Does Italy's Deal Include Berlusconi Stepping Down?

    It's not so hard to understand how Italy's parliament finally came to an agreement if Berlusconi has agreed to step down as part of the deal.   

 http://www.cnbc.com/id/45042889

    "The deal with the Northern League averts an immediate government crisis that put Berlusconi's leadership at risk and could give fresh impetus to an EU summit Wednesday aimed at saving the euro from the widening sovereign debt crisis."

    "Italian news reports say Berlusconi and Northern League leader Umberto Bossi reached a deal on pensions, part of the EU-demanded measures that Berlusconi will deliver later."

     "Newspapers La Stampa and La Repubblica have speculated that Berlusconi stepping down and allowing for early elections may have been a condition for the deal to be reached."

     Belusconi stepping down may have been the one offer Bossi couldn't refuse. Many have demanded that the chronically scandal ridden Italian Prime Minister step down over the years. Hard to believe it's 10 years since the Economist started demanding he step down. The nadir of his administration has to be when he was caught on tape telling someone to "get out of this country, it's fucked.' Or words to that effect.

     The actual deal itself will consist of raising the pension age from 65 to 67 by 2025. This was the sticking point for Bossi. For the price of Berlusconi he may have finally been willing to budge. Other more palatable parts of the deal:

     "new infrastructure spending, with a push for more private investment for strategic projects, the privatization of public entities and property and simplifying rules for companies."