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France braces for Le Pen-Macron election showdown

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By Stuart WILLIAMS

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His supporters now know that Mélenchon has stated his intention to lead his party through elections in June to become the next prime minister, no matter whether Macron or Le Pen wins the runoff. (https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2022/04/20/jean-luc-melenchon-asks-french-voters-to-elect-him-as-prime-minister_5981073_5.html).

With that knowledge firmly in mind, and with Mélenchon's recent words echoing in their ears (“I won’t be telling you whom you should vote for -- look into your heads to find what’s good,”https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/melenchon-says-he-wants-to-become-french-prime-minister), let's see what the young people of France decide to do with Macron and Le Pen.

May we live in interesting times.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Where UK EU referendum is concerned this paragraph below is patent nonsense boarding on either delinquency or deliberate dishonest misinformation.

But the president and his allies have insisted over the last week that nothing is in the bag, with a strong turnout crucial to avoid a shock in France comparable to the 2016 polls that led to Brexit in Britain and Donald Trump's election in the United States.

The UK EU referendum came a close second to the largest democratic vote in the UK’s history. Second only to the 1992 General election

The turn out 72.2%.

Results and turnout at the EU referendum

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/elections-and-referendums/past-elections-and-referendums/eu-referendum/results-and-turnout-eu-referendum

I maybe sit in the group lacking/low intelligence, my Macron name calling is rude, I simply cannot abide the fellow, although Marcon conceited arrogance was on full display in his TV debate with Le Pen.

It is Marcon personally I find insufferable.

Not his politics, if I had a choice I would vote for Macron over Le Pen every time.

I may be rude, however my political head is the correct way up.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Jean-Luc Melenchon, in the role of Prime Minster would be interesting Melenchon ran on a manifesto that focused around lowering the age of retirement, raising the minimum wage, taking measures to lower food and fuel prices.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Yeah he's the "favorite" alright... the favorite of the big money bankers.

I guess you're supporting the fascist. No surprise.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Melenchon ran on a manifesto that focused around lowering the age of retirement, raising the minimum wage, taking measures to lower food and fuel prices.

Sounds nice until you actually try to do it. A problem with elections as practiced today is that too often politicians have to make promises that can never be kept while those with realistic ideas are condemned as boring or "out of touch", etc. But a couple of years later when it becomes obvious all those promises were hot air along come another batch of candidates making equally impossible to fulfill promises.

I am old enough to remember Walter Mondale telling voters before the 1984 Presidential election he would have to raise taxes to reverse the budget deficit. In his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention he said "Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did." It never happened. Mr. Mondale told the truth and was rewarded with defeat. Ronald Reagan went on to win the election, and nearly doubled the national debt during his time in office with the promise that reducing tax rates would increase tax revenues.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Macron is the favorite to win re-election

Yeah he's the "favorite" alright... the favorite of the big money bankers.

He was democratically elected last time and will be again this time. Do you have a problem citizens having the power to choose their leaders?

1 ( +4 / -3 )

If one has the time they should read the Federalist Papers to understand why Ms. Le Pen's idea of putting every new law up for a national vote will never succeed.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

If Macron wins, post Meckral, he will be boss of the EU. Imagine 26 countries full of citizens in yellow vests getting beaten up by riot police?

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Desert Tortoise,

A friend dropped an email begging me to stop everything, call the bonkers bus, the crazy wagon and get my head read, she suggested they could look in one ear and read the vision eye test chart through the other.

My crime was to suggest on a skype call that Jean-Luc Melenchon, at least was honest, straight up about his policies.

Pass a “social emergency law”, increase the minimum wage to around €1,390 per month, legislate to cap salary differential between shop floor workers and CEOs at one to 20.

Plus, tax inheritance, where the state would seize wealth above 12 million euros.

I assume this would come some way to finance his policies

I guess either way Macron will prevail, no matter the opponent.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Imagine 26 countries full of citizens in yellow vests getting beaten up by riot police?

