Right wing national parties won European elections

[pieter]

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2009/06/almere_near_amsterdam_three_bl.html

www.rnw.nl/english/article/geert-wilders-anti-eu-party-biggest-election-winner
www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2009/06/eu_elections_antiislam_party_b_1.php
www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,628719,00.html

EU women: Polish, Danish, Irish and Portuguese residents of Paris’ La Garenne speak
www.cafebabel.com/eng/article/30371/portraits-women-europe-elections-la-garenne-paris.html

[Jaga]

All through Europe populistic and pro-righ parties gain more seats:

online.wsj.com/article/SB124444700376593655.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Austria: The main rightist People's Party made big gains, while the ruling Social Democrats dropped nearly 10% to garner 23.8% of the vote.

Belgium: The conservative Christian Democrats won, reinforcing the party's victory in a parallel vote for assemblies of the country's Dutch and French-speaking regions.

Bulgaria: The governing Socialists faced defeat as the country's biggest right-wing opposition party won most of the votes.

Cyprus: The opposition conservatives narrowly defeated the governing communist-rooted party. Official results gave the Disy party 35.65% of the vote, 0.75% more than Akel, the party of President Dimitris Christofias.

Czech Republic: The center-right Civic Democrats of former Premier Mirek Topolanek were set for a close victory.
...

[Jaga]

Here is from Anne Applebaum, wife of Polish foreign affair minister about European elections:

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/08/AR2009060803495.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

We've been waiting and waiting, but the widely predicted European backlash -- against capitalism, against free markets, against the right -- has not come. There are no demands for Marxist revolution, no calls for nationalization of industry, not even a European campaign for what the Obama administration calls "stimulus" -- a policy more colloquially known as "massive government spending."

...
In France, Germany, Italy and Poland -- four of Europe's six largest countries -- center-right governments got unexpectedly enthusiastic endorsements. In the two other large countries, Britain and Spain, left-wing ruling parties got hammered, as did socialists in Hungary, Austria and elsewhere. In some places the results were stark indeed: In London last weekend, I could hardly walk down the street without being assaulted by screaming newspaper headlines, all declaring the Labor government of Gordon Brown weak, corrupt, tired, arrogant and, yes, very unpopular. In some constituencies, European candidates of the ruling Labor Party finished behind fringe parties that normally don't get noticed at all. So rapidly are British ministers resigning from the cabinet that it's hard to keep track of them (four in the past week -- I think).

[kaima]

the german resuts are reported as 'an astoundingly low turnout of 37 percent of voters'. Most parties seem to be stable in the number of seats.

The EU election is a non topic among people I have met. All seem to think local elections are the real reflection of popular politics.

The big worry is getting people to spend again and get money back in circulation. Well, I have tried with this vacation!

Kai

[Bob S]

;D ;D Good. Glad to see it happen and I am happy to know that there are still sensible people in the world. ;D ;D

[gideon]

Kai,

+++The big worry is getting people to spend again and get money back in circulation. +++

I have the gut feeling that this is going to take a generation or two. Much in the way of the depression era people. I actually hope that people become more "debt adverse" but not "miserly".

-Tim

[karl]

There is no way I will change out to the Centre Right party of Christian Democratic even in light of the dismal failure of our SPD party {Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands}. I think perhaps many of us are tired of the confusion in decision making in the currant time of this financial crises that is not confined to North America.

But, ours is the rule of the majority and as thus, the will of the people.


www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/07/eu-elections-social-democrats

The Dutch have the best of both worlds with their Gert Wilders. I do not agree with his circus performances, but, he is a leader and not afraid to speak out of our many injustices that are a plague upon our country. For he has brought forward situations our leadership will not speak out on, this for fear of ruffling feathers.

For we still suffer the irritations of trouble makers in some of the former DDR states that are ongoing against foreign immigrants and those of non-citizen status being harassed and brutalized for of their colour and/or race as non-Germans. {Notice I have not made mention of our not so dear fellow Germans of Neu Nazi}

The other very irritation that lingers on and on, is the stupidity of treating stupidity as a virtue..And this is the moving of our capitol from Bonn to Berlin, yes. Reason of displeasure? Well certainly it is very historic for Berlin once again to be restored as the Capitol. But, reality strikes with the dirty stick once again.

For whilst Berlin is truly once again the Capital. Bonn is still the administration foundation that supports Berlin. For in long past after the war as Bonn was appointed to be the Capitol. An agreement both understood and placed as legal.

