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Greece Was 20 Votes Away From Defaulting This Weekend
Up until this moment, Greece may not have had the financial wherewithal to pay its creditors, forced instead to use circular math gimmicks in which the IMF paid the IMF for the country's most recent €750 million due on May 12 when it effectively pre-defaulted and used SDR reserves as "payment", but at least it had a united facade when facing Europe and political cohesion when dealing with the Troika.
That too may have just evaporated over the weekend, when in a surprisingly close vote showing just how deeply the ruling Greek Syriza party has splintered, the hard line "Left Platform" a faction within Syriza, proposed that Greece stop paying its creditors if they continue with "blackmailing tactics" and instead seek "an alternative plan" for the debt-racked country. Its motion called for the government to default on the IMF loans rather than compromise to creditor demands, among which a change to value-added tax rates, further liberalization of the labor market and changes to the pension system, including further cuts to pensions and wages.
According to the NYT, which first reported the vote outcome, the proposal was narrowly rejected with 95 people voting against and 75 in favor.
The WSJ adds:
The Left Platform’s leader, Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, told the meeting default was preferable to surrender, even if it meant Greece tumbling out of the euro.
“Who says that an exit from the euro and a return to the national currency is a catastrophe?” Mr. Lafazanis said at the meeting.
Who? Well, all those - mostly bankers - who for the past 5 years bailed out European banks at the expense of preserving Greek participation in a doomed monetary union and avoiding the collapse of the Eurozone, an outcome which would lead to massive losses for the oligarchic status quo.
But back to Greece where with a vote as close as that, the genie of the full-blown dissent within Syriza, which has a tiny majority of just 12 seats in Greece's 300 seat partliament, is out of the bottle which could mean that the Troika's long sought after goal of pushing Greece into a political crisis, may be just around the corner.
As the WSJ reports, "Tsipras’s difficulty in selling a painful compromise to Syriza’s hard left, as well as to other parts of his ideologically diverse party, has become the largest obstacle to a deal. European officials and analysts—and privately even Greek government officials—say they don’t know whether the roughly 30 lawmakers who make up Left Platform will vote as defiantly as they talk if creditors’ terms are put before the Athens Parliament."
That may be a moot point, since Greece needs a deal yesterday: as a reminder, Greece has about 10 days of cash left, and this time there is no kicking the can - if there is no deal by June 5, Greece will be in default first to the IMF, and soon to everyone else.
Worse, while Greece may not have decided to formally prioritize pensions and wages over IMF repayments, at least not yet, it has absolutely no working proposal to present to the Eurogroup ahead of this week's latest meeting.
The Central Committee agreed on a text saying any deal with creditors must involve no pension cuts, a small budget surplus before interest, increased public investment and a restructuring of Greece’s debt—terms that lenders are unlikely to accept. The text isn’t binding on Mr. Tsipras’s government but indicates how hard it will be to sell a deal to Syriza.
But while some may have harbored hope that the Troika may agree to at least the smallest of concessions, after Sunday's municipal vote in Spain which showed a dramatic plunge in popularity of the ruling PP, a harbinger of even even more "anti-austerity" platforms coming to power, Merkel will do everything in her power to make an example of Greece that nobody can dictate terms to the Troika and in the end it is a very simple choice: the German way or the autbahn.
And just like that Greece is suddenly caught between the devil and the deep red lines: an intransigent Troika and potential rebels within the party itself.
“The biggest threat may not end up being Mr. Lafazanis, but other parliamentary members who lack party discipline, who are newly elected and are completely unpredictable,” said Dimitris Keridis, an associate professor of international politics at Panteion University in Athens.
Parliamentarian Ioanna Gaitani, a self-described Trotskyite in the Left Platform, said Greece can survive a debt default and lenders aren’t respecting Syriza’s mandate.
“When faced with the pseudo-dilemma of ‘euro or national currency,’ the answer is a unilateral write-off of most of the debt, the taxation of large wealth, and the implementation of Syriza’s program,” she said. “For the Left, the needs of the people are above profits and debts.”
