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Roman Vondrous / CTK via AP
People whistle and shout slogans at the anti-government demonstration organized by trade unions and civic groups in Prague on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of Czechs on Saturday staged one of the biggest protests since the fall of communism, marching in Prague against spending cuts, tax increases and alleged corruption and calling for the end of a center-right government already close to collapse.
Police estimated that 80,000 to 90,000 workers, students and pensioners snaked through the capital to rally in Wenceslas Square. Chanting and whistling, the crowd held banners proclaiming "Away with the government" and "Stop thieves." Organizers put the crowd at 120,000, the BBC reported.
Rallies of such a scale are rare in the country of 10.5 million people.
The demonstration against Prime Minister Petr Necas's government is the third such trade union-led protest in 12 months against austerity measures, and the turnout underscored rising public frustration after a series of graft scandals.
"This government is devastating state structures and is demeaning the unprotected with its asocial reforms," Jaroslav Zavadil, the head of the Confederation of Trade Unions, told the crowd.
The protest comes as the government is working to reaffirm its majority in parliament ahead of a Monday deadline.
The turmoil was triggered by the defection of Deputy Prime Minister Karolina Peake and her allies from the scandal-ridden junior ruling party Public Affairs.
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Peake has pledged her faction will continue to support the cabinet, but on Saturday it remained uncertain whether she could muster the 10 votes the government needs for the "safe majority" that Necas wants from her to avoid early elections.
An early election, two years after the last vote, would be likely to hand power to the opposition Social Democrats, who have a nearly 20-point poll lead over Necas' Civic Democrats.
The Social Democrats have pledged to undo some of the government's reforms of the pensions, health care and welfare sectors, and to tax companies and the rich to keep the budget under control.
"The reforms are not thought-out. The reforms are chaotic," party leader Bohuslav Sobotka said before marching on Saturday.
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Now watch as their version of police/gestapo come out swinging rubber bats and spraying pepper spray in children's & elderly people's faces
"This government is devastating state structures and is demeaning the unprotected with its asocial reforms," Jaroslav Zavadil, the head of the Confederation of Trade Unions, told the crowd.
I hope the trade unionists prevail. Government leaders should not come out swinging rubber bats and spraying pepper spray -- they should join the trade unionists in the street!
What they are reacting to is classic "Shock Doctrine" stuff, brought to you by the followers of Milton Friedman's Chicago School Economics.
Here's how it works:
Your country is having difficulties -- so help is offered -- at a price. You must prove that you are "fiscally responsible," so you must cut social services, cut education, cut pensions, cut most everything that exists to help the ordinary people.
Then your country must make its resources available to outside investors. You end up privatizing everything and the investors make out like the bandits they are.
Jobs are lost, the middle class shrinks to almost nothing, and most people are far worse off than they have ever been.
Oh -- and by the way, their version of "fiscal responsibility" does not work -- except to their advantage.
Read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine if you need to know more. They have been doing this kind of thing around the world since the seventies. I am glad to see that some people are fighting back.
Watch carefully. We may be next.
Let me guess.. 4 years ago the people wanted bigger government to take care of them and everyone condemned anyone who would have said that the growing government debt needed to be addressed.... Its a shame a few there will have to suffer because of the majority's actions.
The Czech finally bounced...
Wait a dad gum minute.....
I thought Mexico only had the "corruption" problem (i.e., Walmart). /total and complete sarcasm/
Yep, those austerity measures really work....just look at Greece. That is what happens when the masses are "social engineered controlled".
Implementing austerity measures is like implementing more sanctions against Iran or North Korea...nada.
Shades of NY police?
What a sad state the world is in. Human beings think they can have as many kids as they want and there will not be repercussions. The larger more complex governments become the easier it becomes for them to get away with corruption. The easier these huge governments can get away with violent control over people. The two go hand in hand. Revolutions are destructive and after the dust settles the old guard comes back in and sets up shop again. Bottom line the more excess people there are the less value the masses have to those who are pulling the strings.
"There is no crisis that the capitalists can't solve if the working class are willing to pay for it". V. Lenin
Austerity doesn't work. It only makes people mad.
But working to make the economy stable before trying to reduce debt does work. People get jobs, the economy starts to rebound and then when more people are working and businesses are making money....the additional taxes coming in will help take down the debt of wars from previous leaders.
