Europe’s turn to the right

"The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain" Professor Higgins so deftly teaches Eliza Doolittle in the musical "My Fair Lady." But, Sunday, it did not rain in Spain, it poured as the left as we would say in America, "Got its proverbial butt kicked." Barack Obama, are you paying attention?

The Spanish newspaper, ABC after Sunday's parliamentary elections read, "Zapatero, the absent leader." The Prime Minister of Spain went into hiding realizing that Sunday's election was to be a big win for the right. Sunday's election in Spain was a stunning defeat for the left, El Partido Socialista Obrera Española, (PSOE). The Partido Popular, (PP), the party of the right picked up 23 seats led by its leader, Mariano Rajoy.

Zapatero has been a disaster for the Spanish economy. He was elected in 2004 after the Madrid bombings by Al-Queda when the then President José Aznar tried to cover up and blame the bombings on ETA, (a Basque separatist group.) If you want to know about Stimulus plans, look no further than Spain. Like Obama, Zapatero is a big believer in Keynesian economics and that the government is the answer to society's ills. Zapatero's stimulus package was 8 billion euros or 11 billion dollars. For a country slightly bigger than the state of Oregon, that is a lot of money. Spain doesn't have a Bush to blame for its economic woes like Obama does. The success of Zapatero's stimulus plan can be found in its unemployment number. Spain boasts the highest unemployment rate in the European Union recently reaching an astounding 20%, double that of any other country in the Union. Spain's unemployment is a frequent topic of Informe Semanal, Spain's 60 minutes. The unemployment graph looks like one of Al Gore's graphs on global warming. According to the Economist, Spain's real GDP is forecasted to decline by 4.9% in 2009. In a previous debate and in a last ditch effort to woo support for his fledgling party, Zapatero offered laptops for every schoolchild at a cost of $2,800 per pupil, tax-breaks for new car buyers, and other populist ideas. Of course, like Obama, he had no idea where the money would come from. Sunday, the voters of Spain showed its displeasure by voting back in the PP. I am going to venture a guess that in 2012, Spain's leftist party, El Partido Socialista Obrera Española, (PSOE) will lose Spain's general elections.

Spain, however, was not the only country where the left was defeated. European discontent with leftist policies has been growing throughout Europe. Sunday was the culmination of four days of elections throughout the continent. Most Americans are asleep when it comes to politics in the European Union, but the left in the United States should take notice. The entire continent of Europe was given a wake-up call after four days of elections. Europeans are fed up with company bailouts, fiscal stimulus, and other policies promoted by the left. During the Bush administration, center-right candidates were already being elected across the continent; France - Nicolas Sarkozy, Germany – Angela Merkel, Italy – Silvio Berlusconi and Sweden Fredrik Reinfeldt. Not since World War 2, has the left been so battered and bruised in Europe. The British Labor party suffered its worst defeat since 1918. Europe's parliamentary elections were a repudiation of these leftist policies.

The European Union's 27 countries are mired in onerous taxes, burdensome labor laws, high unemployment, and immigration problems. The European electorate believed that the EU has been headed down the wrong path. This was also reflected in the low turnout. Only 43% of the electorate voted; the lowest turnout in the EU's 30 year history. France, Germany, Spain and Italy were the biggest winners for the right. The elections strengthened the incumbent parties of President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. One of the trends has also been a noticeable rejection of further European integration into the European Union. This is why Barack Obama was completely out of touch with the EU when he suggested that Turkey be part of the European Union, and French President Sarkozy told him to butt out of EU's affairs.

While Europe is moving to the right, the United States continues full speed ahead on its pathway to the left. In the latest move, Democrats are now trying to push through a bill that will pay $3,500 to people who junk old cars to buy so-called energy efficient new cars ordered by the new Chrysler CEO Barack Obama. Who comes up with these hair-brain schemes? When you can't get consumers to buy, you try and get the government to create the demand. Since when has government ever been able to create a sustainable demand? It can't. This idea will hurt the poor more than anyone else. Demand is created by the private sector not the government. Time and time again, policies such as these have proven to be ineffective, but we still continue to enact them. Let's say I have a brain tumor that I needed removed. I am transported to the operating room and I have in front of me a brain surgeon and a nurse. An argument ensues between the brain surgeon and me. Because of the argument I opt to forego the brain surgeon, and I ask the nurse to do the operation instead. That is what we have done. We have the nurse in charge of the country, not the brain surgeon. Sooner or later, the electorate wakes from its slumber after realizing who they elected. Europe is beginning to wake up. How long will it take us to realize that we have a cadre of "boobs" running this country? How long will it take for us to wake up? Only time will tell.