The best news perhaps for Greece and everyone else who has been following this ultra slow motion trainwreck for the past 5 years, is that it is nearly over (one can hope), and that when it comes to defaulting, Greece has a truly exceptional range of choices how to make sure its last Euro-denominated check bounces in the most dramatic fashion possible.
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“Who says that an exit from the euro and a return to the national currency is a catastrophe?”
Exactly. They are allready IN a catastrophe.
Ya'kno, if I were representing Greece at the upcoming "negotiations" I wouldn't have anything prepared, either.
I'd just tell 'em that they'll get paid when they extend us more money.
Who? Well, all those - mostly bankers - who for the past 5 years bailed out European banks at the expense of preserving Greek participation in a doomed monetary union and avoiding the collapse of the Eurozone, an outcome which would lead to massive losses for the oligarchic status quo.
Excuse me. I thought that the banksters unloaded the debt onto the ECB which, by default, laid it off onto the sheeple of the EU which, by default, bailed out the banksters and said oligarchic status quo so they no longer have any skin in the game.
Or did I miss something?
BTW: How's Iceland doing?
Nope. You got it. The financial enablers are being financially enabled by their political enablers at the expense of the non-enabling non-enablers who are on the hook for all the enabled enablings.
This hasn't been news for five years.
Greece is tits up, which I always enjoy;)
Is there any other way then?
Nice sarc.
Yawn.... just another almost Grexit story
Dealing desks preparing for reintroduction of EUR/GRD pair
http://www.myfxbook.com/community/experienced-traders/dealing-desks-prep...
Throw those pathetic Greeks out of Europe already.
ja, mein Führer !
The iron ybeing the Greeks would be a lot better for it.
Europe currently is no more than fascism. No room for sovereignty.
Any country who jumps out will benefit, even if the current propaganda says that outside of Europe there be dragons.
They are people, the few politicians put them here and dont forget Goldman who was the big shoe that kicked this can down the road that everyone is now standing over.
Just in case you didn't know: Greeks have their own country and it is called Greece. It is a tad difficult to throw countries out of continents.
Ten bucks says they finally default on the payment due September 14, 2015, resulting in all hell breaking loose on September 15, 2015.
Coincidentally, that's also the end of the Shemitah year.
What comes after Smt?
If you listen to these loons. Dragons eat them, zombies attack, dark shadowy riders on horses, fire lit skies, glass raining down death from the sky, stylish number tattoos, cheap soap, lampshades and banana fudge sundaes! Great doomy fun for the whole family!
Or...
The central banks all collapse in a horribly constructed derivative chain based on the Euro piggybacking practically every NATO currency that is set to expire on the date and the stupid pig fuckers have to face the music so they can enjoy all the sex in prisons that's often been widely advertised about. (oops, dropped yer soap there...-cue bass guitar- -ballz deep-)
Why does it expire? They haven't got someone to declare a jubilee, that requires a bloodline, a particular blood line to authorize which is absent. Apparently the top banana split. Without the signatory it will just go off like a string of financial thermo nuclear material, leave them all holding the bag and incredibly fucking broke. The problem is they don't have any back up plan anymore, they've been mispricing PM's for a really long ass time and they aren't getting their cheddar back for love or money now. The Chinese, Indians and Russians have pretty much locked them out of the market. The inflation they've been exporting will just come back in a huge tidal wave once banks start busting like pinata's full of bullshit.
Either option, everyone is flat assed broke and it's going to be a big fucking mess to clean up.
\\Got Bitcoin?...protip; the Chinese got the lock on that as well.
That first paragraph is intellectually dishonest hyperbole. You can do better CPL. The second and third, spot on.
The S is not about fantastical creatures; it's about a cleansing related to nature's needs to renew (rest the working of the earth every seven years). It's also been a significant signal in many seven year cycles past as significant turns. I don't believe in hokey-pokey, but when the data come through as a strong signal, I pay attention.
