With a Greek payment to the ECB due tomorrow, there was no doubt that Germany's parliament would ratify the Third Greek bailout, and the only question was whether political opposition to a Greek rescue would be larger or smaller than expressed in the last such Bundestag vote on July 17. Sure enough, following a speech by Schauble urging his fellow MPs to give Greece a "chance for a new start", moments ago the German parliament approved the third bailout with 454 votes for, 113 against - of which 63 were Merkel's lawmakers - and 18 abstentions. Curiously, the No votes declined compared to to the last such vote on July 17. Here is the comparison: August 19: Yes 454; No 113; Abstain 18 July 17: Yes 439; No 119, Abstain 40 February 27 (Greek bailout extension vote): Yes 542; No 32; Abstain 13 And with that the Third Greek bailout is sealed, and Europe can resume paying Greece so it can promptly repay Europe, and perpetuate the can kicking cycle for a few more months, until Greece once again realizes virtually none of the money will make its way into the Greek economy, and a new political crisis re-emerges.