Saturday, August 13, 2011

Crazy Italian Austerity plan - Italian Revolution coming? They Won't take this sitting down.

WOW, I am speechless at what the Italian government has proposed as Austerity measures for getting a bail out from the other European countries.

Zerohedge has a list of what the Italian proposals are.

I can't imagine all the people in Italy taking this very well.  They are definitely hot blooded and they are not afraid of standing up and speaking their mind.

Imagine working your life for the government, putting money away for retirement, then being ready to retire and the government says" "Sorry, you don't get your pension started until 2 years out after retirement".   WOW, now that is a major slap in the face to all the Italian workers.

Here is the list of measures proposed by the Italian government:

SPENDING CUTS
  • Cuts to the budgets of central government ministries, worth a total of 6 billion euros in 2012 and 2.5 bln in 2013.
  • Funding to town councils, regions and provinces reduced by 6 bln euros in 2012 and 3.5 bln euros in 2013.
  • Unspecified changes to the pension system to save 1 billion euros in 2012.
  • A progressive increase in the retirement age of women in the private sector to 65 from 60 to begin in 2016, instead of 2020 as previously planned.
  • The retirement funds of public sector employees will be withheld for two years after they leave their jobs.
  • A reduction the "cost of politics" resulting in a halving of elected officials and around 55,000 fewer positions in the apparatus of central and local government. However, Berlusconi did not give a timescale for these cuts.
  • Abolition of 34 of Italy's 110 provincial governments and the merging of town councils with less than 1,000 inhabitants. However, this measure will be "for the future" and not become effective during the government's current term of office, Berlusconi said.
HIGHER REVENUES
  • A "solidarity tax" on high earners, to be levied for two years, as an additional 5 percent on income above 90,000 euros per year and 10 percent on income above 150,000 euros.
  • Increase in taxation of income from financial investments to 20 percent from 12.5 percent, excluding income from government bonds.
  • Purchases worth more than 2,500 euros will no longer be allowed to be made in cash, as a means of curbing tax evasion. There will also be tougher penalties, such as suspension from professional bodies, for failure to issue receipts and invoices.
  • All non-religious public holidays, such as the June 2 anniversary of the founding of the Italian Republic, will be celebrated on a Sunday in a bid to increase the number of working days in a year.
REFORMS
  • A liberalisation of national labour contracts giving greater scope to strike accords at the company or local level. 
If you know Italians, you know they are loud, don't give up, stand their ground, and they do not take S*&* from no one, including their own government.  Why the government thinks withholding people's pensions for 2 years after they retire is a good idea, I will not understand.  To me that is the biggest BullS*** idea I have ever read.  You don't keep people's own money they have worked hard for all their life, so the banks can have it.  If they want a revolution, it seems they just might get it, I can imagine the Italian people will be going nuts over this idiotic Austerity plan.  

No comments:

Post a Comment