New Riots Erupt In Greece (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

(AP) ATHENS, Greece - Greek police fired tear gas to repel stone-throwing protesters after lawmakers approved drastic austerity cuts Thursday needed to secure international rescue loans worth euro110 billion ($140 billion).

In New York, Dow Jones industrials plunged almost 1,000 points before recovering to a loss of 505 as investors succumbed to fears that Greece's debt problems would halt the global economic recovery. Traders watched protests in the streets of Athens on TV.

The new clashes came a day after violent protests left three people dead after a bank was firebombed.

Greek lawmakers voted 172-121 to approve the austerity measures -- worth about euro30 billion ($38.18 billion) through 2012 -- that will slash pensions and civil servants' pay and further hike consumer taxes.

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The rescue loans are aimed at containing the debt crisis and keeping Greece's troubles from spreading to other countries with vulnerable state finances such as Portugal and Spain. The money will come from the International Monetary Fund and the 15 other governments whose countries use the euro.

Clashes in Athens broke out at the end of a main protest that drew tens of thousands of people as police pushed back a few thousand demonstrators outside parliament.

The violence was quickly contained with riot police firing tear gas at the protesters, who had earlier pelted them with stone, oranges and bottles. Several small fires burned in surrounding streets. No injuries or arrests were reported.

Demonstrators banging drums and shouting anti-government slogans through bullhorns, unfurled a giant black banner outside parliament earlier Thursday. More than 30,000 demonstrators filled downtown streets, chanting "They declared war. Now fight back."

Comments

[xrilef]

06:10 AM on 05/10/2010

check this video on the Greek crisis
http://www.vimeo.com/11435503

[Quasi Libertarian]

08:42 AM on 05/08/2010

I love how the HP has taken Greece off of the front page...I guess they don't want their readers to see how the apex of a huge central government with cradle-to-grave entitlements works when the citizens that have become dependent of the free stuff basically start throwing a temper tantrum when their parents (The Government) won't give them their free stuff because there is no money...

In nature, birds throw their young out at a certain point and they either fly on their own or crash....But not with big government.

[katooom]

12:31 PM on 05/07/2010

So just what did Greece do to get into this predicament?

[Texanbybirth]

12:34 PM on 05/07/2010

They trusted government.

[flossophy]

12:37 PM on 05/07/2010

They spent too much.

Sound familiar?

[katooom]

12:44 PM on 05/07/2010

Odds on our Pols learning anything from this?

[nexus1961]

04:00 PM on 05/07/2010

they ALSO had UNRESTRICTED ilegal immigration!!
sound REALLLY FAMILIAR????

[noworries2001]

12:24 PM on 05/07/2010

And the EU starts to crumble

[JSDKoeln]

04:46 AM on 05/08/2010

fix California first and get back to me.

[motoGpifupleez]

12:15 PM on 05/07/2010

Such a similarity between Greece and USA.

The power elite ruin the nation and get paid MAD dollars from the pockets of the workers.

The difference? The Greek people are actually out in the streets over the capitulations of their government.

[flossophy]

12:18 PM on 05/07/2010

What I don't understand is the communists running around....

It's like "Let's protest this large, unsustainable corrupt government... and replace it with an even larger, more corrupt communist government!"

Yeah, that'll do the trick.

[KarlaElisa]

05:11 PM on 05/11/2010

That's cuz we really don't have any solidarity among our citizens. And the Corporate masters like it like that. Split us up into conservatives, liberals,, pro life, pro choice, religious, secular, black, white, homophobic, pro gay rights, etc....we'll never come together and say bullzhit to the same stuff. EVER.

[everalone]

12:05 PM on 05/07/2010

Classic. lower and middle class get attacked and consumer taxes (the typical unfair tax) increases, while the wealthiest part and corrupted political elites who syphoned their share of european aid and lied, with the help of goldman sachs will still cruise.

Austerity measure should concern all, this system is doomed to implode one day or another.

[Texanbybirth]

12:34 PM on 05/07/2010

I think you are referring to Socialism.

[wassilij]

11:51 AM on 05/07/2010

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8087769471779305938#

[greg32]

11:02 AM on 05/07/2010

Average Geek retires at age 53 and gets a pension until they die which is about 80 percent of their pay when they worked...this is what happens when a country cripples itself with mass entitlements...unfortunately the US is going down that same path with its out of control entitlement spending...liberal states like Cali are already completely broke.

