British move to suspend vote deepens European rift

The Times (UK) ^ | Rosemary Bennett and Anthony Browne

[M. Espinola]

His true colour gestures also remind me of someone else who used o be in Berlin. :)

[ScaniaBoy]

We haven't given up in Sweden trying to force our politicos to grant us a referendum.

On the other hand it may well be that after 17 June there will not be a need for one. However, vigilance is needed. If they don't get their dastardly constitution they will try to force a lot of the statutes through anyway - common foreign policy, an EU diplomatic corps, common defence policy and defence force - all of these things are decided on in the constitution but have ALREADY been implemented to a larger or smaller degree.

Quite honestly you can't get closer to treason than our political elites have done this last decade.

Lampposts anyone?

[lowbuck]

Schroder is worse than a slime ball. Like Kerry he will do and say whatever to cling to power. Last night I told my wife that I would not put it past him to campaign for reelection with a promise to bring back the D-Mark. Why, because a majority of Germans did not want go to the Euro and a majority today, when asked, express a desire to go back to the Mark.

I think if Germans had the chance to vote on this treaty it would have lost by a small margin. There is a lot of fear over here, especially about jobs and working conditions, and like the French they fear the Polish Plumbers!!!

[Ff--150]

"My only other question is how long can a housing crash be forestalled, plus which nation will be the first to show very visible signs of a housing collapse."

That's up to the politics as in order to get Mrs. Clinton back into the White House the economy here must crash.

"with the Euro heading south, the USD, The Pound, the Yen, the Aussie plus some secondary currencies should be the way to go on the bullish side."

I'm spot, not futures market. I want volatility LOL. Don't care, just have a couple of long-term positions on Cable and Euro [short].

For next positions keeping eye on Swissie and Kiwi [New Zealand Dollar] guessing long for both.

[M. Espinola]

It's an interesting point which you bring up. I believe Mr. Chirac was totally dedicated to the concept of the single European state.

The reason I say this look at how Chirac turfed out Jean-Pierre Raffarin and has appointed Dominique de Villepin as Prime Minister. De Villepin is a very pro-E.U., a never elected to any office, technocrat.

This little piece from Wednesday's Turkish newspaper,'Zaman' on de Villepin:

"Coming from a blue blood family the new French Prime Minister was born in Morocco and raised in Caracas. He completed his education at a school for the state elite. As a loyal politician to Chirac, de Villepin is known as someone who entertains the notion of Turkey's accession to the Union."

I have seen Dominique de Villepin interviewed. The last time was on the PBS Charlie Rose Show during this last winter. He's a well spoken brilliant French politician, but not someone who has the best interests of America, as was clearly demonstrated over Saddam affair.

Non oui vote! Now what?

[M. Espinola]

That's up to the politics as in order to get Mrs. Clinton back into the White House the economy here must crash.

I will not be able to handle the battle ax...oy, just the thought!

You are correct, volatility is wonderful in the currency markets and in commodities in general. If one is on the ride up and has put positions for the ride down, The more volatility the better! Of course trending in the right direction-lol/

check out this classic inverted V chart for Palladium

Palladium had a nice little run up in the late summer of 2004, but since then it's been rather boring, stuck in a sideways mode, right under $200ish an oz.

I was thinking about the Kiwi right along with the Aussie, but as of late she has some bearish indications. In fact the 10 year chart below almost looks like that Palladium chart. The Kiwi has had one incredible bull run. A little more time may be required in terms of the Euro in relation to the Down Under currencies.

Once your in the link check out the Kiwi's current month and the Swiss Franc which is also in an overall downtrend, right now, but that's why we like volatility :)

Kiwi

[Winniesboy]

It appears that he couldn't even if he wanted to, since the German constitution (largely the creation of the allies after WWII) explicitly forbids referendums. I believe there was some discussion of amending their constitution to change this, but I don't know how difficult that would have been - as difficult as changing any constitution, presumably.

