ERT levy needs to be cut
It appears that George Papandreou?s administration is incapable of thinking and acting like an emergency government. Here?s an example illustrating the point: Every year, Greeks are asked to pay an extra 300 million euros in tax annually for the funding of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), a levy which is added to charges on electricity bills. In order to get an idea of what this actually means, this figure represents the total revenues of all local private television channels.
The government should have at least lowered the ERT tax to about a half, effectively lessening the burden of the new property levy that taxpayers will also be called on to pay along with their electricity bills. Of course it would be up to the government to decide how ERT would operate according to its reduced finances, which would still be more than enough for it to survive.
It is time for someone somewhere in the government to put their foot down and show some determination beyond the sensational promises of reform that no longer have the power of persuasion.
