The mouse that roared?

By Bill Wilson It might not be an overstatement to say that the fate of representative government hangs in the balance as Slovakia has rejected the €440 billion European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF). It fell 21 votes short of a majority. Was it the day the mouse roared? When a free people stood up — as did the people of Iceland recently — and said not just no, but hell no to more bailouts of banks? To be certain, the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, which is a coalition member of the ruling majority there, refuses to support bailing out European creditors that bet poorly on the debt of socialist governments like Greece. But the left-wing Smer-Social Democracy party? It only refuses to offer its support to help out the majority — unless the majority agrees to new elections. Prime Minister Iveta Radicova has already lost a vote of confidence, as she staked her political career on the success of the vote. Left open is whether her coalition government will agree to early elections — which could cost them the majority — in return for the Social Democrats approving the bailout. Ultimately, a re-do vote is eventually expected to pass, but at the cost of the current government in Slovakia completely collapsing. In other words, once the Social Democrats get their piece of the pie. Get full story here.