[AntiGuv]

The German constitution forbids referendums because of the way they were misused by the Nazis to consolidate power.

[moose2004]

Chirac's and Schroeder's political careers are over. Schroeder will lose, rather handily, when he stands for re-election as Chancellor of Germany later this year, and Chirac just saw his chances for a third term as President of France go up in smoke (the next presidential election in France will be in May of 2007). I should add that Chirac also just saw his dream job of President of the European Union vanish, his one opportunity to stand toe-to-toe with the President of the United States. Sorry Jacque, sit down and shut up, you arrogant bonehead idiot.

[Eurotwit]

Andc it is important to remember that Spain oves much of its current prosperity on having been the welfare queen of the EU, receiving huge subsidies from the wealthier EU nations.

Cheers.

[Eurotwit]

Well, there should be at least a decent sized lamppost reserved for Mona Sahlin.

Cheers.

[KarlInOhio]

Compare the start of the US Constitution:

We the people of the United States...

with the start of the EU Constitution:

His Majesty the King of the Belgians, the President of the Czech Republic, Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, the President of the Republic of Estonia, the President of the Hellenic Republic, His Majesty the King of Spain, the President of the French Republic, the President of Ireland, the President of the Italian Republic, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, the President of the Republic of Latvia, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Parliament of the Republic of Hungary, the President of Malta, Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, the President of the Republic of Poland, the President of the Portuguese Republic, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, the President of the Slovak Republic, the President of the Republic of Finland, the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden, Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain And Northern Ireland,

Not only is the EU Constitution much wordier (the entire US preamble is 52 words which only gets to the President of France in the EU preamble), it shows the European ideal that power comes from the rulers instead of the people.

[numberonepal]

Is that hot air I hear leaking out of the Euro balloon, or hot air being blown into it?

Or the EU cookie crumbling. Have a peek here to see that Italy wants the Lira back.

[M. Espinola]

Resulting from the German constitution forbidding referendums due to the Nazi era could the other option be to call for early elections if the public really gets fed up with the present government, in the hope to oust Herr Schröder, but would someone even worse take his place?

[M. Espinola]

"This is Bush's fault, you know {smile}."

Somehow the pinkos will dream up a way to fault Bush for the break up of the E.U., and the upcoming hurricane season as well!

[M. Espinola]

Neither Chirac nor Schroeder are now displaying the haughty, pompous & disdainful way they treated Washington prior and during Saddam's ouster from power. Now they have mega-problems of their own.

[lutz]

Great comparison!

bookmark~

[chronic_loser]

WELL SAID!!!!

[PotatoHeadMick]

I've posted elsewhere on the comparison between the beautiful simplicity of the US constitution and indeed the Declaration of Independence, where the intentions of the writers are conveyed in elegant and totally comprehensible paragrahs and the unintelligible gobbledygook stretching out for almost a thousand pages of the EU constitution.

However what I enjoy about the preamble which you post is the variety of the forms of government. For example, the Latvians are represented by the president of their republic whereas the Spanish are represented by their king, all well and fine. We don't point out that the Luxemburgers only get represented by a grand duke; that would be bad manners but what to make of the Hungarians? They have neither president nor royal bigwig, indeed they don't have a personal representative at all but a parliament and the Swede's aren't represented by their king but by their king's government, confused yet? What to make of the fact that Belgium doesn't have a king but the Belgians do. And we really don't want to point out that the lady with the longest title "Her Majesty the Queen..." appears to be claiming ownership of a sizable chunk of the President of Ireland's jurisdiction, best to quit when you're ahead I think.

[moose2004]

I agree, and further I believe that if they try to bash America in order to ingratiate themselves with their voters that it will backfire big time. I have a friend in Munich whom told me that the German people are sick and tired of Schroeder's rhetoric, they want him to focus on the economy and jobs, considering their unemployment rate is 12%. I also read that Chirac's approval rating is now the lowest of his presidency, and that 74% of the French people don't trust him, hardly a ringing endorsement.