Hollande defeats Sarkozy in French election

[Dino Velvet]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57428758/hollande-defeats-sarkozy-in-french-election/

Hollande defeats Sarkozy in French election



Last Updated 3:11 p.m. ET
(AP) PARIS - Socialist François Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday to become France's next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.
Sarkozy conceded defeat minutes after the polls closed, saying he had called Hollande to wish him "good luck" as the country's new leader.
Exuberant crowds filled the Place de la Bastille, the iconic plaza of the French Revolution, to celebrate Hollande's victory. He will be France's first leftist chief of state since François Mitterrand was president from 1981 to 1995.
Sarkozy thanked his supporters and said he did his best to win a second term, despite widespread anger at his handling of the economy.
"I take responsibility ... for the defeat," he said.
Sarkozy faces uphill battle in French election (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57428422/sarkozy-faces-uphill-battle-in-french-election/)
Sarkozy to woo far-right to try to win re-election (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57419379/sarkozy-to-woo-far-right-to-try-to-win-re-election/)
Fringes loom large in French presidential election (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57419087/fringes-loom-large-in-french-presidential-election/)
Hollande's former partner and mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, said she has a "feeling of profound joy to see millions and millions of French renew the tie to the left."
"The French can be confident," she said on France-2 television. "We will need everyone to help the country recover." Royal faced off against Sarkozy in the 2007 election.
Partial official results, with about half of the nationwide votes counted, showed Hollande with 50.8 percent compared to 49.2 percent for Sarkozy. The CSA, TNS-Sofres and Ipsos polling agencies predicted that Hollande will win with 51.8 percent to 53 percent, compared with 47 percent to 48.2 percent for Sarkozy. They made projections based on the vote count at select voting stations around the country.
Hollande wants to renegotiate a hard-won European treaty on budget cuts that Germany's Angela Merkel and Sarkozy had championed. He wants more government stimulus, and more government spending in general despite concerns from markets that France needs to urgently trim its huge debts.
The election outcome could also have an impact on how long French troops stay in Afghanistan and how France exercises its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.
© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/05/06/Hollande_Sarkozy_620x350.jpg
Socialist Party candidate for president Francois Hollande (left), and right-wing incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy.
(Lionel Cironneau/AP; Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images)

[envivision]

This is going to be a very bad year for incumbents running for office. From Greece to France, and across the pond too.

[Dino Velvet]

Check out Greece. http://news.yahoo.com/afraid-exultant-greek-neo-nazis-warn-rivals-203620995.html

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kG1qMy9ZkCmcc4zjvIugcw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zMjM7cT04NTt3PTUxMg--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/photo_1336336483159-1-0.jpg
Political leader of the far-right party 'Golden Dawn', Nikolaos Michaloliakos speaks during a press conference at an hotel in Athens. Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn warned rivals and reformers Sunday that "the time for fear has come" after exit polls showed them securing their entry in parliament for the first time in nearly 40 years. (AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)

[nina_lisa]

case of Greece sound scary.

When it come to France what matter is that the Far Right did not win.

[Dino Velvet]

case of Greece sound scary.

When it come to France what matter is that the Far Right did not win.

Not this time. http://news.linktv.org/videos/french-election-marine-le-pen-refuses-to-endorse-sarkozy (http://news.linktv.org/videos/french-election-marine-le-pen-refuses-to-endorse-sarkozy)

[Dino Velvet]

Marine Le Pen addresses adoring May Day crowds in Paris - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z46XJxvHpqY)

Marine Le Pen: the face of France's far-right - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQyarOGjTME)

[Yvonne183]

All that means is that the French can now run away faster than they did before.

[Ben]

Check out Greece. http://news.yahoo.com/afraid-exultant-greek-neo-nazis-warn-rivals-203620995.html

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kG1qMy9ZkCmcc4zjvIugcw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zMjM7cT04NTt3PTUxMg--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/photo_1336336483159-1-0.jpg
Political leader of the far-right party 'Golden Dawn', Nikolaos Michaloliakos speaks during a press conference at an hotel in Athens. Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn warned rivals and reformers Sunday that "the time for fear has come" after exit polls showed them securing their entry in parliament for the first time in nearly 40 years. (AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)

Frightening stuff.... Well, as things collapse people have a tendency to support and embrace extreme positions.
Well, Germany in the 30s is a case in point.
The overall economy (or economies... as it's impacting Italy and Spain, too) collapses and extremist positions have more resonance, as it were.

