The reaction over the proposal by Cyprus to tax the savings deposits of the country’s banks is pretty amusing. Evidently, many people think the proposal is shocking, but how shocking is it really? Don’t people understand that at some point, after living large under the European welfare state (as if the problem is confined only to Europe), they would eventually have to pay the piper?

This affair is reminiscent of the old Seinfeld comedy bit about the reaction of people when they get the check after an extravagant dinner at a restaurant. Everyone is mystified by the strange object as they pass it around:  Does this look right? Does that look right? Why did we order so much food? – we’re not hungry now. Restaurants sometimes put the bill under a cover so that it looks like a book which Seinfeld calls the “Story of the Bill.”

So now the good people of Cyprus have their own Story of the Bill. Except rather than be mystified, they’re angry that they might have to pay the bill themselves. For sheer gall, this is only matched by Sandra Fluke’s demand in this country that others pay for her contraception. The mullahs in Iran must be rolling on the floor with laughter – taking the West will be like taking candy from a baby.