Poisoned politics

The stench from the completely underhand attempts to ram through the Lisbon Treaty will spread across Europe from Dublin like stinking clouds of mustard gas over the World War One battlefields of the Somme and Verdun. The Red C poll in Ireland clearly showing more voters would vote against the Treaty than at the actual referendum is a clear signal of the contempt the electorate in that country holds for the spectacle put on by the EU's leaders since the result became known. The latest fracture in Ireland's political scene is reported in this morning's Irish Times, linked here. The London Times meanwhile has its most significant articles in the business section, the UK Government's borrowing plight here, but even more worryingly this harrowing tale of the problems at Merril Lynch, linked here. It is difficult to pick one paragraph to highlight the disaster at that institution long considered a pillar of the West's capitalist system, so try these: ....The group has made an overall loss of $18.7 billion in the past four quarters, after taking about $40 billion worth of writedowns on CDOs and other mortgage-related investments. Mr Thain called last night’s CDO sale a “significant milestone in our risk-reduction efforts”.... ........Merrill Lynch acquired the CDOs that it sold yesterday for $30.6 billion. By the end of the second quarter this year they had declined in value to an estimated $11.1 billion and Merrill agreed yesterday to sell them to Lone Star, the private equity fund, for $6.7 billion. Meanwhile the BBC Today programme , this morning, is regularly pushing an extension of the mortgage rescue scheme which would put taxpayers at further risk for potential losses in the trillions where individual UK citizens have already been placed in debt by their government of almost 200,000 pounds per head. What a time for the EU leadership to destroy any remaining credibility the democratically elected governments of the 27 nation state membership might retain by fraudulently trying to salvage the Lisbon Treaty which will deprive those individual states of some of the tools many will need to protect their national citizens from this economic hurricane as best they may.