No.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Oo la la

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Macron win election

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Pass a “social emergency law”, increase the minimum wage to around €1,390 per month, legislate to cap salary differential between shop floor workers and CEOs at one to 20.

Your minimum wage works out to about Euro 8.69 if you work a 40 hour work week. It's Euro 10.85 if it applies to a 32 hour (four day) work week.

The median income in France for 2022 is Euro 46,600. A cap of 20 times that amount is Euro 932,000. For a lot of very talented people that little money isn't worth getting out of bed for. What will happen is you will drive talent and probably whole corporations out of France to other parts of the EU.

What might be more effective is to raise marginal tax rates steeply for incomes above Euro 600,000 or thereabouts. The raise the marginal tax rate again for any income above say Euro 1.2 million. Something like that, and importantly tax any capital gains from stock options given in lieu of wages as regular income. When capital gains are taxed at significantly lower rates than wages corporations tend to pay their executives with stock options. The profit on their eventual sales is too often taxed at lower rates than the same amount if it was paid as wages.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote extensively about breaking up great estates and taxing inheritance. There idea was to distribute estates among as many heirs as possible so wealth could not accumulate in the hands of the few, and to force each generation to earn their wealth through hard work rather than living lazily off inheritance. The government taking the money isn't a good idea. Better to spread it around among as many relatives as possible.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Desert Tortoise,

The political stuff creating unity in French society, that openly recognisees a distribution of wealth. that balances the negatives in a matter brings communities together.

Macron will need to deal with grass routes inequality. High rise ghettos of hopelessness.

I witnessed this when studying in Lyon, Caluire-et-Cuire, the social housing was grim to say the least.

Your numbers breakdown points to how difficult it is to politically balance wealth with cost of living income expectations without nobbling genuine innovation, entrepreneurial economic expectation.

This is why Macron must succeed.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Macron has attempted to gut the French people especially those in the countryside.

The French should not forget his despicable past behavior!

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

@Desert Tortoise:

Mélenchon also wants to give every young person 1,000Euros per month WITHOUT CONDITIONS and legalize cannabis. This is why he is popular with the young....

He also got most of the Muslim votes since he is close to Islamists and indigenist groups, has anti-Semitic views.

He also wants to authorize self ID for trans meaning anyone will be able to "change sex" just by saying so and will have all their legal documents matching their desired sex.

He is at least at the same level of arrogance as Macron, always blaming police and journalists, going out with ladies much younger than him and making fun of people who have an accent.

He is also a complotist and very close to Russia.

Never. Ever. Mélenchon.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Yeah he's the "favorite" alright... the favorite of the big money bankers.

yep and in the US its big corporations bribes opps donations

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If Macron wins, post Meckral, he will be boss of the EU. Imagine 26 countries full of citizens in yellow vests getting beaten up by riot police?

Delirium.

@SAME#

Your criticism of Melenchon reads like the predictable, garden-variety, swallow-the-package-whole stuff from the US right we have been bored with for a very long time.

Are you looking from the outside in here?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@Jimizo,

I can provide sources buy they are in French because it is my mother tongue.

What I am saying are well known facts in France.

I have no clue what your US sources but if you can post them, I can check and confirm.

Also Mélenchon just announced a candidate for next elections in 2 months, and this candidate has been condemned for racism already and has also published also anti semitic and anti police Tweet's. Very easy to check. His name is Tahar Bouhafs.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

High rise ghettos of hopelessness.

That short sentence for me sums up living in almost every big city in Europe, Asia or Africa. Doesn't seem to matter how much you make. In most of the world everyone lives in a high rise condo or apartment complex of some sort. Some of these ghettos are just fancier than others but it's all the same to me. Most citizens of someplace like Shanghai, Singapore or Rome cannot reasonably aspire to owning a single family home on a piece of land. They are condemned to renting an apartment or buying a condo and living in a crowded urban environment for their entire lives.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

While the left bemoan the power fo corporations they rejoice in the election of a corporate-controlled candidate.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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