Latvia's Budget Bingo

Latvia's parliament has passed its 2010 budget with expectations of an LVL 20 million deficit next year. This year's deficit has reached LVL 57 million, though it was originally forecast at LVL 47 million. Several thousand people gathered at the Saeima building yesterday morning to protest, including 5,000 students.
"Fifty-seven million is no big deal," said Saeima spokesman Igors Shostakovich addressing the crowd through a bullhorn. "Just look at the mess the United States is in." Shostakovich suggested that if things really worsened, Latvia could be sold in its entirety to the Chinese. "They're sniffing around here, anyway," he said to calm the crowd. "Think of all we'd get! Cheap cars, cheap clothing, and nobody would ever criticize us again for polluting the crap out of our country." Shostakovich attempted to lead the students in a "the EU is overrated" chant, but the majority of them were distracted by their personal communication devices.