[Dino Velvet]

Frightening stuff.... Well, as things collapse people have a tendency to support and embrace extreme positions.
Well, Germany in the 30s is a case in point.
The overall economy (or economies... as it's impacting Italy and Spain, too) collapses and extremist positions have more resonance, as it were.

When people feel screwed over and powerless things that weren't reasonable yesterday suddenly are today. Not advocating it just identifying it.

[Dino Velvet]

Marine Le Pen Program talk English - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO8vJvhOa7Y&feature=related)

Marine Le Pen interview on Russia Today - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYSrAyfE5co&feature=related)

[robertlouis]

People underestimated just how pissed off people were with Sarkozy and his bling-bling antics. Add in that he was desperately courting Le Pen's voters from the first round and it's probably the best result possible in the worst possible circumstances.

Hollande probably won largely because he wasn't Sarkozy. And reality will pull him up short - the complexities of the EU, the fragility of the Eurozone and France's own debts all mean that he will have to be a lot more cautious than he's been in his pronouncements so far.

But.... at least he isn't Sarko.

Oh, and a member of the UK cabinet has forecast that Hollande's tax proposals will lead to 1,000's of French millionaires jumping ship and crossing the channel to the UK. What a prick - just what we need, another bunch of tax-avoiding freeloaders. *smh*

[envivision]

Get this.... Hollande is not even married. He got a girlfriend.... If he was in Amerika, he wouldn't be elected as a councilman, let alone president.

[robertlouis]

Get this.... Hollande is not even married. He got a girlfriend.... If he was in Amerika, he wouldn't be elected as a councilman, let alone president.

The prime minister of Iceland is a lesbian in a civil partnership.

Yep, the USA is light years behind the rest of the western world when it comes to acceptance of minority sexual interests in national politics.

[Dino Velvet]

Oh, and a member of the UK cabinet has forecast that Hollande's tax proposals will lead to 1,000's of French millionaires jumping ship and crossing the channel to the UK. What a prick - just what we need, another bunch of tax-avoiding freeloaders. *smh*

Do you think they fear being overtaxed? Could that be a legitimate concern for those people? Many might have worked hard for their money and sacrificed. Do you think they would not add new revenue as a new tax base and job opportunities to the UK? Would you rather have the needy?

If the rich leave France, where does the revenue come for the stimulus and other programs? If the left fail, will the far-right feel vindicated and be voted in next time?

I have no idea. I'm too busy eyeballing my own crooks in DC and LA.

[Dino Velvet]

http://news.yahoo.com/french-election-result-means-us-world-214153254--finance.html

What French election result means for US, world

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/oXh_6AJBHy_uEbdrklkymA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9Zml0O2g9Mjg-/http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/04/21/image001-png_162613.png (http://www.ap.org/)By The Associated Press | Associated Press – 5 hrs ago


French voters chose Socialist Francois Hollande as their new president Sunday in a race that will have implications for Europe's debt crisis, the Afghanistan war and global diplomacy.
Hollande, largely unknown outside French borders, beat out conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, who faced widespread anger and disappointment over his handling of the economy.
A few reasons why the outcome matters in France and beyond:
EUROPEAN DEBT CRISIS
Hollande could reshape the debate in the 17-nation eurozone. Until now, France and Germany — led by Sarkozy and Angela Merkel — have set the agenda on how best to restore troubled state finances and sluggish growth across the continent. The "Merkozy" solution: More cost-cutting to bring down debts and reassure markets. Hollande's solution: government-sponsored stimulus to revive growth.
DIPLOMACY
Hollande is a diplomatic unknown who will set a five-year course for his nuclear-armed country with a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Sarkozy is arguably the most America-friendly French leader in a half-century. He has aligned with Washington on Iran and Syria, upped France's military presence in Afghanistan and took a major role in NATO's air campaign over Libya that helped oust dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Hollande wants to bring French troops home from Afghanistan early and might be less vigorous in flexing military or diplomatic muscle abroad.
TAXES
Hollande wants the very rich to pay 75 percent in income taxes and plans to hike taxes on companies that distribute profits to shareholders instead of investing in their business. Sarkozy had pledged to reduce France's overall tax burden, among the highest in Europe, but promised a higher sales tax.
IMMIGRATION
Sarkozy wanted to halve the number of legal immigrants who enter France each year to 100,000 and to tighten border controls. Hollande would give residency to illegal immigrants on a case-by-case basis. The immigration debate has gotten tangled with a debate about Islamic customs in strongly secular France, home to at least 5 million Muslims.

