Another Financial Earthquake for the Eurozone: Portuguese govt defeated on austerity plan

Portuguese opposition parties defeated a government austerity plan on Friday and passed their own bill that lets the country's autonomous regions rack up even more debt, AP reports.

Portugal's 2009 deficit is expected to hit 9.3 percent of gross domestic product, a national record. The government has pledged to bring the deficit to below 3 percent — the limit for countries using the shared euro currency — by 2013 by cutting government jobs, freezing civil servants' pay and curbing other spending. The vote kills any hope of austerity.

Portugal's public debt is expected to climb to 85.4 percent of GDP this year, up from 76.6 percent in 2009.

After the vote, the Lisbon Stock Exchange closed down 1.4 percent.

Can the split up of the Eurozone be far behind, with reckless spending a demand of the populous of some of the members? What sound Eurozone country will support the madness going on in Greece and Portugal?