To the Shemitah signal, I paid attention. It hasn't failed in decades. That's worthy of attention.
Maybe this will be the year it fails, who knows.
Who gives a shit. When the economy is run by whacked out mystics, crooks and thieves it will always turn into a mess because investing on astrology signs is about as sensible as picking a retarded three legged horse because it's name is lucky. Save the incense and patouchli oil for some hippy chick that's cat calling, don't run your playbook by it. Otherwise get your purse, hand in your man card and scamper away.
BTW: The term you are looking for is called 'the Halcyon days' . The ritual sacrificial marriage. Gotta feeling that ain't happening with most of you shooting blanks last time I looked at birth rates and the lack of grooms. Now there's a celtic phrase that comes to mind: When you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.
\\Got bitcoin?
Would it surprise you?
The CBs pretty much fail short of suspending gravity but I'm 100% certain they're working on that as we speak here.
Either Smt is another Y2K hyped up fail or there's a real cleanse and opportunity to purge. I welcome the latter.
I would be shocked if the US government doesn't have a decent stash of BTC for the inevitable reset. Then again... they do have their heads very far up their asses.
I thought the Greeks already defaulted. Haven't other Europeans been paying the "Greek" debt for the last 5+ years?
The Greeks dont want to pay taxes so the Eurozone pays their taxes in the form of loans/debt. The Greeks are not stupid haha.
This is pretty much it. Then the Greek people vote elect a government to stay in the euro but reject austerity. Maybe the problem is just the voters.
The concept of mutual exclusivity is lost on the Greek population.
They don't pay taxes because if they would, they will end up in a socialist hell-hole with all that welfare state they want. So they make pay others EU countries at their place.
Same ole' headlines that Greece is goin' to default any minute. Well that headline has gotten tired and old. We already know at the 12th stroke of midnight that a deal will get hammered out to allow Greece "not" to default for about the 50th time. They've bailed out Greece many times before so 99.9% chance the same thing happens again this time.
Also, they will not allow Greece to default while part of the Euro. Maybe if Greece eventually exits then the country could default but while part of the Euro it's guaranteed they will hit the CTRL Print Button again just in a nick of time.
'20 votes away'... baby steps (should have defaulted long ago)
In the end the Federal Reserve will step in and save them. The idea has already been floated out and no way will they allow Greece to blow up the system they have built. Time for Americans to get ready for Marshall plan 2.0, the plan to save Europe's banks from themselves.
The money is not real. You don't even have to print it. Send an electronic transfer with the necessary number of zeros to solve the problem.
Horseshoes, hand grenades, vote counts. One of these things is not like the others.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
(squeezing eyes real hard)
Horseshoes and handgrenades hurt when they hit ya'?
what if they collect the votes in abandoned pressure cookers and they get blowed up?
no fair this is too hard, I'm gonna go watch Dancing with the Tsars
"Close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades."
er...and Atomic Warheads.
When these people talk of surviving a default, they mean a political one.
Never forget:
"We all know what to do, we just don't know how to get re-elected after we have done it."
All ye good Greeks capture your dignity and self-determination while you can...
default, with pride, and party like it's 1912.
I upvote that ! After the party, you pay your own bill. Congratulations, you now have your own currency. Wait.. why do other people not pay for our party anymore?
No sympathy here. You made your bed now lie in it.
June 5th the next window, the next IMF payment. They won't accept green stamps or a completed Taco Del Mar punch-card this time around.
The S&P 500 can't really sell off before then, can it? It's been strung along with these fixes, Lucy and Charlie Brown with the football.
After a pullback, SPX should be about 2140 in two weeks.
And then it will happen.
EDIT: TDM hyperlink added for you poor worthless bastards living out your pointless lives in flyover country.
You make sure you stay there on that side of the line, amigo.
That's the new California word for "friend".
That is about as Mexican as Taco Hell.
Try the Taco Shops in San Diego County, CA. Nothing compares to that in the rest of the states.