[robertlouis]

Do you think they fear being overtaxed? Could that be a legitimate concern for those people? Many might have worked hard for their money and sacrificed. Do you think they would not add new revenue as a new tax base and job opportunities to the UK? Would you rather have the needy?

If the rich leave France, where does the revenue come for the stimulus and other programs? If the left fail, will the far-right feel vindicated and be voted in next time?

I have no idea. I'm too busy eyeballing my own crooks in DC and LA.

Current UK treasury estimates indicate that up to £125Billion in tax revenues are avoided each year by wealthy individuals and corporations.

And it's like I said - Hollande will have to pull back from some of the things he said about tax. It won't work.

And I remember all too well the stream of Tory-supporting millionaires who threatened to leave the UK when Labour got in in 2007. Most of them are still here.

[hippifried]

case of Greece sound scary.

When it come to France what matter is that the Far Right did not win.
What? You don't like the goose-steppers in their cute brown shirts? If they'd won, maybe they could send that Greek clown a shirt.



When people feel screwed over and powerless things that weren't reasonable yesterday suddenly are today. Not advocating it just identifying it.
Yeah, so they can actually be powerless, & get screwed over worse than they've ever been.

Ain't panic fun?

[Dino Velvet]

Current UK treasury estimates indicate that up to £125Billion in tax revenues are avoided each year by wealthy individuals and corporations.

And it's like I said - Hollande will have to pull back from some of the things he said about tax. It won't work.

And I remember all too well the stream of Tory-supporting millionaires who threatened to leave the UK when Labour got in in 2007. Most of them are still here.

Hopefully it works out. I'm sure you don't want Marine Le Pen to tell France, "I told you so."

Did you ever get the taxes from those Tory-supporting millionaires or did they outsmart the gov't?

[Dino Velvet]

Yeah, so they can actually be powerless, & get screwed over worse than they've ever been.

Ain't panic fun?

Very true, Hippi, but some don't get motivated until they hit rock bottom and feel they have nothing to lose and have been betrayed. I wouldn't ignore or make fun of them.

[robertlouis]

Hopefully it works out. I'm sure you don't want Marine Le Pen to tell France, "I told you so."

Did you ever get the taxes from those Tory-supporting millionaires or did they outsmart the gov't?

Nope - Tory Bliar and his cohorts left them alone. Treacherous bastard.

Anyone who truly believes that society as a whole benefits from giving tax cuts to the rich just has to look at the numbers. The rich only care about themselves.

[Dino Velvet]

Nope - Tory Bliar and his cohorts left them alone. Treacherous bastard.

Anyone who truly believes that society as a whole benefits from giving tax cuts to the rich just has to look at the numbers. The rich only care about themselves.

Blair was Labour, no? Seems they're crooks too. Our political parties are terrible here too. Both of them(GOP or Dems).

[robertlouis]

Blair was Labour, no? Seems they're crooks too. Our political parties are terrible here too. Both of them(GOP or Dems).


It makes Blair's betrayal all the worse. At least with the Tories you know they're on the side of the rich and the aristocracy.

[Dino Velvet]

It makes Blair's betrayal all the worse. At least with the Tories you know they're on the side of the rich and the aristocracy.

Kind of like Obama and Wall Street. I can relate.

[robertlouis]

And I've voted either Liberal or Liberal Democrat all my life, but since they joined the Tories in coalition I feel utterly disenfranchised.

I suspect that in terms of the extreme right in the UK, the BNP* are hopefully a busted flush, especially with their endless infighting (and that is REAL fighting!), but it is possible to foresee a lot of dissatisfied votes going in the direction of new splinter groups on the right.

