As you may have heard, the Greeks are holding the EU hostage for some coin to pay off their debts. It’s been down to the wire now for, oh the past 20 years, or so it seems.

As one deadline after another has come and gone, leaders of the three parties in the coalition of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos postponed what was supposed to have been a crunch meeting on Tuesday until the following day.

Here’s the thing though. The Greeks lied before about their budget.

One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped obscure billions in debt from the budget overseers in Brussels.
…
In 2001, just after Greece was admitted to Europe’s monetary union, Goldman helped the government quietly borrow billions, people familiar with the transaction said. That deal, hidden from public view because it was treated as a currency trade rather than a loan, helped Athens to meet Europe’s deficit rules while continuing to spend beyond its means.

The current Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, brought in to save the day for the EuroZone was Governor of the Bank of Greece while the lying was going on.

His reward for lying to the EuroZone ministers was a promotion to become Prime Minister.

Tell me again, since the people that did the lying are still in office now, why anyone in the world expects the behavior of the Greek government to change? They won’t. And yet the usual suspects will proclaim how shocked they are when it happens again.

It’s obvious that of all the poor choices available, they Greeks should leave the Euro and return to the Drachma. It is not a good choice, but it is, regrettably the only rational choice. Unless the Germans intend to keep Greece on life support forever.