Appearing in today’s N&R, George Will weighs in on Greece:
Time was, the European left said it spoke for horny-handed sons of toil oppressed in dark Satanic mills. But Athens’ “anti-government mobs” have been composed mostly of government employees going berserk about threats to their entitlements. Even Greek air force pilots went on strike. The government, unable to say how many employees it has, promises to count them. It cannot fire many of them because Article 103, Paragraph 4 of the Greek constitution says: “Civil servants holding posts provided by law shall be permanent so long as these posts exist.”
We’re seeing what happens when you take government workers’ jobs away, and it’s not pretty. By the way, I saw a buddy of mine last night and he told me how pumped up he was about his upcoming trip to Greece. I told him the same thing I told my other buddy who’s going to AZ: spend some money, for heaven’s sake.
One more note —- Will doesn’t seem very enthusiastic about the VAT, which odds are will be Erskine Bowles’ recommendation to get us out of the financial mess we’re in.