Bonn would be put up financing for the required administration buildings and offices. The stated agreement was this to be final with out reservations in the case of Berlin ever to be re-instated as the capital city, and it was done.

Above fine and good, but: Now, administration with accompanying staff, must commute between these two cities in both directions for any official meetings and related business. Yes, it is a colossal wast of money and time.

With this, the standing situation of the long past requirement of the civil service reforms that are vastly needed and not being addressed, for the simple reason: It will cause a great amount of displeasure to our southern Bavarian brethren and upset their apple carts.

But, as ours is a democratic government {thank the goodness} and the people have spoken, of this, I am very satisfied, but unhappy..

Karl

[kaima]

Jun 10, 2009 15:21:33 GMT -7 @gideon said:

Kai,

+++The big worry is getting people to spend again and get money back in circulation. +++

I have the gut feeling that this is going to take a generation or two. Much in the way of the depression era people. I actually hope that people become more "debt adverse" but not "miserly".

-Tim

That 'spend again' was a quotation of an idea <i heard several times from German friends.

I don't wish hard times on anyone, so I disagree strongly with Rush Limbauch and wish Obama the best of success, as that is our quickest route out of this problem. I am thoroughly dissapointed in my generation and its constant pounding on 'Conservative!' while all the time spending like wild drunks, personally and nationally. We very deliberately dug this hole ourselves.

Kai

[karl]

I shall once again try with a bit of impute with out details of our election progress {or de-gress as the case may be} this as an attempt to not be knocked off line again. {Seems to occur rather regularly when my mouth becomes to vocal}.

I do agree on the process of individual spending, for if every one saves their money, this inturn prevents the process of circulation and so on. But, is this the actual problem in the 1st place beyond the original mortgage meltdown?

Personally, it is my belief the problem is too close to the nose to see.

For one, there has been an ongoing war{s} in both Iraq and Afghanistan for the Americans to pay for. Added to this, is the economic cancer of very high expensive petrol for transportation needs.

American is a very highly mobile nation of go getters. With this, is the transport system needed for transport of goods both in the local and long haul, and that takes diesel motor fuel. With the high cost of fuel, so goes the high cost of food/goods and services.

With all the woes of the economic situation of high escalating cost of operation, businesses are cutting drastically back, commensurate with labour reductions. Labour reduction is usually the 1st expense to be cut. Primarily it provides an immediate reduction of over-head, and associated relief in profit drain. For then once the emergency has been resolved, the labour numbers may then be reinstituted.

What seems to be occurring at present, is: A continuing spiral of business cut backs/labour reductions/workers with out work or drastic reduction of income. Are unable to meet their mortgage responsibilities and as so, adding to the increasing numbers of foreclosures.

The little piggy bank has only so much room and may contain only so much reserves in cash. When the hands are dipping in for support of two continues war areas, keeping afloat some ailing high cost auto firms and related high value industries. Some thing is to fail.

The ships bilge pumps will only pump to that of design, after that, with a leaking hull such as this magnitude, the ship of fools will then sink to the delight of the waiting sharks.

Karl

[justjohn]

Karl,

A point-of-view well deserved. Not very far from the actual truth!!!!!!

[kaima]

To your comments on the economy, Karl:

I wonder where the private money is in this rcovery. Why is there no action by the private sector?

Kai

[Bob S]

Jun 11, 2009 22:34:10 GMT -7 kaima said:

To your comments on the economy, Karl:

I wonder where the private money is in this rcovery. Why is there no action by the private sector?

Kai

;D ;D I would not throw my money into a nest of thieves and neer-do-wells. O'bama and his gang steal enough already. ;D

[karl]

Jun 11, 2009 22:34:10 GMT -7 kaima said:

To your comments on the economy, Karl:

I wonder where the private money is in this rcovery. Why is there no action by the private sector?

Kai

Haa, Kai

I would never have the privilege of know it all as an economist or accountant. But, exposure and logic perhaps is a life jacket in the sea of woes.

Not of course speaking for small/medium or all business practices. But, the money...It is still around in no matter the bad times, it is just in less hands.

One of the priorities of business, is: never use your own money..Always use some one else money. It is simple:

Your assets are what is currently in inventory/all new orders on the books/what ever property is owned by the business {in business law, a business under the business becomes a legal identity, and as so, has the ability to own property.