[JSDKoeln]

04:48 AM on 05/08/2010

Actually it's 58. If they actually collected the 30+ billion euros that are evaded in taxes every year, they may have had a fighting chance. There are many socialistic things about the US as well... don't blame everything on socialism. Greed is the biggest problem with capitalism. Remember, it's the capitalists that got us into the world financial crisis in the first place.

[thepheonix]

10:20 AM on 05/07/2010

Take a good look libs. This is what happens when you spend more than what you have.

Greek socialism FAILED.

The entitlement system collapsed.

This is what you are doing to the US.

This is going to be the result.

Don't bother replying. I am right. You are wrong.

[evgolightly]

10:39 AM on 05/07/2010

Except, of course, that Greece is a capitalist country.

Look at Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Norway for examples of socialism.

[JohnnyWalkerBlueLabel]

10:58 AM on 05/07/2010

Wow, that sounds quite racist.

[thumbtax]

11:27 AM on 05/07/2010

Greece is the MOSt socialist of countries. The government of Greece spends 20% more on social services and payroll than the country makes in a year. Their entitlements are absurd. Government employees account for 1/3 of the jobs. They retire at 58 with 80% of their pay unless they have a high risk job. Then they retire at 55. By the way, high risk includes musicians because they are exposed to bacteria in their instruments. They receive 2 extra months pay as a bonus each year.

All of this is really swell until the bill comes due. That point is when the population of a country come to realize that they can no longer benefit from their efforts. That everything they work for is taxed to such an extent that additional work and investment are futile since they will not receive any benefit.

Government takes their money and redistributes it to those in need, which becomes defined as any interest group with political power. Can't happen here? The best example right here in the US is California. Government employees receive wages and benefits greater than anything in the public sector due to the political influence of their unions.

As far as Denmark, Sweeden, Germany and Norway go, at least their population has a higher work ethic that maintains their standard of living. Still those countries are very concerned about continuing to provide their present level of government services. Their budgets are also feeling stress.

[Quasi Libertarian]

10:58 AM on 05/07/2010

The Greek Retirement age I have read ranges between 50 to 61 with full retirement benefits..When the average life expectancy for Greek women is 81 and Greek Men is 75, a country that is so heavily based on government entitlements, you are talking about pay people money for 25-35 years to be retired!...That is insane!

http://prevarication.net/2010/05/greek-collapse-spurs-selloff-greek-retirement-age-as-early-as-50/

[american2008]

10:05 AM on 05/07/2010

So, you right wing trolls complaining about "Socialism", "Unions" and "Entitlements" causing Greece and other European countries crisis, How do you explain Germany and Sweden etc. who have Healthcare and "Socialist" programs for their people while maintaining a strong economy? How do you explain 8 years of tax cuts to Corporations and top 2% in order to give incentive for Capitalism to "work", while cutting back on Social Programs with NO public Healthcare for millions of Americans and WE ARE IN SUCH BAD ECONOMIC SHAPE? How do you explain it Einsteins? Shouldn't we have been in the best economic shape ever? Shouldn't our economy have less than 4% Unemployment because companies are doing so well? Shouldn't we have no debt and have a surplus?
Instead we have Corporations taking advantage of majority of workers by forcing them to work more hours for less pay, they laid off workers to support bottom line and give top Execs higher pay and Bonus'
You Right Wing Trolls who are wannabe top 2%ers, but will NEVER be, keep licking the boots of your masters, maybe they will throw you some scraps after they are done!

[evgolightly]

10:40 AM on 05/07/2010

Excellent comment .... fanned!

[JohnnyWalkerBlueLabel]

10:41 AM on 05/07/2010

Does $250K in a bad year qualify as tp 2%er? Obama thinks I'm rich, and wants to soak me.

[templedancer]

12:34 PM on 05/07/2010

Compared to my 30,000 a year....yes you should get soaked.

[DanMan2012]

10:03 AM on 05/07/2010

"Greece, whose debt is now I think 115 percent of GDP, ours is about 84 now, and they had to impose some tough austerity measures which means tax hikes and spending cuts, and the people of Greece as you can see didn't like it one bit and rioted," Liasson said on Thursday's "Special Report" on Fox News.

"This in a much more horrific way, much bigger way, is our problem," she continued.

"We have unsustainable deficits that are going to have to be cured with something similar"



Read more: http://www.newsbusters.org/#ixzz0nFf8cqWX

[JohnnyWalkerBlueLabel]

10:49 AM on 05/07/2010

The problem in the US is the same as Greece. Public sector worker pensions at the Federal, State, and local level are breaking budgets everywhere. These benefits need to be refactored, as do public sector wages and retirement ages.

