By John Lillpop ——Bio and Archives--May 19, 2012
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CAMP DAVID, Md., May 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will press European leaders to ease up on fiscal austerity and focus on economic growth at a summit on Saturday that will discuss ways to stem turmoil in the Euro zone and head off the risk of global contagion. At the wooded Camp David retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, Obama and leaders from other large economic powers will try to forge a common approach to tackling a crisis that threatens the future of Europe’s 17-nation single currency. Though no major policy decisions are expected from the Group of Eight summit, leaders hope they can bridge enough of their differences to soothe rattled financial markets after worries about the risk of a Greek exit from the Euro zone sent European stock prices to their lowest level since December. "Hopefully we'll get some stuff done," Obama told Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti as he and other summit participants arrived for Friday evening dinner at a lodge at the secluded presidential retreat. Obama earlier in the day aligned himself with Monti and new French President Francois Hollande by urging a solution to the Euro zone crisis that combines fiscal belt-tightening measures with a "strong growth agenda." On the other side of the debate is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has pushed fiscal austerity as a means of bringing down huge debt levels that are burdening European economies. Voters in Euro zone countries have shown frustration with that approach, ejecting governments such as that of Nicolas Sarkozy, who was defeated by Hollande, a socialist, in the May 6 French presidential election.”In sum, Obama has encouraged the Camp David attendees to abandon austerity in favor of growth and jobs.In other words, " Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” The big question: Why in the bloody hell would anyone with a lick of sense pay attention to a failed leader of a nation with close to a $16 trillion deficit? Who would trust such a man when it comes to matters of fiscal responsibility?
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John W. Lillpop is a recovering liberal. “Clean and sober” since 1992 when last he voted for a Democrat. For years, John lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, the very liberal sanctuary city which protects, rather than prosecutes, certain favored criminals. John escaped the Bay Area in May and now lives in Pine Grove California where conservative values are still in vogue.