The lot that worry me are UKIP - the United Kingdom Independence Party. Aside from their primary desire which is to take the UK out of the EU in the nutty belief that in a world of political and economic power blocs the UK could go it entirely alone, they also have plenty of members whose views would sit just as comfortably in the BNP. If they succeeded in that aim, btw, there would be no United Kingdom - Scotland's best chance of securing economically viable independence would be under the umbrella, for all its manifold faults, of the EU.

* BNP = British National Party, previously the National Front, who have only recently dropped their open affiliation to nazi and neo-nazi symbols and beliefs - a thoroughly nasty bunch of people.

[Dino Velvet]

And I've voted either Liberal or Liberal Democrat all my life, but since they joined the Tories in coalition I feel utterly disenfranchised.

I suspect that in terms of the extreme right in the UK, the BNP* are hopefully a busted flush, especially with their endless infighting (and that is REAL fighting!), but it is possible to foresee a lot of dissatisfied votes going in the direction of new splinter groups on the right.

The lot that worry me are UKIP - the United Kingdom Independence Party. Aside from their primary desire which is to take the UK out of the EU in the nutty belief that in a world of political and economic power blocs the UK could go it entirely alone, they also have plenty of members whose views would sit just as comfortably in the BNP. If they succeeded in that aim, btw, there would be no United Kingdom - Scotland's best chance of securing economically viable independence would be under the umbrella, for all its manifold faults, of the EU.

* BNP = British National Party, previously the National Front, who have only recently dropped their open affiliation to nazi and neo-nazi symbols and beliefs - a thoroughly nasty bunch of people.

Aren't there some sort of more moderate candidates with integrity? Myself, I'm more comfortable in the middle not liking extremes either way. I wish you guys all the best over there.

[robertlouis]

Aren't there some sort of more moderate candidates with integrity? Myself, I'm more comfortable in the middle not liking extremes either way. I wish you guys all the best over there.

The Greens certainly have integrity, but it's not yet a cohesive political movement here as it is in other countries like Germany and Scandinavia.

Back to France. One of the things that made Sarkozy unpopular was his determination to make the French something that they are not and have repeatedly shown they have no wish to be. Let me explain. The French place a much higher value on free time and a good life, unlike the Anglo-Saxon model in which we work our butts off in pursuit of a good life that we then don't have time to enjoy.

Of course that's an over-simplification, but here's an example - a Brit would rather have this year's BMW and buy his wine one bottle a time from the local supermarket, whereas a French guy would be happy running a jalopy as long as he could still have a well-constructed wine collection.

It was never going to work. Personally, I admire the French for their approach. They're the one major country which continues to show that if enough people get out on the streets, they can actually change things or stop things, because the government tends to give in. That's real people power and democracy in action. I'm looking forward to picking up with my French friends when I'm touring over there doing festivals in July.

And drinking some really good wine with them, of course.

[Dino Velvet]

The Greens certainly have integrity, but it's not yet a cohesive political movement here as it is in other countries like Germany and Scandinavia.

Back to France. One of the things that made Sarkozy unpopular was his determination to make the French something that they are not and have repeatedly shown they have no wish to be. Let me explain. The French place a much higher value on free time and a good life, unlike the Anglo-Saxon model in which we work our butts off in pursuit of a good life that we then don't have time to enjoy.

Of course that's an over-simplification, but here's an example - a Brit would rather have this year's BMW and buy his wine one bottle a time from the local supermarket, whereas a French guy would be happy running a jalopy as long as he could still have a well-constructed wine collection.

It was never going to work. Personally, I admire the French for their approach. They're the one major country which continues to show that if enough people get out on the streets, they can actually change things or stop things, because the government tends to give in. That's real people power and democracy in action. I'm looking forward to picking up with my French friends when I'm touring over there doing festivals in July.

And drinking some really good wine with them, of course.

That's the same perception I have of the French over here.

Now July will be a good time for you. I hope you have stories.

[robertlouis]

That's the same perception I have of the French over here.

Now July will be a good time for you. I hope you have stories.

And my Singapore lady will be with me too. If she can put up with three weeks of the touring muso's life, she can put up with anything!

[Dino Velvet]

And my Singapore lady will be with me too. If she can put up with three weeks of the touring muso's life, she can put up with anything!

Nice to have a friendly traveling companion. You'll definitely view the real her on the road.