Obama 2012!
Marlen- Really? You're stating a comment that Lenin said, the guy who started the communist party and lead the way for the USSR?
Random, I think Lenin was sarcastic. From a capitalist perspective if some economic trauma occurs and something is in a hole, just ask the working class to give out value to fill that hole, even if it means working for free. slavery of a past century of sort.
the four factors of production: land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship. Capital can always afford you the other three factors, but when one has money, the land or factory and he's got an entrepreneurial plan getting labor for near free is extra sweet financially. and imagine the mental power kick from controlling desperate humans...... controlling the workforce by coercion is a safer bet than potentially being at their mercy ( strikes, labor cost, etc..). That's one big reason why many jobs went to China, a more malleable and inexpensive workforce. nasty humans.
actually if you consider the hole we are in as a country, you can view it as a lack of entrepreneurship. lets say the entrepreneur had a bad plan. If the lower class and middle class could give out free or cheap labor, well that created value could fill the void, until "we" are back on track. they want to poor to absorb the loss. and want to keep the profit when there is one. I tell ya, it's a power struggle.
In a democracy the igorant masses always like to vote themselve more freebies: more welfare, more unemployment benefits, more farm subsidies, more healthcare assistance, more housing allowance, more education and home loan guarantees, more loan modifications, more Cash for Clunkers, and ..... more government to administer and regulate these socialist programs.
As the popular saying goes, "There aint no free lunch," and soon the government is forced to find the path of least resistance in search of money. In the beginning the government diverts money from defense, public works, and research in order to avoid the unpopular tax increase and fees. When there are more bills than money, the government either sells bonds or resort to the printing press. The carefully crafted inflation is a stealthy theft upon the clueless masses who failed to realize that the 2012 Dollar is worth less than 5% of a 1913 US Dollar. Even after committing massive theft, the government is forced to tax the masses but disguised as "Tax the Rich!" under the specious Buffet Rule.
The Rich had seen this coming decades ago. They have off-shored their investment and capital beyond the reach of the US tax man. Some have forfeited their US citizenship while living abroad in nations that have low tax or no tax on return of capital investments such as divident, interest, and gains.
The flight of capital combined with the high social cost of doing business in the USA necessitated the Federal government's creating several "Bubble Economy" to avoid the potential high unemployment and social unrest. Earlier in US history, the government created the stock bubble, housing bubble, then later the Dot-com bubble until all burst.
The masses are not willing to give up their freebies without a fight. Socialist, labor unions, free-loaders and anyone else who believe government should provide cradle-to-grave benefits will demand the government tax the rich and the corporations; increase the minimum wage ; abolish defense spending; and defer science research.
While Margaret Thatcher said socialism comes to an end when it runs out of spending other people's money, she glossed over the fact that some nations will wage war against their citizeens and neighbors by seizing, confiscating, and conquering valuable resources in order to prop-up their socialist schemes.
America is following such a script, well written centuries ago.
They should continue paying high benefits to all the union workers until their country is bankrupt, good solution libtards. You retards just don't seem to understand how to balance a checkbook. Income must support expenditures or the rising debt continues. Pretty simple.
I have family and friends in several countries that were republics of the former ussr. In most of them, corruption and bribbery is just a way of life. No one has done a audit of how all the monies they received by loans, grants and gifts, where did it go and who got it.
The main problem here and many other countries in eastern europe is the contracts they signed with the I.M.F., and the world bank. They were loaned almost what ever they asked for and in return, they had to cut back per IMF standards and agreements. The huge problem is a blind man could see that there was NO way for them to pay it back. Most of these countries have little or no LEGAL industry. One example is they make cigarettes putting them into boxes made to look as the real brand/mfgr. and they smuggle them into western europe selling them on the black market undercutting the legal overtaxed ones.
The IMF help them set up a currency with a phoney value. Then, over the years, for them to repay the loans, they urge them to devalue the currency (print to pay back). This takes a bad situation making it worse. The IMF with thier silly rules/policies has created so many problems. The IMF states they do all things to keep the world monatary system safe and stable. I counter they do this to feather thier own nest.