With these assets as collateral and with this, what cash the owner{s} have on hand, is left in banking. These in turn will determine as with past earnings, will determine the credit rating of the business.

With this credit rating in hand, will then determine the percentage rate of borrowed money {the cash owned by the owner, currently residing as a savings investment, is drawing interest-the earnt interest is then rolled over into the original cash reserves to then earn the double endemicity and so on an so on}.

With the borrowed money for operations and over head is then repayed in quarterly payments to the lending institution of origination, this would be inclusive as of payroll slips and related business expense.

{Once more, I am not sure of the tax laws of the American legal system}

With German Law, the interest rates payed out for the cost of doing business {remember this is with borrowed money} is then credited against the business income tax.

Result: The business has now used borrowed money free of interest cost as this/was paid for by the associated income tax levied against the in of year profit deductions: It should be remembered also of associated cost of actual business operations/reinvestment for repairs/maintenance and/or expansions of business related floor space and/or additional property, of the above, is that also to be a deduction.

The most absolute requirement of above, is impeccable record keeping.

In the case of the Americans and the question of: Where is the private sector and their money? Simple answer, for why use your own money or business money. For then, create a plausible appeal to the currant American government to show cause. And then receive and use the funding provided by the currant American stimulus programme.

The money is always there, just in different pockets.

For simplicity, I have kept the legal wording to a minimum for some, I am not sure the English equivalent at the moment.

And some will say the Hansa is dead??

Karl

[kaima]

HELSINKI, Finland

BY conventional lights, the Rev. Mitro Repo’s candidacy for the European Parliament never should have succeeded. As a Finnish Orthodox priest, he was bucking his superiors, who have strict rules about the mixing of politics and piety. As a Social Democrat, he was bucking the political tides sweeping Europe after the financial crisis.

But last Sunday Father Repo, 50, the son and grandson of priests, was elected as an independent candidate on the Social Democratic ticket as one of Finland’s 13 deputies in the 376-seat Parliament. It was a bittersweet victory in one respect: along the way, the bishops of the church forbade him to conduct religious services or wear the robe or pectoral cross or any other symbols of his priesthood. “They are accusing me of a crime,” he said of the church officials during the campaign. “I think it is an honor to do what I do.”

But while the church may not have liked his politics, the people did, giving Father Repo one of two Social Democratic seats, one fewer than they won last time.

“Honestly, this was a surprise to me,” he told Finnish radio after the vote. His aim as a deputy, he said, would be to “promote a more humane Europe.”

“For years I’ve been addressing problems of public life in Finland,” he said. “I will continue to do so in Europe.”

Elections to the European Parliament are usually about as exciting as watching grass grow. The Parliament is gradually gaining more power, but few Europeans care much about it. But the candidacy of Father Mitro, as everyone calls him here, injected unaccustomed energy.

A jovial and warm man, Father Repo has ruddy, round cheeks, a rust-colored beard and mustache, sparkling eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses and a deep laugh that would make him a great Santa, if only the beard were whiter. For all his spirituality, he lives life to the fullest. On the campaign trail he used a chauffeur-driven Chrysler 300. He enjoys a good meal, and when he sat down recently in a local restaurant to talk with a visitor, he first ordered up two glasses of cabernet sauvignon.

“I think my candidacy was a great honor,” he said. “For me, and for my church.”

Father Repo is not the first religious leader to enter the European Parliament. There were four Protestant ministers in the last one, including Ian Paisley, the firebrand Protestant evangelist from Northern Ireland who sat in the Parliament from its founding in 1979 until he retired in 2004.

“It’s difficult to perceive him as a priest,” said Juri Mykkanen, a professor of political science at Helsinki University, of Father Repo. “He is relaxed, ordinary, with a sense of irony.” Father Repo was “unusual,” he said, “more open to the world than we’re used to. Not everyone in the church likes that.”

Mr. Mykkanen believes the church’s stance may even have lifted Father Repo’s popularity. “I am not sure that the bishops didn’t do the Social Democrats a favor,” he said.

ALWAYS drawn to art, Father Repo was sent as a teenager to Paris to study icon painting with the reigning master, Leonid A. Ouspensky. After teaching Latin, Greek and the New Testament for a while, he entered the priesthood in his early 30s, “the age of Christ,” he said, speaking fluent English and quoting the church fathers and the New Testament in Greek and Church Slavonic.