[Prospero]

I'd always taken you for a Labour man, Robert louis.

[Stavros]

The Greek and French elections are quite different in most respects, yet both are a reflection of the anxiety that budget cuts are having, even though most people accept that a reduction of govt spending is inevitable.

I travelled through south-eastern Europe in the 1970s and was not sure whether to be appalled or ashamed that such poverty and lack of development could represent a part of Europe, I feel the turmoil since the 1990s is part of a slow process of change in that region, but the old enmities of class, religion and nationality are still bitterly contested, and to some extent have remained issues in Greek politics too, with unresolved issus with 'Macedonia' (choose which one which you prefer), and particularly with Turkey whose position is now vastly superior to what Greece finds itself in now.

Identity politics has become acute in Greece because PASOK which has been in power for so long it is an Acropolis of party politics, quite simply lied to the people, the EU and just about anyone else who asked them about their finances, but hired 800,000 citizens as public servants in the hope that the monthly salary would shut them up. The centre ground has thus suffered a haemorrhage of the support it used to take for granted. The extremes in Greece have never been reconciled to the see-saw years of the 1950s and 1960s when the country went from military dictatorship to democracy and back again. There was a documentary on the (Communist) ELAS and the Greek resistance on UK tv in the 1980s which generated such a ferocious response from the anti-communists and the right it has never been seen since. The Greek right has never truthfully apologised or owned up to its collaboration with the Nazi's and the obliteration of Greek's Jews, they were a silent but active supporter of Milosovic during the crisis years, and have now like other neo-Nazi and right-wing groups based their 'electoral appeal' on the explosive issues of 'multi-culturalism' which is a barely concealed cover for a widespread attack on Greek's Muslim/Arab population, many of whom have crossed the Mediterranean Sea and have been there since I last visited the place in 1977. The Greek communists are still living with the heroic resistance as their wartime model, in the vain belief that in 2012 Marxism-Leninism still has some appeal: that both right and left are dictatorial maniacs is evident to a number of people, but right now the Greeks are seething with rage at a generation of politicians who have sold the country for a skinny goat, so its hardly surprising if the extremes get attention.

In France, the primary anxiety is with the generous pensions, holidays, subsidised health care and jobs, which is an explanation for the defeat of Sarkozy. Hollande does not have either the complex history that Mitterrand brought into office, or the initial reforming zeal -Mitterrand did reform local and central government relations to the benefit of the former, and he did liberalise the French media; but he ended up where Hollande is at the start: cautious, pragmatic and someone who, quite possibly might grow in stature over the next 3 years: BUT, the stale nature of French industry, the lack of investment and new jobs means that on critical issues like the budget, taxes and youth employment, his task is as formidable as Obama's, Cameron's and everyone else's outside China, Turkey and other growth economies.

The bottom line is quite simple: France will remain a much desired place to visit, even to live in; Greece to be avoided at all costs, with the possible exception of Crete.

[Prospero]

I do fear for the changes happening in French politics. This time around the Left triumphed - well they won by a margin anyway. But the centre right is now in relative meltdown and this could be an opportunity for the Hard Right (The national Front) to make significant gains and to become an even more substantial presence in French politics in the forseeable future. Marine Le Pen has cleverly re-focused the party away from the anti-Jewish, holocaust denying party led by her father to broaden its appeal to disaffected right of centre voters. Anti immigrant rhetoric (especially anti Muslim) is now a keynote the the party. And she cleverly encouraged her supporters to abstain in the elections yesterday rather than support Sarkhozy. If Hollande fails then we could be looking at something quite nasty in a few years. And to those who say this sort of thing couldn't happen in France I'd remind them of the Vichy years and of the shameful murder of many Algerians in Paris by the police during the Algerian war for independence.

