
“Half way through his four-year term, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho is trying to curb popular resentment over what opponents say is a widening gulf between private employees and about 600,000 public workers who have mostly stayed immune to mass job cuts. What’s bothering the Portuguese isn’t just that austerity helped prolong a recession and sent unemployment to a record 18 percent, it’s also that the government used taxation more than those in Greece and Ireland to try to narrow the budget deficit. Some workers on the state payrolls are perceived to have escaped the deterioration in living standards being felt by others.”
Related posts:
Mubarak-era doctors ordered to operate on protesters ‘without anesthetic’
‘Three Strikes of Injustice’
CIA operators were denied request for help during Benghazi attack
States join battle over drone flights
US oil settles down 1.3%, at $51.65 a barrel; lowest since April
'Being anxious and afraid does not justify attempting to execute a man'
Cop who fatally shot unarmed 17-year-old boy was sworn in just 90 minutes before
NSA: Snowden was just doing his job
ObamaCare's architects reap windfall as Washington lobbyists
Bank of Canada’s gold coins to be liquidated in balanced budget push
British company with $1.2 billion Obamacare contract accused of fraud
Ontario slashes Samsung green energy deal by $3.7 billion
Al Qaeda in Iraq threatens attacks in U.S.
Peter Schiff Takes On Credit Suisse Gold Bear
TARP Audit: Housing Recipients Re-Defaulting in Alarming Numbers