Love my Carne Asada Burritos...along with the Shrimp Burritos...with the pico, or salsa fresca, and fresh guacamole made from locally grown Avacados.
Taco shops down here are as plentiful as strip clubs in Portland, OR.
Real burro inside tm
I forget the origination of the official Greek Debt Crisis and a google search is filled with platitudes and newspeak. Is there a link to the origin of the problem, preferrably a ZH archive article?
For what purpose was the problem debt issued, who bought it, and was the only collateral offered of a General Obligation type?
The graphs above are good but pickup midstream. What was the beginning?
Like they are TRYING to stay in the euro......puleese! They want Shauble, Merkel, and Draghi to kick them out! Listen to Raul Meijer, who has the RIGHT to dictate fiscal policy to Tsipras & Varoufakis????
Ilargi just hates ze Germans. He's obsessed with them these days.
What a tosser.
Headline is wrong.
"Greece Was 20 Votes Away From Defaulting This Weekend"
They were only 11 votes away from defaulting. Not 20.
"95 people voting against and 75 in favor"
Only an 11 vote swing changes it to 86 to 84 the other way.
Math...
Democratic maths, when you just need 51% to impose things, then the other 49% can go to hell...
They're 11 votes from having to vote again.
Welcome to Hotel California.
>>> They were only 11 votes away from defaulting. Not 20.
Still not correct.
They were only 11 votes away from not paying.
You are not in default unless the unpaid creditor owed the money says you are in default. Not paying simply empowers the creditor to declare you in default, it does not compel the creditor to declare you in default.
Fortress Paper Co. in Canada is printing the new Drachma notes. Varoufakis himself said it would take 6 months.... Why is anybody surprised?
Good
What is good about the deforestation of Canada?
That is what it will take after the new drachma is introduced.
This appears to be a rumor started by zerohedge and nothing more.
Fortress Paper Co. in Canada does not print anything for anyone. They manufacture and supply paper. The amount would not be all that great in the grand scheme of things.
http://www.stockhouse.com/companies/bullboard/t.ftp/fortress-paper-ltd?p...
Greece does not need unelected technocratic dick-head-taters telling them how they must run their country.
Debt has nothing to do with it. Overpowering the will of the Greek people has everything to do with it. The banks create the money from thin air and then demand the right to run the country of Greece. There is something absolutely wrong with that.
Those seeking control will get that which they seek. Except that they receive that which was not intended. (they end up as the ones whom are controlled rather than the ones controlling...)
Brussels...I hope that you have invested in K-Y Jelly...and Preparation H. The Greeks are about to give it back to you in Greek fashion, bitches. You might have done that obligatory reach around, Brussels.
Good bye EU. Goodbye Western Civilization. It was not real anyway. It was fun for awhile. But it was not real fun.
So they will default next weekend now instead? ;p
Same old tune with new words. No default, even if Obama has to write the check himself, with our money.
Groundhog day again. Any surprise?
Yeah, it's deja-vu all over again. Same as it ever was.
greeks out-performed all the central bankers, ponzi criminals, eg madoff, and bankster market riggers - the greeks defrauded and stole OTHER people's money in bond sales and loans and got clean away with the crime, no prosecutions of greek government officials for crimes committed, eg fraud & theft, no confiscation of greek assets to repay victims, eg bond holders – a perfect crime committed by a nation of liars, con-artists, thieves, parasites, and criminals – ALL within the glorious EU!!!
Lesson = if you are going to steal, then you should steal on such a huge scale that prosecution is impossible.
you nailed it.
If you were a banker (try Goldman Sachs as proxy for the ECB), and you thought (knew or believed) your neighbor down the street was all of the above abominable epithets, due diligence and all, WHY IN THE HELL DID YOU LEND THEM THE MONEY? Was it because you were a loan shark?
Keep probing, asshole!!!
If you were a banker (try Goldman Sachs as proxy for the ECB), and you thought (knew or believed) your neighbor down the street was all of the above abominable epithets, due diligence and all, WHY IN THE HELL DID YOU LEND THEM THE MONEY? Was it because you were a loan shark?
