Greek PM Samaras vows tax cuts as leftists hold poll lead

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(Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pledged on Saturday to cut taxes and gradually end austerity as he seeks to woo voters and overturn a poll lead by the leftist opposition party Syriza ahead of a snap election.

At the helm of a coalition government since 2012, Samaras has pursued unpopular reforms as part of a 240 billion euro ($284.26 billion) EU/IMF bailout to pull Greece back from almost crashing out of Europe at the height of the euro zone crisis.

Opinion polls show radical leftist Syriza, which opposes Greece's international bailout program, ahead of Samaras' center-right New Democracy party with two weeks until snap polls triggered by parliament's failure to elect a new president.

Amid fierce campaigning, Samaras is trying to focus on the improvement in Greece's finances and the first signs of economic growth after a six-year recession, promising to ease the financial pressure faced by many Greeks if his party is re-elected.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/10/us-greece-election-samaras-idUSKBN0KJ0H520150110?rpc=401

[Jackpine Radical]

1. It's about time the Greeks

got around to re-engineering democracy.

I hope they get it right this time.

[bemildred]

2. I like it when they squirm.

You can tell this guy is feeling the heat.

I think the Greeks have a tough road ahead, any way you can slice it. But better free of the EU, unless they want a permanent subordinate role.

[Fred Sanders]

3. The media always pins "radical" to the leftist, never on the rightist...the leftist is a populist,

more accurately, but the corporate media is so fucking scared of South American populism gaining a foothold in Europe they use all the tricks in the propganda arsenal.


"Opinion polls show radical leftist Syriza, which opposes Greece's international bailout program, ahead of Samaras' center-right New Democracy party with two weeks until snap polls triggered by parliament's failure to elect a new president."

No "radical" label for anyone denying climate change, or wanting to profile all Muslims, or trying to use dynamic scoring to hide the budget deficits caused by tax cuts, no sir.

The other party is "Center-right"? So anyone defeating it must be radical, of course.

[bemildred]

4. I think we all look alike to them.

If you aren't a bought and paid for organization bot, then you are dangerous.

But yeah, things are getting out of hand, too many balls in the air at one time.