Free Republic

Eurozone members act to protect their currency. In exchange for the aid, debt-ridden Athens announces new austerity measures. Reporting from London European countries and the International Monetary Fund on Sunday threw Greece a lifeline worth a stunning $146 billion after the financially foundering nation unveiled a stinging program of spending cuts and tax hikes to reduce its enormous government deficit. At an emergency meeting in Brussels, finance ministers from the 16 nations that use the euro currency signed off on the bailout package, which would grant low-interest loans to Athens to help it avoid a humiliating bankruptcy. The money would...

Here's just the thing for a government drowning in red ink: Wager $108 billion of your tax dollars on risky loans to corrupt governments. That's what President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner call a healthy investment. I call it a damned waste of money.

(from September 30, after the bailout first failed in the House) SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Astounded by the U.S. government's failure to resolve the financial crisis threatening the foundations of the global free market, fingers of blame are pointing at America from around the planet. Latin American leaders say the U.S. must quickly fix the financial crisis it created before the rest of the world's hard-won economic gains are lost. "The managers of big business took huge risks out of greed," said President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, whose economy is highly dependent on U.S. trade. "What happens in...