Silvio Berlusconi's problems continue to overshadow the other problems the country faces, from unemployment to its monster debt and taxes which industrialists say are crippling. This week a Senate commission began debate over whether or not the former Premier is to be stripped of his senatorial status on grounds of his tax fraud conviction in August. An anti-Berlusconi vote by the commission could bring down the government, as Berlusconi's Freedom party (PdL) has threatened, but with passing days the threat of imminent new elections recedes.