Smoke and Mirrors in Euroland

So what's the deal here? First, the European Central Bank slashes its eurozone growth forecasts. That can't be good. Then France and Germany make a backroom deal to protect their own interests rather than the greater European community.

Clearly this is becoming less of a community and more of a back-alley attempt at empire by the franco-german alliance. Why don't the two of them just unify (maybe throw in Belgium 'cause they are clearly huge suck-ups) and let the rest of Europe thrive on its own without these dinosaurs?