Courtesy of Mish.
Merkel and Cameron Deadlocked
British Prime Minister David Cameron is locked in a battle with German chancellor Angela Merkel over whether to increase the size of the EU budget.
Cameron is the only holdout (yet he deserves no credit for his position). Rather, the British Parliament Voted to Reject EU Budget, Cornering Cameron. Otherwise he was prepared to have the EU budget go up at the rate of inflation.
The 17 net recipient nations are all in favor of more money of course. And as I have pointed out numerous times, Merkel would sell her soul to keep the EU intact.
Bear in mind, the EU budget could be and should be cut at least 50% (assuming there should be an EU budget at all which is certainly debatable).
Common Agricultural Idiocy
Nearly half the EU budget is crop subsidies, price support mechanism, and guaranteed minimum prices on agricultural good. The aim of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is to provide farmers with a reasonable standard of living, consumers with quality food at fair prices and to preserve rural heritage.
CAP is idiocy. Farmers deserve no more taxpayer subsidies than bricklayers or computer programmers. Simply put, everyone deserves the exact same fair shake regardless of what they do. The way to accomplish that is not give any select groups subsidies.
Wimpiest of Wimps
Cameron is the wimpiest political leader in the G7. He refuses to hold a referendum on whether the UK should stay in the EU when the majority of UK citizens would leave, and a majority of his own party are begging for a referendum.
Showdown Time
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