Berlusconi: Buying Votes with Public Money

Prof. Mario Monti, our current Technocrat Prime Minister (he’s an Economist of sorts with a background at Goldman Sachs) and candidate for high office recently said of Berlusconi’s litany of promises to all and sundry, “Berlusconi is buying votes with Italians’ money.”  Famous last words.

This election season, Berlusconi, giving a(nother) nod to those who practice corruption as a way of life and in consideration of his mafia friends in the cement industry, said if re-elected, that he would allow yet another amnesty for illegal building.  Every time he does this, thousands - thousands - of buildings pop up in every part of Italy virtually overnight, terraces are built atop of buildings, houses expanded, all illegally in wait for an eventual amnesty and forgiveness.  Once you’ve built the quick & dirty building, people forget that they must have plumbing, roads to get there, garbage pickup and a host of city services not always provided so readily, and that includes street signs and post office delivery.  Not to mention the long fights with neighbors whose view to the sea or to the castle in the distance you've just blocked. 

Not enough for our convicted briber and public propagator of prostitution (including his govt hacks) and underage sex, he then took the brazen measure of telling Italians that he would revoke the unpopular (but totally necessary) IMU-Property Tax, which Berlusconi had done away with -- thus depriving the State and Cities of much-needed income.   

Our slippery Silvio then slipped millions of families a facsimile check out to all homes in districts where he was not a shoe-in, and duping the millions of households who don’t follow politics or read newspapers into seeing that he’s already set in motion the downfall of the nasty IMU.  

Click here for full letter from Panorama magazine

It was one thing to promise to take away future taxes on housing.  It’s wholly another story to return monies from 2012 that helped keep Italy - and the Italians, they often forget - out of the muck that has engulfed Greece. The opposition is incensed by this latest tactic.  But I haven't seen many discuss the defamation laws governing comparative adverts.  In Italy, you're pretty much not allowed to say bad things about the competition, and his letter goes all out against the rest of the crowd.  Once again, All Hail Silvio, who, in three terms and 20 yrs in politics, only bettered the lives of his henchmen, whores and personal lawyers, and perhaps his ex-wife Veronica, by leaving.

You can say what you will about our crafty politician, but he certainly knows - as the Italians say, ‘his chickens’.  Too bad, if his countrymen vote with their (illegally begot) pocketbooks, it is their goose that will be cooked.