Sunday, February 11, 2007

Socialism is back, and I am most confused

Didn't everyone learn a lesson the first time around? This stuff just doesn't work. Yet the Venezuelans and the French seem hell-bent on going back to the failed days of socialism.

The latest news from France is Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal's release of a 100-point manifesto (never a comforting word for a Republican). This is the latest effort on the part of Ms. Royal to take back some momentum from right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy in the polls.

Among her promises: Higher minimum wage, more public housing, larger pensions for poor retirees, more benefits for the unemployed, and novel concepts like citizen juries to evaluate the work of the National Assembly.

And the dough to pay for all this is going to come from...where, exactly?

The French unemployment rate has consistently been around 10% for the past several years. See anything in the Socialist Manifesto to fix that? Me neither.

Can you think of one single French product you want to buy?

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