They don't pay high benefits to union workers. Most people are upset about the fact that the government is cutting spending on various needed welfare programs. As soon as the government cuts spending somewhere, they find some ridiculous thing to spend money on. For example: building a new embassy in the US for about 26 billion USD.
Not to mention some of the current politicians are involved with various corruption scandals, some even sentenced to jail time, and refuse to give up their mandate.
The checkbook would be balanced (and then some), if it weren't for corruption. I mean, how does a lottery company go bankrupt... (Sazka)
You Czechs need to get your mafioso organized crime bosses in jail & stop being so corrupt, or who else do you think it is making & racketeering fake amateur booze that's so imcompetently done the stupid criminals kill a bunch of guys, huh? Who did you think was doing that? Do yourselves a favor & whack out all your organized crime idiots and at least replace them with smarter ones who have a better recipe, for pete's sake, wotta buncha morons!
Don't mess with those dependent on government handouts and want a redistribution of wealth!
The Czech's should be careful what they are protesting.... unions have already ruined the economy's of Argentina, Greece, Portugal, Spain, etc. And all of those leftist govenments are now being accused of being corrupt, lol! Powerful Unions are like a cancer these days!
Who cares, if the unions are protesting a corrupt right wing government? That's just business as usual.
LOL.....EuroPIIgs Nations are right wing ?
Wow.....give Roadkill some more Obama Bucks.
yes European governments have been center right lately: Blair was, Merkel, Sarkozy, Berlusconi. with the wealth and prosperity of the 90s the newly rich voted on the Right because the Right offered them more tax cuts. the swinging constituents make the difference on a Right or Left government. I believe the French are about to elect a Left president, Sarkozy on the right should be out. we'll see where this all goes.
Uhtred, take a look at what really happened in those countries -- and in other countries around the world.
Unless you are part of the wealthy elite that benefits from the chaos that severe austerity brings about (and I suspect most of us on the vine are not) you really need to open your eyes.
Take a good hard look at who benefits from those programs and who does not. Look at any country that has fallen prey to Friedman's Chicago School Economics, and you will see that a certain few are enriched at the expense of everyone else.
NOT a good model.
That's right, Uh...those powerful unions have never accomplished anything...except, of course, raising the workers into the middle class.
Sally, you are probably one of those voting against own interest.
According to you, working people who make the riches of the
world possible should just shut up while the cowboys of Wall Street are ruining
world economies, enriching them self without creating anything of value.
Working and poor people are not the ones who are running governments, the rich
are. You can see the results; they don’t care what collapses where, as long as
they can build their multimillion dollars houses, buy expensive cars and so on.
You should direct your wisdom toward the real culprits and stop @!$%#ting in to
your own nest.
These people are asking for the same stuff that American Liberals are asking for. Even when the Social Democrats take over Czechoslovakia and do a terrible job at handling the government, American Liberals will still say it is the better type of government when it's clearly not.
Right. We are all asking for fairness.
We are asking for excellent education in our public schools, we are asking that all workers receive a living wage, we are asking for security in our retirement. We are asking that everyone, not just the wealthy, have access to excellent health care.
We support programs that will help people. We oppose programs that enrich corporations and individuals at the expense of the ordinary citizen.
Our government -- a democracy -- is supposed to be "of, by and for the people." When it is 'of, by and for' the rich it is an oligarchy. When it is 'of, by and for' the corporations, it is a corporatocracy. And what we're heading into is a Brave New World of corporatocracy unless we stand against it.
American Liberals, along with protesters in other countries, are standing against oligarchy and coproratocracy, speaking out in the interest of the ordinary citizen.
They should just get rid of their public healthcare system. Do the right thing. Let people die. It's natural. Taking money, from the rich, is not right!
yosolo.....
Yep, and those Obama bucks are running out.
SCOTUS will make sure that the Mandated Universal Health Care Reform legislation is Unconstitutional.
the rich take money all the time
Everyone knows that every single rich person got their honestly and on the sweat of their own back! *sarcasm.
LOL.....
Gotta love Mr. Obstructionist Reid lambasting Romney on the Congressional floor because Romney is wealthy.....however.....here is the kicker......Mr. Obstructionist Reid has MILLIONS of dollars in his own bank accounts.
