And that makes Italians angry.
"Austerity measures are approved in Italy" July 16, 2011|By Alessandra Rizzo, Associated Press
ROME - Italy cleared a $99 billion austerity package yesterday to reassure nervous investors that the eurozone’s third-largest economy will not succumb to the debt crisis.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s government fast-tracked approval of the package measures - initially set for later this summer - and increased their scope after markets plummeted this week on worries over the country’s financial stability.
Italy’s future is crucial to Europe’s hopes of surviving the debt crisis because the country would be far too expensive to bail out....
Italy is... too big too fail?
Berlusconi, who remains under pressure from the opposition to resign, has been criticized for remaining out of the public eye at a time of crisis.
Opposition lawmakers maintain the government is too weak and divided to handle the financial turmoil, and should just give up.
The austerity includes increases in health care fees, cuts to tax breaks and high-end pensions, raises in the retirement age, and public-sector salary freezes. The government is also looking into privatizing state-owned companies.
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"As politicians avoid austerity, Italy simmers with resentment" by July 22, 2011|By Alessandra Rizzo, Associated Press
ROME - Millions of Italians face sacrifices from an austerity package passed last week to stave off a financial crisis. But the country’s leaders don’t seem prepared to abandon La Dolce Vita.
The $100 billion package does not entail any significant reduction in the wages, perks, and privileges of Italy’s notoriously bloated, handsomely paid political elite, despite repeated promises such cuts would be carried out.
I think Italians have EVERY RIGHT to be STEAMING F***ING MAD!
In fact, some measures that would have made politicians suffer were watered down in a last-minute, nighttime meeting of lawmakers.
Un-flipping-real!
You guys are ALL the SAME no matter WHAT COUNTRY or STATE you reside!
Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s flamboyant ways have grabbed most of the headlines, but Italians have long grumbled about the state-subsidized luxury lifestyles of their politicians. Now, at a time of belt-tightening, these privileges strike people as particularly odious.
Time for the Mussolini treatment again!
“The increasing indifference of the political class to the country’s problems is infuriating to people,’’ said Sergio Rizzo, coauthor of a hugely successful book called “The Caste,’’ which exposed greed and corruption in the halls of power. “It is as if our politicians had reversed the order of priorities: first their own business, then ours.’’
It's a WORLDWIDE EPIDEMIC!
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Faced with the popular outrage, politicians of all stripes are now promising action....
After they watered it down in the middle of the night when they thought you were not looking.
According to a recent study by the labor union UIL, about $35 billion goes every year into funding the political machine, which employs, directly or indirectly, some 1.3 million people. That means each Italian taxpayer contributes annually about $910 to a system widely seen as failing the nation.
Lawmakers in the 630-member lower house of Parliament make $16,500 per month before taxes, plus some $10,000 more to cover expenses or pay aides. Most of those expenses go largely unchecked, leaving the lawmakers free, for example, to pocket money intended for an aide. Plus they have free travel within Italy, be it by highway, plane, or train, among other perks, and a generous pension system.
As they CUT YOURS, Italian!
The overall compensation is not all that different from what lawmakers make in some of the biggest EU states....
What is enraging Italians is the perceived marriage of incompetent leadership with corruption and abuse of office.
Sounds like American politics.
The country has been sickened by tales of state planes shuttling lawmakers to football matches, fancy restaurant lunches for which the taxpayer picks up the tab, and inside access to luxurious real estate below market-price or paid for by friends.
It's ALL a BIG PARTY, ain't it?
“We are not outraged because somebody, even a politician, makes a lot of money, but because there is no corresponding service provided to the community,’’ said Rizzo.
To many critics, Berlusconi is the most egregious example of a political class intent on perpetuating its power rather than serving citizens.
That's all governments.
The Italian leader has passed measures critics say were meant to protect his business interests or safeguard him from prosecution in legal cases.
But corruption probes and books like “The Caste’’ - written by Rizzo and Gian Antonio Stella, both reporters at Corriere della Sera - suggest a greedy political machine at all levels.
AmeriKan politics.
Recent investigations have targeted a former aide to the finance minister, who allegedly sought favors and presents from an industrialist, including a Ferrari. In another case, a Cabinet minister is under investigation for alleged Mafia ties.
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