Free Republic

Unions representing around half of Greece's 4 million-strong workforce have called a 48 hour general strike for Wednesday and Thursday to protest against a sweeping package of austerity measures due to be passed in parliament this week. A wave of smaller strikes over recent days by groups ranging from rubbish collectors to tax officials, journalists and seamen has given a foretaste of this week's protest which will culminate in mass demonstrations in front of parliament, the scene of violent clashes in June. The protest, dubbed "the mother of all strikes" by the daily Ta Nea newspaper, is expected to be...

Vice President Joe Biden joined House Democrats in lashing tea party Republicans Monday, accusing them of having “acted like terrorists” in the fight over raising the nation’s debt limit. Biden was agreeing with a line of argument made by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) at a two-hour, closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting. “We have negotiated with terrorists,” an angry Doyle said, according to sources in the room. “This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.” Biden, driven by his Democratic allies’ misgivings about the debt-limit deal, responded: “They have acted like terrorists,” according to several sources in...

Budget gimmicks used to raise spending limitOLYMPIA—At a March 24 House Appropriations hearing on Governor Gregoire's 2005 "emergency" supplemental budget, Rep. Eileen Cody (D) acknowledged that Democrats were pursuing budget gimmicks in order to artificially increase the voter-approved I-601 spending limit.In Gregoire's $219 million 2005 "emergency" supplemental budget, the governor transfers $45 million from the general fund to the Health Services Account. But Gregoire then plans to transfer $86 million from the Health Services Account to the general fund in her 2005-07 budget. This budget shell game artificially increases the I-601 spending limit. This means that the people will not...