May 8, 2012

Zzzzzzz, Hollande

Danielle Pletka & Gary Schmitt, American Enterprise Institute

AP Photo

As predicted, Francois Hollande, Socialist, ousted French incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy Sunday in French elections.  In the larger sense, France, like the rest of Europe's more profligate spenders (see Greece, Spain, Italy etc), does not like austerity. Traditionally, the French like le spending.  And les taxes.  Hollande answers the mail on both counts: He has pledged to raise taxes on top earners from 41 to 75 percent and hike the corporate tax rate up as well (not, we should add, as high as the corporate tax rate in the United States).  A la fin, France's election was about domestic policies, not foreign policy. 
 
Nonetheless, Hollande’s defeat of Americain Sarkozy does matter when it comes to foreign policy because Sarkozy has arguably been the...

Read Full Article ››

TAGGED: France, Nicolas Sarkozy, Francois Hollande

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

May 8, 2012
France Takes the Easy Way Out
Timothy Smith, Globe and Mail
By electing a president who asks nothing of them, the people of France have again absolved themselves of responsibility for a broken social model, this time with global implications. more ››
May 8, 2012
France's Left Turn
National Review
Francois Hollande has become the newly elected president of France more by luck than by any quality he might possess. Almost anonymous, he has no ministerial experience. His platform nonetheless raised expectations mightily... more ››
May 10, 2012
Can France's National Front Move to the Middle?
Marco Vicenzino, Forbes
Re-branding the NF at some stage during this evolution is key to expanding the party's base and attracting more mainstream voters. From a policy perspective, the NF's main challenges include making its core policies - on... more ››
May 4, 2012
Has the French Right Imploded?
The Guardian
At one point Mr Sarkozy plumbed new depths in a campaign which had already turned xenophobic to recapture ground from Marine Le Pen. more ››
May 4, 2012
The End of the French Republic of Bling
John Gaffney, The Staggers