From the start, it was obvious that his priesthood would not be ordinary. In addition to serving his church here, he began visiting workers in their factories and financial and business leaders in their offices. His buoyant personality soon got him invited to radio and television talk shows.

For many Finns, it was remarkable for an Orthodox priest, in cassock and with cross, to play such a public role. Orthodoxy’s 62,000 faithful make up only about 1 percent of the population in Finland, where the dominant church is Lutheran.

Tragic family events, like the suicide of an older brother, sensitized Father Repo to issues like mental health, and in 2006 the Finnish Central Association for Mental Health named him its annual ambassador of good will, to help raise awareness.

“He’s not afraid of talking publicly about mental health,” said Ismo Laukkarinen, an official at the association. “And of course, he’s a very cheerful person, he brings joy wherever he goes.”

Father Repo’s popularity soon had Finland’s political parties beating a path to his door. First was the conservative party of the prime minister, Matti Vanhanen, soon followed by the other five parties. In the end, he chose the left-leaning Social Democrats. “I recognized myself in the themes of their program,” he said.

For Father Repo, the hardest part of all this has been the demand that he stop working as a priest. “I heard from my parents that already at 5 I wanted to be a priest,” he said with a laugh. “I imitated my father.” Father Repo was the ninth of 13 children. “At 7 I’d decided I’d become an archbishop,” he said with a deep chuckle.

Recalling Orthodoxy’s Slavic roots, he added: “The Eastern Orthodox world has much to give Western Europe — its sincerity, its emotional way.”

He added: “The soul of Fyodor Dostoyevsky is something we need in Europe.”

The bishops’ decision does not mean Father Repo ceases to be a priest, but only that he cannot function as such or wear the garb of a priest in public. So now he has replaced cassock and cross with a white shirt, suit and tie, though his business card still identifies him as “pastor” and has a picture of Helsinki’s onion-domed Ouspensky Cathedral.

He sees himself as part of an Orthodox tradition that dates from Byzantine times, in which the line between public figure and priest blurred. He cited Archbishop Makarios, who in the 1970s was Archbishop of Cyprus and leader of the Greek Cypriot community there, but also Russian Orthodox priests who in 1919 and again in the early 1990s were active in parliamentary politics.

BUT Jyrki Harkonen, the theological secretary of the church, said different times demanded different policies. “We were very isolated then, the independence of the churches was not respected as it is today in the European Union,” he said.

“The synod encouraged him to participate in public life,” Mr. Harkonen said, “but as a simple person, not as an Orthodox priest.”

But Father Repo objects that “in the Byzantine tradition, from which Orthodoxy went forth, it is not normal spirituality to say, ‘I am a Christian only in my interior life.’ Parliaments are discussing morality and ethics, and I think I can have a spirituality as a representative of Eastern European countries and cultures.”

Yet, Father Repo must for now content himself with an interior spiritual life. In the evenings, when he can, he often retreats to a rustic cottage that he built, with a tiny chapel decorated with icons he himself painted, for a relaxing sauna, a dip in a nearby pond and fervent prayer.

In his secular life, Father Repo says whimsically that he strives to emulate President Obama. “Do you see how natural he is?” he asked. “How authentic?”

The only major difference, he says with a characteristic twinkle, is that his Chrysler 300, unlike Mr. Obama’s steel-blue model, which he sold last year, is metallic silver.

[cfn]

Jun 11, 2009 22:34:10 GMT -7 kaima said:

To your comments on the economy, Karl:

I wonder where the private money is in this rcovery. Why is there no action by the private sector?

Kai

Now you've got me going...I think you are trying to make a very good point...If they would have cut taxes (like China has done!) they would have encouraged the investment of REAL money, instead of the newly printed FAKE money. So the private money is sitting on the sidelines, with no incentive whatever to invest; on the contrary, the rich are hoarding their money, concerned that they are about to be taxed to the fullest extent of the law.
This is what is so frustrating: Our economy is thus quite stagnant; nothing is being done proactively, we are just waiting for things to get worse.
If investment would have been encouraged, the economy could grow again, people would be involved in gainful employment and have hope for the future. Have you ever tried to steer a car when it is turned off and not moving? Very hard, indeed. If, instead, our economy was moving, just like that car it would be much easier to guide to the desired destination.
Saddest thing to say: My two daughters, ages 22 and 14(!), have both told me on separate occasions they see no future for themselves in this economy....