[lastep]

09:38 AM on 05/07/2010

the international bankers are stealing people's pension funds. This is going to get a lot worse

[VikingQuest]

09:40 AM on 05/07/2010

LOL.

THE PENSION FUNDS WERE NEVER THERE . . .

"The state of California's real unfunded pension debt clocks in at more than $500 billion, nearly eight times greater than officially reported.

Why should Californians care? Because this year's unfunded pension liability is next year's budget cut to important programs. For a glimpse of California's budgetary future, look no further than the $5.5 billion diverted this year from higher education, transit, parks and other programs in order to pay just a tiny bit toward current unfunded pension and healthcare promises. That figure is set to triple within 10 years and -- absent reform -- to continue to grow, crowding out funding for many programs vital to the overwhelming majority of Californians.

How did we get here? The answer is simple: For decades -- and without voter consent -- state leaders have been issuing billions of dollars of debt in the form of unfunded pension and healthcare promises, then gaming accounting rules in order to understate the size of those promises.

In California's case, past pension underfunding means reduced funding of current programs. This explains why pension costs rose 2,000% from 1999 to 2009, while state funding for higher education declined over the same period."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/06/opinion/la-oe-crane6-2010apr06

[lastep]

09:45 AM on 05/07/2010

just another reason to audit and do away with the federal reserve. printing money out of this air also means having accounts for retirement based on thin air.

[clymela]

10:03 AM on 05/07/2010

AND.... it was for this that an elected governor was replaced by an aging actor, multi-millionaire right-winger who could put on a face of concern far better than anything captured in his silly career.
The truth here is that the folks who engineered this takeover have stolen the hefty contributions of the workers of California and will now come out with their biggest production: A long faced Ahrnold explaining that California can no longer afford to pay out pensions, home care for the aged and disabled, medical coverage for families,the aged, disabled,etc.
Oh!! right thinker where has the money gone? You are all in a lather over the unfunded programs but the taxes have been collected so where are the funds?

[guveqzero]

09:36 AM on 05/07/2010

Greece is the experiment for the United States. In the not too distant future, we will be facing these same silly measures that are meant to bailout rich bond holders.

These austerity measures, as with all recession inducing programs, will ultimately destroy the Greek economy. Economists have already predicted that these measures will fail to pay back the debt, it only delays the inevitable default. In secrecy, the US government is creating our own austerity program, to be implemented as soon as they can get away with it. If implemented, it also will most likely just delay the inevitable for the US.

We really have cowards in our ranks. If they want to pay the debt, instead of cutting services our leaders should focus on taxes on the rich. But, our leaders would rather we all work like slaves than to upset their masters.

[VikingQuest]

09:38 AM on 05/07/2010

"Economists have already predicted that these measures will fail to pay back the debt, it only delays the inevitable default"

Sometimes it's better to let things fall apart so that a better system can be built . . . the unsustainable spending of the Government needs to end both here and in Greece.

[wilsonveteran]

10:02 AM on 05/07/2010

It is better to let things fall apart so that a better system can be built. Same thing was said in Germany in the 1920's

[henrypapillon]

09:31 AM on 05/07/2010

Oh, yes, the riots should help stabilize the currency.

[mbo2]

09:47 AM on 05/07/2010

Greece is just the start. Many other Eurozone countries have also lived the lifestyle of Greece - living beyond its means.

And yes, the states here will face the same thing.

The Emperor has no clothes, as Brian Williams says.

[VikingQuest]

09:19 AM on 05/07/2010

Get ready CA, this is your future since you have taken the same fiscal path as Greece . . .

"The state of California's real unfunded pension debt clocks in at more than $500 billion, nearly eight times greater than officially reported.

Why should Californians care? Because this year's unfunded pension liability is next year's budget cut to important programs. For a glimpse of California's budgetary future, look no further than the $5.5 billion diverted this year from higher education, transit, parks and other programs in order to pay just a tiny bit toward current unfunded pension and healthcare promises. That figure is set to triple within 10 years and -- absent reform -- to continue to grow, crowding out funding for many programs vital to the overwhelming majority of Californians.

How did we get here? The answer is simple: For decades -- and without voter consent -- state leaders have been issuing billions of dollars of debt in the form of unfunded pension and healthcare promises, then gaming accounting rules in order to understate the size of those promises.

In California's case, past pension underfunding means reduced funding of current programs. This explains why pension costs rose 2,000% from 1999 to 2009, while state funding for higher education declined over the same period."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/06/opinion/la-oe-crane6-2010apr06

[VikingQuest]

09:21 AM on 05/07/2010

All of the state funding is going to the unions and the pension funds for state workers . . . enjoy :)