Democracy could ”˜collapse’ in Greece, Spain and Portugal unless urgent action is taken to tackle the debt crisis, the head of the European Commission has warned.
In an extraordinary briefing to trade union chiefs last week, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso set out an ”˜apocalyptic’ vision in which crisis-hit countries in southern Europe could fall victim to military coups or popular uprisings as interest rates soar and public services collapse because their governments run out of money.
The stark warning came as it emerged that EU chiefs have begun work on an emergency bailout package for Spain which is likely to run into hundreds of billions of pounds.
Astonishing. This man would make the devil go to church. The “Commission President” was never elected by any European voter, nor was any of his confreres, yet he lectures on dangers to “democracy”. Astonishing.
@azusa: Well, he is elected/appointed by the Council of Ministers which consists of representatives of democratically elected governments, and the commissioners are appointed by the individual democratically elected governments, so that is not as incongruous as you make it sound. Of course it is not “direct” democracy, but neither is the US system of electing the President via a college of electors.
In any case, none of that has to do with the very real danger he addresses: what happens when large segments of society are not willing to put up with painful spending cuts, which are nevertheless necessary because the money has run out?
Well it’s happening here too as more and more as legislative power is shifted to executive branch agencies run by independent “czars” appointed without Senate confirmation and the liberal use of Presidential decrees (excuse me that’s Executive Orders).
Obama seemed to have learned well from President Bush.
Of course, it also seems that the Republicans aren’t interested in moving confirmations along all that fast.