CREDIT DEFAULT SCHNAPPS

BANZAI7 NEWS--Reports that Germany will back a financial bailout have bolstered European financial markets, but Berlin's hesitant leaders are running up against stiffening popular opposition in Germany.

New German opinion polls and conversations with Berlin lawmakers and pundits reveal a deep disinclination to throw German money into a rescue plan for Greece, helping to explain the lack of progress or details emerging from reported contingency plans.

Chancellor Angela Merkel remains focused on emphasizing that radical Greek budget reforms are the key to solving its debt crisis. She has made no reference to any plan for Germany to purchase or guarantee Greek government debt. Instead, she regularly brings up the no-bailout clause in the Maastricht Treaty for the European Monetary Union.

A group of German politicians have proposed a different way to deal with Greece's financial woes and the plight of the EURO: Credit Default Schnapps.