30,000 Greeks to get the BOOT - Eurozone Crisis

The New York Times: Reports that thirty thousand Greek public sector workers are to lose their jobs. The has been the idea for weeks folks, if not months, and they still have not got around to giving anyone the boot, its about time the Greek Government woke up, it should be making deeper cuts, the Greek public sector is bloated, worse that the liberal NYT, the Troika should demand at least 40,000 in the public sector get the boot, and no redundancy pay either, that comes out of the taxes paid by the rest of the EU. The Greeks will get OUR money because otherwise the Banks of France and Germany would default, in some respects the Greeks have a loaded gun at the head of the EU. At what point does the EU/IMF/ECB say to Greece grow up, that’s for the Government and the people, you have lived off the wealth of others, well its over, either make cuts or the EU will cut bait, this is harsh folks but life is harsh.

Greece and the Markets

Guardian Live: Reports that Stock Markets in the UK, France, Spain and Germany are down between 1% and 2%. The lack of a clear plan on how to deal with Greece is starting to have a corrosive effect on the Markets, also Greece is not hitting its austerity targets, thus the contagion that the bailouts were planned to stop has failed, it does seem it will be sooner to a Greek default, the only question will it be managed or unplanned, thus far hard to say folks.

Republican Calendar - South Carolina

The New York Times: Reports that the State of South Carolina will have its Primary vote for the Republican Nomination on January 21st of 2012. As stated in previous post on this subject folks the Christmas holidays are over for politicians and reporters following the campaign. As the article notes Iowa could vote on January 3rd, thus the winner will not have much time before New Hampshire votes to build a path to victory from Iowa. But for us political geeks its heaven folks, seeing politicians in the snow of Iowa and NH begging for votes, there is no more rush if your in to politics folks.

The FEAR of a GREEK Default - Eurozone Crisis

BBC News: Reports that Greece will miss its planned deficit targets, banking stocks have taken a hit in Europe. The one thing you can count on folks is that Greece will get the next package of the planned bailout, the 8 billion is going to European banks, if the Troika of the EU/IMF/ECB failed to deliver the money it can be stated that major banks in Germany and France would be hit hard, even some could default. Thus the Greek figures do not match expectations, but it does not matter, the EU and the rest of the World can not afford for Greece to default outside a managed default. The sock markets are over reacting but Markets live and die on rumour, thus expect some heaving trading over the next few days.

The Republican Race - Polling Calendar

Washington Examiner: Reports that Republicans in the State of Florida have moved their Primary to January 31st of 2012. In other words Iowa, New Hampshire will have to have their vote quite early, thus just after Christmas the good voters of these states will have to get out and vote. As Iowa goes first, it will be interesting to see if they go just before Christmas or early in 2012, if early 2012 then NH will come quite soon after, the winner of Iowa wont have much time to use the win in Iowa to impress the voters of NH. The Republican nomination race could be over by February should the winner of Iowa, NH, take Florida at the end. Lets hope there are no Christmas votes, that would be nightmare to cover, also this move will force Governor Christie to make his mind up, this could be his year.

The New Reagan ? - Governor Christie of NJ.

The New York Times: Reports that former First Lady Nancy Reagan is pushing Governor Christie of New Jersey to run for the 2012 Republican nomination. If Governor Christie were to enter the race one could postulate that he would win the nomination, the Governor has charisma, straight talking, a very clever ex lawyer. Also lets recall he won in Democratic State, thus has broader appeal than just the Republican base. The lack of sparkle by Governor Perry of Texas at the Republican Debates and the tanking of the Obama poll ratings have allowed for a late entry it the Republican field. Lets recall Ronald Reagan ran for the Presidency twice before winning in 1980. In 1968 barely in to his first term as Governor of California he ran as a dark horse candidate in the Republican race that was won by Richard Nixon, in 1976 Reagan ran against President Ford, in the end Ford barely won the nomination. In 1980 Carter was a gift to Reagan, the Gipper won by 44 States. The point of the brief history folks is even if Governor Christie does not win he will see how a national campaign is run, great lessons if he runs in 2016.

Cameron on EU - CP Conference

Telegraph Live - CP Conference: Reports that Coalition PM and Conservative Leader David Cameron has stated that the UK needs to be in the EU. The right of the Conservative Party wont like that, but the PM is showing leadership, at present the EU has to deal with the Eurozone crisis, it needs a united plan to bailout European banks, have a firewall for Italy and Spain and manage a Greek default. Also the Germans have to be pushed to give around two trillion to fund the above, also support Euro bands with their credit rating. If the above does not happen it wont matter if the UK is in or out of the EU, the Western economy will be in gutter, Great Depression Mark 11. Lets not upset the Germans at the moment folks.