[Dino Velvet]

http://news.yahoo.com/socialist-hollande-ousts-sarkozy-french-leader-002303980.html;_ylt=AhVWuvAI0Zd.6bgbPthqvxOs0NUE;_ ylu=X3oDMTNmM3NzZmVoBG1pdAMEcGtnAzNiNDY4YTIyLTY1YW EtMzhhZi05ZmI1LWViNWIyOGZiZTBjMgRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbG5f UmV1dGVyc19nYWwEdmVyAzUwODNkZDQwLTk4NmEtMTFlMS1iMT Y5LWVhYjUwNWJmMzBhZQ--;_ylv=3

Markets, Germany wary as Hollande wins in France

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/FZN6924R0WZ__x92.x6.GA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9Zml0O2g9Mjc-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/logo/reuters/d0c3eb8ca18907492a4b337b5cec5193.jpeg (http://www.reuters.com/)By Catherine Bremer and Leigh Thomas | Reuters – 1 hr 2 mins ago


PARIS (Reuters) - Francois Hollande's election as French president was greeted by jitters on European markets and a dour front in Berlin where ruling conservatives warned the Socialist on Monday that Germans were not ready to pay for his promises of an end to austerity.
With investors spooked by Greek voters' rejection of parties which slashed budgets to secure an EU/IMF bailout, festivities in Paris after Hollande defeated centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday soon gave way to a grim sense of getting down to the business of dealing with Europe's deep economic crisis.
Hollande spent the day closeted with aides who said they reviewed how he may pitch "the priority for growth in Europe" to Chancellor Angela Merkel. They will meet for the first time next week in Berlin to relaunch the Franco-German partnership that lies at the heart of the European Union and the euro currency.
"I must prepare myself," said Hollande, who has never been a minister and is little known outside France. "I said that I was ready and now I must make sure I am, completely."
His campaign chief Pierre Moscovici said the president-elect discussed how to present his plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan this year, as well as the economic growth strategy.
A promise of a welcome with "open arms" in Berlin could not conceal unease among Merkel's Christian Democrats about what Hollande's centre-left campaign pledges of growth and state spending mean for efforts to contain deficits in a euro zone that is struggling to compete in a world of new economic powers.
"Germany is not here to finance French election promises," said Merkel's parliamentary party leader Volker Kauder.
Hollande's chief economic adviser insisted he was not about to simply "hand out money" and planned to balance the books.
OBAMA INVITE
Moscovici would not discuss what demands and compromises Hollande could offer Merkel on May 16, saying only that both parties were conscious of the need to find common ground.
Like other leaders in southern Europe, Hollande argues that cutting state deficits too hard and too fast may choke growth so far it makes the debt crisis even worse. Merkel repeated she would not renegotiate an EU pact on fiscal discipline, though she signaled some tactical shifts may be possible.
"We are in the middle of a debate to which France, of course, under its new president will bring its own emphasis," she said. "But we are talking about two sides of the same coin - progress is only achievable via solid finances plus growth."
With other world powers also anxious that a prolonged slump in Europe does not drag down their own economies, and allies and adversaries eager to learn how Europe's second biggest economy and major military and diplomatic force will be run, Hollande is in demand, even before he formally replaces Sarkozy on May 15.
President Barack Obama invited him to meet in Washington before a NATO summit in Chicago on May 20. Hollande, who won a convincing 51.6 percent of the vote against Sarkozy, will also attend a summit of G8 leaders near Washington on May 18-19.
LIMITED OPTIONS
He must finalize his team of ministers by next week, as the pressure of nervous financial markets cuts short any hopes of a lengthy honeymoon in office. Polls make his Socialists and their allies favorites to replace Sarkozy's centre-right bloc as the majority in parliament at elections on June 10 and 17.
"Hollande has little room for maneuver. The goal has been fixed - reducing the deficit to overcome the debt crisis," said BNP Paribas analyst Bertrand Lamielle. "His room for maneuver is about how to do it, so we are waiting to see which measures he announces in his first political speech."
