Economic Growth in Britain Revised Downward; Greece is Unhappy for No Apparent Reason (Sarcasm Alert); Italian Debt is Downgraded; Senate Republicans Insist on a Vote House Republicans Refuse to Have

And Other News That Requires Incredulity Commentary

When the Conservative Coalition took control of Britain’s government they promised that they would make controlling the budget deficit their top priority.  They were not worried about things like economic growth.  Today the government released new information on how the economy had performed for the first six months of 2011.

Double-dip recession fears continued to stalk the UK today after more grim updates showed an economy stagnating and a consumer shorn of confidence.

Economic growth in the first two quarters of the year was weaker than first thought, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said,

And like in the U. S., it seems the recession was much worse than previously thought.

The ONS revealed the country was in a much worse position at the start of the recovery than previously assumed as the 2008-09 recession was much deeper than originally feared.

The reaction of the Conservative government, everything is just fine

But a spokesman for the Treasury said today: "The economy is recovering from a recession we now know was deeper than we thought and the deepest of any major economy except Japan.

Showing the delusion amongst Conservatives is not a condition limited by national boundaries.

In order to meet European demand for reducing its deficits Greece will terminate 30,000 government employees (think 700,000 to 800,000 job losses if it were the same size as the U. S.) and there is unrest in Greece.

As Greece struggles to avoid a catastrophic default, demonstrators in Athens expressed outrage over their misfortune and bewilderment at a crisis that shows no signs of easing.

and

Air traffic controllers joined the 24-hour strike, grounding all flights. State hospitals were running on emergency staff, while lawyers, teachers and tax officers also walked out. Public transport employees were holding stoppages in the morning and evening, and state television and radio pulled news programmes off the air.

Exactly how this would help is not clear but the frustration in Greece is largely the result of failure of past policy similar to what is now being enacted.

part of new cutbacks that come on top of salary and pension cuts. Greece has also seen repeated waves of tax hikes over the past year and a half.

Greece relies on a package of international bailout loans but it has slipped on meeting budget targets required to qualify for the funds. The country is suffering through a deep recession, with the economy expected to contract 5.5% this year, and unemployment has spiralled to above 16% as businesses have closed.

Yep, that will drive a few folks at least into the streets.

In Italy the Prime Minister was upset that Moody’s has downgraded Italy’s debt issues.

In a report released after US stock markets closed on Tuesday, Moody's downgraded Italy's government bond ratings from Aa2 to A2 with a "negative outlook", suggesting further cuts could be to come

 The Prime Minister had a perfectly good explanation for the downgrade

Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, criticised Moody's rival Standard & Poor's when it cut Italy's credit rating last month, saying the ratings agency's action was "dictated more by newspaper stories than by reality".

No Mr. Belusconi, if the newspaper stories were driving this Italy’s debt would be rated Triple F, based primarily on your quality, or lack thereof of governance.

Amanda Knox (who?, no we don’t know who she is either) is back home in the U. S.  Why this is headline news throughout the world is another one of those mysteries that will never be solved, but since she is back that should resolve the world financial crises that had been ever threatening.

The Koch Brothers are radical Conservatives who spend tens of millions in trying to implement radical conservative government in the U. S.

The Koch brothers have donated millions to Republican candidates and conservative movements, bankrolling groups involved in Tea Party causes and in campaigns to deny climate change science and the need for cleaner energy. Through their Flint Hills subsidiary, they underwrote the failed 2010 ballot initiative that would have suspended California's landmark law capping greenhouse gases.

 They are also billionaire businessmen.  Now it appears they are “truth challenged”.

In recent months Koch Industries Inc., the business conglomerate run by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, has repeatedly told a U.S. Congressional committee and the news media that the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline has "nothing to do with any of our businesses."

But it turns out they told Canada a different story

In 2009, Flint Hills Resources Canada LP, an Alberta-based subsidiary of Koch Industries, applied for—and won—"intervenor status" in the National Energy Board hearings that led to Canada's 2010 approval of its 327-mile portion of the pipeline. The controversial project would carry heavy crude 1,700 miles from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast.

In the form it submitted to the Energy Board, Flint Hills wrote that it "is among Canada's largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters. Consequently, Flint Hills has a direct and substantial interest in the application" for the pipeline under consideration

Yes, this story is being reported in a foreign newspaper, because if it were reported in a U. S. publication that publication would be guilty of media bias, class warfare bias, hatred of Conservatives bias, pro-liberal bias, anti-business bias etc.  Ok, pick the bias of your choice.

President Obama has lambasted the House Republicans for refusing to allow a vote on his jobs package.

"I'd like Mr. Cantor to come down here to Dallas and explain what exactly in this jobs bill does he not believe in," Mr. Obama said in a speech at a community college promoting his jobs bill in Texas.

Mr. Cantor is the House Majority Leader, apparently having taken over de facto control from House Speaker Boehner. 

However his counterpart in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has a different idea

"I agree with the president that he is entitled to a vote," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who called for a vote on the proposal as an amendment to an unrelated bill. "There's bipartisan opposition to the president's proposal."

So it turns out the U. S. does not need two parties to have dysfunctional government, one party, the Republicans, can do it all by themselves.