The two Mireks

The way Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek is defending the Czech budget from expensive spending packages is admirable, but the points he wins there are nullified by his revenue- depletion policies in other areas. Wherever there are gaping holes with money gushing through them - whether in privatization, EU funding, environmental cleanup, defense procurement or arbitration settlements - Kalousek's fingerprints are all over the place. The longer he stays in office, the more he drags his protector, Mirek Topolánek, down with him. When George Bush finally found the courage to sack Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary, it boosted his fortunes and gave hope that the mess in Iraq could be cleaned up. Topolánek, a great admirer of the moral dimension Bush brought to politics, might find that the price he must pay for winning the next parliamentary elections is cutting Kalousek loose. [Czech Republic European Union corruption United States of America]]