Still Report #49 Greece Vote 2 - Bill still

Good afternoon from Washington, I'm still reporting on the economy. Ellen Brown is clearly the best researcher in monetary reform at this time. Her latest piece on economic alternatives for the People of Greece is so important with the new elections coming up that it bears repeating Number one: Bring back the Drachma but don't abandoned the Euro allow the euro to remain as they did call for international exchange and start issuing Drachmas without doubt for domestic use. The idea harkens back to the way things were done two thousand years ago. Back then the ancient sovereigns would use gold and/or silver coin too settle international accounts but use cheap, debt free money domestically. The problem here is that this is more than just a mistaken monetary policy. They Euro is a deliberately wrong monetary policy specifically designed to drive all of Europe into a financial catastrophe in order to end national sovereignty and force a “Fiscal Union” -- in essence one giant nation of Europe. This is of course is anathema to me. I’m all about decentralization of power as being essential to world freedom just as it is essential for freedom to thrive inside individual nations. Therefore, I say get out of the Euro now before it drags you down further. Greece, don't fall for the lies that big daddy european union is going to give you, the common people of Greece, anything. All these bailouts are just to themselves and their bank friends. Nothing for the people, Nothing! Number two: Print debt-free Euros. Don't borrow them Ellen cites a very interesting article by George Kesarios that says that the Greek central bank can not only print Drachmas, but debt-free Euros as well, because the Greek central bank is a sub- unit of the European Central Bank, the ECB. In fact, this naked money printing has already been done elsewhere. In January 2011, the Irish central bank was allowed to essentially counterfeit between fifty one billion and eighty billion Euros to keep the Irish banking system afloat, and they Greek central bank has already printed forty four billion Euros itself. According to article 14.4 of the Protocol of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks, (ESCB): “National central banks may perform functions other than those specified in this Statute unlesss the governing council fines by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast that these interfere with the objectives and tasks of the ESCB. In other words, Greece could silently print up all of the Euros needed to pay off all its debts, about 353 billion Euros, then announce a payoff in one day before the ESCB could vote to object. Of course this “printing” would not be paper bills, just numbers on a computer screen and could be done in seconds. So, in one instance Greece could be debt free. Of course in a few days it would be kicked out of the Euro and forced to go its own way on a Drachma that would severely limit imports. But as discussed in my last report that would be much better than the current course of perpetual, increasing debt to the masters of the European universe. On top of that, this would effectively destroy the Euro as well as other heavily indebted nations in the Euro-zone would quickly follow suit, thereby destroying that creeping consolidation of power that has been gradually enslaving Europe since 1958. Number three: Odious debt. According to the May 29, 2012 edition of “The New York Times”, the 130 billion Euro bailout for Greece is designed only to pay the interest on Greece’s existing debt, mostly to the “troika” as they are called, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Commission. The unbelievable irony is that this troika is giving Greece this bailout money, not to help the citizens of Greece, but so that Greece can pay it right back into the very same hands -- those of the troika. In the meantime, Greece must continue to borrow additional money on the open market at thirty percent interest which doubles the principal on existing Greek debt every 2.4 years. So, after only another 2.4 years 100% of Greece’s is gross domestic product will go towards just paying the interest on its national debt. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this is not sustainable. That's why some in Greece have dubbed the Greek national debt as “odious” debt, a legal term for a national debt that is incurred by a regime that is not in the public interest of the nation, and therefore, under international law, need not be repaid. #4: Financial transaction tax: No matter which path a new Greek government chooses as their method to exit the Euro, they had better include a financial transaction tax or FTT to blunt the inevitable attacks by speculators on the new Drachma. Besides that, an FTT would be a lucrative source of revenue as Greece struggles to bring its financial house back in the balance after the Euro exit. Greece needs to tackle the two biggest sources of financial bleeding: #1 the government spends 108 billion Euros per year but only takes an 88 billion Euros in revenue -- a 20 billion Euro deficit. Once out of the Euro, Greece must forbid its government from ever borrowing again. Why would a nation that can print its money ever, ever borrow it. So every sector of the Greek economy is going to have to cut out about another 20%, but then you will be done with it. Once the Drachma is properly devalued, domestic production will spike dramatically and that will take care of the second biggest source of the financial bleeding. Greece currently imports 44 billion Euros worth of goods from other countries but only exports 23 billion Euros worth, a 21 billion Euro deficit. Reinstatement of a devalued Drachma would take care of this deficit in short order and the Drachma is the only way out for Greece. Good luck with your election. I’m Still reporting from Washington. Good Evening.