably set up a realignment. Let’s look at it another way… in 2009, SRIZA garnered a vote that was 10.5 percent the PASOK total; in June 2012, SYRIZA won votes equal to 218.7 percent that of PASOK. That is, in 2009, SYRIZA won 10.5 percent of PASOK’s total. In June 2012, PASOK only racked up a vote 45.7 percent that of SYRIZA (even with the DIMAR defection).

It’s obvious… the Greeks are tired of the same ol’, same ol’… and they’re voting for SYRIZA in record numbers. PASOK and ND are deadly rivals… the only thing bringing them together is fear of SYRIZA. Fotis Kouvelis of DIMAR is an opportunist… he served as a minister in a ND/Left coalition cabinet in 1989. Indeed, the present arrangement bids fair to be a repeat of 1989… that cabinet only lasted four months. This time around, the stakes are higher, so, it’ll probably last until the turn of the year. However, that’ll be enough time for President Obama to win re-election. You see, the Eurozone is going to sail through some choppy seas, but the present Greek coalition means that won’t happen for the present, and, sadly for Wafflin’ Willy, he needs Eurozone disruption to win election. That’s not going to happen.

Remember, we live in an interconnected world.

BMD

Three Greek Parties Form Coalition Government

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On Wednesday, PASOK head Evangelos Venizelos said that three parties formed a new coalition government in Greece, including the centre-right New Democracy (ND), the socialist PASOK, and the Democratic Left (DIMAR), saying, “New Democracy, PASOK, and the Democratic Left agreed to take responsibility for reviewing the loan agreement and the final overcoming of the crisis”. The exact composition of the government is still unknown. Local observers believe that centre-right leader Antonis Samaras will become prime minister.

20 June 2012

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120620/174147133.html