Casa dos Horrores
Direto da The Economist, sobre a crise do Senado:
"The Senate has just 81 members but somehow they require almost 10,000 staff to take care of them. Many of these are appointed as favours to senators’ friends or political supporters. One former staffer says that his fellow-employees used to say that the senate was like a mother to them. Others liken it to a country club. The benefits of membership include free health insurance for life for all senators and their families, generous pension arrangements and housing allowances. This much was already familiar to Brazilians and, perhaps, not so different from the goings on in many other legislatures around the world."
"Mr Sarney, who has spent 50 years in public life, is a survivor. He will probably keep his post. He remains a power in the Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB), a catch-all outfit that is an important part of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s governing coalition. Lula wants Mr Sarney to swing the weight of the PMDB, and its patronage machine, behind Dilma Rousseff, the probable candidate of the ruling Workers’ Party in the presidential election next year.
Lula has said that Mr Sarney deserves more respect, and has blamed the press for whipping up scandal. But at a time when the economy is only just emerging from recession, the saga of the “secret acts” has reminded Brazilians that their politicians never impose austerity on themselves. It may also have reminded them of the flaws of some of Lula’s allies, and his willingness to shut his eyes to scandal when it suits him."
- O Brasil No The New York Times: Brazil’s Rising Turbulence.
Brazil is in tatters. The economy is in a deepening recession: Last Tuesday, Moody’s downgraded Brazil’s credit rating to just about junk. A massive corruption scandal involving the national oil company Petrobras has ensnared scores of politicians...
- A Setback In Brazil.
Just a couple of years ago, it was widely concluded that Brazil had finally overcome the decades-old gibe about the world’s fifth-largest country: that it would always be “the country of the future.” Exports, particularly to Asia, were booming;...
- Governing Brazil
Na metade de seus 100 primeiros dias de governo, reconheço finalmente que DILMA não é LULA e que o governo está comportando-se de maneira diferente e para melhor. Sei que se trata do início, mas estou confiante que dias melhores virão. Não quero...
- Lula Na Lista Da Time 2010!
Como faz anualmente a TIME publicou hoje a lista das pessoas mais influentes do mundo. E nela consta o perfil do Presidente LULA, assinado pelo cineasta Michael Moore. É uma boa notícia termos um brasileiro na lista, indiferente do juízo de valor que...
- O Grande Desafio Para O Brasil: Reforma Da Previdência
THE ECONOMIST explica: Uniquely among large economies, Brazil is a young country with the pensions bill of an old one (see chart). It has just ten over-65s for every hundred 15- to 64-year-olds, fewer than anywhere in the G7. And yet it spends 13% of...