Greece and the EU

Guardian Live - Greece: Reports in its 11.44am post that the Greek PM Antonis Samaras " is expected to present his case for Greece's financial programme to be relaxed next Friday, August 24, to Angela Merkel in Berlin ".

Lets Get Real.

There is an old saying folks, beware of Greeks bearing gifts, if I was Chancellor Merkel I would keep my purse close, the Greeks are after German Euros again. The Germans have to be firm, they have to say NO, if the French and the IMF want to bailout the Greeks, that is great, one can guess that the French taxpayer wont mind throwing their tax Euros down the Greek toilet, just to keep the EU happy, also the Countries that give to the IMF will be pleased that this another Greek bailout. Lets see folks.

Germany on Greece - Eurozone Crisis

Telegraph Live - Greece: Reports in its 11.49am post that Germany is standing firm on the previous agreed plan with Greece when it comes to the bailouts. Thus no extension of the austerity plan.

Lets Get Real:

Thus folks Chancellor Merkel faces her own elections quite soon, the German taxpayer as compared to the Greeks actually pay taxes, they are not best pleased that they are seeing their money going down the drain of the Greek State. This blog would not be that shocked to see Germany cut Greece off, it seems from reports from Greece that none of the agreed State assets have been sold, or even plans. The welfare and public sector is to powerful in Greece, there is resistance to such drastic moves. The Berlin might decide that enough is enough, that Italy and Spain have to be protected first, Spain looks like asking for Sovereign bailout in the near future, how far will be Italy behind them, thus folks Greece the birthplace of Democracy will have to thrown to the wolves, and it will be by the Germans, that is not new for the Germans.

Iran and Syria - Syrian Update

BBC News: The Obama Administration has stated that Iran is helping train the forces of the Assad Regime.

Lets Get Real:

This is hardly breaking news folks, the Tehran Regime has been supporting the Assad Regime since the start of the Arab Spring, the Tehran Regime might be murderous and beyond the pale but its not stupid, it knows that if Assad falls its power in the Middle East is reduce by a great level, this is also the case with the Russians, thus their veto at the UN. Thus one can postulate that Russia and Iran and their interests will go down with the Regime, the Assad Regime will fall folks, its just matter of time, the Regime can not murder all the rebels, its giving it a good try but it wont work. Thus in either weeks or months President Assad will either have done a runner or will be hanging from the nearest yardarm. Thus we watch and wait folks.

People back in Chains - VP Biden

The Hill: Reports that Vice President Biden has stated that the voting for the Romney/Ryan would place people back in chains in an economic context.

Lets Get Real:

The context of this latest foot in mouth by VP Biden was to argue that that the Romney/Ryan ticket would allow Wall Street off the hook, the people that would pay for this move would be main street. This is typical class warfare rubbish by Biden, it shows how much a mistake Obama did by placing him on the ticket, he should have chosen Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, there is no way VP Biden is a horse in the 2016 race, thus should POTUS win a 2nd term he will find that after the 1st year the spotlight with be on the 2016 race, if Obama has a low poll rating the Democrats will run from him, also Biden as the political appeal of a dodo, thus fellow Democrats will dump on Obama if it helps them, at least Reagan had a horse in the race for his succession, in that case Bush 41 won the Republican Nomination and the Presidency. Thus helped the Reagan legacy. In this context President Obama made the same mistake as Bush 43, they chose a VP that was not a threat to them in political terms and would follow orders, but could not carry the flag on when the 2nd term finished.

Obama Slashing Medicare - Romney

BBC News: Reports that Governor Romney has accused President Obama of cutting Medicare by 700 billion to fund ObamaCare.

Lets Get Real:

This is an excellent strategy by Governor Romney, go after Obama twice, it reminds voters that POTUS push through ObamaCare against the wishes of the US voter, also those on Medicare will be the losers. It also works as it moves the Campaign from fringe issues to real policy differences between Romney and Obama. The last thing POTUS wants to talk about is ObamaCare and its effects on US voters. The Democrats might regret that they wanted Romney to choose Ryan, as the only attack the Dems have on Ryan is via real heavy weight policy differences, thus a good few days for Romney. At least he leads POTUS in two respected polls.

The Ryan Effect and the Polls - 2012 Race

Lets have a look at the polls after Governor Romney choose Rep. Paul Ryan as his VP choice.

Rasmussen Reports ( LV ): In today's daily tracking poll Governor Romney leads President Obama by 47% to 44%. A 3% lead.

Gallup ( RV ): In today's daily tracking poll Governor Romney leads President Obama by 47% to 45%. A 2% lead.

Lets Get Real.

Thus folks if you take in to account the margin of error ( MofE ) we have a tied race, the Ryan choice has not hurt Romney, in fact it secures the base for November, also in a ironic way it forces the Obama Campaign to deal with real issues. The past few months have dealt with Romney's time in private business, his tax returns, the choice of Ryan forces the Democrats to deal with domestic issues, that might be the one area that the Democrats do not want to discuss, as this brings in Obama's failed economic record, and the introduction of ObamaCare as a TAX. Lets see if Ryan can be an attack dog, the Romney Campaign needs to take the Oval on head on, is Ryan the man, his speech at his introduction shows that he is willing to take on Obama, lets see if that fighting spirits lasts, it is early days folks.

Paul Ryan - A True Conservative

BBC News: Has an excellent profile of Republican VP Nominee Paul Ryan.

Lets Get Real:

This blog is impressed with the choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as Romney's VP choice, he is young, has charisma in spades, but more important he is a true Conservative. Also in election terms he could be the next Reagan, saying the harsh truth but in way that does not frighten the VOTER. The speech given by Ryan was good on attacking President Obama, there was a good line that Obama has bought Debt, Doubt and Despair to the US. A D Grade for Obama in other words. The Democratic spin is that they wanted Romney to pick Ryan as he is an economic hawk, the Democrats wanted the Republicans to choose Reagan in 1980, that shows you should be careful what you wish for, NOW the Obama Camp has to deal with policy, it has gotten away with personal attacks on Romney, it NOW has to deal with policy, that is the one area that POTUS might wish to avoid, he has been a disaster on the domestic side. Lets see how Ryan does on the Campaign trail, Romney needs an attack dog, someone who will go for the throat of the Democrats, lets see how he does over the next few months.