While Greece plunged into turmoil after the vote left a question mark over the country's future in the euro zone, France was calm, partly due to a public holiday on Tuesday.
Standard & Poor's, which cut France's triple-A rating in January, said Hollande's win did not impact Paris's creditworthiness although it would scrutinize his policy choices. There was at least a one-in-three chance of a cut to France's long-term rating within two years, it said.
Hollande - who will be the first Socialist president in 17 years - was deep in discussions all morning with aides Moscovici and Manuel Valls. The three were briefly joined by Jerome Cahuzac, who is tipped as a likely budget minister.
Hollande is widely expected to name Jean-Marc Ayrault, a German-speaking moderate who is Socialists' parliamentary leader, as prime minister and mix trusted older hands with younger talent when he unveils his cabinet next week.
Sarkozy's office said Hollande would be sworn in on May 15 and, in a gracious gesture, the outgoing leader invited the president-elect to join him at an annual ceremony on Tuesday, a national holiday, to commemorate the end of World War Two.
Hollande overcame an aggressive campaign by Sarkozy, who veered to the right in a chase for the votes of the nearly one in five electors who supported far-right anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen in the first round of the ballot.
Hollande, 57, was buoyed by the same tide of anger over the economic crisis that has felled 10 other European leaders and derailed Sarkozy's 2007 campaign promise to slash unemployment.
BALCONY APPEARANCE
But economists say he too will have to take early measures to rein in public spending and keep markets at bay, potentially disappointing his supporters.
Welfare spending swallows 28 percent of national income - more than any other rich, OECD country - and growth has averaged only 1.6 percent over the past 20 years, raising concerns over the sustainability of public finances as the population ages.
Hollande's aides say he will be a closet reformer, aided by backing from the left. But some commentators have bemoaned a dearth of structural reform proposals. And past attempts to reform the country's generous social model have triggered furious street protests that have thwarted change.
Monday's newspapers featured a beaming Hollande, arms outstretched, on their front pages. Left-leaning daily Liberation ran the headline "Normal!" a reference to the new president's homely image as a man of the people.
Hollande briefly appeared at the balcony of his campaign headquarters to wave at wellwishers gathered below, but devoted the bulk of the day to work as the turmoil in Greece sent the euro tumbling to a 3-month low with the dollar.
French stocks were firmer, however, and the risk premium investors charge for holding French 10-year bonds rather than safe-haven German Bunds was broadly unchanged at 120 basis points. It hit a high of 191 bps last November amid fears of a euro zone credit crunch.
"Hollande's victory has already been priced in by markets, however his promises made during the campaign have not been priced in, so there is risk on the downside if he stands his ground when he announces a first set of measures," said fund manager Christian Jimenez at Diamant Bleu Gestion in Paris.
"The words 'grace period' do not apply to the situation. That's the reality," said Michel Sapin, a former finance minister widely tipped to return to that job under Hollande, whom has been advising on economic affairs. "Nobody expects that we simply arrive in power and hand out money," Sapin said.
Hollande promises a zero deficit by 2017, a year later than Sarkozy promised, but analysts believe an over-inflated growth outlook makes both goals unrealistic without spending cuts. Economists say Hollande must quickly outline his domestic plans, likely to centre on a tax reform, and revise growth targets.
His plans to tweak a reform that raised the retirement age to 62 and increase the minimum wage are unsettling investors who fear France could drift away from the club of trusted northern European borrowers and towards the debt-laden periphery.
The rest of his cabinet is likely to feature veterans like Laurent Fabius, a prime minister under President Francois Mitterrand, along with younger faces and women.
(Additional reporting by Brian Love, Daniel Flynn, John Irish, Elizabeth Pineau, Sybille de la Hamaide Geert De Clercq and Alexandria Sage; Writing by Daniel Flynn and Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