Now, I wonder WHERE Mr. Obstructionist Reid got his money ? Nah, he wouldn't bet on the market (Goldman Sachs, Bank of America), now would he ? Nor would he "inherit" the money, now would he ?
What about the OTHER wealthy DEMOCRATS in the Congressional Halls ? Oh, yeah:
JakeIAm....."Everyone knows that every single rich person got their honestly and on the sweat of their own back! *sarcasm."
Yep, those Democrats in Congress sure worked hard getting those investments on WALL STREET.
JakeIAm, and of course there is no such thing as a welfare cheat or a mobbed up union boss.... your pandering is falling on deaf ears!
Makes me Wonder- The rich get richer because we buy the products they try to sell to us. When you buy a new phone, the money you spent for it goes to the business. Some of that money goes to the CEO. The thing with you Liberals is that you want EVERYTHING free, but it's never going to be that way. The people who work hard in school or people that come up with brilliant inventions/businesses will always get more money.
Yosol, your hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of the left make me laugh!
It just occurred to me... Selective Amnesia has struck us. With all the noise the media is making about Romney's wealth, I don't recall such bluster and hand-wringing over the Kennedy fortune. Or, for
that matter, John Kerry. Or the fact that John Kerry gave virtually nothing to charity while Romney gave something on the order of $4 million... in addition to his entire inheritance from his father.
Oh. Wait. I just remembered. Romney is Republican. Kerry and the Kennedy's are Democrats.
Also, Romney worked for his money. Kennedy inherited his. And Kerry married his.
Never mind. Nothing to see here folks. Move along.
John Kennedy made fun of the problem. "Here's a letter from my generous daddy," he said. "He tells me that I must win by a small majority, because he is not going to pay for a landslide."
It's coming to your neighborhood soon when China takes our credit card away!
Except there will not be people blowing whistles and shouting. We live in the most heavily armed country on earth with over 200+ million guns. Our government is aware of this and would be scared to death upon doing this to us. We know they will someday but I fear that day.
The whole world has to band together to root out and to Punish Severely Corrupt officials. There is no other way to do it. The world is being destroyed by greed.
The Czechs are always best-off when Austria or Germany runs things..
Corruption in Government, ridiculous spending, high taxes! Wow, this sounds like the good old USA!
As the gap between the rich and poor gets bigger, soon there will be only the poor serving the rich! Middle class, well, they are being sqeezed out completely!
Yeah it does sound like the good old USA, but the difference between Czechs and the USA,is they, the Czechs, have more Balls than the US.People here are to busy watching dancing with the stars,american idol,the latest baseball and foot ball games, wasting time on face book,twitter,and going out and buying the latest smart phone!
Thats right. Dont forget, americans voted in the 2 term coke head that bankrupted our country. Plus they keep re-electing the traitors that forced that "patriot act" crap on us and we didnt do anything.......yet.
Get ready Americans - it's coming here. Until our government gets a handle on spending, it's looking like we're not going to be able to avoid austerity measures.
Don't hold your breath EWUSNRET! Read my post above!
We need more of this in the USA! Do not allow our future generations to grow up with corruption in the government. If you don't want to stand for the rights and liberties of the present generation then do it for the following generation! Leave this world in a better way then when you were born! This is the unspoken law of generations that has gone unnoticed for too long! make a better world for the future! make a world our replacements can be proud of! make a world you can be proud of! not as Americans but as beings of the HUMAN RACE! This is no longer a discussion of who has more money but a discussion of justification on a global level!
You do? Good Luck with that one as I told your friend EWUSNRET!So I'll say it to you.People don't have the balls to stand up to Corruption in this country.
Most americans are too stupid to be alive.
the government handouts have kept the people from revolting. but that could change and s**t could still hit the fan, hard.
If Romney gets elected: private capital release but squeeze the poor: riots against the wealthy: cops National Guard: deaths and more.....
If Obama gets elected: cut help down: riots: tax increase, minimum wage increase, and more...
This should have happened here when the bush crime family was ruining america but then again when the majority of americans vote in a 2 term coke head that lies us into 2 wars and bankrupts our country, we get what we deserve.
The government is going to be the next victim of "austerity" because unlike the checks, we have plenty of guns and ammo. All republiCONs should be in fear of the future.