From Reuters (video below)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faces a grilling from opposition leader David Cameron in the wake of woeful results in local and European elections.

This was Brown's first appearance in the House of Commons since the ruling Labour Party's disastrous showing in European and local elections.

Brown faced tough criticism from the Conservative Party leader Cameron who claimed the Prime Minister is "a man with no democratic legitimacy" having succeeded Tony Blair as PM without a general election.

Brown responded saying that Cameron has "no plans for government and he doesn't deserve to be in government".

The Prime Minister has faced repeated calls for an early general election, in the wake of a parliament-wide scandal over expenses, and the resignations of several cabinet ministers.

Last weekend, the Labour Party plunged to its worst result in a century, polling under 16 percent in national elections to European Parliament.

Brown must call an election before mid-2010.

The Spanish debate between Jose Rodriguez Zapatero and Mariano Rajoy

I happened to watch the debate with Mariano Rajoy and Jose Luis Zapatero. Oh, who are they you say? Zapatero is the current president of Spain of the PSOE party, the Spanish Socialists Worker Party, similar to our Democratic party. Mariano Rajoy is the leader of the Partido Popular, that was ousted from power after the Madrid terrorist bombings of March 11, 2004 and would be similar to our Republican party,.

Right before the elections between Aznar and Zapatero, Spain had its 9/11 which They call M-11 when Islamic terrorists bombed several Madrid railway stations. This caused the Spanish to capitulate and vote for Zapatero. The Spanish believed the terrorists attacked them because they were in Iraq. Although 90% of Spain was against the war in Iraq, Aznar, the head of the partido popular, was still the favorite to win the elections. The Madrid bombings changed that, and Zapatero, once in office, withdrew all Spanish troops from Iraq almost immediately.

The Spanish seem to have wanted to join the rest of the world in having debates during election season. France had its debates, and the US has had a plethora of debates. This was Spain's first debate in 15 years. I was able to watch it on Dish Network on channel TVE, the international channel of Spain. The Spanish conducted their debate in the style of the French where each candidate sat at a table in a relaxed atmosphere, and the moderator let them actually debate. Both candidates brought a ream of graphs and numbers that seemed to at times overwhelm the audience, that is if they had an audience. And, that was the other point, there was no audience, so you didn't need to worry about plants from the likes of MSNBC.

Rajoy opened the debate up with Reagan's line, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" I get the feeling Zapatero is not well liked in Spain. One of the comments I read said, "The only thing Zapatero has done is give gays the right to marry. I don't care one way or the other about what gays do. I just want to have a job."

Terrorism in Spain is a big issue, but not Islamic terrorism. Terrorism in Spain is with the group ETA, the Basque separatist group who have been responsible for bombings throughout Spain since the days of Franco. Recently, there was even a well-publicized bombing by ETA in France. Zapatero has continuously tried to negotiate with these home grown terrorists even as they continue their murder spree. Rajoy made a point of this. Zapatero is no different than Obama when it comes to terrorism. He believes everyone is rational, even terrorists, and negotiation works with madmen.

Both candidates are into the Kyoto protccol and the global warming hoax. But, who can blame them. They don't have the information we do. However, it is worrisome. The more other nations believe in the global warming myth, the more we will succumb to it.

I am betting that the Partido Popular will regain power once again. When talking about foreign policy, Rajoy encapsulated his opposition when he stated,"I will be with Sarkozy and Merkel, you will be with Chavez and Castro." (I think McCain should borrow that line for whomever the Democratic nominee is.) Merkel is the prime minister of Germany and Sarkozy the prime minister of France. Merkel is the head of the Socially Conservative Democratic party of the center right in Germany. Sarkozy is the head of France's UMP party, and he beat his leftist opponent Segolene Royal, France's Hillary Clinton because the French were fed up with the Islamic riots in France and the social policies which are benefiting mostly poor Muslims. Both Merkel and Sarkozy are allies of the United States, and the Bush administration. Rajoy could have also added Canada's prime minister to his list, but of course that wouldn't have meant as much to the Spanish since Canada is not part of the EU.

We are turning socialist, and Europe, although firmly entrenched in socialist policies, is trying to turn more to the right. We should take a lesson from the way Europe is abandoning its leftist politics.

Spanish elections are March 9th, and the next televised debate will be February 28th in Spanish of course. You can actually watch the debate live on televison española via the Internet.