Socialist taxes grind Greece into poverty to prop up bad bank loans

Bomb attacks in Greece
A burnt motorcycle remains after a home-made bomb exploded outside the Athens home of two Greek journalists. The homes of five prominent journalists in Athens were attacked using makeshift bombs.

Greece increases taxes to satisfy creditors

New tax law, demanded by EU and IMF, includes top rate of 42 percent for Greeks earning more than $56,000 a year. Raises property taxes and corporate taxes. This is on top of the current 23% value added sales tax.

Look carefully at Greece and you see the future of the United States.  There will be endless new taxes on Americans to support a Socialist welfare state and to pay interest on the loans that support Socialism.

The Big Government Greek Parliament approved a tax increase Saturday that should add billions to the government's revenue.  But most of the tax money is being "laundered" through the treasury and then directly handed over to multi-national bankers to service the debt.

The previous top tax rate of 45% on the "evil" rich started with those who had incomes above $132,000 a year.

The new and approved top tax rate of 42% goes way down deep into the middle class.  The high rates now kick in for Greeks earning only $56,000 a year  or more.

Greece's Parliament has approved new tax legislation aimed at boosting state revenues by $3 billion this year, under the bailout-dependent country's commitments to its international creditors.

The law was approved early on Saturday with the support of all partners in the country's three-party ruling coalition.

Greece riots: RT News crew under attack

There has been steady street violence in Greece.  RT film crew in Athens got caught in the middle of violent street protests. The cameraman has been slammed by a group of protesters, while correspondent Sarah Firth required medical assistance due to tear gas exposure.

The law shuffles and simplifies tax scales, reforms family benefits, increases taxation of deposit interest, and expands the tax base to include groups such as low-earning farmers.

The new tax bill, passed in the early hours, is needed to help the debt-stricken country meet its commitments to international creditors, state-run ANA news agency reported Saturday.

The legislation makes it compulsory for all taxpayers to lodge an income tax declaration while raising property and corporate taxes reports CNN.

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The new tax bill is one of "fiscal necessity" and will ensure that shortfalls are met in a socially fair way, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told lawmakers ahead of the vote, ANA reported.

The measure, intended to raise an extra 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) this year, is part of a raft of measures enabling Greece to qualify for further international bailout funds.

The vote by lawmakers came a day after arsonists critical of the country's media coverage of the crisis attacked the homes of five prominent journalists in Athens using makeshift bombs.

An anarchist group angry at the Greek media coverage of the country's economic crisis claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement posted on a leftist website

Friday's predawn attacks came after a number of recent media reports on Greece's "triangle of power," providing detailed accounts of the strong links among the country's financial and political elite and the media.

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The Greek government has condemned the attacks. Spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said they were "an attempt to terrorize the media," which he described "as a vital part of our democracy".

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It is the second time the group has targeted journalists. In July, it also claimed responsibility for an arson attack outside a restaurant owned by a prominent Greek journalist.

(www.aljazeera.com)

And the Banks keep loaning money so 

nations can pay the interest on their debt.