Keep probing, asshole!!!
Answer is simple, shit-for-brains skepsis101:
A big bank would take the risk of loaning to Greece because the bankers would expect the idiotic corrupt politicians in the EU to bail out the banks - which is EXACTLY what they have done, passing the bad greek debts onto to the income tax payers in the EZ.
Only Greece should determine what should happen to Greece. Ditto Spain. Ditto Portugal. Ditto Italy. Boink the Troika.
Actually only had to flip 11 votes to avoid a tiebreaker and vote to exit.
I am thrilled beyond belief that Greece might not default.
Someone down voted you .... must have missed the /s
If the Greek Government bonds and notes have credit default swaps backing them up, won't a default trigger payment by the insurers? Maybe the insurers are insolvent too and that's what a Greek default will expose; that CDS's are worthless. If anyone can explain, please provide insight.
Channeling Star Wars:
This is not the default you are looking for.... move along ... nothing to see here.
MAN THE FUCK UP. DEFAULT. STAY IN THE EURO AND EU. THEY CAN'T KICK YOU OUT. GET SOME PAYBACK...
Unpayable debt is the trademark of Federal Reserve takeover, this is why they start wars and other financial catastrophes. Someday they will be coming for all of our assets too.
Another debt slave speech.
Madam Christine Lagarde’s commencement speech - Illinois Institute of Technology, Class of 2014 – 2015
http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/
It was actually 11 votes away - 86/84 right?
But with click-bait headlines, Tylers aren't so interested in math anymore...
How many will declare absentee ballots? What is your poll sampling statistics? What do you declare as margin of error?
Does this pass your test on math?
That might be why they did away with the math captcha.
I also miss the math quiz. TD has done well. Think about the days when we were on blogspot. A needle in a haystack. Tyler and the staff should pat themselves on the back. Great contributions by various members.
Keep up the fantastic work.
It's official.
There is NOBODY left in the world who has got any Cahones ... except Vlad Putin.
Paper War. It's all on paper. Walk away Greece. Restart your paper currency machines. Make revenue growing deals with China and Russia. Just move on. The European Oligarches will always be Oligarches. They will never change. Stop dreaming that you can change them,
Oh so close! darn better luck next time kid.
yes they are laughing at us
20 votes...or just 10 people to change their vote...closer than you think..
That vote was just amongst the Syriza central comittee. If a large chunk of Syriza representatives were wild eyed enough to vote this way in their assembly, the uncontrollable weasels in the XA, KKE and ANEL parties could vote together with them and there could be change!
Eventually, they will sleep with IMF but only marginally.
Hmm I see a "Tommy" moment ahead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogHtl6UFSSI
"you know where to put the plug!"
In order for you idiots in power to live in luxury, everyone else has to suffer. Why don't you idiots just ask for a Communist revolution? What you are doing actually makes something as stupid as Communism look like an improvement
The financial "world" is is simply a gigantic computerized shell game. All it does is distract from the fact that the rabidly insane master class that rules us has broken their little toy "economy." They used "smart ideas" like NAFTA to export 90% of our productional systems to China. (Russia did not, and they are getting stronger.) Then they spent most remaining available productionality on fake anti-missiles, armies, F-35s, carriers etc. And through the financial shell game, they are pulling the EU down with us.
Nobody really got to vote for this. Automatic voting machines, the spoiler effect induced two-party system, and monopoly media, made voting an absolute total joke. Maybe if we had machine-free, strategic, simplified SCORE VOTING, something like this:
http://www.electology.org/?_escaped_fragment_=score-voting/c2480#!score-voting/c2480
Until we get these thing, we have no say and it's not our fault.
Meanwhile, California is drying up and half our food will disappear, and the real big one is due any time. And total system collapse has begun even without that.
Look at the videos from Russia -- their streets are in good shape, while ours are disintegrating. Greece is just the canary in the mineshaft.