Germany approves Greek bailout, showing willingness to help Europe - by Michael Birnbaum

Germany’s parliament overwhelmingly approved its country’s contribution to the Greek bailout on Monday, serving as a reminder that, for all of Germany’s caution about funding its poorer neighbors, Europe’s largest economy is still willing to muster billions to aid others.

The rescue package was approved despite weeks of threats to let Greece default on its debt, with just 90 votes of dissent and five abstentions out of 591 members of parliament present for the vote.

Coupled with France’s presidential election, where pro-bailout Socialist Francois Hollande is leading polls over the more fiscally cautious Nicolas Sarkozy, the political dynamic suggests that both countries have more flexibility to help struggling European countries than they have acknowledged at the bargaining table.

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