Some great reads on Greece, to keep up (and don't miss
Arliss Bunny on Kagro in the Morning!).
WSJ:
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came to a meeting of eurozone leaders in Brussels with a proposal for interim financing until the end of the month, a senior Greek government official said.
“In return, Greece will pass some of the overhauls demanded by the country’s international creditors, the official said, adding that Greece remained open to other ideas for “a big viable solution.”
France, which has been Greece’s biggest eurozone ally, is pushing for a deal in which Athens accepts and passes the budgetary measures—with limited changes—that were in the plan that was rejected by Greek voters in their referendum Sunday.
Greece would then receive immediate financing and the prospect of a future restructuring of its debt, a senior French official said.
Slavoj Zizek:
The moment has come to move beyond the irrelevant debates about the possible mistakes and misjudgments of the Greek government. The stakes are now much too high.
That a compromise formula always eludes in the last moment in the ongoing negotiations between Greece and the EU administrators is in itself deeply symptomatic, since it doesn’t really concern actual financial issues – at this level, the difference is minimal. The EU usually accuse Greeks of talking only in general terms, making vague promises without specific details, while Greeks accuse the EU of trying to control even the tiniest details and imposing on Greece conditions that are more harsh than those imposed on the previous government. But what lurks behind these reproaches is another, much deeper conflict. The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, recently remarked that if he were to meet alone with Angela Merkel for dinner, they would have found a formula in two hours. His point was that he and Merkel, the two politicians, would treat the disagreement as a political one, in contrast to technocratic administrators such as the Eurogroup president, Jeroen Dijsselbloem. If there is an emblematic bad guy in this whole story, it is Dijsselbloem whose motto is: “If I get into the ideological side of things, I won’t achieve anything.”
This brings us to the crux of the matter: Tsipras and Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister who resigned on 6 July, talk as if they are part of an open political process where decisions are ultimately “ideological” (based on normative preferences), while the EU technocrats talk as if it is all a matter of detailed regulatory measures. When the Greeks reject this approach and raise more fundamental political issues, they are accused of lying, of avoiding concrete solutions, and so on. And it is clear that the truth here is on the Greek side: the denial of “the ideological side” advocated by Dijsselbloem is ideology at its purest. It masks (falsely presents) as purely expert regulatory measures that are effectively grounded in politico-ideological decisions.
More politics and policy below the fold.
The Week/Ryan Cooper:
The Greeks voted to end their national humiliation. Now it's time for Europe to cut them a better deal.
But in truth, the debate now turns on perceived merit and desert, and barely at all on the facts of economics or finance. On this question, surely there is much blame to go around, even for Greece and its governing Syriza party. But in Europe at least, the blame has been almost entirely one-sided. Steve Randy Waldman has the best summary of the problem that I've read:
It is not the absence of pain and blame that troubles me, but its asymmetry. What was required was a Europe-wide solution to a European problem. What occurred, in my opinion, was the quarantining of a scapegoat... [L]eaders chose to inflame national stereotypes. They pretended that there were villains and angels, and that they (and their own constituents, of course) were the angels. [Interfluidity]
And read that Interfluidity piece!
Vox/Jonathan Allen:
The focus of the financial world shifts from Athens to Brussels today, as eurozone officials are holding an emergency meeting to discuss what to do in the aftermath of Sunday's Greek rejection of a bailout package. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is warning not to expect a quick deal.
Perhaps the most interesting repercussion so far is the invigoration of Germany's critics across the continent. Where pressure had been mounting on Greece to accept the terms of the bailout before Sunday's vote, it's now turning on Germany to soften its hard line.
Post and Courier:
South Carolina senators gave final approval Tuesday to a historic vote to permanently remove the Confederate battle flag from a Civil War monument on Statehouse grounds.
The bill passed 36-3, with Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, and Lee Bright, R-Roebuck, opposed. All three spoke against removing the rebel flag when the measure was debated the day before.
Bright continued to argue Tuesday that taking the flag down would embolden those determined to whitewash the state’s history by removing monuments to the Confederacy or the statue on the Statehouse grounds of Ben Tillman, a former South Carolina governor, U.S. senator and a virulent racist.
“We’ve got a lot of history in our state and I’d hate to see it removed,” Bright said. “But I think there will be a move to do that.”
The bill now moves to the House where first reading is expected Tuesday afternoon. House members will attempt to bring it to the floor without going through committee, setting it up for debate on Wednesday.
Mother Jones:
Perhaps confused by the subject at hand, Sen. Lee Bright used Monday's debate as an opportunity to voice his support in keeping the flag and dually attack the Supreme Court's gay marriage decision last month, not to mention the "abomination colors" showcased by the White House to celebrate the court's decision.
"This nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and they are under assault by men in black robes who were not elected by you," Bright warned.
"Our governor called us in to deal with the flag that sits out front, let's deal with the national sin that we face today!" he continued. "We talk about abortion but this gay marriage thing, I believe will be one nation gone under like President Reagan said. If we’re not one nation under God, we’ll be one nation gone under."
With more biblical references and anti-LGBT ranting, Bright went onto urge his fellow lawmakers to continue flying the battle flag. It was a rare moment of crazy, perhaps even for his two fellow Confederate flag supporters, who likely knew they had only one fight to lose on Monday.
Vox/Jonathan Allen:
Confessions of a Clinton reporter: The media's 5 unspoken rules for covering Hillary
2) Every allegation, no matter how ludicrous, is believable until it can be proven completely and utterly false. And even then, it keeps a life of its own in the conservative media world.
3) The media assumes that Clinton is acting in bad faith until there's hard evidence otherwise.
5) Everything she does is fake and calculated for maximum political benefit
NBC:
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday said that the GOP 2016 field is on "a spectrum of hostility" towards immigrants, accusing Republicans of failing to condemn Donald Trump immediately for his controversial comments about Mexicans.
Clinton told CNN in an interview that she is "very disappointed" in Trump's remarks, adding that the Republicans seeking the White House are "all in the same general area on immigration."
AP:
Worried about “Republican-on-Republican violence,” top party donors are taking action, with one firing off a letter calling for more civility and another seeking to block businessman Donald Trump from the debate stage altogether.
Foster Friess, a Wyoming-based investor and one of the party’s top 20 donors in the last presidential contest, issued a letter to 16 White House prospects and the Republican National Committee late last week calling for candidates to stay on the “civility reservation.”
“Our candidates will benefit if they all submit to Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, ‘Thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican,’ ” Friess wrote in a letter sent to Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press.
news.com.au:
WHILE the world worries about Greece, there’s an even bigger problem closer to home: China.
A stock market crash there has seen $3.2 trillion wiped from the value of Chinese shares in just three weeks, triggering an emergency response from the government and warnings of “monstrous” public disorder.
Barron's:
As the second quarter U.S. economic picture improved, it seemed clear to most economists that the Fed would likely raise interest rates in September. Now, suddenly in July, Greek finances are spinning out of control, the Chinese stock market is crashing, oil prices are plunging and the dollar is rising. The picture for the Fed is getting a lot cloudier.