Italy-- Austerity's Next Victim?

That tweet was just before I hit the sack last night. I woke up today and found that Berlusconi's closest ally, Umberto Bossi of the Northern League (imagine an Italian Rick Perry), was calling for him to step aside for former Justice Minister Angelino Alfano. With the defection of 5 deputies from his own party, it's unclear if Berlusconi would be able to survive a confidence vote expected later this week.

Unlike Greece's peripheral economy, Italy's in the third largest, after Germany's and France's, in the Eurozone. It's debt problem is like Greece on steroids and its almost inconceivable for the Euro to marshall on if Italy is driven into default. Right now Berlusconi is pushing unpopular Austerity measures that the Italian people seem unwilling to swallow-- although not measurtes drastic enough for the E.U. hardcore Austerity hawks.

Yields on Italy's 10-year benchmark bonds rose to 6.74 percent on Tuesday before dropping back. Analysts said Italy was reaching the point where Portugal, Greece and Ireland were forced to seek a bailout.

..."I'm not leaving," was the headline in the fanatically pro-Berlusconi newspaper Il Giornale, owned by his brother.

Speaking before the latest defections, Berlusconi said he had won back enough party rebels to win the vote and he would then table roll-call confidence motions on sweeping economic reforms promised to fellow European leaders.

"I want to look those who want to betray me in the face," he said.

If Berlusconi's support falls below around 310 votes in the 630-seat lower house, he will face massive pressure to go. Current calculations seem to put him well below that number.

Germany, whose extremely unhappy taxpayers are keeping the Eurozone afloat, is more than willing to sacrifice democracy in southern Europe for a stronger dose of Austerity. German banksters (their power exercised through the E.U.'s Frankfurt Group in Brussels) forced Papandreou to cancel a proposed referendum and to resign and they are demanding an appointed "technocratic government" in Italy (a bloodless coup) that would take orders from Berlin.




UPDATE: Things Have Gotten Worse... At Least For Berlusconi

I wonder where he's going to go into self-imposed exile now that "shitty Italy," as he put it, has rejected him. The same place Limbaugh wound up going, no doubt. He's offering a conditional resignation-- "pass this nice Austerity package and you'll be rid of me." He failed to get a majority in Parliament today and called the 8 members of his party who refused to vote for his bill "traitors."