As U.S. Elites Demand Austerity For American Workers, How's It Workin' Out Overseas So Far?

Let's leave Chile to Herman Cain's warped, destructive little mind for a moment, keeping in mind their general strike-- although very much Austerity-related-- is ostensibly about education. The general strike in Greece is more all-encompassing. The country ground to a halt yesterday as working people stand up to the country's-- and Europe's-- corrupt elites who have pillaged and wrecked the country and now demand working families pay for it.

Greece is struggling to reduce a huge government deficit amid fears it may default and set off a eurozone crisis.

The EU and IMF have demanded tough cuts in return for two bailouts.

The pace of protests in Greece has been increasing for several weeks, with lightning strikes across virtually every sector of the economy.

The strike for Wednesday and Thursday was called by the two big unions that cover public and private sector workers.

Government departments, businesses, offices and stores have all shut, with small business owners and shopkeepers taking part in strike action for the first time.

Air traffic controllers are staging a 12-hour walk-out, with some 150 domestic and international flights cancelled. Trains, buses, taxis and lorries are not operating.

A strike over recent days by rubbish collectors has left uncollected waste piling in the streets. Tourists were turned away from the Acropolis.

"We are going to send a loud message to the government and the political system," said Costas Tsikrikas, the head of the public workers' union Adedy.

More than 70,000 people marched in Syntagma Square in central Athens, police said, with another 15,000 reportedly turning out in the second city of Thessaloniki.

"Take the memorandum and get out," read one sign in Athens, referring to the EU and IMF bailout.

Hundreds of dock workers have gathered at the main port of Piraeus, while hundreds of prison guards protested outside the justice ministry.

One striker, university lecturer Yannis Zabetakis, told the BBC: "We are now living in a taxation Armageddon and the economy is dying. Along with the economy, we are dying. The austerity measures are not working and our best people are being forced to go abroad."

In fact the Austerity regime the 1% is trying to impose on the 99% is not working anywhere. We've watched Angela Merkel's party lose half a dozen local elections so far this year. She and her conservative party are toast. A poll released yesterday showed that if the French presidential elections were held today, Sarkozy would lose to the Socialist-- with huge centrist support-- in a landslide rejection of his Austerity regime.

The survey-- the first since Hollande, 57, was nominated as the Socialists' official candidate-- gave him a crushing 62% of votes against just 38% for the incumbent in the final round of a two-round vote... A second poll on Tuesday by Ifop for Paris Match appeared to confirm the increasing desire of French voters for change: it found 59% of those polled wanted a leftwing president.

Italy is in turmoil and Portugal is getting into the act and Spain... well this is the Puerta del Sol-- Madrid's Times Square-- a couple days ago:


Well how about England then? Is it working out well there? Not so far, mate. In the early 1990s Tory Recession, the Conservatives' messaging revolved around how austerity was "hurting, but yes it's working." This year the Labour Party very effectively pushing the phrase "Hurting but not working." Oh, but what about here in the U.S. in say, the center of the country... someplace like... Ohio.

Labor is poised for a big victory in Ohio next month-- PPP's newest poll of the state finds that voters intend to reject Senate Bill 5 by a 56-36 margin. Although that margin is consistent with what we found in the state earlier this year, when we polled Ohio in August the support for repealing SB 5 had tightened to 50-39.  These numbers suggest that momentum is back on the side of the groups trying to kill the bill.

The preferences of Republicans and independents on Senate Bill 5 are mostly unchanged from two months ago.  Independents are evenly divided on the issue, 46/46. And Republicans want to uphold it 61/30. But Democrats have unified in their support for repealing SB 5.  In August they were only planning to overturn it by a 69/21 margin. Now that figure is 80/13. That increase in Democratic support for repeal may be indicative of voters becoming increasingly aware what the implications of a 'yes' and 'no' vote are on this somewhat complicated referendum.

The rejection of Senate Bill 5 would be a huge defeat for John Kasich, and Kasich continues to be the most unpopular Governor PPP has polled on anywhere in the country in 2011. Just 37% of voters approve of the job he's doing to 54% who disapprove. He has an unusually high number of Republicans disenchanted with him-- 23%-- and he attracts little crossover support from Democrats to make up for that, with only 10% of them approving of him. Independents split against him by a 49/43 margin as well.

Given Kasich's unpopularity it's no surprise that Ohio voters continue to feel significant buyer's remorse about their choice for Governor last year. If they could do it over again 54% of voters say they would pick Ted Strickland to only 40% who would stick with Kasich.