News Story of the Day: After just eight months in office, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras has stepped down from his post and submitted his letter of resignation. Ostensibly, the left-winger lost support from his own party after he gave the bankers and EU what they wanted in exchange for a bailout package.
Greece received its first $14.5 billion part of the bailout this week, which allowed the island nation to pay the European Central Bank its multi-billion-dollar payment which means they avoid a default. However, this meant Tspiras had to agree to numerous public sector cuts and pension reforms. This didn’t sit well with the Greek people.
A new election is expected in either September or October, and perhaps a member of the Syriza Party will rise up or a crony puppet dropped in by the banking community will run for election. Whatever the case, it’s apparent that the two individuals who gave the banksters the hardest time throughout negotiations – former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and Tspiras – are gone. Coincidence? Who knows?
“The political mandate of the 25 January elections has exhausted its limits and now the Greek people have to have their say,” he said in a televised address. “I want to be honest with you. We did not achieve the agreement we expected before the January elections.”
Tspiras noted that he had to cave into the demands of the creditors because a majority of Greeks wanted to stay within the eurozone and this could only be done by agreeing to the bailout package.
In the meantime, Greece is still under stringent capital controls.
Chart of the Day: This isn’t good for oil. Black Gold or Texas Tea has dipped to around $40 per barrel. Will companies be able to sustain themselves with oil significant lows? Who knows? But this chart shows oil from Oct. 2014 to today.
Illustration of the Day: Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) posted these two cartoons illustrating the $15 minimum wage hike in Seattle. The cartoons were produced by Henry Payne of the Detroit News.
Quote of the Day: As we gear up for the back to school season, this one quote actually comes from the last couple of days as opposed to many, many years ago. Simon Black of Sovereign Man wrote this superb article entitled “Young people: read this before you f**k up your lives.” He delves mostly into education, and this particular quote from the article:
“Much of this comes from an education system designed to destroy independent thought and imagination, and to teach children to subordinate themselves to authority. It’s a bizarre system that rewards kids for sitting still, shutting up, and memorizing cookie-cutter answers to intensely complicated questions.”
Video of the Day: Yes, the joke must be said: it seems the words spoken by the field of GOP presidential candidates didn’t change much in this video. But it’s true. The Republicans on the stage, though they did make a couple of good comments directed at Hillary Clinton, failed to eloquently espouse the virtues of freedom, liberty, free markets and the constitution. It was all about government this and government that.
Anyway, you may have seen this on the front page of YouTube, but this is the Republican edition of Bad Lip Reading. Will this same YouTube channel do one of the Democratic debate? We’ll see…
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