Every country needs a government. You also need the officials to not cheat its ppl. They are there to tax the corporations and businesses and use that money to fund city operations. it seems like everyone wanted the good life but it is not possible. there has to be hard work.
there has to be agriculture and commerce.
housing and transportation.
Support the PEOPLE! Oppression is a fear we face around the globe! The rich live hearty and get richer, while the poor swelter to survive and get poorer. It is an issue facing most of the world; including the good old USA. While, money is not the total answer to your livelihood, it is the unequality of the present status' that is ruining mankind.
SUPPORT THE CZECH'S!
Czechs must fight for your country and prosecute the crooks. Vote your hearts out. You have to standup before these politicans destroying your country. From America with Love.
Corruption is not just there; it happens here too. It is just another Occupy Movement there.
Once again the innocent civilians are expected to foot the bill for the criminal acts of the big banks, while the big banks fully expect to be let off the financial hook. Exactly when are the big banks going to be forced to suffer the financial losses of their decisions and actions? Exactly how is it the responsibility of innocent others to have to shoulder the burden of others who have made illegal and immoral decisions and then acted on those decisions? According to this logic if i get wasted on something, then drive and kill many members of a family, not only do i not go to jail, but the surviving victims have to buy me a new car.
The USA needs to do a clean sweep of the government. The USA government is corrupt as all get out. I do not think that there are any decent people running for an office anymore. The dollar bill is winning out, it is the most powerful force on gods earth and only human beings let that happen. I am being negative but this whole world is not headed in the right direction, put people ahead of the money?
Don't blame the government for all the faults of banks and Wall Street. Government is no match for clever money managers with army of lawyers. It's not the government who ruined world economies, its people likes of Madoff.
John McCain said it right; they are running Wall Street like their own casinos, only difference with casino is that they are using other peoples money.
The SEC gets about 50,000 complaints per year from defrauded investors and they take action on less than a hundred and they do not recover money for investors.
Another bunch of idiots that think that bigger government and more deficit spending and debt creation are the answer to their problems. Not realizing, of course, that there is a limit o how much a government can borrow to keep paying out to people that are not generating revenues.Which is why it is deficit spending that creates debt. Sooner or later the debt has to be paid or the system collapses.
BTW, why is the government paying pensions? Aren't they paid by the private employers? And please note that one of the points of the protest is to complain about government graft. Well the bigger the government and the more of your money and lives they control, the bigger and more wide spread the graft becomes. Take the money out of the hands of government and return it to the people and, in so doing, reduce the graft and waste. Giving the government more power to spend and more authority to control what it is spent on and you get ..........MORE GRAFT.
i guess that other country's are learning fast that democracry, and capitalizim are just for the CROOKS in their country.
ronald fiorey...
Not really! It's an old story...1776. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself...by any means.
America has evolved into a Society of complacent Citizens and Plutocrats. Lip service is given to the importance of the 'Constitution of the United States' and the 'Bill of Rights', as the Washington Establishment and their supporters edit out the Ideals our Nation was founded on.
One by one Societies around the World react violently against the self-serving 'powers that be' for want of, or in defence of, the Ideals our Forefathers penned originally for us, as we, the American people, only resist our oppression by espousing rhetoric concerning 'wish lists'.
The Sovereignty of many Nations are being sold or traded off piece by piece to the financially Elite...the process is called Globalization, and they depend on the active participation, complicity, and complacency of millions of Citizens.
It appears Poles aren't going to just sit on their hands. Bravo!
The socialists, communists and the unions just love to spend money they do not have.
Mike and the likes of Madoff spend other people's money, that doesn't bother you, I
guess. On other hand, hard working Americans deserves nothing but shaft from
rich. Where are you coming from?
Don't worry Prague politicians, you are not the only ones under fire by the 99% people! We, the 99% American People in the United States are also rallying AGAINST OUR CORRUPT CORPORATE POLITICAL PUPPET RULE! We are broke from supporting our corrupt corporates, WE CAN'T EVEN FEED OUR FAMILIES! It's time for change, and that time is NOW!!! NOT LATER, BUT RIGHT NOW!!!
Vote STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC, the lives you save may be yours & your children! And if this DEMOCRATIC REGIME doesn't work for us, we, the 99% American People, WILL put in a TRUE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT that WILL WORK FOR US!