Political Uproar Builds Over Euro-bank Bailout

May 5, 2010 (LPAC)—While the French lower house, the Finns, and the Netherlands have voted up the so-called Greek rescue package, all eyes are on Germany, where the parliament is scheduled to vote on Friday, May 7. Chancellor Merkel has been campaigning aggressively on all TV channels, and even had Finance Minister Schaeuble hold a bankers' meeting today to discuss participation in the package.

The Tagesspiegel reported today that Prof. Schachtschneider told them that he, and the other three anti-euro professors, will file their case before the German Supreme Court immediately after the Bundestag passes the 22.4 billion euro German contribution to the bailout.

Already, there are very open defections in the CDU, most importantly, Bundestag President Norbert Lammert, who announced that he would vote against it (because the austerity conditions are not explicit in the text, he said). Also potentially important was the announced opposition of CDU financial expert Manfred Kolbe, who said the package would result in European taxpayers paying off the banker profiteers.

Also of note, is that the mass-circulation German daily Bildzeitung today ran a front-page article on how the bailout violates the Lisbon Treaty's no-bailout clause. The jump of the article is accompanied by a full reprint of the article of the treaty which excludes the bailout.