[trish]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/opinion/krugman-those-revolting-europeans.html?smid=pl-share

[Ben]

Those Revolting Europeans: How Dare the French and Greeks Reject a Failed Strategy!

by Paul Krugman (http://www.commondreams.org/paul-krugman)

http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imce-images/hollande-supporters-0507.jpgIn Paris, supporters of Francois Hollande cheer the results of the presidential election. Celebrations continued into the night in the Place de la Bastille, the iconic plaza of the French Revolution. Mr. Hollande told them: ‘Austerity can no longer be inevitable.’ (Photo: AP)

The French are revolting. The Greeks, too. And it’s about time.
Both countries held elections Sunday that were in effect referendums on the current European economic strategy, and in both countries voters turned two thumbs down. It’s far from clear how soon the votes will lead to changes in actual policy, but time is clearly running out for the strategy of recovery through austerity — and that’s a good thing.
Needless to say, that’s not what you heard from the usual suspects in the run-up to the elections. It was actually kind of funny to see the apostles of orthodoxy trying to portray the cautious, mild-mannered François Hollande as a figure of menace. He is “rather dangerous,” declared The Economist, which observed that he “genuinely believes in the need to create a fairer society.” Quelle horreur!
What is true is that Mr. Hollande’s victory means the end of “Merkozy,” the Franco-German axis that has enforced the austerity regime of the past two years. This would be a “dangerous” development if that strategy were working, or even had a reasonable chance of working. But it isn’t and doesn’t; it’s time to move on. Europe’s voters, it turns out, are wiser than the Continent’s best and brightest.
What’s wrong with the prescription of spending cuts as the remedy for Europe’s ills? One answer is that the confidence fairy doesn’t exist — that is, claims that slashing government spending would somehow encourage consumers and businesses to spend more have been overwhelmingly refuted by the experience of the past two years. So spending cuts in a depressed economy just make the depression deeper.
Moreover, there seems to be little if any gain in return for the pain. Consider the case of Ireland, which has been a good soldier in this crisis, imposing ever-harsher austerity in an attempt to win back the favor of the bond markets. According to the prevailing orthodoxy, this should work. In fact, the will to believe is so strong that members of Europe’s policy elite keep proclaiming that Irish austerity has indeed worked, that the Irish economy has begun to recover.
But it hasn’t. And although you’d never know it from much of the press coverage, Irish borrowing costs remain much higher than those of Spain or Italy, let alone Germany. So what are the alternatives?
One answer — an answer that makes more sense than almost anyone in Europe is willing to admit — would be to break up the euro, Europe’s common currency. Europe wouldn’t be in this fix if Greece still had its drachma, Spain its peseta, Ireland its punt, and so on, because Greece and Spain would have what they now lack: a quick way to restore cost-competitiveness and boost exports, namely devaluation.
As a counterpoint to Ireland’s sad story, consider the case of Iceland, which was ground zero for the financial crisis but was able to respond by devaluing its currency, the krona (and also had the courage to let its banks fail and default on their debts). Sure enough, Iceland is experiencing the recovery Ireland was supposed to have, but hasn’t.
Yet breaking up the euro would be highly disruptive, and would also represent a huge defeat for the “European project,” the long-run effort to promote peace and democracy through closer integration. Is there another way? Yes, there is — and the Germans have shown how that way can work. Unfortunately, they don’t understand the lessons of their own experience.
Talk to German opinion leaders about the euro crisis, and they like to point out that their own economy was in the doldrums in the early years of the last decade but managed to recover. What they don’t like to acknowledge is that this recovery was driven by the emergence of a huge German trade surplus vis-à-vis other European countries — in particular, vis-à-vis the nations now in crisis — which were booming, and experiencing above-normal inflation, thanks to low interest rates. Europe’s crisis countries might be able to emulate Germany’s success if they faced a comparably favorable environment — that is, if this time it was the rest of Europe, especially Germany, that was experiencing a bit of an inflationary boom.
So Germany’s experience isn’t, as the Germans imagine, an argument for unilateral austerity in Southern Europe; it’s an argument for much more expansionary policies elsewhere, and in particular for the European Central Bank to drop its obsession with inflation and focus on growth.
The Germans, needless to say, don’t like this conclusion, nor does the leadership of the central bank. They will cling to their fantasies of prosperity through pain, and will insist that continuing with their failed strategy is the only responsible thing to do. But it seems that they will no longer have unquestioning support from the Élysée Palace. And that, believe it or not, means that both the euro and the European project now have a better chance of surviving than they did a few days ago.

© 2012 The New York Times

https://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/author_photo/paul_krugman_0.jpg (http://www.commondreams.org/paul-krugman)

Paul Krugman is professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University and a regular columnist for The New York Times. Krugman was the 2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics.

[Ben]

Encirclement - Excerpt 1: Noam Chomsky [HD] - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3fYGz3Oz20)

Encirclement - Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy (1/5) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q130kCHIa28&feature=relmfu)

[robertlouis]

I'd always taken you for a Labour man, Robert louis.

As a last ditch alternative to Conservative only. In Scotland there's a strong Liberal tradition, going back to Gladstone, and I come from a traditionally liberal family - despite originating on Red Clydeside!

[Yvonne183]

The French, Greeks and other Europeans can do whatever they wish, just as long as they don't come to tranny forums telling us Americans what we should do.