FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Wall Street Journal Bemoans the Fall of French President Macron’s Austerity Plans
Dec. 10, 2018 (EIRNS)—The Wall Street Journal let it all hang out today, whining that France is in a state of revolt against the deadly policies of President Macron.
“President Emmanuel Macron is facing unprecedented pressure,” authors Noemie Bisserbe and Stacy Meichtry write,
“to roll back his overhauls of the French economy after a fourth consecutive weekend of Yellow Vest protests unleashed another torrent of rioting despite stepped-up security.”
On Saturday, Dec. 8, they estimated, 136,000 protesters filled the streets around the nation, and that more than 1,000 people were arrested.
“Unable to control protesters through security measures,” writes the Journal,
“Mr. Macron is now facing calls to placate the masses by reversing course on his signature agenda: making France more economically competitive through sweeping changes to its labor market, taxes, public spending and pension system.”
The Journal admits that the monthly income of the average rural family is no longer adequate to even pay its rent.
Worst of all, moans the Journal, Macron’s closest supporters are deserting him, as “panic has spread through the ranks of his allies and supporters in the National Assembly,” the lower house of Parliament. The writers quote one of his party’s Deputies, Patrick Vignal: “France isn’t a startup. People need empathy, dialogue.” They are calling on Macron to lift the minimum wage, giving pensioners some relief, and other measures to “put money in the pocket of middle-class and working-class people” before it is too late.
