[Cincinna]

Excellent analysis from a Conservative point of view.

[Cincinna]

FReepMail me if you want to be part of the FRENCH ELECTION PING LIST.

[D-fendr]

Good article.

His questions seems to be: Has France had enough pain to change?

If not, there’s much more on the way..

[2ndDivisionVet]

You’ve got to be paying some huge taxes to make Great Britain look like a tax haven!! The Boston Tea Party was over a 1% tax, IIRC. What will it take to get us up in arms about the ridiculous taxes we pay?

[AlaskaErik]

So, if representative democracy works as it is supposed to do, Sarkozy will push through the market reforms that France has needed for at least two decades. He will deregulate its labor market, slim down the public-sector payroll, abandon the symbolic 35-hour work week, reduce public spending from its current 52 percent of GDP, and reform the French welfare state.

Good freakin' luck. The riots will begin as soon as his reform plan is announced.

[driftless2]

I'm sure many defenders of the socialist or nanny state model fail to understand why socialism is so pernicious. Imagine if every gradeschooler in the U.S. was told at the age of seven or so that no matter what they did in life, the state would assist them and provide them minimum living arrangements even if at the squalid level. Which of course the state does do for certain people. If all Americans of whatever age were assured that if they fell down somehow the state would provide, imagine the sorry situation this country would be in.

France's system of assuring everyone that they will have state-provided funds no matter what reminds of the story about the frog being slowly boiled. At first he's comfortable, but as the water gets hotter he finds it becomes too difficult for him to get out of the cauldron.

[bkepley]

To the barricades. Every day will be children’s day again.

[NeilGus]

Question. According to the article (which is consistent with others I have read), government spending in France is around 52%.

What is it in the US? I know Federal spending is around 18 to 20% but what is it for all forms of government spending (state, local, etc.)?

[PGalt]

That task is made harder and more complicated by non-economic problems — notably immigration and national identity. Young people in the banlieues around major cities, either immigrants or the descendants of immigrants, are disproportionately unemployed because of France’s inflexible labor market. Economically and socially excluded, they fall prey to extremist ideologies, generally Muslim ones, and reject their identity as Frenchmen. That makes them less employable. To make matters worse, they are likely to fight against the very measures of labor-market flexibility that could help them.

Anti-truth, anti-freedom, anti-individual, anti-life collecives are likely to join forces.

[Oberon]

ping

[KC_Conspirator]

Most Frenchmen still see no urgent reason to change

WTF? They just elected a right center person for the first time in like 40 years. Other than this foolish blurb, this is a good article.

[SunkenCiv]

Sarkozy did not disavow Hallyday; instead he declared that the singer was quite justified. If he won the election, said Sarkozy, he would cut tax rates to entice France’s high earners back home. That promise was important to many more people than Johnny Hallyday. Something like half a million young French people are estimated to be living in southern England.

Rock and roll ain't noise pollution.

[Ciexyz]

btt